Storm Responder Will Not Start - Bad Fuel? No Spark? 

I don't agree with the previous comments about shortening your videos. I think the editing is perfect. I also appreciate your attention to detail. Thank you

I love videos like this. Thorough explanation. No irritating background music. Brilliant all round 😊

Yeah, I love the longer videos. I literally watch them before bed and have them playing after I fall asleep. Keep up the great work!

Great job! I also agree that the videos are great as is. Great filming, no annoying music, clear explanations and real world solutions in action. Thank you sir!

May I suggest using a thin wire to guide the main jet into its position, thus preventing it turning sideways when re-installing it. Thanks again for an outstanding problem solving video. Perfect directions and perfect length for this video. Keep them coming.

Love the Videos, I personally like the longer videos as they come with great detail and explanation. Thank you for what you do.

Great video. Thank you! Fixed my generator for our major ice storm a couple weeks ago. This gave me the info to get my carburator apart and I had the same clog in the jet. So thankful. Love the simple, articulate, thorough video!

l finally ending my season for generator's in my private shop l stopped counting at 47 this year l made a fortune repairing and selling refurbished generator's but you probably have me beat wow do you get a lot of genertor's thanks for the vid's keep them coming

I'd put a mark under the tank - so that you know you've worked on it at some point, eventually one will make it back

I cleaned my tank with a gallon of white vinegar. Let it sit in there for a week. Drain it out took the top off and put it back in the garage and let it dry out for another week. And it cleaned it as good as you can get. It had all of the ethanol jelly all inside the tank. It cleaned it out as smooth as a bore.

When you first started the motor, sparks flew from the generator end. If you watch your video at 0.25 speed you will be able to see this at 24:05. Your videos are just the right length, well covered and thanks for making them. Also, later in the video you caught the problem with the rectifier capacitor, nice catch.

Way to add some "spark"! Glad it was only the brush assembly and gas on this one. Killer find for $50! The snow on the ground shows your commitment to keeping it moving too. Impressive!

I got my new Kill a Watt meter, yesterday. Can’t wait to use it to test my big generator, but the weather is lousy, here. It does work as intended. I did check my house voltage with it and it only has 59.9 FPS. That surprised me but the voltage was dead on 120 vac.thanks for telling me about this meter. You can never have enough tools.

I did not see that shoot a spark out the back. Glad you caught it. And no do not shorten your video's as it is important for me to see your work to understand what you are doing. Thanks for the video. Looks like a great generator.

Great video. Same generator as mine. I've had great success restoring surface-rusted chrome by rubbing it down with a wadded up ball of tin foil kept wet by dipping in a bowl of white vinegar. It removes the rust and fills in the pitting with small bits of the foil. Give it a try.

Thank You for your video. We lost power every where last week in MI. My generator had sat for 9 years half full of gas. I followed this video and did all things you said to do. On the very first pull it started up. TY for helping me save everything in my freezer and fridge.

James , I’ve enjoyed watching you repair generators for over a year and finally had a dead ES 300c Honda.. gas was at least 3 yrs old in the carb. Main jet was totally clogged and even tank filter. Recoil starter was off and in pieces. 1hr later I had a perfectly running Honda. $3 worth of carb cleaner and your channel. I need your hot tank if I keep doing this, tho. Thanks!

That looked like a MOV metal oxide varistor which suppresses spikes. The diodes and MOV's are readily available via Ebay, Amazon if you know the numbers off the components. The brushes may not be too hard to find either. Thanks James.

I'm in a grants what's the other person the attention to detail is very important especially somebody that has never done this it gives them a good understanding of what to do thank you James

Love watching your methodical troubleshooting.

Absolutely love every video you post !! I was wondering how you learned everything about this stuff?? Thanks again , keep the videos coming 👍🏻

Do your video's help!! Yes' indeed they do man, thanks for the insights!! Being a new comer, recently purchased a new German one that worked fine, until we had a very rainy night, come morning it would not start!! In that starter motor turns engine over, but' does not fire it up as it did!! Regards George.

