56:09 James, you should order some of those old school paper tags with the wire ties on them like they used to use back in the day, and when you have a used carb, you could write the date and the problems on the ticket so you'll know what was going on with it when you put it away. I ordered some dirt cheap from Temu, and I use them for tagging stuff all the time.
What a sweet little genset. Those super low THD numbers were surprising for a generally cheap unit! One note about those cheap leaky fuel valves is that if there is a gas fired water heater in the same enclosed garage you can potentially have an explosion. Stay safe everyone!
Hello James, I very much enjoy watching you fix all these machines… here’s a trick for welding thin tube especially if you have access to the interior of the tube from an end. Simply insert a brass drift of comparable size to the inside of the tube and then weld repair the outside. The welding steel will not stick to the brass and the brass will conduct the excess heat away from the affected area. Finish Grind the repair area and viola a seamless finish will result. Hope this helps someone.
I was going to offer a similar suggestion of just sliding some sched 80 EMT or maybe 3/4" black iron pipe inside the existing tube and plug weld it inside and then fill in all the holes and grind it and drill it - so it would have the extra strength of the thick wall insert as well as the repaired "factory" look.
With any seal, valves included, they need to be wet to properly seal for any leakage. In this case, put some gas in the line and work the valve a bit. Then check for leakage. Thank you Jim for another well done video.
I am just your average guy, I really enjoy watching your videos. You make it look easy. I've learned a lot from you. I sincerely appreciate the massive amount of effort you put into making these quality videos.
Hey James, i just wanted to let you know that what I've learned from your videos has helped me tremendously. I had a $700 generator i retired and replaced 6 months ago because i could no longer get it started and i was sure the motor was just shot. Then recently the replacement started behaving the same way and losing power every time I got it to run. The short story, from your videos, i discovered both had intake valves that were too tight and one had an exhaust valve that was too loose. I was in a bind so i used a piece of aluminum i had that measured .006" to set the valves and it was like a miracle resurection for both of them. I then looked closer at the one that was low on power and discovered a tiny flaw in the bracket on the carburetor where the governor rod connects that wasnt letting the throttle open past 40% with spring tension alone. I cleaned up the plastic bracket and polished the end of the governor rod and boom, I've got 2 good running machines that i was just about to scrap and replace at a cost of another $800. Thank you!
You can make evaporust dirt cheap at home. It's quite simple to make. I've used the home version and it works well. There's a channel on youtube called the elemental maker and he goes over the chemistry and what you need to buy. It's non-toxic and non-polluting and safe for drains. It's pennies per gallon.
@Bubba Chinese pipe thickness for the unit frame is very thin...and welding is usually NG...i experienced many troubles with engine pumps Their system design is usually cheep and light...no toughness nor safe..... do you know? chinese bridge had fell down with a boat crash in main land south...... tipical china it is...:)
Try strapping the gas tank with liquid and nuts, bolts,etc to a rear riding mower wheel, then jack up the rear so the tires will turn. Run it that way for several hours and see it it makes a difference. Should be easier then shaking it. Thanks for the Excellent Vids Jim.
Funny you guys stole my thunder. I was just going to suggest to James that he do the same thing, The old timers and car restorers do this all the time. Take an old rusty gas tank and strap it to the rear wheel of a tractor add water and rocks then leave it running half a day. I was going to suggest a piece of plywood attached to a low rpm worm gear motor on a stand or even a rotisserie motor then attach with bolts or strap then walk away for even a day. James you make me tired just watching you shaking those tanks.
Using this method, you have to remember to turn the tank occasionally (in a direction different to the wheel rotation) otherwise you can end up with a ring which is cleared of rust (and possibly perforated) and large areas which haven't been touched by the abrasive nuts.
on fixing that handle, you could have put a piece of steel tub inside and brazed it at the edges of the blow out. get a piece of tub the same size and cut a slit down the length to allow it to shrink down and fit inside.
When you pulled the bowl off of that carb I did a double take on how much rust was in that. I've never seen one that bad. Neglected is an understatement. I don't blame you one bit for not getting excited about de-rusting a metal gas tank. There's no call for someone letting a tank go this far. Good job.
Galvanized steel to construct the tank, is a design failure for fuels that tolerate and actually collect water. It’s going to fail unless you keep the fuel scrupulously dry.
You really need to attach some some tags with short notes on them to the components you keep for spares. How you have been able to remember what is wrong with some of those parts escapes me. Its gotta to be better than trying them and then rediscovering what the issue with them was. Or having to dig up the old videos and going over them again. None of us like documenting things if we do not have to but iy saves effort in the end.
Reading the comments and y’all spoiled the valves. Lesson learned. Don’t comment until finish watching the video. James, I’ve learned so much from you about small engines and generators. You have volunteered your time and expertise for free. And if there’s anything I could do to help. Just mention it. If it’s in my power (like what I did there? 😅) I’ll do it. You’re a good man James. God bless you and your family. I really need a lesson on THD, and the cheapest meter that is reliable to measure it. And why some generators are so low and other “cheap” ones are so high.
The cheapest meter is the Amprobe ACDC 52NAV. Still expensive. THD is a combination of how smooth the engine tuned, materials used in the stator and how it is wound.
Great job as always. Another option for the hole would be to get a piece of metal tubing slightly larger and epoxy it to the end of the handle. Would avoid soldering and look OEM. Could even reinforce the hole with an insert.
Those valves are junk however you can’t expect them to hold any significant amount of gas pressure. Maybe a few inches of water column, not anything amounting to PSIGs. A low pressure air test is equivalent to a high pressure liquid test due to the nature of each fluid (viscosity and surface tension). You’re right up there with ‘Inheritance Machining’ (or vice versa), I get some of the best sleep watching your videos. I mean that as a compliment, just relaxing watching you work on small engines and generators. I’ll end up watching the same video 3-4 times. Always a slightly better day when there is a new James Condon video.
I am not a small engine technician. You always make me anxious using used carbs and non OEM carbs. I understand cost is a factor. However, for myself longterm reliability and peace of mind are most important. Thanks for all you do for the rest of us. You are a TH-cam treasure!
