At Reimer, we repair and service standby generators for homeowners across Buffalo and Erie County, with licensed electricians working in Rochester, Hamburg, Cheektowaga, Albany, Syracuse and communities throughout Upstate New York. The failures are predictable and most of them are preventable, which is the good news.
The whole point of a standby generator is that it starts on the night you are not thinking about it. Which is exactly why an unserviced one is so dangerous to rely on: it sat quietly through eighteen months of weekly test runs, everything looked fine, and then the ice storm arrived and it cranked twice and stopped.
We also repair generator equipment we did not install. Tell us the make and model when you call so we arrive with the right parts rather than making two trips.
- Fault history pulled from the controller before anything is replaced.
- Testing under real load, not just a no-load run.
- Upfront pricing approved before we start.
- Backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee.
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Maintenance Plans
Since 1921, our team of Western NY’s top notch service specialists have been serving the area and caring for thousands of customers. At Reimer, we do everything in our power to ensure that your home comfort system works efficiently and effectively every time you turn it on.
- Multi-Point System Inspection
- Calibrate System for Efficiency
- Ensure Proper Airflow
- Maintain System Warranties
- Reduces Unexpected Breakdowns
- Evaluate Filtration & Indoor Air Quality
- Routine Maintenance Leads to Reduced Utility Bills and Extends the Life of your System(s)
Why Do Standby Generators Fail?
A standby generator spends 99% of its life doing nothing, and that is exactly the problem. Almost everything that goes wrong with these units traces back to sitting still rather than to running hard.
The battery is the single most common cause. It sits outdoors, discharges slowly and loses cranking capacity in the cold, which is precisely when the winter outage arrives. Most units run a weekly or biweekly exercise cycle that keeps it topped up, but a battery near the end of its life will pass a no-load exercise and still fail to crank on a February morning. Batteries are consumables. Plan on replacing them every few years rather than letting the failure choose the date. In this region a cold weather kit, typically a battery warmer and an oil heater, is worth having on any unit you expect to start in the deep cold.
The second cause is the assumption that the exercise cycle counts as maintenance. It does not. It runs the engine briefly with no load, which circulates oil and charges the battery. It does not change the oil, replace filters, test the battery under load, inspect the transfer switch or check the fuel system. Manufacturers set service intervals by runtime hours as well as by calendar, so if your generator carried the house through a multi-day outage it needs servicing afterwards regardless of the date.
The rest is what weather and time do to equipment left outside: corrosion at the enclosure and terminals, aggravated here by road salt on units near a driveway, and rodent damage inside enclosures that sit unopened for long periods.
Signs Your Generator Needs a Repair
Most of these show up during a routine exercise run, which is why it is worth being home for one occasionally rather than letting it run unwitnessed:
- It fails the weekly exercise, usually a battery, a fuel supply issue or a stored fault the controller is holding
- It cranks slowly, or will not crank at all, pointing at the battery, starter or charging circuit
- It starts and then shuts down after a minute or two, which suggests oil level, a sensor, fuel delivery or overheating
- It runs but will not carry the load it used to, which can be engine condition or a household load that has grown
- The engine runs perfectly and the house stays dark
- There is visible corrosion at the enclosure, terminals or transfer switch
That second to last one deserves its own explanation, because it is the call we get most often after an outage.
How We Diagnose a Faulty Generator
We pull the fault history from the controller first, because the unit has usually already recorded what went wrong. From there it is battery and charging system testing, fuel supply and pressure checks, oil and filter condition, control board and sensor testing, transfer switch operation, and a run under actual load. Our technicians follow these steps when diagnosing your generator:
- Battery and charging system testing, under load rather than a voltage reading
- Fuel supply and pressure checks, including the meter capacity if the unit has never carried a full load
- Oil, filter and fluid condition, which also tells us how the unit has been serviced
- Control board and sensor testing against the stored faults
- Transfer switch operation, tested as a system with the generator rather than in isolation
- A run under actual load
That last step matters more than any other. A generator that runs happily with nothing connected can still fail the moment the transfer switch drops the house onto it. Testing under load is the only test that tells you what will actually happen during an outage, and it is the one most often skipped. The are other generator faults we often see in Erie County and other Upstate New York homes, such as:
- Failing the weekly exercise, usually a battery, a fuel supply issue or a stored fault the controller is holding
- Starts and then shuts down, pointing at oil level, a sensor, fuel delivery or overheating
- Cranks slowly or not at all, which is battery, starter or charging circuit
- Runs but will not carry the load it used to, which can be engine condition or a household load that has grown
- Corrosion at the enclosure and terminals, aggravated here by road salt on units near a driveway
- Rodent damage inside the enclosure, common on units that sit unopened for long periods
Diagnosis is where a generator repair is won or lost, and it is the part homeowners rarely see. Our electricians have been working on standby systems across Erie County and Upstate New York for years, on units we installed and plenty we did not, so we know which faults the controller reports accurately and which ones it points at wrongly. That experience is what stops you paying for a transfer switch when the real problem was a battery that could not hold under load. Once we know what has failed, you get it in plain language: what is wrong, what it will take to put right, what it will cost, and whether it is worth doing on a unit of that age. Then you decide, with the full picture rather than a parts list.
