The generator has about 1500-2000 hours on it, so it isn't exactly new, but it does get maintained as per schedule, with the oil changed with pure synthetic (because splash lubricated generators require the oil to do far more with each toss from the piston's spur than one that uses oil pressure.) Until this season, the generator has worked flawlessly (other than the time I added too much Seafoam the first year I had it.)
-edited-
Did the B-12 treatment because as stated above, it had actual solvents in it as opposed to just naptha as in Seaform... I tossed four ounces in a gallon of gas, ran it a bit on econ-switch (eco-throttle) mode, so it would go through the idle jet. Turned it off for an hour, then ran it again until the tank emptied. Next day, I just dumped the remaining 11 ounces (it comes in a 15 ounce bottle) into the generator's tank, filled the genset up with premium unleaded, and ran it as normal.
So far, still a tad hard to start (takes 3-4 pulls, where just six months ago, it would start with just a single tug), and it does surge, but give it five minutes with a 750 watt load on it, it will smooth out.
At least it is usable until festival time is over, then I'll go whole-hog on rebuilding or replacing the carb. All and all, I am impressed of how well this generator works, but when it comes to getting a new generator I am going to look at a Honda eu7000is as a replacement, just because Honda parts are a lot easier to track down, and the bigger wattage (5500 watts sustained) handles the locked rotor amps from an A/C (even with a hard start cap) a lot better. Plus, the EFI model doesn't have a carb to get clogged, which is one less worry.