Most all these carbs are really simple and a good cleaning is all the need I have done it 50 years on these engines and some motorcycles with no problem.
Great Video James. Years back i had a Ridgid generator similar to this model. It was a 6500-8500 model with a Yamaha engine. I sold it promptly because it was so heavy and Loud. But a great jobsite Generator. I sold other to a contractor
Well done James and well done for the Rigid generator- as you mentioned certainly a quality machine with low numbers in the THD. The owner should be very pleased.
Great job James on the repair as always. The circuit breakers on most generators like this one have what are called push to reset thermal breakers. They are considered supplemental by the NEC code because the fact is they can run up to 125% of their rated load for a long period of time before they trip they are more in place for surges and short circuits. This also may have something to do with why generators tend to get overloaded on one side and melt the neutral wire. Chairs in great time on the live stream last night!
@@jcondon1 it's likely because it's limited by the wattage total. You can't use the duplex 20A outlets and the 30A outlet at the same time. If you do then you will likely smoke the generator. Again those push to reset breakers are very cheap. On the bigger generators you will see a master two-pole main breaker then the supplementary push to reset breakers downstream. Corners were cut on this one but as long as the user is educated how to operate it properly should be fine
James, I haven't watched many of your videos over the last two months because I've been very busy. I'm taking some time now to express my sincere gratitude towards you and to thank you for all of the awesome diagnostics and repair videos. I have watched dozens and dozens of hours of your instructive engine repair videos. Many, I have watched two or even three times. In the last month I've managed to rebuild a transaxle and service an inoperable MTD Yardman Yard Bug Beetle. The only thing remaining is to button it up and install a new battery. I also ran across a very old Clinton Cast Iron engine from about 1962. It was missing the spark plug and didn't have a single drop of oil in the crankcase. Every moving part was stuck. Mud Daubers had filled the exhaust...but the worst thing was that the engine had been sitting unused, covered in dirt, and the piston was locked up tighter than a drum. Long story short, the engine is now up and running and I didn't even have to replace the points and condenser. Lastly, today I picked up an Echo PB--251, for free, and I'm too tired to check it out tonight, but, it has good compression and looks like I will simply run through the maintenance procedures for the carburetor, spark arrestor, exhaust, and make some adjustments. Thanks to the skills I've learned from you...I'm not sweating it at all. Thanks again James!
There’s an old saying. “Making a silk purse from a sow’s ear”. James you live up to that saying 100%. Great recovery from a “sick” Generac. Well done. I have the XG8000E. Which is the later version of essentially the same thing. Generac did clean up some of the stupid design flaws but still left the battery under the tank. I moved mine to the lower frame rail the day I got the generator. You are correct. This is one of the best performing portable generators in this 8000 watt class. Love your videos!
James, thoroughly enjoyed this latest video - I am an addict and have watched them all! Very impressive power head on this machine to achieve such a low THD. Beautiful sign wave under load. I hope the manufacturers watch these videos too and learn how to improve their designs by studying what works well and what breaks - I think your videos highlight it both consistently and in great depth - surely a great source of continuous improvement for them. Please keep the content coming - I love following the root cause analysis and watching the fixes - simply makes my day. Best, Peter.
James, Good job and save on another generator. Have noticed that your welding has been much better. You've been practicing. Keep posting as these posts do help us DYI'ers very much. You have saved me money not having to take it or them to the shop. Tks, Michael
A great way to suspend cables and fuel / air lines to vibrating or slightly moving things Is to use double headed zipties that loop around and kind a make a figure 8. I use those a lot on sensor cables running along air pressure brake hoses on trucks etc... Thanks for your step by step videos and detailed explanation on symptoms and causes. I definitely was lacking some information on small engines!
Your attention to detail is admirable letting nothing slip by you ,I often tell other u Tubers to watch your Videos when they attempt to work on a broken Genset you are the small engine Genset go to guy Jim very informative video's .
Hi James, If you heat the carb cleaner straw with a lighter an inch or two from the end then pull the straw to neck it, hold till it freezes, and cut through the middle of the neck. You know have a mini straw to get in tiny jets and passages.
Astounding! 3.0%THD is amazing with such low power machines. Very good engine I would have made a steel bush for the inside of the handle pipe but it looks great none the less. I am surprised by the price of these gennies brand new. 236USD is a fantastic bargain. In Europe we have to pay 2 times that money for 2.5kW ones
Hello James; Really enjoy your videos; keep up the good work. With respect to the rusty fuel tank. I worked at a equipment manufacture. I don't know if the results would be the same but we used to take metal that had rust/mill scale on it and put it in a cement mixer along with a few hands full of sawdust. After a few hrs. the mill scale and rust were gone and the metal parts were semi polished. If you have access to a cement mixer you could probably bungie a fuel tank to it and use the saw dust along with the nut & bolt and it would probably do a nice job on the rust. You might need to rotate the to get the top, bottom and sides, then use the Evapo-Rust to finish it up. Again, thanks for the great videos.
I just love all of your videos. I look forward to any new ones. I think you are great in that you always do the best you can. I just thought we could have a little chuckle together over this old saying,”With a grinder and paint, make up for the welder I ain’t.” Cheers to you and keep up the great videos. 😊
I find your videos educational and soothing to watch. You rarely ever use bad language, a big plus and you actions are so methodical. And, you always end with a good generator or other gas powered appliance.
I stopped using those plastic valves years ago when I had to replace a carb on a chipper/vac because the valve leaked unbeknownst to me. I now only use metal valves from Tractor Supply. They are expensive but they don't seem to leak. You may want to check out the Ryobi 18v band saw for cutting your metal, it's my new best friend for that kind of stuff. I avoid the jungle web site mainly because of the way Jeff treats his employees but also the amount of junk sold there. Excellent repair on the handle!
A grinder and paint makes me the Welder I ain't. Interesting project, The basic operation of the generator seemed to be there. I hope your Friend appreciates your efforts getting the generator up and running like new. I wish I had a friend like near by! KOKO!
