Craftman 5000 Watt Generator hard Starting when Hot

jono252525

Active Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2017
Threads
9
Messages
53
10w-30 will shear down awful fast in an air cooled engine. Briggs, Kawisaki, Kohler and so on state multi-grade oils will be consumed more compared to a straight 30W. Meaning you will need to check it at every use. I do that anyway with all oils.

Use the oil your engine manual says to.
Your Right but I check the oil each time I use it.
 

Forest#2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
580
Couple thing you might try.
First remove all loads on the gen when first starting. (and before killing the gen)

Start it up cold and then kill it before it gets warmed up and go for a re-start. Only let it run for 60-90 seconds) You are mainly checking to see if maybe the hard re-start is not all heat/hot related.

On gens engines when they are not running the governor has the throttle held at wide open. Tie the governor/carb at idle and try a re-start)
Also see if the engine idles good. This is to see if the low jet area on the carb is OK. (It's possible that it runs ok at 3600 rpm but won't idle smooth. (low jet carb issue adding to the hard start issue when hot)

You say the compression is 70. That seems low to me is concerning.
I've never checked the compression on a HM100 but I do know that normally they are very hard to pull through using a rope crank and they also want to kick back if they are not brought up on compression slowly and then pull through. I never could sense that they had a compression release.
(and even harder to hand crank in cold weather for a re-start) Hard manual cranking is main reason why I was doing converts to electric start.

Even with electric start I had to use a very good lawn tractor battery rated for around 250CCA due to the compression.
 

jono252525

Active Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2017
Threads
9
Messages
53
Couple thing you might try.
First remove all loads on the gen when first starting. (and before killing the gen)

Start it up cold and then kill it before it gets warmed up and go for a re-start. Only let it run for 60-90 seconds) You are mainly checking to see if maybe the hard re-start is not all heat/hot related.

On gens engines when they are not running the governor has the throttle held at wide open. Tie the governor/carb at idle and try a re-start)
Also see if the engine idles good. This is to see if the low jet area on the carb is OK. (It's possible that it runs ok at 3600 rpm but won't idle smooth. (low jet carb issue adding to the hard start issue when hot)

You say the compression is 70. That seems low to me is concerning.
I've never checked the compression on a HM100 but I do know that normally they are very hard to pull through using a rope crank and they also want to kick back if they are not brought up on compression slowly and then pull through. I never could sense that they had a compression release.
(and even harder to hand crank in cold weather for a re-start) Hard manual cranking is main reason why I was doing converts to electric start.

Even with electric start I had to use a very good lawn tractor battery rated for around 250CCA due to the compression.
I look at the Cam and on mine there is a release system.
Also
I did like you said adjust the pilot at ideal and the main on I speed.
The engine restart good with no choke if it is not to warm.
 

Ozcub

Active Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2024
Threads
0
Messages
51
Heat sink into carburettor place a heat resistant barrier to shield carb from heat
 
Top