Anybody have experience with old Gensets?

[JSinMO]

I came across some old generators that the previous owner was going to throw away. I scooped them up! Since I’m not quite up to par at the moment a friend of mine was nice enough to go pick them up and bring them up to the house for me.

They are old to be sure but I’m hoping they still work. 3 of them have B&S engines the other one is an Onan and I’m not sure who made that one. I feel confident I can get the engines to run if there any life left in them but I’ve never really messed with generators before. Do you guys have ane experience or advice? I love to hear your thoughts. Im going to be doing some research to see what I can learn.

[Spike188]

I think they are worth putting a bit of time into. They are not as popular now as they once were for running power tools with the influx of battery operated tools.

[Timj]

They'll be worth spending a little time on. You never know how much run time they might have on them but a lot of times i think they did a lot of sitting around and wouldn't start when needed and where given up on.

[DavidBarkey]

So far my only experiance with old generators is that alot of them are low hour engines but the genny part for one reason or anouther no longer works . Parts and poeple that know how to repair them are few and far between now a days . But Low hour blocks that can be retro fitted into our tractors . Both my Onans are genny engines and I have 2 Kohlers waiting to be done .

[Harry]

I had a HF generator that died during a 7 day power outage. I quickly purchased a new one to get through the outage then later took the generator off the engine. The engine ran terrific but the stator was fried. I ordered a new one which had to come from China which took almost a year to receive. The wiring diagram that came with the stator didn’t match the colored wires from the generator. So HF gave me an email to contact and explain my dilemma. They sent me a revised wiring diagram which I used to install and it was back in working order. I only used it twice to power lights in my shop when I was wiring it in the evening. A few years later I purchased a Generac whole house system and sold the generator. I still had the second one I had purchased during the outage which I gave to my son in law for their house. I also had a Lincoln Onan powered welder that ran fine but didn’t seem to work in the amperage range to burn 1/8” electrodes. After getting into inspecting the electrical controls I noticed the windings on the controller for the amperage were burnt. I tried to clean it up but ended up buying a replacement for the part. The repair shop where I purchased it from told me that happens when it is used a lot in the same position. It worked terrific after replacing the part. Harry

[JSinMO]

I don’t know how many hours they have on them but one has a tag saying it was tested in 1996 and another says 2003 so they have been sitting for a long time. If I can get them working my friend the hauled them for me wants one. And I’d like to use the other three around here. I may use the engine off of one to try and repower my dad’s tiller that’s sitting behind the shop, it be nice to get it running again.

I’m looking forward to working on them!

[JSinMO]

I thought I’d look these over a little bit tonight. There’s enough oil in them to play around a little. They all rotate, and they all have spark that’s a great sign. I fed them a little gas and all 4 popped off!

So I should have 4 engines that run.

I don’t know why but the Onan keeps catching my eye.

Next they will need oil changes and at least 2 will need the carburetors gone through. Im making myself stop at this point. I should probably heal up a little more before I have gas and oil all over me!

[Spike188]

@JSinMOJeff, I sent you a pm.

A wondering vagabond.

Spike aka Eugene

[DavidBarkey]

I don't know who knows this or doesn't . When dealing with any engine that has sat for long time . Especially splash lube.
Before trying to start as all the oil will have drained away to the bottom and may have condensation in the bottom of pan .

1- pull spark plug and put a little light oil in top end and leave out
2- drain and refill oil / over night or use heat gun ect to warm pan.
3- make sure engine has no access to fuel
4- with wide open throttle and no choke ,turn engine over a few times then let sit a couple of minutes .
5- turn engine over as fast as you can
6- repeat #5 a couple of times
Now the engine is lubed up ready for stresses of running
Check for compression to make sure no valve are sticking
Install good spark plug and fuel source
Start engine

Most damage to cam lobes and bearings,rod journals is done to engines that sit for long periods times on first start up . This procedure will prevent this .

[Harry]

I don't know who knows this or doesn't . When dealing with any engine that has sat for long time . Especially splash lube.
Before trying to start as all the oil will have drained away to the bottom and may have condensation in the bottom of pan .

1- pull spark plug and put a little light oil in top end and leave out
2- drain and refill oil / over night or use heat gun ect to warm pan.
3- make sure engine has no access to fuel
4- with wide open throttle and no choke ,turn engine over a few times then let sit a couple of minutes .
5- turn engine over as fast as you can
6- repeat #5 a couple of times
Now the engine is lubed up ready for stresses of running
Check for compression to make sure no valve are sticking
Install good spark plug and fuel source
Start engine

Most damage to cam lobes and bearings,rod journals is done to engines that sit for long periods times on first start up . This procedure will prevent this .

Good information to know David. Thanks Harry