Generator

Mr.Mark wrote:
START your generators on a regular basis! They LOVE to run! Why let'm sit? I don't get it.

MM.

Didn't I just prove otherwise above?

START your generators on a regular basis! They LOVE to run! Why let'm sit? I don't get it.

MM.

Yupp.. the remote panels usually don't have prime button. You have to go to generator and push it there.
I just restarted Generac after at least 5 years. It was run dry before storage.
Put fresh gasoline in small tank, pushed the prime button till pump changed tone and it fired up in couple of seconds.

A couple of easy possibilities come to mind. First, if you haven't primed it (by holding the switch in the off position before starting it), try that. Many or most Onan generators will run the fuel pump without cranking the engine to get fuel from the tank to the engine. It can take 30 seconds or more, depending on how long the fuel line is.

Second, check that the oil level is full.

Beyond these easy things, it's pretty much a matter of basic small engine troubleshooting. Do you have fuel? If no fuel, do you get fuel when you try to run it taking fuel from a can with a short piece of gas line? Do you have spark? Is the carburetor clean and the choke mechanism operating? etc.

Shoot some fresh gas, NOT ether into the carb throat, if it starts and quits you have a fuel delivery problem. Likely the carb is gummed up with stale gas, ethanol gives everybody a lot of grief.