I found this Tailgator generator in a pile of junk on the curb and it would not start. It looked to be in great shape, so I decided to see if the generator would run.
Something I learned from a comment in another video that worked flawlessly for me. Tip the generator on its back 2 legs so it sits at an angle. Use a 10mm and unscrew the gold screw on the carb, it drops the bowl. Empty and clean the bowl and put a small wire through the jet, put back. Fired up literally first pull for me.
Neighbor gave me one of these for free last week. When I went to pick it up, he was dicking around with the carb, and said it had carb problems. When I got it home and opened the gas tank, oh the horror. It looked a 50/50 blend of chocolate milk and rust flakes. I have never seen a tank this bad. I ordered a new carb for $13 and I am still in the process of cleaning out the gas tank with gravel, WD 40 and apple cider vinegar. May have to go muratic acid as well, we will see. Hoping after all this time and effort, it will fire up and run. So far with the carb and a new fuel shut off valve, I am about $20 into it. Fingers crossed!
@@beingsneaky I did. It runs well. 900 watts, so it is limited, but it will run power tools like a sawzall or skill saw fine, as well as work lights. Pretty handy to have around.
Small Engine DIY. I also have one of these generators that ran great while it was pretty new. The only fuel that I have ever used with my TailGator was the 50:1 Tru-Fuel in the red can. My unit was having pretty much the same run issues as the one in your video - But not quite as bad. One of the associates at Autozone suggested trying a Denso spark plug, So I did change the spark plug to a Denso which directly cross references from the original Torch spark plug. When I put the plug socket onto the spark plug - I found that the plug was just barely screwed in with the metallic plug gasket not even set or collapsed for a good seal. I tried a plug gap with the Denso spark plug that was suggested on a website in which I wound up changing the plug gap back to the same gap on the Torch spark plug - It purred like a kitten. The plug gap was around.023 on the original Torch Spark Plug. So far I have not cleaned the carburetor yet- I’m probably going to suction out the old fuel and replace with new fuel and maybe a capful of SeaFoam. I will let you know if my efforts were not in vain.
When starting any gas operated equipment with a pull cord I suggest pulling the pull cord out halfway twice then give it a full pull. Been using this method for years and works for me all the time.
I think my old fan is like yours and anything that's been sitting I always pull the carb 1st. And I like your buddy the retrievable hound! Can't beat a good pup. Thanks!
I literally just picked this exact one up last night when I was scrapping. Try to fire it up last nite and nothing, so this morning drained the old gas cleaned out the carb because it did have debris in it. Put fresh mixed gas in it and it fired right up and runs as it should.
Glad I found your video. I actually found one laying on the road. I think it may have fallen off someone’s rig. The cast aluminum has a piece broken out of it and the pull is missing. I haven’t really messed with it but it does generate. I used my drill to spin the engine and meter would hit 118. The compression seems fine. Hopefully using your video I can get it up and going. If not I may try to adapt the generator to another engine.
I purchased the Australian version from Bunnings, then later found two at the scrap yard for $5 each not working. Spoke to one of the owners and he said that he used aero-start to start it and ran for two seconds and then stopped. After a day of investigation I found the crank shaft bearing seal nearest the generator had blown out, causing no crank case pressure. Seems the bearings seal's are the crank case safety pressure valves, they pop out during a crank case explosion/detonation, and two-stroke engine's rely on crank case vacuum to make the fuel flow through the carburettor reed, and crank case pressure to charge the cylinder head. After putting the seals back in to the bearings I got both scrap yard generator's working great. So if it does not start then the plug is oiled up, clean it, and do not use ether starters like “start you bastard”, or “easy start”. Otherwise you will initiate a crank case explosion and blow out the seals, then it is a 2hr job to dismantle to put the seals back into the bearings. PS the crank vacuum and pressure is the result of the piston expanding and reducing the crank case volume as it goes up and down, if the bearing seals are “popped” then the crank case will “breath” through the bearings.
My brother gave me one that he couldn't fix. Only took me a day to fix it. Mine is way uglier than yours and in rough shape. But it runs like new 😊 still powers as well. I was able to run my mini shop vac with it while my jeep compass couldn't power that thing, so I am happy
Thanks for sharing. I bought that model from a private party new but never used and it won’t run. I am gonna try shooting cleaner in the carb first with the bowl off first.
I have one, same issue. I put an inline filter on it, ngk b5. Runs like a champ. During power outages it runs the t.v. the satellite/dvr and my Hughes net no problem. Have owned for 3 years. If it craps out i will go buy another.
