Posted by Pete C. on September 10, 2006, 10:52 pm
mgkelson@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> On Oct. 21, 2003 there was a post on alt.honda that said, in part:
>
> "I have a Honda EM5000SX generator I paid $2100
> for new 5 years ago. It only has about 10 hours on
> it as it's just backup for home. The other day it
> gave no output and turns out some mice got inside
> and ruined the generator portion. The Honda dealer
> where I bought it said it would cost more to replace
> the brushes and other components than to just buy a
> new generator. . ."
>
> Here's some more quotes on mice damage:
>
> Nov. 21, 1999
> " I recently finished rebuilding a (fixing mouse damage)
> Honda EFs-5500 generator. . ."
>
> Sep. 24, 1998
> "I will need to fab up a metal box to keep the mice out
> of the windings. . ."
>
> Jul 30, 2006
> "Mice in my shed have eaten away all insulation
> from the inside of my EU3000is. Seems the
> generator is noticeably louder without the insulation.
> I can not find a dealer who can order these two
> insulation 'blocks' from Honda. Can someone
> please measure both insulation 'blocks' and post
> the dimensions? I will try to glue alternative
> insulation in its place."
>
> I recently took a box cutter and made a small box cardboard box (out of
> a larger one) and put it over my Honda Generator. Then inside the box I
> put a can with holes in it filled with naphthalene moth balls.
>
> Now, one problem that I have is those moth balls really smell bad. In
> fact, they are stinking up my entire garage. That's a relatively small
> problem, though. A bigger potential problem I am wonder about is
> whether the fumes from the moth balls might damage the generator. Given
> the potency of the gas that those moth balls (napthalene), another
> problem, of course, is whether there is a health risk.
>
> Here's an excerpt from something I found on the internet:
>
> "CANCER HAZARD
> Naphthalene may be a CARCINOGEN in humans since it has been show to
> cause nasal and lung cancer in animals. Many scientists believe there
> is no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen."
>
> So, mothballs might not be a great idea, unless you can completely seal
> the container. Even so, the question still exists in regard to the
> generator. Is napthalene safe for a generator?
>
> Does anyone have any other ideas on how to protect a generator from
> mice?
The proper way to protect it is with fine metal screening covering all
the openings. Keeps out both rodents and many insects. You do not need
to enclose the entire unit, just seal off the problem areas with a fine
mesh, no more than about 1/8" opening size.
Pete C.
Posted by mgkelson on September 10, 2006, 11:55 pm
Pete C. wrote:
> mgkelson@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > On Oct. 21, 2003 there was a post on alt.honda that said, in part:
> >
> > "I have a Honda EM5000SX generator I paid $2100
> > for new 5 years ago. It only has about 10 hours on
> > it as it's just backup for home. The other day it
> > gave no output and turns out some mice got inside
> > and ruined the generator portion. The Honda dealer
> > where I bought it said it would cost more to replace
> > the brushes and other components than to just buy a
> > new generator. . ."
> >
> > Here's some more quotes on mice damage:
> >
> > Nov. 21, 1999
> > " I recently finished rebuilding a (fixing mouse damage)
> > Honda EFs-5500 generator. . ."
> >
> > Sep. 24, 1998
> > "I will need to fab up a metal box to keep the mice out
> > of the windings. . ."
> >
> > Jul 30, 2006
> > "Mice in my shed have eaten away all insulation
> > from the inside of my EU3000is. Seems the
> > generator is noticeably louder without the insulation.
> > I can not find a dealer who can order these two
> > insulation 'blocks' from Honda. Can someone
> > please measure both insulation 'blocks' and post
> > the dimensions? I will try to glue alternative
> > insulation in its place."
> >
> > I recently took a box cutter and made a small box cardboard box (out of
> > a larger one) and put it over my Honda Generator. Then inside the box I
> > put a can with holes in it filled with naphthalene moth balls.
> >
> > Now, one problem that I have is those moth balls really smell bad. In
> > fact, they are stinking up my entire garage. That's a relatively small
> > problem, though. A bigger potential problem I am wonder about is
> > whether the fumes from the moth balls might damage the generator. Given
> > the potency of the gas that those moth balls (napthalene), another
> > problem, of course, is whether there is a health risk.
> >
> > Here's an excerpt from something I found on the internet:
> >
> > "CANCER HAZARD
> > Naphthalene may be a CARCINOGEN in humans since it has been show to
> > cause nasal and lung cancer in animals. Many scientists believe there
> > is no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen."
> >
> > So, mothballs might not be a great idea, unless you can completely seal
> > the container. Even so, the question still exists in regard to the
> > generator. Is napthalene safe for a generator?
> >
> > Does anyone have any other ideas on how to protect a generator from
> > mice?
> The proper way to protect it is with fine metal screening covering all
> the openings. Keeps out both rodents and many insects. You do not need
> to enclose the entire unit, just seal off the problem areas with a fine
> mesh, no more than about 1/8" opening size.
> Pete C.
