Your Generator Needs Exercise

To ensure your standby generator is always ready to assume the load during a power outage, it will periodically  “exercise."  During the exercise, the generator automatically starts up for a short period of time on a preset frequency (Briggs & Stratton offers options for 16 seconds, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes exercise times for weekly, monthly, or when indicated). This is a self-diagnostic process that ensures the generator can start up and run properly when needed.

As spring and fall begin, you might notice that your generator has an extra long exercise. Some home generators will run for 45 minutes every April 1 and September 1 for burn off. These long exercise modes allow the generator to burn off any water that may have accumulated in the engine crankcase throughout the year. This burn off helps your generator run more smoothly and lets you and us know that your unit is working properly. These long exercise cycles act as a good maintenance routine and are good for your generator's overall health. 

 

We have made sure that this longer run time is still giving you the most efficient generator. We have set your generator to run initially for 6 seconds at a normal speed and then drop the engine speed to a lower speed for the remainder of the exercise cycle. Running at a lower engine speed is more efficient, resulting in a quieter operation.