When Does Generator Repair Become Replacement?
Repair an isolated failure on a unit in sound condition. That covers most of what we see, and it is usually a battery, a sensor, a control board or a transfer switch component.
Replacement becomes the honest recommendation when major engine components have failed, the enclosure and internals have corroded badly, or parts for your model are no longer available. There is one more that catches people out: the house has outgrown the generator. A unit sized ten years ago may be undersized now that there is a heat pump, an EV charger or a finished basement drawing on it, and no repair fixes that. The answer there is a new load assessment rather than another parts bill.
Generator Repair Across Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany
We repair and service standby generators throughout Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, West Seneca, Orchard Park, Tonawanda, Grand Island, Williamsville and Niagara Falls, and across Rochester and the Finger Lakes, Syracuse and Central New York, and Albany and the Capital Region.
Conditions differ across different regions and so do the faults. Units in the Southtowns and the snow belt below Buffalo spend weeks buried, so we see more intake and exhaust obstruction, more moisture in the enclosure and more corrosion at the terminals. Generators sitting close to a driveway anywhere in Erie County take road salt spray all winter, which eats connections and hardware. Out toward the Finger Lakes and the rural stretches around Syracuse, more properties run on propane and on well water, which changes both the fuel checks we make and the loads the unit has to carry when the power goes out.
Our electricians work in all of those conditions every week and carry the parts that fail most often in them. A battery, a set of filters and the common sensors are on the van rather than a week away, so a straightforward repair usually gets finished on the first visit.
Why Homeowners Trust Reimer for Generator Repair
We have been in this region since 1921, through every storm that has taken the power out, and Buffalo News readers voted us Best of 716 for electrical in 2025. More than 13,764 Google reviews stand behind the work. Here’s why Reimer is the best choice for generator repairs:
- Licensed, background checked electricians
- Controller diagnostics and load testing, not guesswork
- We service equipment we did not install
- Upfront pricing approved before repairs begin
- Day or Night availability during outage events
- A 100% satisfaction guarantee on all of our work
Schedule a Generator Repair Service with Reimer Today
A standby generator only earns its cost on the day the grid goes down, and by then it is too late to find out something has been wrong for months. We repair generators across Buffalo, Erie County and Upstate New York, on units we installed and plenty we did not, and we tell you exactly what we find and what it will cost before we touch anything. We have been keeping the power on in New York homes since 1921, and Buffalo News readers voted us Best of 716 for electrical in 2025.
Call Reimer to book your generator repair or service in Buffalo, Erie County or anywhere across our Upstate New York service area, or book online and we will confirm your arrival window. If your generator has already failed during an outage, tell us when you call and we will treat it as urgent.
Over
100YEARS OF
EXPERIENCE
Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing Repair in Buffalo, New York.
For decades, local homeowners have trusted the team at Reimer Home Services with all their home service needs. We’re your HVAC company in Buffalo. We’re your plumbers here in Western New York. Above all else, we’re here for you and your home.
You can count on our team to be there when you need us. In fact, we’re available Day or Night. Your home’s problems can’t wait, and neither should you. Call us and let us know how our plumbers and techs can help.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Generator Repairs
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Reimer is proud to be a Factory Authorized Trane System Dealer and offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. We are so confident that you will be comfortable – not only with your Trane System heating and cooling products but with us as a Factory Authorized Trane System Dealer – that we back it up with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. This guarantee applies If, you are dissatisfied with your Trane System equipment within one year, for any reason.
