You have to always remember people today have no kind of mechanical aptitude. In my generation our fathers and teachers taught us about engines, how they ran, what they needed and how to troubleshoot problems. Most parents, today, do not have a clue because they grew up in the disposable generation - just buy another on and hope for a different outcome. In my generation we fixed the problems before the occurred and knew what to do if problems occurred, as they always do. I grew up building model airplanes which has gas engines on them, which taught me a lot. I also had a grandfather that was a stickler on preventative maintenance. I knew how to grease a tractor before I could spell the phrase preventative maintenance. My grandfather was a retired railroad engineer, so he knew all about taking care of engines, which he more or less passed on to me.
Good work James: I had a gas powered water pump that the oil was full of gas, rebuilt the carb, and it did it again, I pressure checked and vac checked the carb. Went to the guys house and found out he was running it on a steep hill and left the fuel valve on all the time. Got him to level the pump and no more issues. Thanks for a great video.
I find it very common here in the northeast where equipment sits for 6 to 8 months without shutting off the fuel valve OR customers leaving fuel in the fuel tank . Then again a lot of the snow blowers i work on do not come with a fuel shut off OR generators with out shut offs I add them to the fuel system .
Hey James, I know this video is quite dated, but I think the battery that cross-references the 6DM7 is a YTX7A-BS. It is a 12v 7ah battery with the proper terminal type (p-terminal) and proper orientation. Hope this helps one day in the future.
Love your videos just thought I would share some tips I’ve learned over the years. The first is I made a carburetor stand that I can install a carburetor with the bowl pointing up. then I use a mityvac set for 5 to 7 psi to check the needle and seat for leakage, that way there’s no chance of wasting expensive fuel in case it leaks. Next is I use motorcycle foam air filter oil for any foam air filters, it’s a very tacky sticky oil with a carrier fluid that will evaporate leaving an oil that doesn’t run to the low side of an air filter. I used to use motor oil but found it drains out to the lower side of a filter, if you use motorcycle filter oil it doesn’t take much at all and it stays in place and filters excellent. Also I use cheep Amazon hair dryers for generator load testing. I have 5 of them and only paid about $10 each for them and they will place a very good and stable load for testing. Love your channel and your content keep up the excellent work.
Free generator needed a oil change to get fuel out a little carb cleaning and a new battery and speed adjustment not bad for a free generator and it runs amazing little governor fix nice find @James Condon
I own 4 duromax generators. They are solid machines even though their model numbers are a bit misleading as to what their actual power rating is. I ran my XP4850EH for about a week after hurricane Ida, no issues whatsoever. People have to realize that you can’t let them sit with fuel in them. Fortunately I can also run this one on propane if I need it in a pinch.
@@meesau2112 the specific generator in my comment? I paid $310 brand new, delivered, from an ebay retailer 2000 miles away. Right now these generators are selling for more than double what I paid for each of mine. If your engine is blown, you can try to fix it, or you can wait for harbor freight to have a sale and buy an equivalent replacement predator engine. But before you go that route, make sure the alternator isn’t also bad. Hopefully your low compression is just a stuck valve. My generators are for backup power only, they spend most of their time doing nothing. For that purpose they are perfect. If I were using them every day on a job site, I’d have a better answer for you.
The square terminals on small power sports batteries can be annoying, but a trick I was taught is to put a small section of hose under the nut to keep pressure on it until you can get the bolt in. Flooded power sports batteries often come with a section of vent tube you can use!
Thank you for this video! My generator (Champion, but similar setup) wasnt starting due to fuel being left in. Knew what the issue probably was but had never cleaned a carburetor before and this helped me get it working!
Those "maintenance free" batteries can often be saved by ... maintenance - they dry out. Crack open the top sealing to expose the rubber cell-cups, pop and leave them off during the procedure, add distilled water with a syringe *just until* you can see water surface down there, not more! Use charger with recondition-/desulfating mode, must often be done many, many times to get it going and back in top shape. Check water level underways and add A LITTLE at a time if low. Or at first, use an old school charger on max until the battery starts drawing amps (can take a long time, maybe a day or so) and then switch to recondition mode. Have done this many times, saved me a lot of money.
Well, for someone who knows about generators, I must say I was a little shocked when he didn't know that whatever it says on the generator sticker is surge/start up watts and not running watts. Manufactures have been doing that for a long time.
Lucky grab here . I snagged a Onan microlite 2800 gas rv unit and after looking over, found oil had been not changed for a long time and spark plug was fowled badly. Plan is to use as an emergency 120vac 28 amp one leg feed in my home when needed. *****What could make a stator or rotor wind fail ?**** Gas heat, few lights and fridge or stove top ignition for the burners. Timing a few loads off I can run one laundry machine at a time, gas dryer..not a huge load. Keep these videos coming ..maybe sell some of these spare fixes to seniors who could benefit in retirement? Until the next fix SE Michigan.
