Champion 4000/3500 Generator Not Running

[Astro_Guy]

I have an open frame Champion generator purchased right after hurricane Sandy in 2012. It saw us through a number of eight hour power interruptions up until 2018 when a Predator 3500 inverter generator joined the fleet. It probably has on the order of 50 hours of runtime. For a few years I would still exercise it against target loads for a couple of hours per year. It has now sat idle for two years without being started. It is filled with E0 fuel that is probably also two years old.

Last weekend I thought it might be a good idea to exercise it. It refused to start without starting fluid and would quickly die after starting. After a few rounds of this it would run a couple of seconds before quitting. It would run continuously if given just the slightest shot of starting fluid every five seconds. It would appear that I have a fuel problem, be that the fuel itself or something going on with the carburetor. My plan for the weekend is to drain the old fuel and replace it with fresh fuel to see if that helps.

Let's assume for a moment that this doesn't solve the problem. What would the community recommend in terms of non-invasive procedures? I have both SeaFoam and RedlineSI-1 on hand. A highly experience colleague suggested Gumout as an alternative to SeaFoam while admitting to never having tried the latter. I'd like to get this unit up and running again so that I can offer it up for sale. Keeping things on topic, it has 5w-40 RT6 in the sump. It's a great little generator that I would highly recommend, but the Predator is just so quiet.

 

[fantastic]

I have an open fram Champion generator purchased right after hurricane Sandy in 2012. It saw us through a number of eight hour power interruptions up until 2018 when a Predator 3500 inverter generator joined the fleet. It probably has on the order of 50 hours of runtime. For a few years I would still exercise it against target loads for a couple of hours per year. It has now sat idle for two years without being started. It is filled with E0 fuel that is probably also two years old.

Last weekend I thought it might be a good idea to exercise it. It refused to start without starting fluid and would quickly die after starting. After a few rounds of this it would run a couple of seconds before quitting. It would run continuously if given just the slightest shot of starting fluid every five seconds. It would appear that I have a fuel problem, be that the fuel itself or something going on with the carburetor. My plan for the weekend is to drain the old fuel and replace it with fresh fuel to see if that helps.

Let's assume for a moment that this doesn't solve the problem. What would the community recommend in terms of non-invasive procedures? I have both SeaFoam and RedlineSI-1 on hand. A highly experience colleague suggested Gumout as an alternative to SeaFoam while admitting to never having tried the latter. I'd like to get this unit up and running again so that I can offer it up for sale. Keeping things on topic, it has 5w-40 RT6 in the sump. It's a great little generator that I would highly recommend, but the Predator is just so quiet.

Definitely get some fresh fuel in there. I would opt for 87 to get it running again then swap over to 0. Berryman carb/injector can from walmart is what I use regularly in the fuel tank & I'd suggest you ran something like that through a tank full. Otherwise you may need to pull the carb for cleaning.

Use Sta-Bil everytime you leave fuel in there!

 

[Brian123]

I have an open fram Champion generator purchased right after hurricane Sandy in 2012. It saw us through a number of eight hour power interruptions up until 2018 when a Predator 3500 inverter generator joined the fleet. It probably has on the order of 50 hours of runtime. For a few years I would still exercise it against target loads for a couple of hours per year. It has now sat idle for two years without being started. It is filled with E0 fuel that is probably also two years old.

Last weekend I thought it might be a good idea to exercise it. It refused to start without starting fluid and would quickly die after starting. After a few rounds of this it would run a couple of seconds before quitting. It would run continuously if given just the slightest shot of starting fluid every five seconds. It would appear that I have a fuel problem, be that the fuel itself or something going on with the carburetor. My plan for the weekend is to drain the old fuel and replace it with fresh fuel to see if that helps.

Let's assume for a moment that this doesn't solve the problem. What would the community recommend in terms of non-invasive procedures? I have both SeaFoam and RedlineSI-1 on hand. A highly experience colleague suggested Gumout as an alternative to SeaFoam while admitting to never having tried the latter. I'd like to get this unit up and running again so that I can offer it up for sale. Keeping things on topic, it has 5w-40 RT6 in the sump. It's a great little generator that I would highly recommend, but the Predator is just so quiet.

Take the Carburetor off and submerge it in MMO for 12 Hours, put it back on and it should start. EO fuel will go bad, I would either run this thing out of fuel or use the VP Racing Fuel. I have found that running equipment like yours and restarting it can be a pain, there is something gummed up in your Carburetor. Good Luck!

 

[andyd]

When you're getting gas stop somewhere that sells Berrymans B-12 Chemtool. Give the fresh tank a good pour. Do some starting fluid if it needs it. If it won't run, remove the spark plug to let it dry out. By the time you rounded up a fresh plug. the B-12 will soften the varnish in the carb. Good luck and please let us know what you did to get it going TIA

 

[oldcodger]

I recommend buying a replacement carburetor. If you go to the Power Equipment Forum you will find many cases like yours. A few are cured by removing and cleaning the old carburetor but the majority are fixed by a new one. Apparently those carbs are difficult to get absolutely clean. Many times a cleaning will result in a surging engine.