Learning all the time James thank you 🇦🇺🦘👍

Thanks for vid James. Keeping the detail in, is the way to go.

Great buy Doc. It will be a good gen for somebody.

thanks for sharing your knowledge with us,very helpful

To keep from scratching the chrome when taking off rust, do it with dry steel wool. No scratches!

People never Lear about ethanol fuel, do they? However I did buy a 5kw Briggs generator five years ago and it had a filthy car, right out of the box. It was puking gas out the air filter when you turned the fuel on.. I guess it took me 30 minutes to clean it up and get it going and change the oil in it. It has served me well, ever since. I run it 15 minutes every month and it stays full of PNE stabilized fuel and 10w-30fully synthetic oil, changed once a year.

I own the same model, garage kept, always starts, love it,

Man you really know your stuff.....GREAT VIDEO......THANKS

Editing looks fine. Great repair.

Thanks for the tips👍

Add another one to the List...Good Job

another excellent video, keep them coming, thanks

I think your diagnostic procedure is second to none. The fact that you spotted a blown cap in the diode bridge proves it. With your capabilities I was nevertheless mystified why you would not pull a diode out of one of the other bridges instead of using those crappy worn out brushes. All those diodes in these bridges are so close in value as to be identical. Also, every time I drain the oil now I fill the crankcase with diesel and let sit an hr, before draining it and putting fresh oil in. If you do this with your auto you will immediately see the difference after running it an hour after the oil change.

Great video my fellow geek. you are spot on.

Thank you for another good video!

A tip, with an ultrasonic cleaner, if you use the mix I have used for many years, it's 50% simple green PURPLE, 25% white distilled vinegar, and 25% baby water IE distilled water, you will have a super clean carb, and it even helps gaskets, doesn't harm them at all, great video BTW.

Loved the pyrotechnics 🤣🤣 Nice job and easy fix.

I wonder how many people watching your series have gone..."Wow! That's MY generator! I sold it for $20! Damn!" 🤣

James, thanks for such an informative video once again. Learned several new things this go round. One being the JIS screwdriver. I am presently working on a gen that has that very carb on it. Cleaned it out on night, next day a ton of gas on ground. Ordered a new carb. Rite off the bat, the carb overflowed a mountain of gas. Amazon is shipping another one out. Confidence is not high on the next one. Will try to total rebuild the original and see if that helps.

Nice job!!!

I've had this generator for about 9 years and it wouldn''t start this year. My guess is also fuel, though I used stabilizer. Great video.

As soon as I saw that flash for a second I thought perhaps it came out of the muffler. When I went back a few seconds and watched it again that's when I saw that it clearly came from the back. It's a good thing that you keep all the parts from the machines that you have to scrap. I do the same thing you just never know what oddball thing you might need. As always another great video and as always I definitely hit the like button and I look forward to watching your next video.

Excellent job: I have had countless number of those Nikki carbs in my shop, they are junk. I wish someone would come up with a replacement instead if Nikki. I called Walbro and they could not cross reference a replacement one as of last year. The jelly is broken down ethenol fuel, I try to always get my customers to buy the non-ethenol but not always available in some areas. Thanks for the video's.

I'm guessing that capacitor just had enough, certainly makes for an exciting test, nice job

Time for a little home made power stand/dash. Mount a switch, bulb socket, plugs, Kill-a-watt. Cut up an old extension cord. Keep male end for generator. Cut female end and wire into your new lil dash, Etc.. Right at camera height.

hi james nice easy fix, as always brilliant video , perfect gene

Need to combine some of those brush / bridge rectifier assemblies, new skill, soldering!!

nice work,,,another nice find

Dr. Generator, very thorough as usual and it is so satisfying to see the obvious problem as when you pushed out the "jelly". The simple fact is that the carb was constipated. :-) To prevent the short brass jet from tipping during insertion, pass a small wire through the carb from the other side and use it as a guide for the jet as it is dropped into place. A little silicone grease on o-rings can be a big help when seating them. Having the exit spigot protrude up into a fuel tank is a good thing as it prevents drawing fuel directly off the bottom where water and contamination collect.

spot on James

Variety is the spice of life 😉

Hi Mr. James check minute 24:06 starting fashing in the dinamo area...

