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Generator set

Your first-day checklist

Print it and keep it with the machine.

Your manufacturer's manual prevails. This sheet gives the order of the steps; every figure must be read in your own manual, as it changes from one model to the next.

  1. On delivery

    • Walk around it BEFORE you sign
    • Manual, data plate, earth terminal
    • Sockets and breakers sound, cables undamaged
    • Delivered DRY: no oil, no fuel

  2. Before the first start

    • FILL THE OIL — the engine arrives empty
    • Set on level ground to check the level
    • Fuel outdoors, engine cold
    • Find the breaker and the earth terminal

  3. Where to put it

    • OUTDOORS, always. Never a garage, cellar or shed
    • Away from windows, doors and air inlets
    • Clear space on every side (see your manual)
    • Dry, on firm level ground

  4. What kills

    • CARBON MONOXIDE: invisible, odourless, fatal in minutes
    • Ventilating or opening a door DOES NOT PROTECT YOU
    • Backfeed into the grid: electrocution at a distance
    • Fuel poured onto a hot engine

  5. Connecting it

    • To a building: a TRANSFER SWITCH is mandatory
    • Installed by a qualified electrician
    • Earthed to local rules
    • Never exceed the rated output

  6. Day to day

    • Refuel with the engine STOPPED and cool
    • Never in the rain, never with wet hands
    • Short break-in: the first hours count
    • A CO alarm in the building being supplied

Never do this

  • Never indoors, nor in a garage even with the door open
  • Never plugged straight into a household socket
  • Never refuel with the engine running or hot
  • Never in the rain or on soaked ground
  • Never above the rated output