Category Archives: portable generators

portable generators

What size Portable Generator do You Need?

Briggs and Stratton Portable GeneratorPortable generators can provide emergency power for your home or business when your electrical power service is disrupted.

The size/power capacity of portable generators are measured in its rated wattage output.

  • Before buying a generator, you need to decide how many appliances you need to provide power for.
  • Then size your portable generator to provide power for the total of the STARTING watts you need.

More considerations when shopping for an emergency generator for your home or business are discussed in the Ready.gov/ article about preparing for a Power Outage.

A guide to seeing what size generator you will need appeared in this recent article in Forbes magazine.

Read more tips for portable generators in our article, Safe Operation of Portable Generators.

10000 Watt - Briggs & Stratton Portable GeneratorHaving problems with your portable generator? Or do you have questions about buying or maintaining your portable generator? Give us a call at Black Creek Services 904.449.3986, email us at [email protected], or Contact Black Creek Services.

We like helping people keep their portable generators running!

lawn mowers, portable generators, pressure washers, small engines

Springtime is Outdoor Equipment Maintenance Time!

Pink springtime blossomsSpringtime is such a great time of year! Buds are blossoming, the grass is starting to grow again, leaves are popping out on shrubs and trees! Time for Outdoor Equipment Maintenance!

Is your Lawn Mower, Lawn Tractor, Riding Mower, Portable Generator, or Pressure Washer ready for Spring?

Black Creek Services can perform routine maintenance on your small engine-powered equipment, or repairs, as needed, to get your equipment ready to go, when you need it!

  • Cost: Payment required – Estimated maintenance service fee is based on type of equipment to be maintained.
    – – Repairs and pickup and delivery service fees are in addition to maintenance fees.
    – – Call 904.449.3986 for an estimate and to make an appointment for your equipment.
  • We offer equipment pick up and delivery service for people in Middleburg, Fleming Island, Orange Park, and the Jacksonville area, from our Middleburg, Florida shop.

Contact Black Creek Services today or give us a Call 904.449.3986 or email us at [email protected] to make your appointment to get your Outdoor Power Equipment Ready to Go when You are!

lawn mowers, portable generators, pressure washers, small engines

Summertime Outdoor Equipment Maintenance

Troy-Bilt lawn mower cutting a lawnThe days are longer, the lawns are growing like crazy – it’s not the time to have your lawn mower or lawn tractor sputter and cough and not run when you go to cut the grass!

Black Creek Services performs maintenance on Lawn Mowers, Riding Lawn Mowers, and Lawn Tractors in the Jacksonville, Florida area. And we can perform repairs, if necessary.

Our service area includes Jacksonville, Fleming Island, Orange Park, Green Cove Springs, and of course Middleburg, Florida where our shop is located.

  • Black Creek Services 904.449.3986 offers equipment pick up and delivery service for people in our service area.
  • We also provide maintenance and repair service for Portable Generators, and Pressure Washers.

Black Creek Services 904.449.3986, email [email protected], or use our handy Contact form,can perform routine maintenance on your small engine-powered outdoor equipment, or repairs, as needed, to get your equipment ready to go, when you need it!

– – Repairs and pickup and delivery service fees are in addition to maintenance fees.
– – Call 904.449.3986 for an estimate and to make an appointment for your equipment.

We can help you have your Outdoor Power Equipment Ready to Go when You are!

portable generators

Do you have the right Generator?

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From heating and cooling to running the refrigerator, the microwave, the TV and even re-charging our cell phones, electrical power is something most people don’t want to be without very long.

10000 Watt - Briggs & Stratton Portable GeneratorTo provide temporary electrical power during a power outage, such as during a storm, or worse, in the event of hurricane damage, many people have purchased portable generators.

Most people have heard that portable generators cannot be run inside their home (or even in their garage) because the exhaust of the small engine that runs the generator can produce hazardous levels of deadly carbon monoxide in closed spaces.

portable generator with a small engineBut some portable generator owners don’t understand that portable generators are only supposed to be used to power several appliances in their home or office, via heavy duty extension cords plugged into the generators electrical outlets.

Actually, before buying a portable generator, the first step is supposed to be deciding what your temporary power needs are, and then buying the generator that will provide sufficient electrical power to run the appliances you pick. Read more about determining the size portable generator that you need in our Black Creek Services article – What Size Portable Generator Do You Need?

Some people have tried connecting their portable generators directly to their home or business breaker panel/electrical distribution panel. This is dangerous, because it creates an electrical hazard not only for the people using their portable generator this way, but also can backfeed electrical power into the local electrical grid, endangering others in the family, neighbors, and electrical  service personnel when they start to restore normal electrical power to the area.