I think you are right. Protecting the problem areas or building an
entire box out of fine metal screening is the best and possibly the
only practical solution. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it right
off the bat.
Posted by modervador on September 26, 2006, 1:40 pm
mgkelson@yahoo.com wrote:
> Pete C. wrote:
> >
> > The proper way to protect it is with fine metal screening covering all
> > the openings. Keeps out both rodents and many insects. You do not need
> > to enclose the entire unit, just seal off the problem areas with a fine
> > mesh, no more than about 1/8" opening size.
> >
> > Pete C.
> I think you are right. Protecting the problem areas or building an
> entire box out of fine metal screening is the best and possibly the
> only practical solution. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it right
> off the bat.
I would not screen the critical ventillation openings of the generator
with fine mesh, for fear it will restrict airflow and compromise the
machine.
Either build the box out of mesh (or somethin else) or if you simply
must guard only the generator openings, use the coarsest mesh you think
you can get away with.
Myself, I just invert a plastic tub over the genny when I'm not using
it. It doesn't make a perfect seal with the slab, so the gas vapors
never reach the required richness to be a combustion risk, and they
dissipate quickly when the tub is lifted anyway. I suppose a few vent
holes with fine mesh over them wouldn't hurt.
%MOD%
Posted by mgkelson on September 28, 2006, 5:57 pm
modervador@worldnet.att.net wrote:
> Myself, I just invert a plastic tub over the genny when I'm not using
> it. It doesn't make a perfect seal with the slab, so the gas vapors
> never reach the required richness to be a combustion risk, and they
> dissipate quickly when the tub is lifted anyway. I suppose a few vent
> holes with fine mesh over them wouldn't hurt.
> %MOD%
One thing interesting about Honda generators, incidentally, is that the
manual for the 2000i, requires that the gas tank be drained for
long-term storage. On the otherhand, the 3000i says that the gas tank
should be filled with fresh gas (mixed with conditioner) for long-term
storage. Then before you use it again you are supposed to drain the gas
out and refill it with fresh gas.
It makes you wonder if there is a valid reason for using the two
different methods or if the instructions were simply written by
different engineers.
Maybe the 2000i has a plastic tank and the 3000i has a steel tank? I
dunno.
Posted by (PeteCresswell) on September 28, 2006, 7:33 pm
Per mgkelson@yahoo.com:
> On the otherhand, the 3000i says that the gas tank
>should be filled with fresh gas (mixed with conditioner) for long-term
>storage. Then before you use it again you are supposed to drain the gas
>out and refill it with fresh gas.
My plan is not to drain my 2000, leave a minimal amount of gas in the tank, and
just fire it up for a couple hours a few times per year.
If somebody comes back with a warning about condensation, maybe I'd modify that
to keeping the tank full and adding some Stabil - but still running it
periodically.
Come to think of it, I guess the "full" option has the advantage of guaranteeing
that you have at least a few hours worth of gas on hand when the power goes
out...
Can anybody come up with a downside to the "full" option?
--
PeteCresswell
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> On Oct. 21, 2003 there was a post on alt.honda that said, in part:
>
> "I have a Honda EM5000SX generator I paid $2100
> for new 5 years ago. It only has about 10 hours on
> it as it's just backup for home. The other day it
> gave no output and turns out some mice got inside
> and ruined the generator portion. The Honda dealer
> where I bought it said it would cost more to replace
> the brushes and other components than to just buy a
> new generator. . ."
>
> Here's some more quotes on mice damage:
>
> Nov. 21, 1999
> " I recently finished rebuilding a (fixing mouse damage)
> Honda EFs-5500 generator. . ."
>
> Sep. 24, 1998
> "I will need to fab up a metal box to keep the mice out
> of the windings. . ."
>
> Jul 30, 2006
> "Mice in my shed have eaten away all insulation
> from the inside of my EU3000is. Seems the
> generator is noticeably louder without the insulation.
> I can not find a dealer who can order these two
> insulation 'blocks' from Honda. Can someone
> please measure both insulation 'blocks' and post
> the dimensions? I will try to glue alternative
> insulation in its place."
>
> I recently took a box cutter and made a small box cardboard box (out of
> a larger one) and put it over my Honda Generator. Then inside the box I
> put a can with holes in it filled with naphthalene moth balls.
>
> Now, one problem that I have is those moth balls really smell bad. In
> fact, they are stinking up my entire garage. That's a relatively small
> problem, though. A bigger potential problem I am wonder about is
> whether the fumes from the moth balls might damage the generator. Given
> the potency of the gas that those moth balls (napthalene), another
> problem, of course, is whether there is a health risk.
>
> Here's an excerpt from something I found on the internet:
>
> "CANCER HAZARD
> Naphthalene may be a CARCINOGEN in humans since it has been show to
> cause nasal and lung cancer in animals. Many scientists believe there
> is no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen."
>
> So, mothballs might not be a great idea, unless you can completely seal
> the container. Even so, the question still exists in regard to the
> generator. Is napthalene safe for a generator?
>
> Does anyone have any other ideas on how to protect a generator from
> mice?