EU3000is in cold weather

[theoldwizard1]

A friend of a friend has a EU3000is. It well maintained by a professional service company. He is using 5W30 synthetic oil. The problems show up when the temps get down below about 15F.

1. it is uncharacteristically hard to start
2. After running for a few minutes with a load, the RPM start to oscillate

Research shows that the "root cause" is carburetor icing. Honda has a solution that I am skeptical of. It is a 10W heater that is installed in the crankcase ventilation line. The concept it correct (add warm air to the intake ahead of the carburetor), but will a 10W heater make a difference at -10F.

Has anyone tried the Honda inline heater ?

Any other suggestions ?

[wa8yxm]

I do not know if a 10 watt heater will work or not.. But I do know this.

In many markets (Google Botique gas) the gasoline sold in January, and July, is different,, The stuff sold in July has additives that make it harder to vaporize..

SO if you have July gas, and well today it's February (Still January season) often the thing will not start at all.

The solution is to make sure it's full of "Winter Gasoline" which has a lower vapor point (boiling point) and more easily turns from Liquid to GAS (GAS here refers to a statge of matter, vapor not liquid) so the Generator can burn it.

I have actually verified this with a different make of portable,, Would not start till warmed.

[theoldwizard1]

The "friend of a friend" switched to 0W-20 synthetic and the problem went away.

[robert_at_honda]

Most Canada-market Honda generators are fitted with the breather-heater from the factory.

For a USA-market model, Honda makes a complete kit with all the needed parts; for the EU3000is, it is Honda Part Number 06390-ZS9-T20 and here's what you get:



Google the part number to find a dealer selling online, or use this link to find a Honda dealer near you:

Find A Honda Dealer

[ScottG]

3oaks wrote:
How many comprehend what the O.P. wrote? :R

"The problems show up when the temps get down below about 15F."

I believe SoundGuy understood and has the answer to the problem in the first reply. 😉

I understood perfectly and I also know that a partial blockage or gummed up parts will reveal themselves differently in extreme conditions.

[Lynnmor]

I have a portable Generac generator for back up power at home. We had a power outage for about a week and found that carb ice was a real problem. The air intake can be turned towards the muffler to pick up heat, but even with that, I still had problems. A large cardboard box capturing some heat got me thru the week.

[red31]

This guy has a 3000 that runs like **** in the cold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44oZ3cTyMBc


fix with different oil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCa9LMWV7-A

[3oaks]

How many comprehend what the O.P. wrote? :R

"The problems show up when the temps get down below about 15F."

I believe SoundGuy understood and has the answer to the problem in the first reply. 😉

[ScottG]

My Honda was hard to start and ran terible from new. I finally ran a half can of Seafoam and ran it for 7 hours straight. It has run better than new ever since.
Honda tests each genny before shipping and I suspect the gas left in it (even after draining the bowl) dries up and causes problems.
It wont cost much to try this and it can do nothing but good.

[Darryl_Rita]

It's not for carb icing.

[theoldwizard1]

westend wrote:
Regardless, if you wish to follow up on the Honda fix for icing, I'd suggest to also make sure the choke, throttle, and governor operations are all set correctly. I'd probably run some fuel system cleaner through it as well.

The machine was just im for service for this complaint. It was pronounced 100% healthy. Oil was changed to 5W30 synthetic. No improvement.

Various fuel cleaners and de-icer have been tried.

[westend]

I'm sceptical that any "research" nailed the cause of the poor operation. Personally, I've never seen a small 4 stroke engine suffer from icing at 15f.

Regardless, if you wish to follow up on the Honda fix for icing, I'd suggest to also make sure the choke, throttle, and governor operations are all set correctly. I'd probably run some fuel system cleaner through it as well.

[Sam_Spade]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

Research shows that the "root cause" is carburetor icing.

The other "root cause" could be deposits building up in the carb.
I recommend giving it a good dose of Berrymans B12 Chemtool or Gumout in the gas first.

But given the information supplied so far, the heater certainly wouldn't hurt.

[SoundGuy]

Here in Canada Honda's EU3000iS features what the manufacturer calls Cold Climate Technology. To whit ...

"Exclusive to Canada. Honda's industry leading "Cold Climate Technology" is specifically designed for our cold Canadian winters. Our exclusive breather heater system helps keep the crankcase ventilation tube free of ice formation and helps prevent generator shutdown."

I imagine this is what you're talking about and if the part(s) necessary can be purchased and installed on a US model it would seem logical to me that this would solve this problem with this US model running properly in very cold temperatures.