Portable Generators are for temporarily powering several appliances for a home or office.

Permanent stand-by generators are larger units that can be installed for homes or offices and wired into breaker panels/distribution panels to provide backup power when there is a power outage. If you want to provide power to more than just a few appliances during a power outage, we recommend you look into a stand-by generator. We found some good points in this video created by This Old House.

Most people find portable generators an affordable option.

hurricane weatherIs your portable generator ready to provide you electrical power during a power outage? When is the last time you started it up and ran it for 5 to 10 minutes?

If you can’t get your portable generator to start, or if you’d like to make sure your portable generator is ready for the next Hurricane, Call Black Creek Services 904.449.3986 for our Hurricane Season Generator Service, or Contact Black Creek Services! You can’t beat our in-shop service prices, and we can also provide pickup and delivery service.

lawn mowers, portable generators, pressure washers, small engines

Fall Outdoor Power Equipment Care – Jacksonville FL

Here in Northeast Florida, we usually have mild winters, and many of us don’t even stop using our outdoor power equipment through the winter months for fall power equipment care.

For example:

  • northeastern Florida bermuda grass in the fall the lawn grows uneven and shaggy looking
  • warmer days offer an opportunity to pressure wash our home, patio, driveway, or other outdoor items
  • portable generators need to be run periodically to assure they are ready for use in an emergency

But if you are done with your outdoor power equipment until the Bermuda grass starts turning green again in the spring, the main thing you need to remember is to add Briggs & Stratton Fuel Fit to your gas tank.

  • the first step in any small engine maintenance is to review the instructions in your power equipment Owners Manual
  • next, run your lawn mower, lawn tractor, or pressure washer (outside) to get the fuel additives and preservatives that protect your small engine from the effects of ethanol damage through your engine fuel system
  • and last but not least, top off your fuel tank to prevent accumulation of moisture that could lead to corrosion

If you don’t have the time to do this maintenance on your:

  • lawn mower
  • lawn tractor
  • portable generator
  • pressure washer

just give Black Creek Services a call at 904.449.3986 or email us at [email protected]. We can help you keep your small engine-powered equipment maintained for a fair and reasonable price.

  • Pickup and delivery service is available, too!

Black Creek Services, Inc. LogoWhen springtime rolls around, we can also help you make sure your outdoor power equipment is ready for a busy season with a Springtime Small Engine Maintenance Service.

Black Creek Services, Inc. offers in-shop lawn mower and lawn tractor maintenance and repair for clients in the Jacksonville Florida area. For examples, we’re talking Jacksonville, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, and Middleburg, Florida.

We work in our Middleburg, Florida shop, where you can bring your lawn mower or lawn tractor by appointment (just call us at 904.449.3986 or email us at [email protected] to make an appointment).
AND we can provide pickup and delivery service.

If you have questions, please call us 904.449.3986 or use our contact form to Contact Black Creek Services. We like to help people get their small engine-powered outdoor equipment running right again!

portable generators

Safe Operation of Portable Generators

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Are you thinking about buying a portable generator for emergency electrical power to your home or office during a power outage, such as during a hurricane?
Here are a few quick tips for safe operation of portable generators to help you get started.

8000 Watt Briggs & Stratton Portable Generator1. Portable generators are designed for providing temporary power to one or several appliances. The number of appliances they can support is based on the output of the generator and the power requirements of the appliances.

2. The first step in buying a generator is deciding how much wattage you need during an emergency power outage. The size of your generator in wattage is determined by which appliances you want to power and how much total startup energy they need.

See our Chart for approximate wattage needs of various appliances.
– – (Click on the Chart below to see enlarge the chart.) – –

watts of power needed chart

3. Check the rating of the extension cord that you use to connect each appliance to your portable generator. Make sure the cord is designed to carry the full amount of electrical current to the appliance.

4. Portable power generators are not designed to be run continuously, nor run inside your home or garage.  They should be run (outside)  for short periods of several hours, and then shut down for several hours before being run again.

Generac Portable Generator5. We recommend adding a fuel stabilizer to your fuel tank , and running your portable generator for at least 10 minutes each month, to keep it ready to go when you need it.

For more tips on the safe operation of Portable Generators, please see these tips shared by:

Is your portable generator not running or giving you other problems?
Black Creek Services can provide reliable maintenance and repair servicing to your portable generator.
We will help you keep your small engine powered portable generator ready to go when you need it!

