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What Did I Do to Break My Generators???

HadEnough
Explorer
Explorer
I’m at a complete loss. I broke BOTH of my generators doing something very simple.

I currently have 3 (qty) 2400 watt Nothstar Generators. They have always run like a Swiss watch for me over the years. I have owned 2 others before these over the decades.

I currently need 3 because I’m off grid and have a living area and a workshop area to air condition.

Meet the generators:

Generator 1: bought 2 years ago. Ran for thousands of hours trouble free. Ran any time it was above 85F in Florida. Hard to even imagine how well this generator performed for a gasoline portable. Recently, the AVR (automatic voltage regulator) went bad delivering 90V instead of its normal 120.

Generator 2: Bought 6 weeks ago. in the work area running like a Swiss watch.

Generator 3: Bought 6 weeks ago. Carb started spraying fuel out the top after about 4 hours of use.

What I did:

I put generator 1 and generator 3 next to each other and set them on their ends so the power heads were sticking up in the air. Oil cane out the breather tubes. Whoops.

I then took off the face plate from the generator heads, took out the AVRs and swapped them.

Now neither generator will turn!!!

I cannot pull the pull start. It’s jammed!!

I can turn the generator in the opposite direction from normal rotation. I can even pull the pull start to turn it back to where it is jammed. But I can’t pass the jammed area in the rotation.

My mind is BLOWN.

I definitely caused this problem, but all I did was stand the generators on end and swap the AVRs. Then close them back up to test.

How on Earth can swapping AVRs on an identical pair of generators cause both of them to lock up at a certain point in their rotation, but still be able to turn backwards???

My head hurts. Can’t find the logic here.
21 REPLIES 21

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
HadEnough wrote:
Wow. What a disaster!!!

How could I have fixed so many small and large engines in my life, even done rebuilds and never run into this problem before??

I had absolutely no idea you had to keep a small engine level at all times even when it’s not running.

4 stroke Outboard engines all tell you how to move them and store them. Lawnmowers? They don’t necessarily stay upright as you put them into a pickup truck. I’ve moved these generators around on end many times. Just never stood them up for 20 minute like that before.

I also didn’t know scratching off deposits on a modern plug could damage them. I can’t understand how I had these huge holes in my knowledge of engines. Especially after I’ve fixed dozens. What the heck?

Guess there’s always something new to learn.

The air filters were full of oil, so the carbs must have also been full of oil.

Thank you for the posts. They have all been really helpful. I am doing a really big, full time project right now and didn’t feel like cleaning out the carbs because it’ll take too long. I’ve cleaned carbs countless times on these small engines and know how long that takes. So I’ll let the Northen Tools service department do that while they put in the new AVR which was all I was doing.

Can’t believe swapping a pair of AVRs between 2 generators resulted in this because of the way I tipped them.


Small engines do not need to be 100% "level" all the time, they can operate or be stored "off level" to a certain degree.. Lets just say 90 degrees off level (tipped on end) is way out of spec for operation or storage..

Oil can and must seep past the rings, otherwise if an oil film is not present to ALL rings your engine would seize up solid with in a couple of minutes of running. Normal engine operation splashes oil up into the cylinder and piston. The piston rings wipe down the oil that is splashed but it leaves a light oil film for the next rings above the bottom ring..

When you tipped it on end for more than a couple of seconds or even a minute or two, the oil will flow past the gaps in the rings and eventually spill into the cylinder and that is what caused your grief.

Depending on which valve was open at the time oil would run into the carb or exhaust.. Some of the smoke may actually have been oil in the muffler and some from the carb and air filter..

And yeah, newer plugs are not as robust as the older ones, not a lot of quality goes into them and the OEM ones most Chinese gens generally foul out quickly, you are lucky to have operated them for such a long time.

I have on a occasion accidentally flooded some small engines, the only way to get them running was to replace the fuel soaked plug.. Drying or burning the fuel off didn't fix the plug, tried carb and other cleaners and no joy.. It took a new plug to get it to fire again.