What i use to clean / dry fuel tanks is stuff a few clean cloth rags in the tank then using compressed air thru a 1/4 inch tube. The swirling of the rags cause by the volume and velocity of the compressed air will soak up the last of the fuel and break lose any dirt in the tank. remove the rags with long nose pliers.

Nice Video!! If you let your water contaminated fuel bottles settle out, you can put them in the freezer. The water will freeze solid, then you can poor off the strait fuel.

Hi James, (Trevor from QLD, Australia). Re water in petrol tanks...I don't know whether or not you are aware of this, but I have quite often found that adding methylated spirits (at ratio of approx 1 cup per 20 litres of petrol) will, in most cases, will get rid of the water in both the tank, and fuel filter (including cars). The metho seems to break the water up fine enough so that it will pass through the system without any additional problems. This is especially handy if you don't have any tools handy, and/or don't have any spare fuel filters. It is also worth noting that the water can be picked up via the fuel-bowser at the service station. When filling a small-engine fuel tank, I always pour it through a funnel fitted with a fine gauze filter to not only prevent solid contaminants from entering the tank, but also to prevent water from entering the tank. Hope this hint comes in handy for you...and your viewers. Keep the videos coming...I thoroughly enjoy watching, and learning from them. Cheers...Trev. April 4, 2021.

hey we are getting a lot of storm responders lately

Those black gas filter funnels work. First you need to let the fuel to be filtered stand, then pour into the level funnel over the center hump. When using filtered fuel in equipment to burn I fill using the filter funnel once again. I have a riding mower I use to put around and use bad fuel in it and it runs fine.

Good video thanks

I will investigate and I will get back to you in a few days so I'm thinking maybe something went bad or something we'll find out though thanks for your information

I've been having a lot of trouble with bad gas too! My generator, mower and truck have trouble with the ethanol. I saw a report that some gas stations are selling gas that has up to 51% ethanol. Even stabill isn't helping much with that.

Another good informative video James. Question can you make a video of the pre checks you do before you make the purchase?

You can get diodes and caps to get your spares back in shape. Those boards are the easiest to de-solder and solder to. Mouser.com, for example, has those diodes at $0.52/ea.

I have used tin foil and water to bring back chrome .the tin foil flakes off as you scrubbe it and fills in in the pitted areas of the chrome .

Awesome man

"What is the gel in my boat gas tank? What you likely have is a mixture of gasoline, alcohol, and water. Maybe a dose of bacteria was thrown in. Sounds like you already have it all the way to the carburetor if you've run the engine. That stuff may have clogged the sock on your fuel pickup in the tank."

I never thought of giving my generator an IV drip. I'll have to try that.

Excellent I could almost tell that it was a fuel problem because of your past videos and diagnoses. Thanks James for sharing your video with us. Ed

Hi James, Got the same on my Troybilt 5500 a GS1825, can be gotten at Home depot 4 about 32$

I hate loosening those Nikki-style bowl screws! The JIS screwdriver makes it easier but sometimes I need the old vise grips to crack them loose!

I notice you're always fighting the funnel and the big oil jugs when adding oil. I think we've all been there. The best trick I figured out is to use gear lube bottles. They've got the perfect shape, a nozzle that fits in the oil fill, and a well marked measuring scale on the side. I rinse them out good with solvent and make sure they're clean and dry. I find out by trial or the manual how much oil the engine is supposed to hold and write it on the side of the block. Then when it's time for an oil change, I fill a gear oil bottle with the specified amount of oil and just squirt it right in. Since the amount is already measured, there's no harm in putting the fill side up on a wooden block to tilt it a bit and make it flow in easier. No mess, no funnels, no overflowing. And unlike the funnel, the gear lube bottle has a cap so it stays clean between uses and doesn't drip all over.