Call 904.449.3986 or use our handy Contact form to make an appointment to drop off your small engine powered Lawn Mower, Lawn Tractor, Portable Generator, or Pressure Washer at our Middleburg, Florida shop.
  • We also can provide pickup and delivery service for clients in our service area.

 

lawn mowers, portable generators, pressure washers, small engines

Reliable Small Engine Equipment Repair in the Jacksonville FL area

Black Creek Services logoBlack Creek Services, Inc. offers reliable lawn mower, pressure washer, lawn tractor, and emergency power generator repair and maintenance in the Jacksonville Florida area.

  • We’re talking the Jacksonville, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, and Middleburg, Florida area.

mobile lawn mower repair service to save your pickup truckIt is frustrating enough to have problems with your lawn mower, lawn tractor, pressure washer, or portable generator when you have a lawn to mow, ready to clean your home, driveway, or your boat, or are preparing for a surprise power outage. And even worse when you have to load your small engine powered outdoor equipment into your truck and take it somewhere to get it fixed!

And still even worse if you have to borrow or rent a truck to get your equipment to where it can get worked on!

workshop benchBlack Creek Services, Inc. is a different kind of small engine service provider. We provide repairs and maintenance in our Middleburg shop.
And, we can provide pickup and delivery service, if you need it.

We can handle anything from routine maintenance service to more complicated repairs.

Call Black Creek Services, Inc. 904.449.3986, email us at [email protected], or Contact Us with your Lawn Mower, Lawn Tractor, Pressure Washer, or Emergency Portable Generator Problems.

If you need reliable lawn mower, lawn tractor, portable generator, or pressure washer repair or maintenance, we look forward to helping you get your gasoline powered outdoor equipment running well again!

lawn mowers, portable generators, pressure washers, small engines

Outdoor Power Equipment Winter Care in Jacksonville FL

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rlawn mower in outdoor shed - available from Home DepotWhen it’s wintertime, a lot of people put their outdoor power equipment away until the Bermuda grass starts turning green again in the spring.

But before you put your outdoor power equipment away, it’s important to do some winter care for your outdoor power equipment.

Doing a little preventive maintenance winter care on your equipment will help you avoid problems when you try to start it up in the spring.

One of the easiest preventive maintenance steps to protect your power equipment this winter is to add  fuel stabilizer to your gas tank.

  • We recommend that the first step in any small engine maintenance is to review the instructions in your power equipment Owners Manual.
  • Next run your lawn mower, lawn tractor, or pressure washer (outside). Running the engine will get the fuel additives and preservatives that protect your small engine from the effects of ethanol damage through your engine fuel system.
  • Finally, top off your fuel tank to prevent accumulation of moisture that could lead to corrosion.

Please read our Portable Generator article for preventive maintenance recommendations.

Don’t have time for winter care to repair or maintain your outdoor power equipment?

Black Creek Services has over 20 years of experience, working on small engines. We work on:

  • lawn mowers
  • lawn tractors
  • portable generators
  • pressure washers

Just Call Black Creek Services 904.449.3986 or shoot us an email [email protected], or Contact us. We can help you keep your small engine-powered equipment maintained for a fair and reasonable price.

  • Pickup and delivery service is available, too!

Black Creek Services, Inc. LogoWhen springtime rolls around, we can also help you make sure your power equipment is ready for a busy season with a Springtime Small Engine Maintenance Service.

Black Creek Services, Inc. offers in-shop portable generator, pressure washer, lawn mower, and lawn tractor maintenance and repair for clients living in the Jacksonville Florida area. We do our work in our Middleburg, Florida shop.

  • If you have questions about maintenance or repair of your small engine powered outdoor gear, Please Contact us to make an appointment to bring your portable generator, pressure washer, lawn mower, and lawn tractor in, or we can provide pickup and deliver service.

Black Creek Services works on outdoor power equipment for people living in Jacksonville, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, and Middleburg, Florida.

We like to help people get their small engine-powered equipment running right again!

portable generators

Ready for Florida Hurricane Season in Jacksonville?

Being prepared during this hurricane season in Jacksonville Florida is very important.

Hurricane Season for the United States Atlantic Coast runs from June through November.

Hurricane winds pushing waves to batter beach.Waiting until you see a storm nearby in the Atlantic, or see a Hurricane Watch or a Hurricane Warning being flashed across your television or smart phone screen could be too late to protect yourself, your family and loved ones and your property.

A little preparation goes a long way to being prepared for a hurricane coming to the Jacksonville Florida area.

Please take some time to go over Hurricane Preparedness lists like the one at the NOAA National Hurricane Center.