These videos are SO interesting to me. It lets me watch someone (Else!) hit a string of frustrations without me havind to swill antiascids to keep me stomache from easting itself.
Hello Mr. Condon. I have been watching your vids for quite some time now, just recently sub'd..... Amazing work you do! Just a quick tip/idea from me, for removing rust from inside gas tanks: Do you have a cement mixer? Fill the tank with water/evaporust, throw in some gravel (clean, w/o sand or small particles), plug the inlet and outlet with corks, wrap the tank with cloths, attach the tank inside the cement mixer, and let her rip. A close friend of mine restored an old Soviet motorcycle, with side-car, and used this method to clean his tank... Like said, just an idea, ja? Keep them lovely videos coming. Cheers and greetz from Germany
James, thanks for the video. I have the same generator and was having issues with mine. I watched the video and made some repairs and changes to mine. Now it runs just fine.
Hello James! I must say I think your channel is excellent! I find it interesting, informative, and inspiring! Dare I say, Network TV worthy! When I say inspiring, here is my story. I have to confess to some negligence with both a small lawn mower and a Ridgid 5700 watt Generator by leaving fuel in them for an inordinate amount of time. They refused to run and I knew it was the carbs. After watching your videos, while I have some mechanical skills, I have never rebuilt carbs before. However, searching for them both on Amazon I found replacements for like $13 and $35. At that price I thought it was worth a try to just slap on new carbs. The one for the mower arrived in 2 days, and 15 min later, after slapping on a new carb, it ran perfectly. The One for the generator had to come from China so it took a little while. My generator has never really seen the outside and only has 2, yes 2 hours on it. So, I was determined to get it running. Once the new carb arrived, after flushing the gas tank, (thank god after inspection, it still looks brand new inside) changing the fuel lines, filter and slapping on the new carb, it started up right away. I was concerned about the engine speed, as I didn't know how the carb would work with it. I remembered your video where you checked both the voltage and HZ. Upon checking the on board meter, and with it unloaded, it was at 61 hz and 121 volts.. Loaded it zeroed in at 60 hz and 120 v. I think I have a winner. I don't think I would have tried this myself without your tutelage. So, when you close your videos with your line "I hope this video helped someone!, please be very aware for this viewer it helped a lot! Thanks for what you do and keep doing it, I will be watching! Best Regards, John Ebell
Thank! Glad to hear it worked out and the Ridgid tank was still clean. Those tanks are usually not forgiving and they are discontinued, so tank care of it. Do not leave the same fuel in it for more than 6 months and you will be fine.
Thanks for the vid! I have the 8KW big brother. These are awesome gems. Mine is a Subaru/Robinson. $39 for a carb, filters, spark plug, fuel line, etc. Buy that and some oil and gas and they run forever.
Hello James another interesting video. You seem to be doing more tank restoration work. I have done my share, I suggest getting an old engine stand. You may already have one. The attachment arms ar very friendly in attaching different tank shapes. The barrel is easily adaptable to attaching a V or serpentine belt. Put a small electric motor on the base and you have an automattic tumbler to attach your tanks to. A couple of hours on the tumbler is usually enough with mild corrosion. The square or rectangular tanks might require repositioning the tank to clean all surfaces. I used mine usually for motorcycle tanks. It also was a great rotator for spray painting, helps prevent runs. To coin your closing I hope this helps. Keep up the great videos.
Fun tip James, those fuel valves can be pulled apart and the "o" ring replaced! I use a little silicone grease on the new "o" ring, snap it back together, and back in business in no time.
...it is a fact that we are in an age where we have to work with our minds! I would ask you to electrolyze and finish. I'm always happy to follow your works, and to become wiser! thank you!
I’m not a (generator) virgin anymore! 😂 Just finished yesterday going over my first generator for a customer. It needed a few things, which I did as best I could and returned to the customer running and producing electricity as it should, at least as far as I could tell with only a multimeter. Then today I had a request for a restored generator. I’ve got some in the yard and I’m sure one will fill their needs. I guess it’s time to finally break down and purchase a Kilawatt tester so I followed the link in one of your videos and one will be here soon. With your help I’m sure I can solve any issues. Yay!!!
Hi James. A sugestion to help you cleaning out steel tanks. If you have access to a cement mixer, take off the drum and fashion a wooden support for the tank and let it spin. Less work for you and you can leave it running for hours
Nice video. Your issues with the gas tank isolation valve leaks gave me food for thought. Most people will shut off the valve and run the carburetor empty before storage for long periods so as not to foul the carburetor with old gas during extended downtime. If you are getting leakage that is another reason for changing the oil before starting for a new season. One oil change per year is much cheaper than a new engine. Thank you for explaining this.
Great video, I admire your patience and thorough way of working. Amazingly good. About the valve, I think you should mount it 90 degrees turned, with the fuel line coming from above. I saw a little notch in the top of the cap where the line should go through. Thanks for your work, I learn a lot of it.
You obviously have a wealth of expertise maintaining and repairing portable/home generators and more. Please consider posting a video on how users can better maintain portable generators, and the top failure causes you've seen. Be helpful if you could also post your recommendations based on your maintenance experience...sm, med & large portables. From watching your YT's it seems obvious that old gas, old oil and no oil are major failure causes, perhaps also electronic part failures from overheating. I'm scouting around around for a quiet, open frame, 8-10K LPG with 5% or less THD, a 50A connector, remote start and a 3 or more year warranty. My managed home load is estimated at 6KW with a 2-4KW safety margin.
