The ebay generator restoration thread

[hidetheelephants]

Sensible answer; scrap it.

PH answer; trawl eflog/gumtree/bookfarce marketplace for another dead honda of the same or similar type, then make one good one out of the bits.

[Blue32]

kev b said:

I have followed this interesting thread since the start and now I have to ask for advice.

Honda eg3000x generator, starts and runs perfectly but the stator is shorted out. A rewind is north of £300 and spares are £600+ and unavailable anyway.
Do I just scrap it or is there anything I can do?

What makes you think the stator is shorted?

Stators generally have a low resistance, for example the stator on the EX5500 shown in this thread has 2 sets of winding's, the main AC winding which is 0.26ohm and a sub winding which is 0.25ohm.

If the stator is burnt to a crisp or showing signs of blackening in the enameling or resin then it's probably toast, however when they burn out they tend to go open circuit so resistance will be very high.

Can you post some pictures?

[kev b]

Thanks Blue, what made me suspect the stator is faulty were the large sparks and smoke when I started it up!

I am not confident of finding a non runner to cannibalise as I have been looking on and off for a couple of years, the engines seem never to die but I have seen more than one with a stator fault.

Ill keep an eye out for a bit longer but I suspect its the end of the road.

[hidetheelephants]

It might be an idea to see if the generator end resembles any of the cheapnese generic units; if so attempting a frankenstein is worth a go. The lack of IP protection over there does lend itself to rampant copying and that may help in this case.

[kev b]

Nice lateral thinking!
I’ll keep a lookout for one.

[jollysoutherner]

Appreciate some help with this generator. It has sat under my bench for 10 years. I've cleaned the fuel tank, removed the carb and cleaned the float needle which was stuck. Fired up straight away afterwards.

Running is stable at idle and full load using a fan heater to test. With it running half load the engine is hunting up and down and I'm seeing 230 - 290 volts on the output.

• Edit* I'm talking bks, carb cleaner doesn't make any difference. It is stable and idle and full load but is hunting everywhere else.

Anything else I need to check?







Thanks

Edited by jollysoutherner on Saturday 15th February 11:02

[Blue32]

Sounds like the main jet in the carburetor is partially blocked, the engine looks like clone of a Honda GX engine so you have 2 options.

Option 1 buy a new carburetor, somewhere on the data plate it should say the engine cc. Have a look on eBay for a Honda GX carburetor and find one for an engine that closest matches the engine cc on the data plate. It will probably be something equivalent to a GX120, GX160, GX240 (120cc, 160cc, 240cc) the carburetors are usually really cheap, somewhere between £5 - £15 and usually work straight out of the box.

Option 2, strip the carburetor down and clean the jets and internal passages, quick google for cleaning Honda GX carburetor brings up YouTube guides like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uksV4JFsFc0

[jollysoutherner]

I owe you a beer.

Option 2. Now working a treat after stripping and 10 mins in ultrasonic cleaner.

[dhutch]

Excellent work.

We have a Honda EX1000 genny which needs its carb cleaning or replacing.

Sadly I dont have an ultrasonic cleaner or as far as I know access to one!


Daniel

[MXRod]

Have a look here , useful for all sorts of cleaning
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=ultrasonic+cleaner&am...

[hidetheelephants]

An ultrasonic cleaner is a nice-to-have, get a tin of aerosol carburettor cleaner, blast that through internal passages and it's practically as good for shifting stubborn gunk.

[rxe]

Blue32 said:

Thanks for the comments everyone, its good to see there is interest in this. Sorry I haven’t been able to post much as there haven’t been many that have come up that were worthwhile buying and fixing.

I did start looking at Lawn tractors as something else to tinker with, but i just don't have the space or access to the shed/workshop to get one to where it can be worked on

Chainsaws.

When I lived in London, I used to do chainsaws - they're small enough to muck about with in small garage, make loads of noise and frighten small children. I used to get Stihl 070s for buttons - about £60 quid for a tired one, and get it working perfectly for the cost of a few bearings and seals. Sometimes they needed pistons and cylinders, some of the cheap Chinese ones are excellent, others are utter junk.

Now that I've moved out of London, I get to occasionally use them, I've got a container full of big Stihls. They go for stupid money now, but I'm very bad at selling stuff. I also have 9 Alfas.....

[S6PNJ]

MXRod said:

Have a look here, useful for all sorts of cleaning
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=ultrasonic+cleaner&am...

I'm currently wondering if I need to add one to my collection of (seldom used) tools....
Looking a this one currently https://www.oyodental.co.uk/Best-2L-Industry-Digit...

[dhutch]

S6PNJ said:

I'm currently wondering if I need to add one to my collection of (seldom used) tools....
Looking a this one currently https://www.oyodental.co.uk/Best-2L-Industry-Digit...

Oh yes, they are surprisingly affordable if you only want a small one, more if you want to clean larger parts and also the fluid cost goes up. You would only have to clean ten carburetors a year, or live steam injectors, or the like, to justify the cost.

However I am nearly one carb every ten years than ten carbs every year, and as said carb cleaner spray is also good stuff and takes up less garage space to boot!


Daniel

[jollysoutherner]

Welcome to send me the parts and I can put them through the tank.

[dhutch]

jollysoutherner said:

Welcome to send me the parts and I can put them through the tank.

It's a great offer, which I will bear in mind! Thanks.

[ooo000ooo]

Decided it was time to have a look at my old home made compressor which stopped working a year or two ago. Figured it was worth checking out the brushes and giving them a clean. Got the electric motor out of it and started taking it apart. Found a burnt out bridge between 2 poles on this block

There's 2 wires going from the top right and centre right poles into the motor and presumably one of the brushes?
There's 2 going from the left middle and left bottom down the other side of the motor.
The thick black cable top left heads off to a huge capacitor.
Whilst disconnecting all the cables I have sheared the bolt on the centre pole.
Any idea if this can be bought from anywhere? It's probably 40 years old plus.
Failing that any suggestions for a bodge?

[eliot]

if it buzzes but doesn’t run it’s the capacitor

[ooo000ooo]

Was hoping it might be a bit simpler than that as I've no idea where to get one of those from either, this bit still needs to be fixed though? Could all the wires on the right just be attached to the top right pole?

[speedyman]

Looks like just undo the black mounting plate, the motor windings will be attached underneath. You can probably replace the broken bolt with a new brass one. If it's an american motor then the bolt will be imperial size.