Chickanic referred to you as the generator expert to use your vids if you need to troubleshoot and repair your generator. That’s a big compliment and well deserved.
Great job Jim! On my Generac the recoil is clocked more at the 1:00 position and it doesn't interfere with the air box. We're still recovering from the hurricane Helene. I can't fix generators fast enough. I've sold out of all of the repaired units I had in stock. Crazy times! Thanks!
James, I do a lot of 3D printing for hard to find replacement parts, in Fusion 360. How I do the part dimensions is to ask the person with the part to trace the part on 2x2 mm graph paper and then send me pictures of the part from all sides and a picture of the graphed tracing. I do not charge anything for this work. I will do the drawing in Fusion 360 and send you the Fusion file so you can open it up in your program. The drawing may need dome tweaking but you and your son can do that with the fusion file. Hope this will help you. My fun is to work out how to draw the part at the same time learn more of the features of Fusion 360. Sorry I submitted this before I saw the ending of your video. Your son did a great job on the print. It looks like he used PLA. If so you should print it in ABS or polycarb, as PLA and gas do not play well together.
Sounds like you guys know what you're doing and talking about. I'm looking to get an already designed part (with .stl file) printed. I emailed James to ask him about it as I have sent him a couple of things (1 a generator) for the channel.
Do you think PETG would be good? My son-in-law printed some models for me that have been out in direct sun for 3 years, and they look like the day he made them. But of course gasoline is different.
Hi - PETG is much better with gasoline, as is Nylon. But without a restrictions. You should not use 3D filament printed containers for gas or any volatile fluids, the layering of filament printing is likely to leak. Use only gasoline rated container. For what James is using for the air box cover PETG, Nylon and ABS will work. You have to choose wisely when applying 3D printed plastics for your purposes. Hope this helps!
Very impressive as always! The use of modern technology like a 3D printer can really bring new life to old machines with hard-to-find and/or discontinued parts. It definitely can be a great tool for the hobbyist.
I think the damage to the air box is from the pull cord. I’d try indexing the starter housing clockwise so the rope doesn’t rub on it and you’re pulling more up than sideways
Am I the only one missing Jim’s paint booth for frame fix up? Nice repair and kudos to your son for 3D printing the airbox cover. In the future we’ll expect to see more works of art!
The previous owner of that generator . . . well . . . I am always astounded at how little some people understand about mechanical things. Even after being told a number of times that machines will not maintain themselves, some people just don't get it. They pay good money for a machine, and then let it turn into junk. Anyway, thanks for the video. 👍👍👌👌
I might own a few 3D printers and have often thought that they would be a great tool to supplement the repairs that you are doing. Fusion is a great product for such designs and there are many RU-vid videos to assist.
Good morning, thank you for another great Thursday morning video. I really look forward to your videos every week. Congratulations to your son's accomplishment with the 3d printing. Have a good weekend.
Stellar work! Plus the extra goodness of having your son 3D print the air box cover, with good learning on his side, coupled with the satisfaction & pride of doing good work AND helping Dad--does it get any better than this? There were some new twists for me in this video, regarding problems & their solutions. There's quite a bit of satisfaction in recognizing the problems correctly, and also in knowing what your spare parts inventory is, not to mention HAVING the right parts to install. It's a surprise that the original owner fought with so many problems--kerosene, broken main jet, broken starter pull cable, broken choke lever. I suppose that the bright side of discovering kerosene in the gas tank may have been finding so little rust. I'd been trying to imagine how the air box cover had been cut repeatedly, but then I read through the comments; the viewers made perfect sense of the frayed starter rope being associated with the roping cutting into the air box. I wish I'd been that sleuthful! It's unfortunate the original owner couldn't put 2 & 2 together to explain the damaged air box cover AND the damaged pull starting rope. They might have saved the cover and the rope with a little rotation of the housing. But that wouldn't have solved the other issues, so they were destined for failure by not taking the effort to learn about small engines/motors and combustion. Thank you for doing the work you do, AND for sharing it with us. This was a beautiful piece of education & satisfaction for me. I hope you enjoyed doing it, too!
All he had to do is rotate that recoil 180 degrees and he would've saved that air box. Shame. I have to have my son learn 3d printing, nice job! 2 coffee video this week!
James, when you are dealing with rubber bushings going into holes or items going into the holes of rubber bushings... try the old racer's trick. Use Windex. Windex is awful slippery and it evaporates completely leaving NO residue. Using oil or soap leaves a residue that can compromise the holding power of the rubber part or cause a degradation of the rubber. Windex can also help release rubber parts or things pushed into rubber parts.
Great job on the air box cover! Give that young man a job! Son, ask dad about salary and benefits. Dad, remind son about the cost of a roof over one's head these days.
It is amazing how badly people abuse generators either because they are ignorant or very affluent or both. Their abuse is your gain. BRAVO to your son.
Amazing content!! Meticulous evaluation of each necessary engine component and never ceases to reveal surprises!1 Kerosene in the fuel tank?/ Really?? Great stuff, James. Many thanks!! PS A 15 y/o son who knows, understands and can create 3-D printed plastic parts?? WOW!! Eternal job security down the road. Good for HIM!!
