Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Several years ago I acquired an EU2000i because it was burning a lot of oil.
I bought the repair manual & disassembled it to determine cause.
No obvious problem found so I replaced the rings & I wasn’t quite happy with how it idled after the repair. In the process of removing the tamper resistant cap on low speed adjustment I broke the screw & had to order a replacement. After installing the screw I started it up adjusted the idle mixture then put a progressive load on it starting at 500 watts then 1000 then 1500 watts.
I ran a tank of fuel thru it during test/breakin and it now runs like a Honda
Awesome machines!!
Anyone who worries about heat & lights should have one.
90cummins

IIRC, that was the re-build from that crazy high-hour EPA site project. Amazing what hours these things will sustain.

I watched another of Condon's vids, rebuilding an EU2000i. Didn't realize the head/block was one piece. It's just more time, for someone with his/your skills, but the crank and piston had to be pulled to change a valve. What did surprise me a bit, was the amount of cracking on the timing-belt. That EU had hours on it, but wasn't much more than 6 years from production, based on the emission-sticker.

If you have an old EU around, it might be time to get a "spare" one, in case the timing-belt let's go.... not picking on Honda (seriously), as any timing-belt design has this vulnerability, vs. push-rods.

More so, that ^ is a point to keep in your back-pocket, if you need extra justification for the household CFO, to speed dualing-up generators .

I do like Hondas. They have been the portable gen of choice for severe middle-of-nowhere operation, for a very long time.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

One thing I learned from my time in Europe is in snow and ice regions the locals are very focused on multiple ways to heat and cook.

Wood, Coal, Electric, Gas, Heating Oil, Passive Solar, etc.

Generators are just now becoming a thing… of course farmers would have PTO generators.

Several have questioned California focusing on just Electricity as short sighted.

Cold, real-cold, tends to clarify that old eggs/basket story. Even TX had to find that out, the hard way. Most of the Cali population doesn't live in your cold regions, but may have to get used to no A/C, no way to charge Teslas, if your trajectory of the last decade+ continues.

Heat can kill, but I'd say real-Cold will do it faster, with a higher body count, and definitely more household damage, if water is not drained down.

It's hard to imagine -40 temps, if you've never experienced them.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

I really just use the inverter for powering essentials like freezers, chargers and basic cooking appliances. In the winter it will allow me to also run a couple fans to circulate heat from my 80k btu propane heater in a pinch. It's really just there to make life liveable. Our new property will have while home power on a propane generator.

Balancing fuel, for longer outages, is a factor.

Some people on here have vast fuel resources around normally, to run a large farm, but many aren't set up for that "normal".

A wise buddy of mine, loves his small inverter, for running his pellet-stove in extended outages. He has a higher-capacity gen, for heavy-lifting, but if you have to look @ extending heat beyond a day or 3, a tiny minimal, but very efficient gen is a nice option to have kicking around. AND, for those of us (me) who haven't spent enough time in the gym lately..... real easy to move......

Tools, options, weapons of choice........... nice to have a range to select from.......

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

Cold, real-cold, tends to clarify that old eggs/basket story. Even TX had to find that out, the hard way. Most of the Cali population doesn't live in your cold regions, but may have to get used to no A/C, no way to charge Teslas, if your trajectory of the last decade+ continues.

Heat can kill, but I'd say real-Cold will do it faster, with a higher body count, and definitely more household damage, if water is not drained down.

It's hard to imagine -40 temps, if you've never experienced them.

Rgds, D.

I’m in a region with mostly/originally gas appliances and no A/C.


This is changing as the push now is all electric and folks replacing old gas furnaces with maybe a 6 or 7 amp blower fuse now putting in new service for the now 30 to 80 amp Heat Pump with aux heat coils and now cooling.

The old transformers from the 50’s are failing… plus every block now has several EV cars.

 

[3930dave]

I have a pile of books and no end of things that need fixing.

If I had cameras up @ my house, I'd be wondering if you've been looking @ them .

Good luck w. this snow event; I know that managing water out your way is non-trivial.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

I’m in a region with mostly/originally gas appliances and no A/C.


