Thumperings
Forum Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2018
- Threads
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- 1
Just found a generator on the side of a Vermont road. Won't start. Here's what I've tried
. Not a ton of documentation online but I did find something close. I believe these may
have been sold by Sears at one time. I'd be happy to upload a video of any attempts to fix in the future.
Checked the gas and it was quite clean looking, but who knows how old.
checked petcock and it flows and doesn't leak.
tried choke and no choke. Engine itself looked quite good.
There was too much oil in the oil res. Drained it. replaced with new oil. (learned of auto off sensor for too little oil)
replaced with new oil .
learned of tipping sensor, and a trick to disconnect the tipping sensor as it sometimes doesn't reset it self. No Dice.
removed spark plug, (bigger than the one on my 185 cc 1978 Honda motorcycle) plugged hole. lightly sanded it between the gap with 800 grit sandpaper and kept the gap. grounded to engine block , has good spark (probably did all along,)
removed carburetor carefully taking pictures of orientation etc. had no carb cleaner. blew through all tubes i could easily test for flow. removed pin and floats. needle looked good. cleaned with q-tips and gasoline had no carb cleaner yet. (stopping list) ... and replaced carburetor.
engines sounds like pretty good compression . no start
drained the gas tank. mini filter looks clean
my first question is does this sound like something that could be caused by the various safety sensors. Is there a way
to disconnect all sensors to see if the engine itself will run? Is it possible to removed too many sensors to allow it to run? In other words might the default of a disconnected sensor or power switch default to "dont run" or for a hypothetical situation, If i ripped all sensors and switches out would the engine run? tough to say not knowing the unit?
2nd question. It says to ground the unit when in use. In this required to start it as well? on a motorcycle you are grounded to "itself" in essence arent you since it is sitting on insulating tires? Wondering If i have to ground it to a spike in the dirt or what exactly they mean.
One thing i noted in regards to the carb. the gas flows fine from the petcock, but when I connect it to the carb it doesnt seem to move down to the carb easily. I thought, maybe its because the valves aren't vacuuming it into the carb but then realized maybe the valves only vacuum it from the carb into the engine. If gas doesn't flow on its own into the carb is that indicative that i still need to clean the carb further? I was using some temporary clear tubing so i could watch the flows behavior.
obviously i'll try new gas soon even though it looks and smells pretty new
, but if that doesn't work. Im curious what i might try next.
wish there were repair manuals for these things like for motorcycles (or easy to find ones)
thanks for any tips .
. Not a ton of documentation online but I did find something close. I believe these may
have been sold by Sears at one time. I'd be happy to upload a video of any attempts to fix in the future.
Checked the gas and it was quite clean looking, but who knows how old.
checked petcock and it flows and doesn't leak.
tried choke and no choke. Engine itself looked quite good.
There was too much oil in the oil res. Drained it. replaced with new oil. (learned of auto off sensor for too little oil)
replaced with new oil .
learned of tipping sensor, and a trick to disconnect the tipping sensor as it sometimes doesn't reset it self. No Dice.
removed spark plug, (bigger than the one on my 185 cc 1978 Honda motorcycle) plugged hole. lightly sanded it between the gap with 800 grit sandpaper and kept the gap. grounded to engine block , has good spark (probably did all along,)
removed carburetor carefully taking pictures of orientation etc. had no carb cleaner. blew through all tubes i could easily test for flow. removed pin and floats. needle looked good. cleaned with q-tips and gasoline had no carb cleaner yet. (stopping list) ... and replaced carburetor.
engines sounds like pretty good compression . no start
drained the gas tank. mini filter looks clean
my first question is does this sound like something that could be caused by the various safety sensors. Is there a way
to disconnect all sensors to see if the engine itself will run? Is it possible to removed too many sensors to allow it to run? In other words might the default of a disconnected sensor or power switch default to "dont run" or for a hypothetical situation, If i ripped all sensors and switches out would the engine run? tough to say not knowing the unit?
2nd question. It says to ground the unit when in use. In this required to start it as well? on a motorcycle you are grounded to "itself" in essence arent you since it is sitting on insulating tires? Wondering If i have to ground it to a spike in the dirt or what exactly they mean.
One thing i noted in regards to the carb. the gas flows fine from the petcock, but when I connect it to the carb it doesnt seem to move down to the carb easily. I thought, maybe its because the valves aren't vacuuming it into the carb but then realized maybe the valves only vacuum it from the carb into the engine. If gas doesn't flow on its own into the carb is that indicative that i still need to clean the carb further? I was using some temporary clear tubing so i could watch the flows behavior.
obviously i'll try new gas soon even though it looks and smells pretty new
, but if that doesn't work. Im curious what i might try next.
wish there were repair manuals for these things like for motorcycles (or easy to find ones)
thanks for any tips .