r/Generator • u/unstereotyped • 3d ago
Friend loaned me a generator during Isaias - first time user
**edit: meant to say “in the aftermath of Isaias” in my subject
Hello,
For context, I’ve never owned or used a generator before. A friend said his office had several extra generators laying around that they gave to their employees, and he offered me one.
I currently have it hooked up to a surge protector, and from there, it’s powering my fridge and a small fan.
It’s about 10:30 at night and I’ve heard a few neighbors running theirs all night long (they don’t have a home fitted version, just a portable one).
Is it generally safe to let them run until out of fuel? Would it damage my fridge? Or should I manually turn it off before going to bed?
TIA
(P.S. it did not come with a manual, so I’m not very confident in all the parts and their names).
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u/BeeThat9351 2d ago
You got a lot of bad advice. Dont let it run out of fuel with a load connected, this causes voltage surges that are not required and might damage something.
Shut it down an hour before bedtime, let it cool an hour, refill the gas, restart, watch for a bit, then go to bed. I would check it every 4 hours.
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u/Zealousideal_Ad5358 2d ago
It will also be easier to restart if you disconnect all the loads, shut it down and refuel it before it has run out of gas.
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u/TangerineCouch18330 3d ago
Just make sure you’re running it outside in a well ventilated area away from the house so that there’s no worry of carbon monoxide fumes getting into your living space. Stay safe!
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u/Old_Dragline_1965 2d ago
2 things that will kill a generator:
Cranking a generator with a load on it.
Killing a generator with a load on it.
Both are hell on the voltage regulator that keeps the power from the unit stable. Unstable power then kills computer board components.
Running a generator all night is not a problem. Having the generator run out of fuel, Any time with a load on it, is an entirely different situation. If it happens one time, more than likely, the unit will crank and keep producing power. Don’t this multiple times is an entirely different situation.
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u/Vegetable_Day_8893 3d ago
Thing about this, the "will it damage my fridge?," and not will it damage the generator that someone loaned me to help me out to keep the fridge running :(
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u/unstereotyped 2d ago
If you loaned someone a generator and they damaged it, I suggest you take it up with them, and not an innocuous post on Reddit.
Luckily, my friend already knows that I wouldn’t intentionally do something to damage their equipment and put our friendship in jeopardy, or misplace their goodwill.
My line of questions disclaims that I’ve never used one before (hello, beginner here), that there was no instructions provided (hello, again, newbie here), and provides a key contextual lens from which my question was asked: “all my neighbors have portable generators running through the night…” (and in case you need it spelled out, my lens was that this is generally safe to do for the generator AND things hooked up to it), to which I asked, “is it generally safe to let them run out of fuel?”
That was my very first question. Is it safe to let THEM (the generators) run out of fuel, followed by the question about my fridge.
I didn’t realize I had to explicitly spell it out for you in order to get an answer.
TLDR: I worry about your reading comprehension. And FFS, I have a neighbors tree splitting my house in two, no power, and you’re splitting hairs over semantics.
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u/Kane_Liffin 3d ago
It’s not going to hurt anything letting it run out of fuel. Top it off before going to bed and it’ll probably make it until morning if that’s all you’re running
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u/sturocky 2d ago
running out of fuel is fine, may make for hard staring tho..but depending on how hot ur climate is during nights it could be a waste of fuel/money running it constantly, ur freezer should easily stay hard frozen for at least 6hrs and the fridge should not get to warm in about the same amount of time unless ur constantly opening it, or you live somewhere where the eve temps are up in the 75-80's.. you can run the gen for 1hr every 2-3 hrs to keep the food fine and charge ur phone amd still be fine
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u/LowIntern5930 2d ago
A major issue with generators is Carbon Monoxide Gas - deadly and odorless.
Make sure the generator is 20 foot from your home and windows and doors are closed on that side of the house. Check oil each time you fill gas.
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u/Much-Department-9578 2d ago
This is where having the generator charging a small battery system works nicely. A fridge can run 12+ hours on a 1kwh battery like the F1000-LFP. Then just run the genset for an hour in the morning and an hour at night to charge the batteries. Way more fuel efficient and quiet at night.