This is changing as the push now is all electric and folks replacing old gas furnaces with maybe a 6 or 7 amp blower fuse now putting in new service for the now 30 to 80 amp Heat Pump with aux heat coils and now cooling.

The old transformers from the 50’s are failing… plus every block now has several EV cars.

It's a zero-sum game, but that is being deliberately ignored.

A) Just maintaining a grid @ a static level of performance takes significant money. Nothing new here; Costing goes all the way back to when electricity first got deployed.

B) Most utilities have been forced to pour tons of $ into Alt NRG.

C) NOW, capacity needs to ramp dramatically.

Significantly higher bills (starting from today's baseline), and a less-reliable grid are what many more people will be seeing. Once again, Cali Leads The Way !

Somehow, I'm hearing my mother's generation..... "If all your friends decided to jump off a roof......."

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

Condon (I'm terrible w. names), the recent eu2000 vid I posted..... I watched another older vid he did, on a couple of Champion 7kw (sustained) gens he picked up, destined for scrap (impact damage). One of them had a faulty AVR, he determined once he meter-tested after forcing it to run.

I really enjoy his videos, and he does a lot of small generators, most of them run again

 

[ultrarunner]

It's a zero-sum game, but that is being deliberately ignored.

A) Just maintaining a grid @ a static level of performance takes significant money. Nothing new here; Costing goes all the way back to when electricity first got deployed.

B) Most utilities have been forced to pour tons of $ into Alt NRG.

C) NOW, capacity needs to ramp dramatically.

Significantly higher bills (starting from today's baseline), and a less-reliable grid are what many more people will be seeing. Once again, Cali Leads The Way !

Somehow, I'm hearing my mother's generation..... "If all your friends decided to jump off a roof......."

Rgds, D.

13% PGE rate increase approved… more in the pipeline and just a matter of time for 50 cent kWh rates… in my opinion.

Natural gas has served SF Bay Area well over 150 years and the older appliances I have need no electricity to function… water heater, range and central furnace… plus it’s about as simple as it gets… either manual controls or Millivolt gas valve.

Being totally dependent on electricity with no option for even a wood stove is just plain foolish…

I celebrate diversity and free choice and these begin with how I power my home.

 

[arto98607]

IIRC, that was the re-build from that crazy high-hour EPA site project. Amazing what hours these things will sustain.

I watched another of Condon's vids, rebuilding an EU2000i. Didn't realize the head/block was one piece. It's just more time, for someone with his/your skills, but the crank and piston had to be pulled to change a valve. What did surprise me a bit, was the amount of cracking on the timing-belt. That EU had hours on it, but wasn't much more than 6 years from production, based on the emission-sticker.

If you have an old EU around, it might be time to get a "spare" one, in case the timing-belt let's go.... not picking on Honda (seriously), as any timing-belt design has this vulnerability, vs. push-rods.

More so, that ^ is a point to keep in your back-pocket, if you need extra justification for the household CFO, to speed dualing-up generators .

I do like Hondas. They have been the portable gen of choice for severe middle-of-nowhere operation, for a very long time.

Rgds, D.

It is interesting what you said about EU2000i having timing belt and no separate cylinder/cylinder head and it prompted me to check the spare parts drawings of Firman 2000 I bought three years ago, and dual fuel Firman 3200/2900 bought abut year and half ago (both were on sale at Costco).

It prompted me to check spare part drawings of these and interestingly both of these have a separate cylinder/cylinder heads and both are are push-rod engines!

Not saying one design is better or worse, but these are probably little more old fashion in that regard and these may have couple of more moving parts to wear VS. timing belt wear.

Obviously these were whole lot cheaper than Honda's, but they seem like very well made small inverter generators and have performed flawlessly so far, but only time will show their longevity?





Item 54, push rod:

 

[daugen]

I really like this guy since he fixes so many small gens.

How does water get into a propane regulator? A flood?
says someone who runs on propane........
sounds like something to carefully avoid

I sure do like his load bank. They are not cheap.
note his comments on CO2 and propane
I fast forward a lot with his videos, they are long but remarkably well done