bjorn2bwild
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Both of my small generators failed during the recent four day power outage.
On day one I fired up the 1300W Chinese made Alton to run the refrigerator, some lights, the tankless water heater, and propane fireplace fan - alternately the TV/satellite box in the evening. Started on first pull, great!
Day two it stopped suddenly and would not restart. No spark.
OK, no problem, bring out the trusty Yamaha EF1000is. After two pulls it fired up and we are back in business, super!…..for about an hour, and then that one dies too. No spark. Bummer, - It’s cold, damp, dark and I have no internet.
Next up, I turn to the 1500W power inverter and my idling truck for juice.
That gets me through to day three when there is a little sun breaking out and I can investigate the problems.
The Alton has a faulty ignition coil, no easy fix.
The Yamaha has a failed crankcase powered pulse fuel pump. The crankcase is now seriously overfilled with gas/oil mix that triggered a sensor to cut off the ignition. The solution was to drain the crankcase, fill with fresh oil, bypass the fuel pump and use the gas tank from the Alton perched on a box to gravity feed fuel to the carb. Started on first pull to finish out days 3-4. Replacement parts have been ordered.
Lesson learned - having multiple backups is prudent.
In a twist on expectations, the Chinese made generator was easier to get back together and running vs the Yamaha.
It took a little searching but I was able to find the ignition coil from a Chinese supplier on ebay. I bought two at $12 each, they arrived within two weeks.
I ordered the Yamaha fuel pump at the same time. After waiting two weeks, I got a message that the part number had changed and was back-ordered from the manufacturer until early June. Apparently there was a quality issue and a new fuel pump will be forthcoming.