Those 3D printers are Awesome! My son has one and he has made me a lot of partsI needed.The last thing he made me was a couple of 11" high owls I put near my porch light to scare away robins that want to build a nest on my lights. Thanks for the Vids Jim
Great video James-no disappointments as usual. If possible could you do a video to discuss THD levels? Namely re: electronics, and how it can negatively affect what's found in an average household e.g., PC, iPhones, appliances, furnace, shop tools, etc, and at what levels that happens. What kind of generator(s) either mobile or stationary backup generators are best suited and why? I simply don't trust the info found online-much of which is "sponsored" information. Thanks James.
Looks like Chucky attacked that air box with a knife. It is almost Halloween after all. I look forward to whatever nightmare generator he finds for the 31st.
Great work, thanks for the video. On reinstalling the carb and airbox, I have used long studs made from all thread to help align parts like that and then remove the studs one at a time to install mounting screws.
Jim what ultrasonic cleaner are you using now? I think I have possibly watched every generator video and I believe you have switched several times. As always another great video.
Now you know why it smoked like a bandit when you first started it because of the Kerosene that was in the tank ,Yup that did it , Another super Video Jim in the can
Might be time for your son to start a YT channel about 3D printing parts for dad :) Kinda serious. I was very interested in that part, and was hoping for a full segment,
Why did the importer not insist that the recoil starter be turned 180 degrees to the right (as seen from the front) thereby routing the starter rope into the empty space on the opposite side of the machine....rather than sawing the airbox cover??? If easy access to the choke or other controls is absolutely necessary it may need a pulley running off the chassis rail above that rotated starter mechanism and a "holster" for the pull start handle on the rail opposite (above the airbox cover) to get the pull to that side of the generator. I have seen the same sawing action on a Kawasaki mower engine that was replaced on another mower chassis and the starter cord is routed so that it saws the plastic starter cover...
Hah! I was just about to type a comment saying the box cover would be a 3d print candidate when you said it. Fusion 360 is truly amazing, but you're right it's not something to pick up in half an hour or - to become quick - half a month.
Hello James: Another very entertaining video. Kudos to Father & Son refurbishing another unit destined for land fill. Time is marching on " your comment dad learning from his son on the 3D Printer". I thought we may see you either plastic weld or JB weld repair the old cover. The 3D project repair a better solution. Keep up the good work and enjoy the Father/Son time. If you are like most familys, it will become increasingly more difficult to have quality time togeather as the boys schedules become bussier.
Strictly speaking, you only have 91.2% of the power, when the voltage drops from 120 volts to 114.6 volts. With resistive load. So only 2736 watts instead of 3000 watts, or 2827 watts instead of 3100 watts.
Hot rod generator with the yellow and black paint and the chrome valve cover. I never saw a small engine with a chrome valve cover that's just funny. I wish I could afford a 3D printer and knew how to make stuff to print as I would be using it quite a bit.
My take is this unit was stored inside but on it's side and at some point was used as a sawing table, hence the state of the airbox cover and the smoke screen at first start; the engine oil seeping from the crankcase past the rings into the combustion chamber...
Kudos to your son on the design. Designing something like that would have taken me some thinking. In my case, I still have a paper scanner. I would have taken a scan of the face on my paper scanner then imported that in f360 as background and traced that for my initial piece. I then would have probably printed a few test pieces that are only 1 mm tall (I use metric only when using a 3D printer for the most part). Even if I have used it since 2017, I never really trained so I am very limited in my skills. I typically upload my niche parts knowing that no one will use them but it doesn't hurt. The only part that I made that was used the most was a simple print that attaches to an old aerosol bottle and allows you to refill it with air. Great for cases when your WD40 bottles are full of fluid but out of air. I am typing too much now.
Great video and kudos to your son. You both did a terrific job. When I want to design a 3d printed object from an existent object I usually scan it using my iPhone running a 3d scan app. There are several videos on RU-vid that explain this process. It is much easier to start with a scanned 3d object than designing something from scratch.
I;d be willing to bet that the smoking at first was from the kerosene in the system... I wonder if someone tried jet fuel? Anyway, great recovery on the generator.
Great Job! Tell you son congratulations on a job well done. BTW what do you think the cost in materials to make that cover was? I know most of the time and effort to make something goes into the CAD part with a 3D printer, but still, that part is done and you have the file now to make more if need be. Many years ago when I was in business school I wrote a term paper on 3D printers being used for manufacturing products that only required short production runs. It was about on-demand production, but I never considered this technology making it into home use. It was a visionary paper at the time because this even predated the internet as we know it today. In fact when I presented to my Production Management class I had to make slides for the overhead projector we were using. We did not have any notebooks or media hookups like the training room here at the Public Transit Office where I work today.
Nice video and presentation. Page 30:00 I have experimentally and picked up the plastic welding / patching skill on a home repair that I can’t get around. Looking back I am glad I did. May be you too some day.
Very nice fix by both you and your son. I wonder if that airbox could have been "Plastic welded" with one of those inexpensive kits? I have found them to be VERY useful in repairing many plastic items that have been "broken", but not beyond repair.
I'm still at the beginning of the video, but you should look into getting a 3d printer and finding out how to make 3d models of plastic parts. You could probably 3d print some of the air filter covers that you can't buy. There has to be someone out there that would be able to help with doing it.
