Well this sucks

[skeets]

The power went out today, not a big deal around here anyway. But I went fired up the old gen set,, ran kinda ok for a few hours, then quit. Hmmm low oil maybe,,, nope she is full,, fuel filter clogged maybe water in the fuel,, nope. Pulled the rope and she fired right off, and then after about an hour started to surge, thats hard on stuff, then settled down,,ok maybe just some stale gas,, yep I use stable in the tank,,, And then nada she quits! Couldnt get it started again even shot some,, forgive me starting fluid in her and nada, got gas, spark and clean air filter... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! I should mention she is over 20 years old and lord only knows how many hours it has, several years ago we lived off this 5 KW gen set for 13 days inthe middle of the winter and it ran 24 hours a day,, She had to, my wife was pretty sick during that year.
I really hate working on these little motors. And I am thinking finding parts for an old Tecumseh motor might be a bit tuff!.
So if I cant get this thing going, what gen set do you guys have that have proven an out standing piece of equipment?

 

[DeepWoods]

I have a Honda 3kw inverter that sips gas, can stand next to and hear someone whisper and have never had one issue with in ten years. My Honda is only 120 volt. Also have a 10kw Generac whole house generator that runs off propane. Never had a problem with it, but my neighbor who bought the same generator at the same time I did, had issues with it from the start. Long story short, Generac customer service SUCKS!!!! I hope I never have a problem with mine, as I already know I will be on my own when it comes to servicing or repairing it. I have since recommended to anyone who asks, to stay away from Generac Generators. They deserve all the bad press I give out, and more. If money isn't an issue I say go with a Honda inverter generator, and all your problems will go away.

 

[edritchey]

I use a winco 25kw pto generator with a 100amp 24 circuit manual transfer switch

 

[armylifer]

I have never seen probkems with my generators but my neighbors do. They use ethanol and I don't. That is the onky difference. Use non-ethanol gas or propane and problems will never appear.

 

[BigG]

I bought a Hobart 10,000 watt welder to be my back up. Thank goodness it has very few gen hours but one of my boys sure did enjoy learning to weld with it. A good friend of mine also bought a welder but it was a Lincoln 10,000. He has put more gen hours on his without a problem. I figured if I wanted to sell it I could always get my money back.

Also have one of those 2000 Hondas. I love that thing. We were just using it to trim up some trees. We put an IBC tote frame on the tractor forks along with the Honda and a HF pole saw. We did more in 10 minutes then it would have taken with the saw on the ground.

 

[Magicman]

My Son bought one of these LINK after Hurricane Delta and it served him well.

 

[34by151]

We have a Mine Spec 21KW 3 phase unit powered by a Kubota diesel.

415V, + 2 * 15A 420V outlets per phase

 

[skeets]

Sounds like lighting plant gen set, how are you knocking down to single phase?

 

[34by151]

Here on OZ we have 50Hz/415V 3 phase which gives us 240v single phase
In any case single phase 240V is just 3 phase 415v using one active and neutral

The genset controller contains a VFD for each phase so I dont need to to balance the phases.
In other words I can draw full power from a single phase.
Most gensets dont have a VFD so you need to balance the load on each phase.

While I may run a welder or compressor directly from the genset (when the power is out) I normally have it in automatic mode.

When the mains is down the 3 phase outlets are switched to the genset. If I need to run 3 phase gear I manually start the genset. If our solar battery gets low the solar inverter charger will start the genset and run it at 70% output to charge the batteries.

We had a cyclone a few years back and the power was out for 3 days. Solar output was about 25% of normal and the genset ran for about 2 hours a day to top up the batteries

Before we had the solar battery the genset would was started and stopped by the ATS. We use about 25KwH per day so its mostly on idle to run the whole property.
Fuel consumption is about 7 litres per day or 17 days per tank full

 

[G.rid]

I've gone thru Champion and King, now I'm trying a Firman. They're all ch'onda engines. The first two ran to about 15-1700 hrs before major issues. The Firman is up to about 450 hrs, still running strong.