Not sure how you are cleaning your small engine carbs, the Honda clone carbs are very easy to clean (fortunately since they tend to clog when there is a speck of dirt in the air)..

Turn fuel off.

Remove fuel bowl (center screw which holds bowl on)
Use flat blade screw driver that is just small enough to fit into the same center post the fuel bowl screw goes into.

Unscrew the jet with the flat blade screw driver.

Carefully lower the jet (not done yet)

Remove emulsion tube that the jet was retaining from the carb (sometimes sticks in place and top can be seen in the carb throat).

Carefully lower the emulsion tube out (may be an additional part in there so if there is pay attention to the order and direction of the parts).

Use a can of pressurized carb cleaner to clean all of the littler holes on that tube.. Final "rinse" by holding the jet end of tube directly against the carb cleaner spray tube. Observer that carb cleaner comes out of all openings.

Once that is done reassemble (just the reverse of what you did to take it apart)..

Fuel bowl gasket tends to be reusable as long as you didn't tear or rip it during disassembly.

Total time to dismantle, clean and reassemble should take no more than 15 minutes.

Lots of very good pictures and even videos on the web to show you exactly how to do this.

Heck you can buy a spare carb for these gens dirt cheap, I bought a spare for one of my gens just in case the cleaning didn't work or I lost a part when cleaning.. Cost was $18 or so.. Can't find a mechanic to work on them for that cost. You can get the replacement carbs on Amazon..

Fisherman
Explorer
Explorer
A few years back I got an almost brand new lawnmower in the spring, the owner had hung it up by the handle and all the oil ran into the cylinder head, he thought it was seized. After half an hour of draining and washing out the head with some kerosene, new oil in the crankcase and new plug, it came to life, smoked like a destroyer laying down a smoke screen. It's been my campground mower ever since.

HadEnough
Explorer
Explorer
Wow. What a disaster!!!

How could I have fixed so many small and large engines in my life, even done rebuilds and never run into this problem before??

I had absolutely no idea you had to keep a small engine level at all times even when it’s not running.

4 stroke Outboard engines all tell you how to move them and store them. Lawnmowers? They don’t necessarily stay upright as you put them into a pickup truck. I’ve moved these generators around on end many times. Just never stood them up for 20 minute like that before.

I also didn’t know scratching off deposits on a modern plug could damage them. I can’t understand how I had these huge holes in my knowledge of engines. Especially after I’ve fixed dozens. What the heck?

Guess there’s always something new to learn.

The air filters were full of oil, so the carbs must have also been full of oil.

Thank you for the posts. They have all been really helpful. I am doing a really big, full time project right now and didn’t feel like cleaning out the carbs because it’ll take too long. I’ve cleaned carbs countless times on these small engines and know how long that takes. So I’ll let the Northen Tools service department do that while they put in the new AVR which was all I was doing.

Can’t believe swapping a pair of AVRs between 2 generators resulted in this because of the way I tipped them.

MrWizard
Moderator
Moderator
Krusty wrote:
Combustion chamber full of oil now? Pull a sparkplug and see if it will turn



THIS

when you got oil in the breather tubes, you got oil into top of the cylinder,
So near the top of piston Stoke it stops BECAUSE oil won't compress

Remove spark plug, pull start rope very slowly or turn engine by hand, you need to push the oil out of the cylinder, be sure you get it all of it out
I can explain it to you.
But I Can Not understand it for you !

....

Connected using T-Mobile Home internet and Visible Phone service
1997 F53 Bounder 36s

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
HadEnough wrote:
One problem remains. It now runs like ****. It’ll only run full choke and has good moments and sputtering moments.

I ran it for about 40 mins now at no load and full choke. It just died after a sputtering, Smokey 40 minute run. It stopped smoking after 5 minutes or so.

I also sanded away any fouling on the plug’s business end after the smoking stopped.

It’s not running well at all. What’s next? New plug, even though it’s not too badly gunked up?