 

[Astro_Guy]

When you're getting gas stop somewhere that sells Berrymans B-12 Chemtool. Give the fresh tank a good pour. Do some starting fluid if it needs it. If it won't run, remove the spark plug to let it dry out. By the time you rounded up a fresh plug. the B-12 will soften the varnish in the carb. Good luck and please let us know what you did to get it going TIA

The plug was changed to NGK Iridium a few years back. Cleaning or changing the plug seems like good advice, but I don't appear to have a spark problem. My problem is either fuel volatility or availability.

 

[chemman]

Berryman B-12 runs circles around Seafoam. Berryman B-12 Chemtool is orders of magnitude stronger than Seafoam.

 

[JTK]

As @oldcodger suggested, I too would order a replacement carburetor. They are cheap, easy to get and replace. I would keep the OEM to inspect, clean and keep on hand.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

I have the same generator. Pull the fuel line from the carb open the pet cock make sure you have flow drain all the old fuel. Get yourself fresh gas 87-89 add stabil. Spray 3-4 squirts of carb and choke cleaner in the barbed fitting where the fuel line attaches then open the bowl nut let that drain out. Reattach fuel line tighten bowl nut and try starting if no success you may need to break Down the carb. How's the spark plug?

 

[ka9mnx]

I use Seafoam as a fuel stabilizer and E0 gas in OPE. Seems to have solved my fuel/carburetor issues.

 

[mk378]

If you can keep it running by leaving the choke on partway that may help whatever magic you choose to put in the tank to work.

I would remove the bottom bowl bolt and spray carb cleaner into that hole, as the main jet is right there. Avoid pulling the bowl off with the carb still mounted, as it can be tricky to get the top gasket back in place.

 

[Chris142]

If the carb is gummed up with old fuel nothing short of poking a wire through all the jets will fix it.

 

[georgemiller]

If you have natural gas at your house convert to tri fuel and be done running gasoline.

 

[thastinger]

You're either going to have to remove the carb, then the carb bowl and manually unplug the main jet...or replacement entire carbs are sold for less than 20 bucks.

 

[4WD]

If you have natural gas at your house convert to tri fuel and be done running gasoline.

Yeah - I bought an NG kit for my WG9500DF - but to be honest it looks flimsy - so bought a 3rd propane bottle …
Ain't seen gasoline ever - nope …

 

[Astro_Guy]

It turns out that it was just the fuel. Something tells me that it was more than two years old becuse the little bit that came out was dark brown. Added fresh 89 octane E0, gave it a shot of starting fluid and it fired right up. From there I thought it might be a good idea to connect it to the transfer switch and run it under load. One of my APC UPS backup units went into alarm and refused to run on that power. The same unit never complains about the power supplied from my Predator 3500 inverter generator.

 

[fantastic]

It turns out that it was just the fuel. Something tells me that it was more than two years old becuse the little bit that came out was dark brown. Added fresh 89 octane E0, gave it a shot of starting fluid and it fired right up. From there I thought it might be a good idea to connect it to the transfer switch and run it under load. One of my APC UPS backup units went into alarm and refused to run on that power. The same unit never complains about the power supplied from my Predator 3500 inverter generator.

Great news! If it's cold out the amperage in the wires may be higher for a time until heat starts to warm them. Start with a small load to warm them up then place it to your UPS. Grab that sta-bil & fuel system cleaner! LOL It could be not getting enough fuel b/c of debris from setting causing low output.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Great news! If it's cold out the amperage in the wires may be higher for a time until heat starts to warm them. Start with a small load to warm them up then place it to your UPS. Grab that sta-bil & fuel system cleaner! LOL It could be not getting enough fuel b/c of debris from setting causing low output.

It's running fine and producing power. The one UPS just isn't happy with the quality of that power. It had never been operated on this generator and it is likely that the sensitivity was never adjusted. The key take way on this is that inverter generator demonstarates no such problem with this UPS.

 

[fantastic]

It's running fine and producing power. The one UPS just isn't happy with the quality of that power. It had never been operated on this generator and it is likely that the sensitivity was never adjusted. The key take way on this is that inverter generator demonstarates no such problem with this UPS.

Understood, so the generator probably isn't producing Pure Sine wave electricity that UPS is needing?

 

[Astro_Guy]

Understood, so the generator probably isn't producing Pure Sine wave electricity that UPS is needing?

Wanting would be a better term. Not sure of your familiarity with UPS systems, but even the most basic ones have some level of configurable options. This one is still at the default configuration. I could loosen up the tollerance on the quality of the incoming power if I wanted to. The desire here was to get this unit running again so that it could be offered up for sale. If I cannot get a decent offer on it then I may heve to be more vigigilant about exercising it and keep in full of fresh fuel. For now it is just taking up space. Don't get me wrong - this is a great little generator. The Predator 3500 that replaced it is just so much quieter and it has electric start. The misses can start the Predator; I don't think that she could start the Champion unless lives were at stake.

A couple of colleagues have commented that maybe I should keep it just in case. That's been the mode this machine has been in since the summer of 2018. It doesn't get used and apparently I've been a slacker in terms of keeing in exercised. It seems to me that it deserves a better home where it can live out its intended use.