Problem Starting Honda EU6500 Inverter

[Rollochrome]

My Honda EU 6500 has sat up for about a year. I started it yesterday and while the battery was weak, it cranked up. The engine loped up and down for 45 seconds then the RPMs leveled out and it seemed to run fine.

I turned it off, and turned it back on.... No problem..

So then I wheeled it out to the front and was about to connect it to my TT and now it won't electrically start. Just makes a sort of high pitched grinding sound like the starter is just spooling and nothing is happening.

I opened the side panel and pulled on the pull cord and the inverter fired right up...

But start with the key or the remote....no go...

Any ideas???

[Dan_69GTX]

So, what did you find out?

[Dan_69GTX]

Yup, what was said - the battery is to weak to properly spin the starter. Since it doesn't spin fast enough the bendix isn't properly engaging the flywheel. Keep trying to start it like this and you will be buying more than a battery since it could damage the bendix or the flywheel.

If you use a battery minder make sure it is a real one that doesn't cook the battery. Some cheaper ones are advertised as a battery minder and all they are is just a small battery charger that doesn't take into account what the battery really needs.

Remember if a battery is NOT a deep cycle battery then they are designed to just be discharged a little before recharging. If a battery sits too long and discharges too much it will affect the life of the battery. The greater the discharge the more damage will occur.

[2edgesword]

How long did you let it run?

If the battery had barely enough charge to start it the first time it may have drained that charge and didn't get enough run time to replace what it expended during that first start-up.

[shock_guy]

My 6500 is acting up a little as well. I recently bought mine with 14 hours on it. The guy before me kept it outside in a wood shed wired to his house. In 14 hours of run time it is on its second battery.
At 20 hours the remote starter will not work. sometimes the electric start will and sometimes it needs to be pull started.
I put my battery charger on it now at 30 hours for a few days and the electric start works but the remote start will not.
I guess I need a new battery but I don't have a lot of faith at this point due to the battery not lasting very long.
I forgot to mention that I had a battery maintainer on this all winter while kept in my heated basement.