Those solar panels are amazing if they actually outperform that little generator. I have one of those generators I use in the field to power various electric tools; compressor, hedge trimmer, drill, lights. Any solar array I've seen which may obviate the compressor is at least twice the size of yours and, as you say, requires several batteries.
I done the exact same thing last year! Found the same generator that my neighbor had set out for the garbage truck. I brought it home and drained the tank and cleaned the carb and it fired right up. Had dead gas in it!!!😂🤣😁 Oh, the fan exploding, made me laugh till I cried 😂😂😂 I couldn't help but think that at least someone else has shitty luck like me most of the time!😂 Get lucky and find a generator, only to explode the first thing you plug in to it.🤣😂🤣
You can download the manual, for what it's worth, from the Harbor Freight website. Maybe I missed something, but did you check the spark plug, spray some starting fluid in the cylinder ? Something must have been stuck in the carburetor... I just bought a new one... like watching some videos about it to see what to expect. I had a hard time removing the gas cap... had to use a rubber strap wrench to take it off and put it back on.
Mine didn't smoke that bad after it was running for a while. Mine goes farther than my extention cords when I am using my hedge trimmer. Not quite enough power for my electric chain saw.
These are luckily cheap enough that if someone gets 1-2 years of use out of them I'd call that pretty good. But they are quite noisey, probably partiall because they are 2-cycle and I'm wondering if the more expensive models (even the Predator 2000 that HF also sells but is a bit quieter). I might pick one of these up as a backup, but for regular use (especially for camping) it sounds like they might be too noisy.
I have one, and to be honest they are not as loud in person, quite a bit quieter under load as well surprisingly. Also you can put a board in-between you and the generator and it really helps out too.
Tailgater is handy. When out on a call beats the check out of running 200' of cord to drill one hole. Note: don't use the korn syrup gas. E0 only. If you don't pay attention to this video.
I have the same generator and i recommend anybody that gets one to add an inline fuel filter to catch the junk that the factory shoulda cleaned from the tank. Other than that I highly recommend this thing.
It hasn't run in awhile, let it run a bit and the smoke should stop after a few minutes, then be clean. Mine does the same if I haven't run it for awhile. Great find if smoke issues clear up.
I just bought one of these today. Went to the auto parts store immediately to get an NGK plug. Crazy thing is the plug that's in it is a Torch F7TC and the manual says it takes an F5TC. NGK BP7ES and BP5ES respectively. So...what the heck do I put in it? 5 or 7? Any suggestions?
I say go with the manual because mine had the same issue and it made a world of a difference in the heat range it run much better I stick with the manuals because it’s meant for that machine
It seems these style of generators are cheap. Might want to check the spark plug itself, then the wire (especially where the wire connects to the end that goes over the spark plug). I saw a video of one the whole wire end came apart when someone pulled it off to change the spark plug.
Coil. Mine did the same thing. Even after I let it sit for 15 minutes to eat.... To this day I still don't know why it ran so good then after sitting for 15 minutes the coil died. No idea but got a new coil on Amazon for 8 dollars and I bought 2 just in case.
I picked up 2 of those for just a few bucks. I cleaned the carbs & they ran for a little while. It seems that the carbs are extremely sensitive to trash. I ended up throwing them in the trash. 🤣
good lord man just unscrew the screw on the bottom of the carb! you don't need to remove the entire thing or take apart the unit like that...the bowl comes off and you can then remove the needle and clean it which is most likely always the problem with small engines.
I live off grid. I burn up one of these a season. I have a pile of them. Come get em. Lol. If you buy a new one. Get the extended warranty. You are gonna need it.
9:34 Try turning "ON" the fuel. 😄 🤣 😂 10:44 You turned the fuel on to take it apart. 15:10 Now I'm confused! My fuel cut off goes inline for on and down for off 😳 I give up I just checked mine and fuel line was actually in OFF position but it still ran...?
most likely they used the wrong mix of oil to gas, that takes a 50: 1, solar dosen't work it's best on rainy days. Over the music, screaming and other thing that go on tailgating you might not hear it.
Most problems with if you to only run it no more than 4 hours and let it cool 4 hours. Between keep fuel off it will help with other issues. I a different one too. 4 hrs on 4 hrs off. Lol the fan going boom. To funny. I had one those type. Fans it did same thing.
It has a valve to shut gas flow off to the carburetor. If you turn the valve off and let the carburetor run dry then you will have less issues if you own one. Also use the fuel stabilizer if you are going to let gas set in it for a year or more unused.
