Had a major store come through here last night and estimates are that we will not have power until Saturday night, next Saturday night. My plan is to double up on my chlorine and mix it in the water using kid power to try to keep the algae at bay. Any other ideas

Great excuse for a small home EMERGENCY generator. You'll have it WHEN you need it again.

Have a generator? Even just a few hours a day on the generator would help a bit.

You can add chlorine without a pump, pour slowly around the edge of the pool and then brush the entire pool to mix it in. You can keep that up for quite a while if you are diligent.

I'm in a similar situation, except they are telling me two weeks and I have a small generator, enough to run the cover pump to help with mixing the bleach in, but not enough to run the main pump or the SWG.

Have a generator, it won't start. As long as this method will work I can handle doing it. Getting in the pool will cool me off.....temps are near 100!

Fresh gasoline can make a world of difference when trying to start a small engine.

Another tip: buy some ether. It's called "starting fluid" in the auto parts store. Just a shot at the air filter and give it a pull.

Kids will mix chemicals well, but they are lousy at running the refrigerator. And the box fan.

I've had a lot of luck keeping the gas and motors fresh with a little sea foam in the gas.

It's funny! I was trying to go to slew last night in the 85 degree house and remembered a can of starting fluid on the shelf in the garage. I went out this morning and shot some of that in the carb and got it to fire but it will not stay running still. I did drain the gas and replace with fresh but I think I need to drain the lines and carb a little better to get it going. That will be after work!

I will try that if I get it going full time again. It's a 7000W generator so it's worth a little time and effort.

Thank you BBB and TFP! Power returned after 4 days. I kept adding chlorine and mixing it by swimming around and kept the leaves and other larger debris out of the pool as best I could over the event. When the power came back on the pool was still crystal clear so I vacuumed it and tested it.....everything was perfect. My neighbor who uses pucks was cloudy water and replaced 1/3 of his water to help clear it up. I have told him about the BBB method so we will see!

But did you ever get the generator going?

It's nice the pool stayed clear, but what about the freezer full of meat?

No, was never able to get the generator going. It will start but for some reason the carb is not pumping fuel to keep it running. I will need to decide whether I take it to a shop or try and replace the carb. It's a 7000W generator so it's worth fixing. As far as the meat, we tossed everything that was thawed or partially thawed....the rest we took to my in-laws and stored in their freezer.

I would guess the carb just needs to be taken apart and get a good cleaning to get rid of the lacquer that might have built inside while it sat unused.

I was able to clean out the top of the carb but getting to the bottom will be much more involved. I can't understand how lacquer might have built up in the carb...it has only sat with old gas in it for 3-4 years! (lesson learned)

My Genrac 7500 gummed up awhile back. I pulled the carb and soaked it in clean gas overnight. Then I blew it out with compressed air. Drained the tank and added fresh gas. Works a charm now, but I am converting it to propane and just ordered a propane carb for it.

If the generator hasn't been run for awhile maybe take the bowl off the bottom of the carb and clean it out, I just had to do that to ours this afternoon.

Sorry to hear about everyone without power, and with these high heat numbers, you are all in our prayers.

God's Speed!

Figures- I was just in Lynchburg/Roanoke on Monday/Tuesday. I worked on lawn & garden/power equipment for 20+ years between Montgomery Ward & my buddy's shop.

Linen nailed it- turn of the fuel, drop the bowl and clean out everything you can see, then go back and clean what was missed. If you use compressed or canned air, wear safety goggles. The stuff that comes out will make a beeline for your eyes.

Today's gas is not what it used to be, the alcohol in it does not help matters. It goes bad very quickly if not treated with something like Stabil. I put Stabil in all my small engine machines now and rarely have issues. This post has reminded me that it's about time for me to fire up my gen.

I'm now using a product called PRI-G in all my equipment...cars, boat, genset etc. I'ts supposed to keep ethanol treated gasoline usable for several (3) years. People have reported adding a little to small equipment (lawn mowers) and they started right up after now running without the PRI-G. They also make a product for diesel called PRI-D. Your mileage may vary....