James, when cleaning gas tanks i have found a barbecue rotisserie motor with its accompanying rod supported on either end is far superior to hand shaking the tank . Still use the nuts and bolts, { I have found bb's work very well along with nuts and bolts}. Simply bungie cord it to the rotisserie rod and let it run over night, changing positions occasionally. I have found that a small piece of plastic sheet under the cap works well for preventing cap leakage. Extended tumbling will many times preclude having to use evaporust. I have noticed you struggling to remove rust many times on various pieces and couldn't help but think you could use a small sandblaster with or with out cabinet, using glass bead with the blaster cleans casting as good or better than new. I enjoy your show very much. Thanks, Tom
HI James, nice to see you back! The alcohol fuel that they forced on us has caused all kinds of problems for us taxpayers, I first noticed it when I took the float bowls off my stored motorcycle and noticed the brass jets were eroded from the fuel.
that was a clean sinewave if i do say so myself under a load, though not with a full load it looks chunky, other than that, that was a fantastic clean sinewave.
Hi James. I gotta say, I really enjoy your videos. I've been watching for a while now. Has inspired me to tackle the carb on my John Deere front tine tiller. It has a Briggs engine in it. Thanks for the great video.
Several metal or plastic fuel tanks are available on the outboard motor market, most are intended to take to a petrol station to be filled, then carried back to a boat, so they have connectors. Fuel tanks for outboard motors are usually plastic.
A typical tank for an outboard would connect with a flexi hose with an inline squeezable primer bulb. after that a high tank would siphon into the carb on demand, a low tank would need a fuel pump.
I just remembered this about rust, I'm an avid canner and about ten years ago I was trying to clean a stained aluminum pressure cooker with vinegar and I just threw the galvanized rack that goes in the bottom of the canner in also and brought the pressure canner up to pressure for about t3n minutes but it did not clean the aluminum but it did remove the galvanization from the steel rack in the bottom and turned it black and it hasn't rusted in that ten years.
Hello James, I have learned a lot about troubleshooting small engines and generators from watching you. Thanks for being there. Just curious, What is your THD meter. (Amazon?) Keep up the good instructional content. Thank you
First, Great video thanks for sharing, I've had so much problem with leaking fuel shut off valves (and equipment that need but don't have them) that I've started using regular brass or stainless 1/4 inch ball valves instead and haven't had any problems with leaks.
Mr James thanks for all the videos that you share for us I would like for you to let us know the names of the electrical parts of the Generator motor please I really appreciate it God bless you
Hi James really quite good to watch you because it really is quite educational I actually fly radio control planes and you actually teach me a lot of stuff about how to be fastidious and to make sure everything's done right dunrite and I just like to say thank you very much
Jim, it seems as though the engine is offset in that frame by an inch, cramming the valve cover up against the frame. On the plus side, this appears to be one of the few where intake access isn’t at least partially blocked. If that were my machine I’d drill new holes for the mounts and shift the whole assembly over because the valves are going to need to be at least checked at the 100 or 200 hour mark.
24:14 try using a length of semi-heavy chain to clean the tank out next time I found it works wonders does an excellent job of scrubbing and is a breeze to remove compared to nuts and bolts or gravel in some cases
I have the same exact problems with those 90° valves. The tight fit in the mounts, distorts the case and causes the leaking. Once the damage is done they don't appear to recover. I tend to open the mount hole with a reamer from the back. It's almost as if all those Briggs mounts were designed for a slightly smaller valve body, then the one they adopted, even OEM is testy.
I was thinking you were a bit off on your amps to watts conversion but you were right on. I’d say that breaker is a good one or you just didn’t let it run long enough pulling the 3000 watt load. 120(vac) X 20(amps) = 2400 watts.
FYI -You may already know that Hydrochloric Acid HCL is just a stronger version of Muriatic acid. But you can get Inhibited HCL that won't eat metal like its counter part non Inhibited HCL.
Hi James if you go to mercury marine you can buy a proper two stroke comp tester I hope this helps you it is only short that is used on out bord motors
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56:09 James, you should order some of those old school paper tags with the wire ties on them like they used to use back in the day, and when you have a used carb, you could write the date and the problems on the ticket so you'll know what was going on with it when you put it away. I ordered some dirt cheap from Temu, and I use them for tagging stuff all the time.
Thank you for suggesting this. It certainly is a great idea -- and I will put it to use.
It's funny how the engine vibrations and the framerate of your camera interact to make the engine appear to be dancing around!
Yes! It looks so weird😊
The rolling shutter effect with the fan in the space heater was awesome at the end of this one - it perfectly froze the fan blades in time.
What a sweet little genset. Those super low THD numbers were surprising for a generally cheap unit! One note about those cheap leaky fuel valves is that if there is a gas fired water heater in the same enclosed garage you can potentially have an explosion. Stay safe everyone!
Hello James, I very much enjoy watching you fix all these machines… here’s a trick for welding thin tube especially if you have access to the interior of the tube from an end. Simply insert a brass drift of comparable size to the inside of the tube and then weld repair the outside. The welding steel will not stick to the brass and the brass will conduct the excess heat away from the affected area. Finish Grind the repair area and viola a seamless finish will result. Hope this helps someone.
I was going to offer a similar suggestion of just sliding some sched 80 EMT or maybe 3/4" black iron pipe inside the existing tube and plug weld it inside and then fill in all the holes and grind it and drill it - so it would have the extra strength of the thick wall insert as well as the repaired "factory" look.
Brass or copper tubing will also work if your not running really hot on the weld
BS. For 1mm tubes you need at least 150A electrode
With any seal, valves included, they need to be wet to properly seal for any leakage. In this case, put some gas in the line and work the valve a bit. Then check for leakage. Thank you Jim for another well done video.
I was thinking the same thing
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I got the exact same one. Keep mines in the garage still looks new. These is a great machine
I am just your average guy, I really enjoy watching your videos. You make it look easy. I've learned a lot from you. I sincerely appreciate the massive amount of effort you put into making these quality videos.
Hey James, i just wanted to let you know that what I've learned from your videos has helped me tremendously. I had a $700 generator i retired and replaced 6 months ago because i could no longer get it started and i was sure the motor was just shot. Then recently the replacement started behaving the same way and losing power every time I got it to run. The short story, from your videos, i discovered both had intake valves that were too tight and one had an exhaust valve that was too loose. I was in a bind so i used a piece of aluminum i had that measured .006" to set the valves and it was like a miracle resurection for both of them. I then looked closer at the one that was low on power and discovered a tiny flaw in the bracket on the carburetor where the governor rod connects that wasnt letting the throttle open past 40% with spring tension alone. I cleaned up the plastic bracket and polished the end of the governor rod and boom, I've got 2 good running machines that i was just about to scrap and replace at a cost of another $800. Thank you!
