It’s not often that a power outage happens during the day, but when it does, you’ll be glad you know how to start your portable generator. Portable generators are a great way to keep your home running during a power outage, and they can also come in handy when you’re camping or tailgating.
If you’ve never started a portable generator before, don’t worry – it’s not difficult. Just follow these steps and you’ll be up and running in no time.
Portable generators can be a real lifesaver during a power outage, but using them improperly can be dangerous. So the question is portable generator users is that how to start a portable generator is one of the most important questions.
First, you’ll need to find out if your portable generator needs gasoline or diesel fuel. If it runs on gasoline, make sure the shutoff valve is closed and fill up the tank using a funnel. If it runs on diesel, make sure there’s enough fuel in the tank, and then add a little more to be sure.
Next, turn the generator on, but don’t start it up just yet. This is important because some generators may have a load test set that will automatically start them up when you need power. Finally, if nothing happens when you try to start it up, check the circuit breakers.
If they’re flipped to the “off” position, turn them to the “on” position. Now you don’t need to worry about how to start your portable generator. Most people are not familiar with this knowledge and bring many troubles.
How to start a portable generator?
You’ve waited a long time for this – a power outage. You have a portable generator with you and now what? Well, the first thing you need to do is make sure that your fuel tank has enough gasoline in it to start the generator.
Generally speaking, most generators from reputable brands will charge their tanks before being shipped out of the factory, but there’s no harm in checking, right? If your generator runs on propane or natural gas, you don’t have to worry about this step.
So, if everything looks good here, let’s move on to starting up your unit. Portable generators generally come with either push-button electric start or recoil string pull start. Push-button starts are by far more common these days because they are much less strenuous than using a cord.
With this type of start, you only need to press a button and the engine will start right up for you, no effort required. Recoil string pull starts are still around though since some people prefer to have more control over their generators.
This type of start is similar to starting up your lawnmower – you’ll need to pull out on the recoil cord several times to get your generator started. If this type of start sounds like something you want to go with, make sure that it’s included in your purchase before heading off to your local hardware store.
Now you’ve picked out which kind of starter system your unit has, let’s move on to starting it up. First, make sure that the main power switch on your unit is turned to the ON position and any other switches or knobs are set as you want them to be – this can save a lot of time later.
Next, plug your external device into the appropriate outlet on your generator. You must know where each device should go before turning on the generator so you don’t have to waste time figuring out where each should be plugged in once the engine starts up.
Now we’re going to move on to starting up your unit. If you’ve got a push-button electric start, simply press down on the desired button and let go when you hear a clicking sound or feel a vibration through your hand (depending on the model).
If you’ve got a recoil cord start, take out the cord and make sure that there is nothing tangled around it or wrapped around the flywheel – if there is, remove it. Make sure that your feet are spread apart (about shoulder width) and firmly planted on the ground before pulling on the cord – this will give you better leverage.
After several pulls, your generator should start up successfully. Now that we’re done with starting up your unit, let’s move on to using it for its intended purpose which, hopefully, is to provide power for your home during an outage.
Assuming everything has gone smoothly so far, you should first check to see if any of your electrical breakers have tripped. If they have, turn them all off and then switch them on again one at a time to make sure that they are in the “ON” position (if using an old breaker box, don’t forget to push it up).
If your breakers are not tripped, go ahead and plug your devices into their respective outlets on your generator. If you’ve got several different things that you’ll be powering up with your generator, like lamps or appliances, use extension cords to get power from your generator to each of these items.
Now that everything is plugged in, head over to the main power switch on your generator and flip it to the ON position. This will give power to all of the outlets on your unit so you can start using whatever you’ve plugged in.
Conclusion:
Now that you know how to start your generator, what are you waiting for? Why not head down to your local hardware store and pick one up? You should also make sure to keep several replacement fuses around in case the ones on your unit burn out.
Portable generators can come in handy during an outage no matter if it’s day or night. With these steps, you can be confident that you’ll be ready to start your generator up during the next outage – even if it comes in the middle of the night!
FAQs:
Q 1) How to start up a portable generator?
You must turn on the main power switch, but apart from that, you’ll need to know what type of starter your unit has – push-button electric or recoil string pull. Next, plug in any devices that you want to be powered by the generator and then flip on the main power switch. Finally, check all of the breakers to make sure that none are tripped before turning on your generator.
Q 2) What is recoil start?
A. Recoil cord starts work with a spring-loaded spool system and a pull string to start up a portable generator. To use this type of starter, first, remove whatever is tangled around the flywheel and then make sure that your feet, hand, and shoulder are all in a comfortable position.
After that, pull the starter cord until you hear it click or feel it vibrate through your hand. It’s important to keep pulling even after you hear or feel the vibration because this means that the engine is trying to start up – if you stop at this point, you’ll just have to begin your process over again when you go to restart it.
Q 3) What is an electric start?
A. An electric starter on a generator works by using a portable battery source while a recoil-style unit uses a spring-loaded spool system with a pull string to generate power from the engine itself once started by any one of these methods. To use this type of starter, first, make sure that everyone in the vicinity is wearing protective gear which might include rubber boots and gloves.
Next, plug your generator’s starter cable into the corresponding slot on your portable battery and then turn it to the “ON” position using the battery itself. Now, hit the start button to generate power and turn on your generator.
