Reviving an Onan Generator: Will It Run After Decades of Rest?

This old Onan generator last ran in the 80s can I get it running again???
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[@tigerelectronics5966]

I like these old generators :D Beware, there are two interference suppresion capacitors in the generator head itself - accesible via the end bell cover. They are old paper capacitors, and they will likely explode after a bit of runtime. It is best to replace them with modern polyester film safety capacitors, or just remove them entirely. They are not neccesary for modern electrical loads, they were mostly to remove interference from AM radios.
Wonderful that you got it to run :) These old flathead engines are very reliable, but very inefficient. They tend to be quite thirsty indeed! But it should not be too bad, you should be able to lean out the mixture a fair amount to cut down on fuel usage, just not too much :)

[@PastPreserver]

Thanks for three tips I will have to look into those. I hope I don't have to use this much if I am it means the power is out lol. I do need to figure out a larger gas tanks lol

[@tigerelectronics5966]

​@@PastPreserverhehe yup :) originally these were piped into the RV tank, so it had access to the same fuel as the main engine of the RV I believe:) that's why it has a mechanical fuel pump :) you should be able to literally just stick a hose in a Jerry can or something and it'll suck the fuel out of it, if you don't plan on using it a lot that's a viable option 😊

[@GardenTractorBoy]

This is an interesting machine. It seemd very odd to have the coil under the tin work. Great job getting it working, it seems to run well

[@PastPreserver]

Thanks im pretty happy with how well it runs as well