Too hot

[dizzy]

Man has it been hot around here this summer. With temps just under 100F and humidity often over 80% it has been one sticky hot summer so far. Our 10 tons of aircon has been unable to fight all the water and metal halide, and to keep the store temps much below 80. Last night at 6:30, and for no obvious reason, we suddenly lost power. A quick drive around confirmed that the power outage was fairly widespread in our area. It's always quite an adventure to get out and drive around when the traffic lights aren't working. 8O Anyway after 30 minutes had gone by I realize they don't have a quick fix, so I decide to fire up my Honda generator, only to find it won't start. :x After losing the rest of the evening's sales , (we close at 8PM) we knew we had a lot more to worry about than loss of revenue. We hang around sweating, cussing, praying, and worrying. Meanwhile I kept reading the Honda manual trying to figure out why the blank, blank wouldn't start. Basically what it said was if it didn't start to take it to an authorized Honda repair center. Great! :evil:

Finally after a very long and steamy hour and a half the power came back on. I learned this morning that peak demand had caused the main transformer in our heavily commercial area of town to blow. Needless to say the blank, blank Honda generator is going to the repair shop today. We got off lucky without animal loss and I'm going to use it as a wake up call to make sure I run the generator about once a month and make sure the gas stays fresh. Today is going to be another hot one, but some moderating is on the way on Wednesday. I'm very much looking forward to Fall this year.
Mitch

 

[Robwsup]

Our 3-ton can't keep up with our store and we are only ~1100sqft. Electricity is cheap in FL, but $500/month is still hefty.

 

[spawner]

Mitch,

You need to move down here

Its all of 92-93 at the hotest, right now its been in the upper 80's.

I love Florida

andy

PS, We are really good at using generators now. Did you leave gas in it over a long period of time?

 

[dizzy]

PS, We are really good at using generators now. Did you leave gas in it over a long period of time?

Yeah I did leave gas in it. The guy at the repair shop said something jells and clogs something. He said the Hondas were especially bad, and that only a few drops left in the lines could cause the problem. I'm glad my zero turn mower isn't that sensitive. He said there is an additive that prevents this and allows you to leave the gas in for quite a long while. I have only had to use it one other time when a powerful thunder/wind storm ripped us up pretty good a couple of years ago. It didn't start too easy back then, but I did manage to get it going. It sure is nice having one around when you need it, but only if you can get it started. Live and learn I guess. Move to Florida to cool off. Who'd a thunk it? 8O

 

[spawner]

Mitch,

Old gas will kill any carb. Just rebuild a carb on the labs riding lawn mower last week for the same reason. The best thing you can do for a carborated engine is run the gas completely out of it, every time you put it up or put a good fuel additive in it and run it at least once a month. I would run it dry each time.

Yea we never get above 94 here in the summer, nice being on the coast.

andy

 

[Anonymous]

This is the first summer that our air has worked properly, finally got the landlord to get everything fixed at once. Two 12ton units and it's still 84 degrees in the pump room though.