Trouble with my Honda 2000 genset

Thanks for the update. I'm guessing moisture.

Thanks everyone for your input. As of right now I can not duplicate the problem. Starts and runs fine. I'm going to go with the temperature. It was sitting outside for 2 nights in 20 degrees. The only other time it wouldn't start was a camping trip at 25 below. Guess I'll have to put it inside at night. Thanks again.

The overload light comes on and then it stalls, or it stalls and then the overload light is on?

I would suspect the carb is the issue. Could be a clog, could be it is flooding, could be it is starved for fuel which might be float related.

Any small engine repair can fix a motor, and cheaper. Don't take it to a camper specialist.
I have no knowledge if it is the generator head shutting it down or not.

With super cheap ebay carbs sometimes it is just easier and quicker to buy a new carb. I imagine $30-40 range.

All you can do on your own is see if the problem could be caused by the wiring external to the inverter module, which will require a bit of disassembly. My first step would be to disconnect the AC output wires to eliminate the outlet, circuit breaker, damaged wires, and parallel connectors as causes. (See the wiring diagram in the owners manual). If that didn't work I'd open up and re-mate all of the connectors a couple of times on the chance that could clear up a flaky connection. If the failure is inside the inverter module there's nothing to be done other than replacing it or walking away from the generator.

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Once years ago mine did that when it was really cold out. I just kept restarting it a few times in a row and it eventually stayed running and ran fine after that. The oil level may have been marginal at the time.

Make really sure your oil level is completely full. Consider changing the oil.

Or maybe your oil level sender is bad?

IDman wrote:
I bought a new one and the first time I ran it it started fine and stopped after 20-30 seconds. It did this repeatedly. I Took it in for repair and it was clogged from dirty/old gas. Told the repair guy that it was fresh out of the box and he said the factory ran it and left gas in it. Probably sat for months before it was shipped and sold.

Yours just might need cleaning.

Difference being your overload light wasn't coming on.

I bought a new one and the first time I ran it it started fine and stopped after 20-30 seconds. It did this repeatedly. I Took it in for repair and it was clogged from dirty/old gas. Told the repair guy that it was fresh out of the box and he said the factory ran it and left gas in it. Probably sat for months before it was shipped and sold.

Yours just might need cleaning.

DrewE wrote:
It sounds to me like it may well be an internal fault, perhaps a shorted power transistor in the inverter circuit or something along those lines.

Most likely this. An overload disconnects the charging circuit but doesn't shut down the motor. If yours is shutting down with the red OL light on, then there is probably something wrong with the electronics.

Is this an EU2000?

I’ve never seen one shut off for an overload, even with something wrong with the generator. Are you sure it’s not the low oil light?