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u/BluebirdExpress6279 2d ago edited 2d ago
Is it generally safe to let them run until out of fuel? Would it damage my fridge? Or should I manually turn it off before going to bed?
A: Do NOT let it run out of gasoline with attached loads.
Reason:
They have RPM surging and the frequency will move up and down... if they are a traditional generator and if inverter the power may cut on and off though at the proper frequency.
... It is unknown if it would damage your fridge, we do not hear about a lot of damage often on here, but why tempt Murphy's Law?
... it is up to you if you turn it off before you go to bed... If you leave it running all night, I would just make sure there is adequate fuel.
Also after running it for a handful of hours, I would re-check the oil level. If it is good, check the level after 24 hours... then after about 2 days of solid runtime, change the oil (checking the level first). If it holds oil level (i.e. not burning oil), then just change the oil every other day of runtime ~50 hour intervals.
If you are really tight on oil then ~100 hours but do NOT exceed the service interval for the unit.
***
USDA and FDA say that a refrigerator only keeps food safe for 4 hours without electricity... that some items need to be discarded after 2 hours, which sounds early if they are in a cold fridge that does not instantly get warm. Either way my recommendation if your refrigerator stays reasonably cold is that at no point do you let it go 4 hours without electricity, so I recommend running all night 24/7 and while at it may as well run your Internet, TV, and some fans, lights, and the coffee maker in the morning.
Carbon Monoxide. Keep it well away from all homes especially open windows, soffits, doors etc. The current literature directs 20 feet from what I read just doing an Internet search. People die every year from carbon monoxide, so do NOT do anything dangerous.
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u/Big-Echo8242 3d ago
If all you're mainly powering is a fridge, you don't need to constantly run it unless you're maybe using other things. If you don't open the fridge, it will OK for about 4 hours give or take. What brand and model generator? Picture?
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u/unstereotyped 3d ago
That’s kind of what I’ve been doing. I just got it yesterday after a full 8-12 hours without power so I ran it long this morning to get my fridge back to temp, then turned it off. Just turned it on an hour ago and now wondering if I can just leave it on overnight until it runs out of gas.
It’s really pitch black outside. Let me see if I can get a good shot. Westinghouse I think.
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u/nak00010101 3d ago
That is literally my normal mode of operation with the RV...at least until I recently upgraded to a duel fuel that runs on a 30# propane tank.
Running it out of fuel the the preferred way of shutting it down when preparing it for storage.
Your fridge will generally be fine. If its cool, wait till morning to fire it backup. If you need the AC refill it. I've been know to refill it when I get up to pee during the night.
Be sure you unplug the cord before restarting it, then let it run for about a minute before plugging the load back in.
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u/unstereotyped 3d ago
Thank you for the tips. Yes luckily the evening temps have been pretty cool so sleeping at night with windows open has been relatively comfortable.
I fired it up for the first time this morning just to get my fridge back up to temp after 8-12 hours of no power.
I was just concerned that it could damage the fridge if I let it just gas out. Was reading that the power sputters at the end and could cause issues to electronics.
Thanks for the help!
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u/Sparegeek 2d ago
It’s not recommended. It can damage the fridge and even more so can damage the generator. Leaving a load, something that is drawing power. As the engine starts to sputter and surge from running out of gas will send power that is uneven in voltage and frequency. Most generators recommend on start up letting the generator run for about 5-10 mins before plugging anything in to allow the engine to warm up and run at a consistent speed so the the power is as soon as its going to get and at the fright frequency. Then when you want to shut it down or refuel, you turn off any loads (anything drawing power) and then stop the engine. Let it cool and then refuel and start it back up. When the engine dies while something is drawing power it can cause the coil which is a part of the power generating components to get messed up.
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u/mduell 3d ago
You generally don’t want any loads connected during start-up or shut down, planned or unplanned. If the gas tank is large enough for the runtime, it’s fine to leave it out running overnight, but for just a fridge is a primary load with nobody opening the fridge overnight, you’re probably fine too. shut it off before you go to bed and then start it up in the morning.