Awesome
Nice job on the repair. Cleaning the machine, they must be a very good friend.
Wow! That evapo rust stuff works great! I will have to remember that tip. Thanks
De-Neglected by James with a little maintenance and cleaning. Looks and works like a low hour machine now, another winner!
You can make evaporust dirt cheap at home. It's quite simple to make. I've used the home version and it works well. There's a channel on youtube called the elemental maker and he goes over the chemistry and what you need to buy. It's non-toxic and non-polluting and safe for drains. It's pennies per gallon.
You made this weld look original factory approved
@Bubba Chinese pipe thickness for the unit frame is very thin...and welding is usually NG...i experienced many troubles with engine pumps
Their system design is usually cheep and light...no toughness nor safe.....
do you know? chinese bridge had fell down with a boat crash in main land south...... tipical china it is...:)
Try strapping the gas tank with liquid and nuts, bolts,etc to a rear riding mower wheel, then jack up the rear so the tires will turn. Run it that way for several hours and see it it makes a difference. Should be easier then shaking it. Thanks for the Excellent Vids Jim.
Having an electrical motor would be more efficient but yeah I thought about that as well
Funny you guys stole my thunder. I was just going to suggest to James that he do the same thing, The old timers and car restorers do this all the time. Take an old rusty gas tank and strap it to the rear wheel of a tractor add water and rocks then leave it running half a day. I was going to suggest a piece of plywood attached to a low rpm worm gear motor on a stand or even a rotisserie motor then attach with bolts or strap then walk away for even a day. James you make me tired just watching you shaking those tanks.
He's already done this with other tanks lol
Using this method, you have to remember to turn the tank occasionally (in a direction different to the wheel rotation) otherwise you can end up with a ring which is cleared of rust (and possibly perforated) and large areas which haven't been touched by the abrasive nuts.
I like that idea!
on fixing that handle, you could have put a piece of steel tub inside and brazed it at the edges of the blow out. get a piece of tub the same size and cut a slit down the length to allow it to shrink down and fit inside.
a great Generator for the construcution site.... great job James!
Good job as always! Gotta love that valve cover being hard up against the frame. Who ever needs to adjust valve clearance?!
It's rare to see a single cylinder with power clean enough for electronics, very nice
When you pulled the bowl off of that carb I did a double take on how much rust was in that. I've never seen one that bad. Neglected is an understatement. I don't blame you one bit for not getting excited about de-rusting a metal gas tank. There's no call for someone letting a tank go this far. Good job.
Galvanized steel to construct the tank, is a design failure for fuels that tolerate and actually collect water.
It’s going to fail unless you keep the fuel scrupulously dry.
You really need to attach some some tags with short notes on them to the components you keep for spares. How you have been able to remember what is wrong with some of those parts escapes me. Its gotta to be better than trying them and then rediscovering what the issue with them was. Or having to dig up the old videos and going over them again. None of us like documenting things if we do not have to but iy saves effort in the end.
I’m simply astounded by his pile of spares.
Reading the comments and y’all spoiled the valves. Lesson learned. Don’t comment until finish watching the video. James, I’ve learned so much from you about small engines and generators. You have volunteered your time and expertise for free. And if there’s anything I could do to help. Just mention it. If it’s in my power (like what I did there? 😅) I’ll do it. You’re a good man James. God bless you and your family. I really need a lesson on THD, and the cheapest meter that is reliable to measure it. And why some generators are so low and other “cheap” ones are so high.
The cheapest meter is the Amprobe ACDC 52NAV. Still expensive. THD is a combination of how smooth the engine tuned, materials used in the stator and how it is wound.
Incredible work James! I owe a large amount of credit to you and your videos for where I am today with my small engine knowledge and tricks.
Great job as always. Another option for the hole would be to get a piece of metal tubing slightly larger and epoxy it to the end of the handle. Would avoid soldering and look OEM. Could even reinforce the hole with an insert.
Those valves are junk however you can’t expect them to hold any significant amount of gas pressure. Maybe a few inches of water column, not anything amounting to PSIGs.
A low pressure air test is equivalent to a high pressure liquid test due to the nature of each fluid (viscosity and surface tension).
You’re right up there with ‘Inheritance Machining’ (or vice versa), I get some of the best sleep watching your videos. I mean that as a compliment, just relaxing watching you work on small engines and generators. I’ll end up watching the same video 3-4 times. Always a slightly better day when there is a new James Condon video.
I am not a small engine technician. You always make me anxious using used carbs and non OEM carbs. I understand cost is a factor. However, for myself longterm reliability and peace of mind are most important. Thanks for all you do for the rest of us. You are a TH-cam treasure!
Most all these carbs are really simple and a good cleaning is all the need I have done it 50 years on these engines and some motorcycles with no problem.
Great Video James. Years back i had a Ridgid generator similar to this model. It was a 6500-8500 model with a Yamaha engine. I sold it promptly because it was so heavy and Loud. But a great jobsite Generator. I sold other to a contractor
Well done James and well done for the Rigid generator- as you mentioned certainly a quality machine with low numbers in the THD. The owner should be very pleased.
Great job James on the repair as always. The circuit breakers on most generators like this one have what are called push to reset thermal breakers. They are considered supplemental by the NEC code because the fact is they can run up to 125% of their rated load for a long period of time before they trip they are more in place for surges and short circuits. This also may have something to do with why generators tend to get overloaded on one side and melt the neutral wire.
Chairs in great time on the live stream last night!
Was trying to find a wiring diagram to confirm. Seems odd they would have done it that way.