Rotors typically fail due to a broken wire. Spinning at 3600 rpm causes fatigue over time. Stators usually melt down when they go. Either insulation failure due to poor duality varnish coating. Heat is another factor. Also corrosion.
Came across your channel a few days ago and have watched a handful. In my opinion, this is the best small engine/generator channel, I place you slightly above Steve’s small engine saloon because of your in depth explanation about repairing the electrical part of the generator in a previous video. Thanks for all of the information, keep up the great work.
How about a seasonal shift to snowblowers (if you use/need a snowblower). Love the content, there are a number of unique ‘subsystems’ that you could enlighten us about with snowblowers- if it fits with your “I repair neglected power equipment” objective! Thanks!
Hi if you warm up the aluminium main jet tube with your hot air gun so that the aluminium expands and the brass main jet stays relatively cold hold the carb with a leather glove you will have a better chance of removing the main jet. I have found if you get it between 80 and 100 c you get some limited success. You can't buy the test fuel tank in the UK.
Jim, in the event that you couldn't turn that battery around, you could slit a piece of hose, and slide it on the side of the battery rail, and that would preclude shorting it out. A motorcycle battery could be used in place of an SLA battery.
@@jcondon1 I saw that Taryl had a lithium motorcycle battery in a bike there a few weeks back. I don't think that would be ideal for a generator. I have a Craftsman flashlight that has a sealed beam par 36 bulb in it (spotlight), and I put a battery in it at about 1/2 the amperage required, and it works ok, but I only need it for emergency use. I'm hoping to get the right one for it, but I prefer my led lights when needed.
awesome as alway's we got hit with a high wind storm and my little shop ie me did 9 generaator's and 5 due in tomorrow keep up the great work till the next one
@@jcondon1 all worked perfect but the last on l was tired and missed a step l'll hit it in the morning thanks jame's the first of many storm's hitting here l'll be busy keep them coming l put you on auto play to keep the number coming in
14:37 that is not how you check battery resistance. to check you measure the voltage with and without a load and calculate the resistance with a measured current and a measured voltage drop
@@jcondon1 hi you could try putting the battery in parrell with a charged battery to see if it will recover or you could connect a older charger that keeps charging
Thank you for another great video. I recently purchase a new, and inexpensive generator with a 2000 watt surge rating and 1400 watt running watt capacity. I did some testing of the unit to verify it’s capacity. First I could not find a technical description of surge rating and came to the opinion that surge rating is probably a meaningless number. Do you agree? I also found my new generator could not produce 1400 watts at 60 hz. Its limit was about a 1000 watts. Have you considered testing the units in your videos to their running watt rating to see if they can actually produce the claimed output? I think your viewers would find a list of which generators met their claimed output (and of course which did not meet the claimed output) would be of interest.
@@jcondon1 I mounted about 5-6 electric oven calrod elements in a square angle frame stacked. Made it easy to set up loads and super compact, hang it on the wall or put wheels, also very lightweight.
Has in the crankcase happened to my Coleman Piwermate, 5200(i think) several years ago after a certified large engine(automotive) told me I would have less fuel varnish problems with the carb if I left gas turned on instead of isolating at the tank and running line and carb bowl dry. Hint, I did not. It took an Biut a year and a half between usesstoted in a closed up garage in wedt central Mississippi. U had to disassemble the carb by headlight in a crouched position around midnight. That gas had fuel stabilizer in it so what to contributes blickedjets I am uncertain, possibly the pressure in the tank and carb bowl that pushed the gas unto the tank and the float set was good so it may have been the heat on the fuel trapped in the boel pushing it into the carb throat and engine and the fuel lowering in the carb bowl triggering the meddle to allow refill of the bowl and repeating the process many times because there was almost double to just over double volume of gas and oil in the crankcase. temperature of the fuel
Hit enter before I intended to. Also, I would encourage everyone to use a good girl stabilizer, great luck with Lucas fuel treatment. And, to isolate fuel at the tank as you can never tell when some little buck tooth rat bastard (LBTRB)will chew into and through your rubber fuel line I have yet to kill the rat(s) dounung it so u guess I'm going to have to find a steel braid cover or covered fuel line in hope of detering my LBTRB from chewing my fuel line (be it a rat, squirrel or chipmunk, etc)
James, can you say anything about any ups or downs in availability of generators in say the past couple years? Would you say the trends are the same or different among new, used-working, and used-repairable? Thanks ... I usually learn something when I watch one of your videos.