As far as the issue you're having skeets. I had very similar happen on the King. It ended up being the low oil sensor. Not the wire coming out of the block but where it goes. Small silver box, about half the size of a Halloween smarties box. Its mounted by the recoil. It is possible to bypass it to verify, but I didn't say that. Safer to steal one from another engine that you know works.

QAZAKY Low Oil Alert Sensor for GX160 GX200 GX240 GX270 GX340 GX390 5.5HP 6.5HP 8HP 9HP 11HP 13HP Engine 34150-ZH7-013 15510-ZE2-043 Motor Generator Water Pump Lawn Mower Trimmer : Amazon.ca: Patio, Lawn & Garden

QAZAKY Low Oil Alert Sensor for GX160 GX200 GX240 GX270 GX340 GX390 5.5HP 6.5HP 8HP 9HP 11HP 13HP Engine 34150-ZH7-013 15510-ZE2-043 Motor Generator Water Pump Lawn Mower Trimmer : Amazon.ca: Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.ca

 

[skeets]

Already did the low oil box, it was bad,, but thanks for the idea. No really as much as I like cars, trucks and hotrods and stuff, my little brother says if I lay hands to a gas motor, it is the kiss of death for it. He, on the other hand can change a motor rebuild it and never get his hands dirty. Me I change oil and it looks like been rolling around in a grease pit

 

[Fordtech86]

I got a portable Generac 8000 watt and a 2000 watt inverter generator. Only thing I can offer is to get one with electric start!

 

[skeets]

I looked at a Generac a while ago and have heard nothing but bad JuJu about them, I guess maybe its like harbor freight ,luck of the draw for a good one

 

[fruitcakesa]

My Dad bought a used Kubota 6500 diesel lowboy.
It is a beast, starts easily in cold weather, relatively quiet and fuel efficient

 

[GreensvilleJay]

You don't say which Tecumseh, but I'd...
drain ALL the gas
remove tank, clean it real good
replace gas lines
replace gas filter
remove carb, totally tear apart, properly clean( brake cleaner is good), resaasemble
fresh gas( hitest / NO ethonal is best)
I do this 'proceedure ' with every 'sat-a-while' engine and all have come back to life.

 

[skeets]

Well Jay thats where it is right now, did all of the above,, Now Im waiting for parts from amazon this may have been a combination of problems. SO new rubber grommet for the bottom of the tank, new fuel line, new valve, new filter, the old one seems OK but Im going to replace it, carb looks good seems open, unless the needle valve is sticking, though it seems to be free enough. Could well be the fuel line has just crapped out and swollen up so all new stuff, I mean its only 22 years old And if after all that if it dont run,,,,, I guess I ll look for a new one

 

[DeepWoods]

I got a portable Generac 8000 watt and a 2000 watt inverter generator. Only thing I can offer is to get one with electric start!

I would want electric start on a larger generator, but my Honda 3kw had the battery go dead on it probably 4 years ago, and when I go to start it, it ALWAYS starts by the second pull. No need to replace the battery. Most of the time on the first, but then I only use non-oxygenated fuel. I will never use that ethanol CRAP in any of my small engines ever again after having my carbs destroyed by that sh__ stuff.

 

[ehenry]

I have had a natural gas Generac 8000kw standby unit on my house for 20 years. Its not the quietest nor do I ask it to run the entire house. It is a no frills, no bells and whistles unit. The Auto transfer switch is General as well. Only twice in those 20 years has it ever failed to start, run and generate electricity. Once was the plastic starter gear stripped while cranking on its weekly excersise. The other was the battery died.

Generac units now dont have the best reputation but if you search and read reviews on air cooled home standby generators they all have about the same rating.

 

[aaluck]

I have never seen probkems with my generators but my neighbors do. They use ethanol and I don't. That is the onky difference. Use non-ethanol gas or propane and problems will never appear.

Sound, sound advice. I do not use it in ANY of my small engines including by Yamaha golf cart. I do not have any scientific study but I can tell you folks that use it always have problems and must replace lines yearly.

 

[skeets]

The problem with not using ethanol gas, is the closest place that sells it is on the other side of Da Burgh, round trip would be about 60 miles. Although this might be an opportunity to experiment with something I saw on youtube about removing ethanol from gas. We shall see