QuestionIt's a generator that may not be needed for a long time. So, I'm interested in knowing the best way to store it for long periods. I've already exhausted the fuel and drained the carb. Of course, I could keep stabilized fuel in it and run it every few months. Do you think that would be best? By the way your tips on curing a starting problem were on the money. Thanks for your indulgence.
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Followup To
Question -
Should the cylinder of a two-cycle engine be oiled before the device is stored? Thank you for your generous help.
Answer -
If you are just storing it over winter I would not oil the cylinder. It will not hurt anything but it may be a little more difficult to start in the spring and may smoke a little more until the oil is burned out.
More importantly is fuel stabilizer. Make sure your fuel is fresh, less than 30 days old, and you can add fuel stabilizer to keep it fresh. If you have old fuel in the tank I would drain it and add the new fuel with fuel stabilizer. Run the unit about 5 minutes to disperse the fresh fuel/oil mix and stabilizer.
Let me know if this helped.
Eric
AnswerI've stored 2 cycles both way, with fuel/stabilizer and completely drained. Sucess has be varied but you should be fine storing it dry. The benifit of using fuel with stabilizer is that the carb gaskets will usually not dry out. Like I said I've done it both ways and both have had different results.
You can put a tablespoon of engine oil in the cylinder via the sparkplug hole to make sure the rings don't rust. You may even want to slowly pull the string to coat the cylinder after you insert the oil.
Is the generator used as recreational or home backup power?
If you plan to use it for backup power I would add the stabilized fuel and start it every month to make sure it will work when you need it. If it's just for recreational purposes then you can store it dry but get it out and run it a couple of weeks before you plan on using it just in case you have to repair it.
Let me know if this helps.
Eric