I recently bought a tapered shaft adapter for my Yanmar diesel clone engine. I'm curious to see how it will work. It includes a 1/4" key for a pulley or centrifugal clutch. I plan to swap the engine on my "kinardly"(one can hardly tell what the parts are all from) tractor to use this. I'll need a jack shaft under the engine to keep the rotation in the right direction. I couldn't do this with my Honda tractor engine, as it has a pan, and the other end of the engine is the radiator and cooling fan.
Low voltage is not an indication of a bad cell, low voltage just means the voltage is low the battery may just be run down or weak from nonuse, you won't know if it's good or bad until you try to charge it....
Bought a Craftsman model #580.327140 4200W 7.8HP Today for $50 at garage sale. Looked brand New. Just put gas in it and She runs like a deer in the forest ! I had my Covid medical mask On so they couldn't see all my face when i bought it ? They asked me if I was that sexy guy with the hairy legs, arms, and hands on You Tube ? We Chuckled :-) I had shorts on BTW .
Nice maintenance video. Enjoying the details from it. I've been online digging up to figure out why my "DUROMAX 12000-Watt/9500-Watt" is not pushing power out. and I bumped into your video. Nice and throughout details. Any idea or recommendation as to what to look for, when generator is running but not generating power. It was running just fine, when my son turned off. But when we came back we don't see the voltage level indicating it's pushing out power. Also the auto-idle feature that used to work when things were plugged in, is no longer working and generator is running normally without idling all the way. Any hints? Thanks for the head up.
I would have loved to see you investigate why the voltage of the charging system was so high (close to 15v)! In the long run, it will certainly damage the battery. Especially on those sealed batteries. Thanks again for the great videos!
@@jcondon1 Connect a high wattage load resistor between the end of the charging cable and the positive battery terminal. This drops some of the voltage coming out of the charger and so there is less voltage across the battery. It limits current flow through the battery. Choosing the correct ohms and power rating for the resistor is important. The sort of value appropriate for this would normally be something like 4.7 ohms to 10 ohms and 25 Watts. The resistor needs to be mounted on the frame close to the battery.
Great video! I have a duramax xp4850eh and my fuel cap is missing. Do you know where i can find one without having to buy the whole gas tank? thanks for any help
I never heard of trying to measure the resistance of a battery (and I ran a retail battery store for several years). That reading is useless, as long as there is *any* voltage present at the battery terminals...
James, at 26:30 you mention about a toggle switch that goes to/from 120v and 120/240v. If the position of that switch is in the 120v setting only, would that bond the two hot outputs of the 30amp L14-30 twist lock receptacle into a single phase? Is that the purpose of that switch?
On foam air filters, you can use some engine oil. I soak most out with a towel, but it helps trap fine particles and help richen up a lean engine a little.
I have this same generator. I've drained the old gas and drained and refilled the oil, but when I turn the fuel valve on, gas runs out of the breather. HELP!
Most likely the needle, seat and float are not stopping the fuel flow. Make sure the float is not full of fuel and that the needle and seat are clean. If still leaking then you might need a new carb.
James, do you clean out the fuel tank tap's bowl? Could you place a small inline filter to take out the rust from the fuel tank...it's just going to cause a problem in the future?
No rust in this tank. There is a fuel filter screen in the tank, but you could add an inline one as well. I probably should have looked in the sediment bow.
James, could you recommend a good new or well maintained used generator to purchase? I'm looking for a power backup unit for my home. I'd visit you to purchase one, but I'm in Canada. I would be concerned about parts availability after a warranty runs out. Thanks, Bill
That is a hard one to answer. Generac is good about suppling parts 9not sure in Canada). Most generators have Honda clone engines. They are good, but must have no model number or manufacturer name for that matter never mind part number or parts. All that said, they are a clone of a Honda and parts are available and cheap, but hard to know with any certainty. Of coarse if you want something that runs well and parts can be purchased, then Honda is your best bet.
@@jcondon1 Thanks so much for your quick reply. I asked a small engine mechanic some time ago about this and he said the exact same thing, go Honda if you can. I'll look for a Honda motor generator with the features I want. Really like your videos, take care, Bill.
@@yuccaken I get that lol and and I get that for engine can be places in anything but the ppl that take the engine and out it in the housing they designed know where everything is they don't need to put the supports where oil drains or even the air box and carb some where you have to unbolt engine to get carb and air box off lol
Watching you on this video and in the part of making the new battery cable I am wondering why you take the shorter route on the cable just making a mechanical connection ? Don't you believe in making a electrical connection by Soldering them too ?
