If you recently had an electrician hard-wire a gasoline-powered generator into your family restaurant's power panel, then it is important for you to regularly monitor it and keep it maintained. Regular monitoring and maintenance will ensure that your generator will keep your restaurant serving customers even if there is a power outage in your local area. To this end, follow these tips to keep your generator in tip-top condition:

Don't Delay the First Oil Change

Generator manufacturers recommend changing the oil in a new generator after a certain number of run-time hours. This initial oil change removes any metal particles and other contaminants present in the generator's motor from the manufacturing process. Neglecting to perform this oil change on your restaurant's new generator will lead to problems down the road and potential failure of your generator's motor.

While each manufacturer's recommendation is a little bit different than the others, you can find the exact guidelines for your model of generator by consulting your owner's manual. If you do not have the owner's manual, you can do a quick Google search and there is likely a downloadable version on the manufacturer's website.

Store Gasoline Only with Stabilizer

While it is perfectly fine to store gasoline in a gas can for a limited time, once a month or two has passed, then the gasoline will start to breakdown and form a layer of water. This water will ruin your generator's motor. To avoid this fate, you need to add a stabilizer into any gasoline that you store for more than a month. The stabilizer keeps the gasoline from separating and prevents the damaging layer of water from forming.

You can purchase gasoline stabilizer at any automotive parts or hardware store. It will be in a small bottle and located near the gas cans and motor oil. All you need to do is place the correct amount into your gas cans and then the gas will be safe to use when you have a power outage.

Test Run Your Generator Each Month

Finally, it is vital that you test run your family restaurant's generator each month to ensure that it is working properly. Testing the generator allows you the chance to fix any problems and will keep your customers happily dining even if the power service in your city or town is disrupted.

To test your generator, turn off the power and turn on the generator. Allow the generator to run for a few minutes to ensure that there are no problems once it heats up. When you turn off the standby generator, ensure that you have enough fuel and oil on hand to use in case of a power outage.

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