@@jcondon1 it's likely because it's limited by the wattage total. You can't use the duplex 20A outlets and the 30A outlet at the same time. If you do then you will likely smoke the generator. Again those push to reset breakers are very cheap. On the bigger generators you will see a master two-pole main breaker then the supplementary push to reset breakers downstream. Corners were cut on this one but as long as the user is educated how to operate it properly should be fine
What a winner Jim, impressive performance!
James,
I haven't watched many of your videos over the last two months because I've been very busy. I'm taking some time now to express my sincere gratitude towards you and to thank you for all of the awesome diagnostics and repair videos. I have watched dozens and dozens of hours of your instructive engine repair videos. Many, I have watched two or even three times.
In the last month I've managed to rebuild a transaxle and service an inoperable MTD Yardman Yard Bug Beetle. The only thing remaining is to button it up and install a new battery.
I also ran across a very old Clinton Cast Iron engine from about 1962. It was missing the spark plug and didn't have a single drop of oil in the crankcase. Every moving part was stuck. Mud Daubers had filled the exhaust...but the worst thing was that the engine had been sitting unused, covered in dirt, and the piston was locked up tighter than a drum. Long story short, the engine is now up and running and I didn't even have to replace the points and condenser.
Lastly, today I picked up an Echo PB--251, for free, and I'm too tired to check it out tonight, but, it has good compression and looks like I will simply run through the maintenance procedures for the carburetor, spark arrestor, exhaust, and make some adjustments. Thanks to the skills I've learned from you...I'm not sweating it at all.
Thanks again James!
In my view, welding has taken your fabbing to a whole new and interesting level. Thanks for the post.
There’s an old saying. “Making a silk purse from a sow’s ear”. James you live up to that saying 100%. Great recovery from a “sick” Generac. Well done. I have the XG8000E. Which is the later version of essentially the same thing. Generac did clean up some of the stupid design flaws but still left the battery under the tank. I moved mine to the lower frame rail the day I got the generator. You are correct. This is one of the best performing portable generators in this 8000 watt class. Love your videos!
James, thoroughly enjoyed this latest video - I am an addict and have watched them all! Very impressive power head on this machine to achieve such a low THD. Beautiful sign wave under load. I hope the manufacturers watch these videos too and learn how to improve their designs by studying what works well and what breaks - I think your videos highlight it both consistently and in great depth - surely a great source of continuous improvement for them. Please keep the content coming - I love following the root cause analysis and watching the fixes - simply makes my day. Best, Peter.
James,
Good job and save on another generator.
Have noticed that your welding has been much better.
You've been practicing.
Keep posting as these posts do help us DYI'ers very much.
You have saved me money not having to take it or them to the shop.
Tks, Michael
Another one brought back from the dust, great job Doc.
A great way to suspend cables and fuel / air lines to vibrating or slightly moving things Is to use double headed zipties that loop around and kind a make a figure 8. I use those a lot on sensor cables running along air pressure brake hoses on trucks etc...
Thanks for your step by step videos and detailed explanation on symptoms and causes. I definitely was lacking some information on small engines!
That looks, a treat, getting the valve cover off.
Your attention to detail is admirable letting nothing slip by you ,I often tell other u Tubers to watch your Videos when they attempt to work on a broken Genset you are the small engine Genset go to guy Jim very informative video's .
Hi James, If you heat the carb cleaner straw with a lighter an inch or two from the end then pull the straw to neck it, hold till it freezes, and cut through the middle of the neck. You know have a mini straw to get in tiny jets and passages.
Astounding! 3.0%THD is amazing with such low power machines. Very good engine
I would have made a steel bush for the inside of the handle pipe but it looks great none the less. I am surprised by the price of these gennies brand new. 236USD is a fantastic bargain. In Europe we have to pay 2 times that money for 2.5kW ones
Hello James;
Really enjoy your videos; keep up the good work.
With respect to the rusty fuel tank. I worked at a equipment manufacture. I don't know if the results would be the same but we used to take metal that had rust/mill scale on it and put it in a cement mixer along with a few hands full of sawdust. After a few hrs. the mill scale and rust were gone and the metal parts were semi polished. If you have access to a cement mixer you could probably bungie a fuel tank to it and use the saw dust along with the nut & bolt and it would probably do a nice job on the rust. You might need to rotate the to get the top, bottom and sides, then use the Evapo-Rust to finish it up.
Again, thanks for the great videos.
Excellent way to start the day!
After watching i must say a lot of your videos,I come to the conclusion that carb problems seem to be the main problems with a lot of motors.
Ethanol
Ethanol plays a role, but so does water and intermittent use/neglect.
Engines
You had mentioned before that Subaru engines smoke for a bit when they first star up . Notice this one does not .
@@12wingwfetech it's like a Harley. If there ain't oil under it, there ain't oil in it. Huh?
That worked out very well. The THD figures are excellent. Great generator. Nice fix.
I just love all of your videos. I look forward to any new ones. I think you are great in that you always do the best you can. I just thought we could have a little chuckle together over this old saying,”With a grinder and paint, make up for the welder I ain’t.” Cheers to you and keep up the great videos. 😊
I find your videos educational and soothing to watch. You rarely ever use bad language, a big plus and you actions are so methodical. And, you always end with a good generator or other gas powered appliance.
I stopped using those plastic valves years ago when I had to replace a carb on a chipper/vac because the valve leaked unbeknownst to me. I now only use metal valves from Tractor Supply. They are expensive but they don't seem to leak. You may want to check out the Ryobi 18v band saw for cutting your metal, it's my new best friend for that kind of stuff. I avoid the jungle web site mainly because of the way Jeff treats his employees but also the amount of junk sold there. Excellent repair on the handle!
It is quite impressive that you can pull a carb out of the parts bin and remember the issue with that specific carb. I wish I had a memory like that.
Sometimes. I have a 420cc that I have no recollection where it came from or if it works.
I strap tanks to a lawn mower rear tire and let it tumble them for a while and it does a good job. Thanks!
I have 76 hours on my EU7000is generator & my unit has zero issues in 5 years. It starts everytime & backfeed my entire house all the time.