A few minutes spent gathering resources and preparing a plan for you and your family can mean the difference between survival and sorrow.

  • Do you have a portable generator for providing emergency electrical power to your home or business?
  • Is your portable generator maintained annually, and run periodically, to make sure it is ready when you need it?

Generac Portable GeneratorBlack Creek Services, Inc.  904.449.3986 provides reliable in-shop portable generator maintenance and repair. No portable generator is too big or too small.

If you have a portable generator, and it needs annual maintenance, or you are having trouble getting it to start or stay running, or it will not provide the power that it used to, use our Black Creek Services Contact form. Or you can Call 904-449-3986 for an estimate or to make an appointment to get your portable generator ready to go when you are!

  • We also can provide pickup and delivery service for clients in our service area.

Let us help you have confidence that your portable generator is one thing you don’t have to worry about during this Florida Hurricane Season.

If you call us and we aren’t able to answer the phone in time, please email us [email protected], or use our handy Black Creek Services Contact form.
portable generators

Portable Generator Maintenance

Many people living in Florida have purchased a Portable Generator to provide some electrical power if their primary electrical service is lost.

Thankfully, for most of us our primary electrical service is very reliable.

hurricane weatherBut during Florida Hurricane Season (June through November each year) or even during a more common thunderstorm, or as the result of an accident, there can be a power outage that can last from minutes to hours, even days. And to provide a reliable backup source of electrical power, we have a portable generator.

Because our primary electrical power service is so reliable, often our portable generators can sit for months without being needed. If they are not run periodically, they may not perform when we need them.

8000 Watt Briggs & Stratton Portable GeneratorIt’s a good idea to have a professional service your portable generator once a year.

In addition to annual professional maintenance of your portable generator, most generator manufacturers recommend:

1.  Read and follow the instructions in the manufacturer’s Owner’s manual for your portable generator. If you do not understand the instructions clearly, give them a call; most manufacturer’s have a telephone number in the Owner’s manual, and many are toll free.

2.  Put a fresh half gallon of fuel in the generator fuel tank, once each month, and run the generator for at least an hour. Drain any left over gasoline from the fuel tank. Gas goes stale when left sitting in a fuel tank for a month, and is harder to start.

As an alternative, some people add a fuel stabilizer to the fuel in their tank, which helps the fuel stay fresh longer.

3.  Check your generator starting method.

  • If your portable generator is a manual, pull-start, check the pull rope for wear as you pull it to start the generator each month. A worn rope should be replaced so it doesn’t break when you really need that generator.
  • If your portable generator is a battery started model, check the charge on that battery, and re-charge it if necessary.
  • Some portable generators have a manual start capability as a backup for the battery starting capability, and in those cases, you should check both ways of starting your generator.

portable generator with a small engine4.  While running your generator each month, plug in a small appliance; a lamp or a portable drill or kitchen hand mixer, and run the appliance to make sure that the generator is producing electricity.

5.  Remember that Portable Generators produce exhaust gases when they operate, including carbon monoxide with is colorless and has no odor, and can be deadly.  Always operate you portable generator outside of your home or business. And do not run a portable generator near an open window, because the carbon monoxide can blow into the home or business and endanger anyone inside.

6.  Protect your Generator. When you operate your Portable Generator, shelter it from wet or damp conditions. This prevents shock hazards from the electricity being produced by the generator (and to keep your generator from shorting out, or from being damaged by corrosion). Then store your generator in a safe, dry place, to keep it ready for use during an emergency.

7.  Generator fuel is flammable. Store fuel (usually gasoline) in a safe container, and in a safe, cool and well ventilated place. Don’t store the fuel in the same space as where you operate the Portable Generator. Never add fuel to a generator until the generator cools down. Better to use flashlights for a while than take a chance on a fire or explosion!

Generac Portable GeneratorBlack Creek Services, Inc. provides reliable Portable Generator maintenance and repair service for clients in Middleburg, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, Orange Park, and Jacksonville, Florida,  in our shop in Middleburg, Florida.

  • Call 904.449.3986 or email us at [email protected], or use our handy Contact Form to make an appointment to drop off your small engine powered Lawn Mower, Lawn Tractor, Portable Generator, or Pressure Washer at our Middleburg, Florida shop.
  • We also can provide pickup and delivery service for clients in our service area.

If your portable generator is hard to start, runs rough, or won’t start at all, before you start pricing a replacement, Contact Black Creek Services, Inc. for a FREE estimate. Often, with some minor repairs, we can have your portable generator running right and reliable again in no time.