That Jelly is usually caused by Stabil when it starts to break down or if it was overdosed. I stopped using stabil several years ago. I work in a shop for a municipality and once we switched to Startron we have had no issues with stuff that has sat over the winter, it always starts right up.

I'm the same way. I will always check the oil before trying to start any generators especially if i'm working on someone else's

Yeah a lot of water.. bring on the day when they run on water I say lol great video mate.. stay safe

You could refurb those brush units if you purchased bags of caps and diodes. Dirt cheap in bulk. Just solder on.

Are you handy with a soldering iron? Seems like you could make a couple good brush sets out of your collection by swapping components.

Is there any reason why you can not replace the diodes and capacitors on the brush assembly?

To get that last bit out put three or four blue disposable shop rags in the tank then blow around with compressed air on a wand then pick them out. You’d be surprised how much cleaner the tank will be.

I think I should blame you for the halve a dozen portables in my barn. Went through about 15 last year. Thanks bud.

Soap filled wire wool pads are the thing to use on rusty chrome, they do not leave scratches you get using Scotchbrite.

Use a little chrome polish with your scotch brite or steel wool, it doesn’t care if you get it hot and it’ll keep the rust from coming back as easily

Quick fix a pipe cleaner. Bunn coffee filters excellent use.

Good engine

Looked like brushes were different size? Nice fix

It would be interesting to see what the THD was on the brush set with the blown capacitor versus a good one.

Since you are loosing daylight you need to find some old school 500 watt halogen lights to put a nice load on the generators.

MOV I think rather than Capacitor. The no load voltage seemed a little high, hence the MOV may have started to conduct.

Watched a Project Farm video about fuel 'stabilizer'. He showed that evaporating fuel would leave those jelly blobs no matter what... even with fuel stabilizer.

the pilot fuel tube full of what i think is sawdust, a dusty coverd gas can would do it. filling the tank with a can coverd in sawdust droping into the tank.

You can easily fix those regulators as those diodes and capacitors look like very common parts that you can easily get.

James Would you do a video on how to set up a test fuel stand and show us what tools we need for a home repair shop. Just want to be able to repair my own equipment. kind Regards Dale

80% plus of small engine problems are fuel related. Solder in a new working diode, problem solved. Use carburetor cleaner and scotch brite pad to clean up the chrome muffler. You are gonna make a decent profit on this one. There sure must be a lot of Storm Responder generators sold!

"There's your problem Lady."

I use a tip cleaner through that jet to keep it from turning in the tube.

Those diodes should be easy to replace if you've got some soldering skills and can read the part number. Should be 1Nxxxx. We old electronics techs are used to removing and replacing electronics components.

Fuel with ethanol damages power equipment if left in, as the fuel system is vented and the ethanol absorbs water from the atmosphere. If there is no choice of non ethanol fuel, before putting the equipment away, fuel should be drained and stored in a fully sealed container and the equipment run until out of fuel. For even better results, after it is run dry, add some canned fuel and run that through the carburetor for a minute so it will flush out the bad fuel and then you can store it with no issues.

THE JELLY THAT WAS IN THE BOWL WAS PROBABLY STABILIZER FOR WINTER TIME I THINK I'M JUST GIVING A PROBLEM THAT IT MIGHT BE BUT YOUR THE EXPERT NOT ME I'M NOT TRYING TO BE A SMART ALECK BUT JUST THROWING SOMETHING OUT THERE TO THINK ON JUST SAYING WELL TAKE CARE AND STAY SAFE I HOPE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY AND WEEKEND UNTIL YOUR NEXT VIDEO MY FRIEND

Those diodes and capacitors are available from digikey or newark electronics very inexpensively. Easy to fix the board.

If the gas has alcohol in it , the alcohol will absorb moisture from the air . Over a long period of time the alcohol evaporates and leaves behind the water . In your car the fuel is burned before this can happen so it is good for cars .