A grinder and paint makes me the Welder I ain't. Interesting project, The basic operation of the generator seemed to be there. I hope your Friend appreciates your efforts getting the generator up and running like new. I wish I had a friend like near by! KOKO!
These videos are SO interesting to me. It lets me watch someone (Else!) hit a string of frustrations without me havind to swill antiascids to keep me stomache from easting itself.
Hello Mr. Condon. I have been watching your vids for quite some time now, just recently sub'd..... Amazing work you do!
Just a quick tip/idea from me, for removing rust from inside gas tanks: Do you have a cement mixer? Fill the tank with water/evaporust, throw in some gravel (clean, w/o sand or small particles), plug the inlet and outlet with corks, wrap the tank with cloths, attach the tank inside the cement mixer, and let her rip. A close friend of mine restored an old Soviet motorcycle, with side-car, and used this method to clean his tank... Like said, just an idea, ja?
Keep them lovely videos coming.
Cheers and greetz from Germany
Unfortunately I do not have a cement mixer. Been keeping an eye out for an old paint mixer. But so far have not found what I am looking for.
James, thanks for the video. I have the same generator and was having issues with mine. I watched the video and made some repairs and changes to mine. Now it runs just fine.
Hello James! I must say I think your channel is excellent! I find it interesting, informative, and inspiring! Dare I say, Network TV worthy! When I say inspiring, here is my story. I have to confess to some negligence with both a small lawn mower and a Ridgid 5700 watt Generator by leaving fuel in them for an inordinate amount of time. They refused to run and I knew it was the carbs. After watching your videos, while I have some mechanical skills, I have never rebuilt carbs before. However, searching for them both on Amazon I found replacements for like $13 and $35. At that price I thought it was worth a try to just slap on new carbs. The one for the mower arrived in 2 days, and 15 min later, after slapping on a new carb, it ran perfectly. The One for the generator had to come from China so it took a little while. My generator has never really seen the outside and only has 2, yes 2 hours on it. So, I was determined to get it running. Once the new carb arrived, after flushing the gas tank, (thank god after inspection, it still looks brand new inside) changing the fuel lines, filter and slapping on the new carb, it started up right away. I was concerned about the engine speed, as I didn't know how the carb would work with it. I remembered your video where you checked both the voltage and HZ. Upon checking the on board meter, and with it unloaded, it was at 61 hz and 121 volts.. Loaded it zeroed in at 60 hz and 120 v. I think I have a winner. I don't think I would have tried this myself without your tutelage. So, when you close your videos with your line "I hope this video helped someone!, please be very aware for this viewer it helped a lot! Thanks for what you do and keep doing it, I will be watching! Best Regards, John Ebell
Thank! Glad to hear it worked out and the Ridgid tank was still clean. Those tanks are usually not forgiving and they are discontinued, so tank care of it. Do not leave the same fuel in it for more than 6 months and you will be fine.
Thanks for the vid! I have the 8KW big brother. These are awesome gems. Mine is a Subaru/Robinson. $39 for a carb, filters, spark plug, fuel line, etc. Buy that and some oil and gas and they run forever.
Hello James another interesting video. You seem to be doing more tank restoration work. I have done my share, I suggest getting an old engine stand. You may already have one. The attachment arms ar very friendly in attaching different tank shapes. The barrel is easily adaptable to attaching a V or serpentine belt. Put a small electric motor on the base and you have an
automattic tumbler to attach your tanks to. A couple of hours on the tumbler is usually enough with mild corrosion. The square or rectangular tanks might require repositioning the tank to clean all surfaces. I used mine usually for motorcycle tanks. It also was a great rotator for spray painting, helps prevent runs. To coin your closing I hope this helps. Keep up the great videos.
Fun tip James, those fuel valves can be pulled apart and the "o" ring replaced! I use a little silicone grease on the new "o" ring, snap it back together, and back in business in no time.
Nice work! Worth my time to watch all the way through. Thanks James.
...it is a fact that we are in an age where we have to work with our minds! I would ask you to electrolyze and finish. I'm always happy to follow your works, and to become wiser! thank you!
I’m not a (generator) virgin anymore! 😂
Just finished yesterday going over my first generator for a customer. It needed a few things, which I did as best I could and returned to the customer running and producing electricity as it should, at least as far as I could tell with only a multimeter.
Then today I had a request for a restored generator. I’ve got some in the yard and I’m sure one will fill their needs.
I guess it’s time to finally break down and purchase a Kilawatt tester so I followed the link in one of your videos and one will be here soon. With your help I’m sure I can solve any issues. Yay!!!
Clean, 3/4-inch drain gravel also does a great job scrubbing rust off of the inside of gas tanks.
Hi James. A sugestion to help you cleaning out steel tanks. If you have access to a cement mixer, take off the drum and fashion a wooden support for the tank and let it spin. Less work for you and you can leave it running for hours
He did that before with...a tractor? or a lawnmower with self propel? tied the tank to a wheel if I recall :)
Nice video. Your issues with the gas tank isolation valve leaks gave me food for thought. Most people will shut off the valve and run the carburetor empty before storage for long periods so as not to foul the carburetor with old gas during extended downtime. If you are getting leakage that is another reason for changing the oil before starting for a new season. One oil change per year is much cheaper than a new engine. Thank you for explaining this.
James posts… I’m watching
Great video, I admire your patience and thorough way of working. Amazingly good. About the valve, I think you should mount it 90 degrees turned, with the fuel line coming from above. I saw a little notch in the top of the cap where the line should go through. Thanks for your work, I learn a lot of it.
You obviously have a wealth of expertise maintaining and repairing portable/home generators and more. Please consider posting a video on how users can better maintain portable generators, and the top failure causes you've seen. Be helpful if you could also post your recommendations based on your maintenance experience...sm, med & large portables. From watching your YT's it seems obvious that old gas, old oil and no oil are major failure causes, perhaps also electronic part failures from overheating.
