Off season storage

Hey guys good day to you
I wanted to ask everyone in our community and that some advice regarding long-term storage I’m down here in South Florida hurricane season is over my 803 is inside the garage in a stable temperature I completely filled the tank up with diesel I also put in Diesel fuel stabilizer changed all the fluids
Ran it for a bit and put it in the garage
Is there anything that I am missing or forgetting to do as far as long-term storage
I will start her up again in two or three months but I just wanted everyone’s thoughts on this


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Sounds like a solid plan. Only suggestion might be a battery tender to keep batteries healthy.

You got it done right. In FL just algee block the tank and keep the critters out..you will be fine.

Bat tender if you feel like it.

My 803 sits outside my house and I run it every 3 months for 2 hours minimum at 80-100% load. We all know periodic exercise is important for these generators. I've got an 802 I ran hard and replaced what needed replacing last year then took it to the country. I hadn't seen it in 7 months and knew it was past time to exercise it. I was changing tires on an adjacent trailer and just let it run for 1-1/2 hour. Ran well, temperatures looked fine: all good. I decided to work the Aux fuel system and THEN noticed fuel dripping from the machine. In 7 months a return line or maybe a supply fuel line has cracked so I'll be rolling it back south in the near future to replace what's broke.

Confirmed: We all know periodic exercise is important for these generators.

Best thing you can do is run it every so often at least until its warm, preferably with a load. In the commercial world (think onan, etc) for fixed installations the generator controllers are often set up to start the generators monthly, with the load. I'm speaking from experience mostly with datacenters.

eric67camino said:

Sounds like a solid plan. Only suggestion might be a battery tender to keep batteries healthy.

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Agree, if it's not getting sun to the solar panel on top, a tender would be a good idea. Also check the acid level in the batteries before storing it and make sure they are full.
I would exercise it at least once a month to keep things lubed.

I have a set reminder to fire mine up at least once a month and I transfer the house load to it and let it run for at least an hour at 80%+ load. It gives me the opportunity to check run temps, stability and see if there is any fluid leaks. I also run my portable gensets at least once every 2 months.

Everything seems happier with a bit of regular exercise, and less likely to encounter surprise repairs.


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Fuel stabilization, critter abatement, battery vitality. Thats pretty much it... so whatever it takes for your locale to do so.

The only other thing I would add would be if you have the unit outside and have a dew point issue where the unit's temp routinely drops below the dew point you will have a condensation problem. Most times this is not an issue, but in some areas where the engine block gets soaked every day from this the ferrous parts of the unit will certainly rust faster.

When I am installing enclosures with electronics in them I frequently have to add heaters to them that keep the enclosure above the dew point.

But, for 9 out of 10 people this isnt an issue.

Demoh said:

The only other thing I would add would be if you have the unit outside and have a dew point issue where the unit's temp routinely drops below the dew point you will have a condensation problem. Most times this is not an issue, but in some areas where the engine block gets soaked every day from this the ferrous parts of the unit will certainly rust faster.

When I am installing enclosures with electronics in them I frequently have to add heaters to them that keep the enclosure above the dew point.

But, for 9 out of 10 people this isnt an issue.

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Curious what types and wattage heaters do you install?

Farmitall said:

Curious what types and wattage heaters do you install?

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electrical enclosure heaters with built in hygrostat/humidistat, normally the smallest one that is an all-in-one unit that also has a fan. I think thats around the 150watt range. They have small like 10w all the way up to KW range. Basically here are all kinds: https://www.automationdirect.com/ad...lighting/enclosure_thermal_management/heaters

My enclosures normally have equipment in them so they always have a heat load. We set the heater to turn on when it hits 65% RH.

Some sites like at a marina we have a 36x36x12 stainless nema 4x box which is nonvented. The only venting is equalization pressure through the conduits going to it and its nonvented because freaking saltwater. When there is no vent I dont think the heaters have ever kicked on because the heat stays in the box.

Here is the last 8 hours for that marina box, which its been raining all day and that dip was one heck of a downpour. My monitor doesnt like the temperature and humidity levels (because the netbotz is using default settings and meant for a server room where its 65degrees) but we can see that the equipment in here wont have a condensing problem.




The problem is with venting. These generators are vented. I have no idea how feasible it would be to keep them below 95% RH. If I were to attempt it I would think of 2 ways to do it. A: use the smallest always on heater where it would heat the "box" up when the sun goes down, or B: seal the unit and go that route.

Again, I dont think many people have such a bad condensation problem to warrant this. I live in St Pete which is surrounded by water on 3 sides. Humidity is always high, however all of my gens stay pretty dry. I only get condensation on the outside of the box. The control cube stays dry unless I leave it open (air inside stays dry or warm enough long enough for the ambient temp to raise above the dew point) and very rarely do I ever see the engine condense. (probably same concept)

Just dont wrap your gen in a tarp. any time I find a tarped generator I can put money on that if I pull the tarp off the inside of the gen will be wet. They tend to be vapor barriers in the wrong direction. (just turn the tarp inside out to solve the problem )

I agree tarping the whole unit is not a good idea. A vinyl custom made tarp that only goes 1/2 way down keeps the water out and allows enough ventilation to prevent condensation at least in my area. It isn't as humid as Florida though.

dav5 said:

I agree tarping the whole unit is not a good idea. A vinyl custom made tarp that only goes 1/2 way down keeps the water out and allows enough ventilation to prevent condensation at least in my area. It isn't as humid as Florida though.View attachment 750789

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I like that, looks clean, just enough coverage but not too much.

Demoh said:

I like that, looks clean, just enough coverage but not too much.

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Yes, like a firewood pile. If its covered all the way to the bottom there's no place for the condensation to escape.