Please tell me I don’t need to do a carb cleaning.


"sanding" modern plugs kills them.. Sanding cuts into and can remove the hard outer porcelain surface leaving a more porous part of the porcelain which can carbon track and foul out must faster. Additionally, if it was a "factory" plug and you never changed it, CHANGE IT, they are junk to start with.

Doesn't take much to foul out factory plugs as they use pretty low grade plugs..

As for the carb, YES, you most likely need to clean it by physically dismantling and removing the jet and emulsion tube.

When you turned entire gen on end, any and all dirt and water was sloshed around inside the carb bowl.. The Honda designed carbs which are also used on Chinese knockoff engines all are very susceptible to the emulsion tube tiny holes plugging even by the tiniest speck of dirt.. When that happens, engine will run lean and rough unless you close the choke partially or completely..

The best fix is removing the emulsion tube and using pressurized canned carb cleaner blow open the holes, and make sure all are open before reassembling.

If new plug and carb cleaning doesn't fix it, then you may have bent or damaged the valves and or other parts due to "hydro locking" the engine.

In the future, never set any engine on end or side unless it was emptied of all fluids or designed to operate in that position..

HadEnough
Explorer
Explorer
MFL wrote:
Have you topped off the oil since losing some into the cylinder?

Jerry


Yup. First thing I did. It wouldn’t start if it had low oil. It’s got one of those sensors.

HadEnough
Explorer
Explorer
Ok. I’ll replace the plugs.

Also, I only rotated it about 15-20 degrees backward by hand to check what the issue was.

dieseltruckdriv
Explorer II
Explorer II
DrewE wrote:
It would not surprise me in the least if you got some oil into the carburetors; in fact, it seems rather inevitable given there was oil in the combustion chamber and then you rotated the engine backwards. The piston would force the oil (or anything there) out the intake valve.
Yep.
Also, replace the plug, you can't clean way up into the inside.
2000 F-250 7.3 Powerstroke
2018 Arctic Fox 27-5L

MFL
Nomad II
Nomad II
Have you topped off the oil since losing some into the cylinder?

Jerry

DrewE
Explorer II
Explorer II
It would not surprise me in the least if you got some oil into the carburetors; in fact, it seems rather inevitable given there was oil in the combustion chamber and then you rotated the engine backwards. The piston would force the oil (or anything there) out the intake valve.

CapnCampn
Explorer III
Explorer III
Maybe swap in a plug from one of the other gens if they're not to bad?

I wonder if maybe the cylinder is full of burned oil (carbon)?
If so, maybe Seafoam it or pull the head to scrub it clean.

Just some thoughts from a shadetree...

Good Luck!

HadEnough
Explorer
Explorer
One problem remains. It now runs like ****. It’ll only run full choke and has good moments and sputtering moments.

I ran it for about 40 mins now at no load and full choke. It just died after a sputtering, Smokey 40 minute run. It stopped smoking after 5 minutes or so.

I also sanded away any fouling on the plug’s business end after the smoking stopped.

It’s not running well at all. What’s next? New plug, even though it’s not too badly gunked up?

Please tell me I don’t need to do a carb cleaning.

MFL
Nomad II
Nomad II
HadEnough wrote:
Krusty wrote:
Combustion chamber full of oil now? Pull a sparkplug and see if it will turn



Solved!!

You’re a genius.

Got the oil out of the cylinder and trying to burn it off so the thing runs right again.

It’s putting out a nice 120v when it’s not sputtering.


Glad it is solved! Mine was run at factory, but shipped with no oil, and this is likely the reason they get shipped that way.

Jerry

HadEnough
Explorer
Explorer
Darryl&Rita wrote:
Pull out the spark plugs on both machines. You hydro-locked them with oil. Pull the recoil cord to get as much as possible out. Replace the plugs, start them up. Expect lots of smoke, as the oil burns off. Expect to replace the plugs with new ones, after the smoke quits.


Also a genius.

That’s exactly what it was. Burning off the oil right now.