I'm scouting around around for a quiet, open frame, 8-10K LPG with 5% or less THD, a 50A connector, remote start and a 3 or more year warranty. My managed home load is estimated at 6KW with a 2-4KW safety margin.
James, when cleaning gas tanks i have found a barbecue rotisserie motor with its accompanying rod supported on either end is far superior to hand shaking the tank . Still use the nuts and bolts, { I have found bb's work very well along with nuts and bolts}. Simply bungie cord it to the rotisserie rod and let it run over night, changing positions occasionally. I have found that a small piece of plastic sheet under the cap works well for preventing cap leakage. Extended tumbling will many times preclude having to use evaporust. I have noticed you struggling to remove rust many times on various pieces and couldn't help but think you could use a small sandblaster with or with out cabinet, using glass bead with the blaster cleans casting as good or better than new. I enjoy your show very much. Thanks, Tom
I love it when the engine is still giving you issues.... Means that the video will be longer...
u do a above service business its hard to to get the money back from consumers great job and testing
HI James, nice to see you back! The alcohol fuel that they forced on us has caused all kinds of problems for us taxpayers, I first noticed it when I took the float bowls off my stored motorcycle and noticed the brass jets were eroded from the fuel.
If you americans used low cc vehicles like the rest of the world maybe you would have normal gas now
@@AJVAN_ Maybe if you knew what you're talking about your opinion would matter.
Excuse my ignorance but what is a cc vehicle?@@AJVAN_
Both my Kawasaki KZ1000, and later my Honda Goldwing required high test fuel, which has no ethanol.
also fuel density is different. so float opens and closes at other positions.
Nice save on the carb and tank. I can't help wondering why it produced such clean power.
A short piece of pipe inserted into the handle and welded then drilled would have been a superior repair on the handle!!
Hi james welding takes practice you are getting better Thanks for the video.
Maybe a little better. Still need a lot more practice.
that was a clean sinewave if i do say so myself under a load, though not with a full load it looks chunky, other than that, that was a fantastic clean sinewave.
Hi James. I gotta say, I really enjoy your videos. I've been watching for a while now. Has inspired me to tackle the carb on my John Deere front tine tiller. It has a Briggs engine in it. Thanks for the great video.
Just finished up watching your live stream Jim.
Several metal or plastic fuel tanks are available on the outboard motor market, most are intended to take to a petrol station to be filled, then carried back to a boat, so they have connectors. Fuel tanks for outboard motors are usually plastic.
That is a viable option. Would just need to add a fuel pump.
A typical tank for an outboard would connect with a flexi hose with an inline squeezable primer bulb. after that a high tank would siphon into the carb on demand, a low tank would need a fuel pump.
EDTA-Na2 can be used to clean the tank from rust. It will also work for the carburetor. Removes oxides well.
I just remembered this about rust, I'm an avid canner and about ten years ago I was trying to clean a stained aluminum pressure cooker with vinegar and I just threw the galvanized rack that goes in the bottom of the canner in also and brought the pressure canner up to pressure for about t3n minutes but it did not clean the aluminum but it did remove the galvanization from the steel rack in the bottom and turned it black and it hasn't rusted in that ten years.
Hello James, I have learned a lot about troubleshooting small engines and generators from watching you. Thanks for being there. Just curious, What is your THD meter. (Amazon?) Keep up the good instructional content. Thank you
First, Great video thanks for sharing, I've had so much problem with leaking fuel shut off valves (and equipment that need but don't have them) that I've started using regular brass or stainless 1/4 inch ball valves instead and haven't had any problems with leaks.
Thursday = James Generator Day, time to grab a breakfast burrito and coffee!
I thought I was the only one that did that !!!
Mr James thanks for all the videos that you share for us I would like for you to let us know the names of the electrical parts of the Generator motor please I really appreciate it God bless you
Great video, very systematic approach. Do you record your spoken word after the fact as a voice over? It sounds great by the way. Cheers, Heiko
Hi James really quite good to watch you because it really is quite educational I actually fly radio control planes and you actually teach me a lot of stuff about how to be fastidious and to make sure everything's done right dunrite and I just like to say thank you very much
Thanks mate
Jim, it seems as though the engine is offset in that frame by an inch, cramming the valve cover up against the frame. On the plus side, this appears to be one of the few where intake access isn’t at least partially blocked. If that were my machine I’d drill new holes for the mounts and shift the whole assembly over because the valves are going to need to be at least checked at the 100 or 200 hour mark.
Amazing work. You are so very patient. Easy to listen to. Very knowledgeable. And get the job done! Will be watching more videos!
Hi James, this is the first video of yours I’ve watched. Enjoyed it a lot, see you on the next one 👍
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video as always! Just wondering what welder you have? I’m in the market for one and am looking for recommendations. Thanks.
24:14 try using a length of semi-heavy chain to clean the tank out next time I found it works wonders does an excellent job of scrubbing and is a breeze to remove compared to nuts and bolts or gravel in some cases
I have the same exact problems with those 90° valves. The tight fit in the mounts, distorts the case and causes the leaking. Once the damage is done they don't appear to recover. I tend to open the mount hole with a reamer from the back. It's almost as if all those Briggs mounts were designed for a slightly smaller valve body, then the one they adopted, even OEM is testy.
I was thinking you were a bit off on your amps to watts conversion but you were right on. I’d say that breaker is a good one or you just didn’t let it run long enough pulling the 3000 watt load. 120(vac) X 20(amps) = 2400 watts.
He's the Mr. Rogers of generators. All he needs is a cardigan. :D
Great video James. I just have to admire your attention to detail 😉😉
Always learn something from you! Thanks so much!
Best welder for thin sheet metal is TIG.
FYI -You may already know that Hydrochloric Acid HCL is just a stronger version of Muriatic acid. But you can get Inhibited HCL that won't eat metal like its counter part non Inhibited HCL.
on carburetors;...support the arm under the float pin when driving the pin out to prevent the arm breaking off...!
Hi James if you go to mercury marine you can buy a proper two stroke comp tester I hope this helps you it is only short that is used on out bord motors