@@jcondon1 A mechanical connection is great for a short term fix and I have been working on electronics and fixing small engines like you do and BTW I do enjoy watching your video's but in a long term fix crimping plus a solder job on the terminals yo were using would be a very long term repair I have done it many times making replacement battery cables like you were doing. Take Care Jim BTW a high heat Weller soldering gun is all you need
@@jimpickett9974 I used to use solder clamps for making cables for motor car batteries. Cut the cable back too far. Place the clamps over the cut end. Pass current through the clamps and the excess part of the end. There is a lot of heat and the end of the copper becomes discolored. Feed solder into the cable until it is saturated. Stop the current flow and take the clamps off. The discolored ends of the cable are now cut off with a hacksaw. The end of the cable is now ready for insertion into the connector. Hold the cable in and heat the cable and connector with a large hot soldering iron whilst feeding solder in. This produces a very strong and reliable connection.
1:26 in. I had that issue, the carb leaked and fuel went into the oil and flooded the engine with gas. Also, use really hot water in the ultrasonic cleaner, it works much better that way.
Please explain how a potential needle/seat leak can let gas get into the oil. If the needle and seat are good how else might gas get into the oil? Since it doesn't look like the needle/seat was the problem how did the gas get into the oil?
Very Nice, muito bom seus vídeos, eu adoro ver estes vídeos de máquinas motorizadas tipo geradores, aqui é só Brasil, e também tenho um gerador é só ir até meu canal. Vlw, abraço....
Don't think I've ever seen a crankcase that full of gas. If the seat looked ok, could it be the overflow/vent from the tank....possibly the Gen got laid over somehow? I'm guessing the vent tube is installed in the carb/filter housing? Regardless, another win in the books for you James!
@@jcondon1 Are you located in California. Looking for a 2300 watt inverter on the very cheap. I'm always checking around for those free generators as like you I like to fix them but have yet to come across any. Do very much enjoy your videos. Tks Michael.
It is from Harbor Freight. Here is the link. Also linked in the description to a similar one sold on Amazon www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-pump-63144.html
3 days ago a storm blew through and we lost power. I have a Guardian (Generac) 8000 generator. After about 2 hours of runtime it quit. Thanks to your videos, James, I had the confidence to remove the carb and have a look inside. The main jet had somehow walked out and was lying in the bottom of the bowl. Reinstalled the jet and reassembled the generator. Started right up and ran another 3 hours before power was restored. Keep the great content coming. Yeah, your videos do "help someone". Thank you!
Isn't a somehow, the jet wasn't in tight, had that happen to me a couple times, generally because "I" didn't torque it down enough when putting it back
If someone had told me 30 years ago that in 30 years I'd be sitting in my recliner watching a 19 year old kid (30 years later) repair generators, I would have asked them what had they been smoking........ and yet here I am with coffee in hand. 2 thumbs up, James. 👍👍
I'm curious about the battery resistance measurement. Was the meter set to "ohms" and the probes placed across the terminals? If so, then the meter is not indicating battery resistance. That can be measured with the battery voltage drop under load with a battery tester or other resistance. Just my 2 cents. Nice score on the free generator, by the way. Cheers.
That would be a better way for sure. Since the battery was dead, thought I could get away just testing the ohms. If charged then voltage drop is the way to go.
@@jcondon1 That 0.8V that the battery was putting out would be enough to completely upset the meter reading - it could well be reading open circuit due to that. The meter measures resistance by passing a small, known current through the device under test, and measuring the resulting voltage drop. With these small sealed lead acid batteries, I think you're best off just seeing if it will accept a charge.
@@jcondon1 It in never safe to measure any battery using ohms on a meter. Any voltage in the battery can destroy a meter set to ohms. You should always use a DC voltage setting to check batteries.
In this case, the ohmmeter can be used as an indicator of the battery charge availability. If the resistance drops, then the battery takes current to charge. If not, the battery has an open circuit inside. And nothing else. Of course, the internal resistance cannot be measured in this way, and of course in this way it is possible to damage the ohmmeter.
@@jimsmith5148 I'm afraid this isn't correct - the 0.8V being put out by the battery will interact with the measurement current supplied by the meter in ways that make any reading completely invalid (see my comment above about how the resistance range works). You should not be able to damage a Cat-rated meter by putting it across any reasonable voltage source while in resistance mode, although you may damage an non-Cat-rated meter (the movement/electronics is essentially in a millivolt or microvolt range when measuring resistance).
FROM THE INTERNET: You can’t measure the internal resistance of any battery using an ohmmeter. The battery voltage will override any reading the ohmmeter might produce, and possibly destroy it in the process. To measure internal resistance you need a voltmeter and a known resistance. Measure the voltage of the battery with no load. Apply your known resistance load and note the voltage drop. From this you can work out the sum of the internal resistance and the the known load resistance.
Just a suggestion. You might not want to work around mechanical or electrical stuff with your wedding band on ? You came very close to touching the positive wire on that solenoid. Ouch ! That was #1 rule in the shop i worked in. Do you cover your face when you go to Harbor Freight ? Or, do they have the pleasure to know who you are ?
