Starting a Generator

[FarmerPug]

A friend gave me this generator last week, after i fixed his x type. I didn't really want anything for doing the job but he had the generator in the boot of my car before i knew it was there. So here it is:



I know very little about generators (except that if i was actually buying one to buy a honda or briggs engined one),
this one is a pain to get it started, i had it going the day i got it, and the next day, but its sat in the utility room for a week and won't start, the choke has 2 positions but no markings as to whats on or off. can you just confirm what I'm thinking:

choke closed, for when its running:


choke open, for starting:


it normally has an air filter over this, i just removed it to show the carburettor, i have removed the carb and cleaned it out, there didn't seem to be anything inside it, it looked clean.

[Busman]

you use the choke the other way to you describe, and it's nothing to do with the rain!
Close the choke to richen the mixture for starting from cold. Don't use the choke if the motor is hot. By don't use, I mean keep it open. Once running, you leave it open.

[Busman]

Other mistakes I've made are make sure you know which way the fuel tap works, and is it's little ignition switch any good?

[steve_earwig]

Busman's right about the choke, the more it's closed the more vacuum there'll be inside the carb and the more fuel it'll suck out the jets, thus enriching the mixture.

(except that if i was actually buying one to buy a honda or briggs engined one)

And preferably diesel... Although you could probably convert that to run on lpg (ask Sam for details...)

Btw what make is the engine? You might be surprised (unless it's a McCulloch, in which case put it in the skip now to save time later...)

Soo... 1.1 kVa. That really annoys me because kVa is just something everyone started using a few years back and It just makes things look more powerful than they actually are - are any of your power tools measured in kVa? No! You have to work it out using the power factor (if supplied ) What's wrong with k-i-l-o-w-a-t-t-s you morons?

I see that it does indeed have a power factor on the data plate and it's 1 So that's 1.1kW.

Btw UPS are rated in kVa, no power factor given...

I, too, own a generator, it's Honda, Petrol, 15kVa and... in my brother's garage back in Hertfordshire Could've done with that last Saturday when the SNOW took the power out for 10 hours

[markw]

It has to be stated in kVa. There's no way a generator manufacturer could know the power factor of the load you intend to run off it!
As said, this genny is rated at 1.1 kVa (apparent power), which at unity power factor is 1.1Kw (true power)....however not many loads you'll want to run off it, other than purely resistive heating load, will be anywhere near unity.
For example, some electric arc welders run as low as 0.2 lag as it's almost a totally inductive load and your average drill/grinder etc will also have a low power factor.
To run a 1.1 Kw load which has a pf of say 0.5, you'd need at least a 2.2kVa genny behind it.

[steve_earwig]

Oh right, yeah, nice. I think I'll buy a horse

[Doggy]

Would that be a 0.746 kW horse?

The bad news is, that even if you do find a horse-powered alternator, the eternal true power/reactive power/apparent power triangle still applies......

And preferably diesel... Although you could probably convert that to run on lpg (ask Sam for details...)

Liquid cooled, waste oil fuelled, diesel FTW
(Use your hot water tank in lieu of radiator).

[steve_earwig]

WHat's the power factor of a light bulb? Sounds to me like young Frank there's going to have to do a whole load of research and maths before he can plug a drill into his genny...

Liquid cooled, waste oil fuelled, diesel FTW
(Use your hot water tank in lieu of radiator).

It might take a while to get up to temperature I've seen loads of waste oil-powered heaters here but I'm not sure about a genny, the heaters burn pretty much any grade of oil you stick in them but isn't an engine going to have issues about different grades?

Or were you making a funny?

[Bailes1992]

A mechanically operated diesel with a good reliable heavy duty pump will run on anything!
Take a 406 1.9TD for instance! I've seen one run on gearbox oil, old engine oil, transmission fluid, vegetable oil etc etc.

A genny might take a while to get up to temperature but they are usually used for hours on end!
We used to have a genny in one of our site sheds. It was basically a canteen with a toilet and a generator. The genny coolant would heat two radiators, one in the toilet and one in the canteen! Would get up to temperature pretty quick too.
Only issue was it always seemed to settle around 45Hz which caused really bad flickering with the florescent fittings. It had a DC generator bolted to the engine and an inverter. Maxed it out at 40amps on a few occasions, it would absolutely scream and do 5litres of diesel an hour

[FarmerPug]

I took the generator apart and found that the contact going to the coil (the bit that creates the spark, is that called a coil on these?) had a corroded spade terminal, the magnet on the flywheel was also rusted, i took off the coil and put it back on there must be a trick to getting them set up, but the generator turned over with the drill and created a bit of a spark.
Put it back together and it still not starting, the fuel lines are clear, the tap works, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of compression, its an 80 something cc engine but there is less resistance when pulling the cord than one of our 30cc chainsaws.

Im not sure of the origin of the engine, performance power i think is one of B&Q's own brands, i.e. shite, it was free from someone who works on small engines quite a bit.

When it was running, it didn't sound great, but it did run my weller soldering gun and it charged a cordless drill battery (i wouldn't expect it to run an angle grinder or kettle at this size ), but my dad recently bought a suitcase generator from gumtree for his camper, it was £100, its not very powerful but it is easy to carry and very quiet, it will run a few lights, a tv or charge up something

[steve_earwig]

Coil will do. I'm presuming that the magnet is mounted on a flywheel like a lawnmower, in which case it lines up with a woodruff key (crank key) on the crankshaft and it's impossible to get it wrong unless the woodruff fell out.... The compression will be different to the chainsaw as it's 4 stroke, although this won't stop it being knackered. The valves may need adjustment too. I had a Google for all the numbers on the label you posted, they do indeed appear to be sold by B&Q but I can assure you that won't be who makes them. You could try pulling numbers off the engine and Googling those (or I could if you post them...)

Try starting it on sniff. How old is the petrol in it?

I seem to have inherited a lawnmower, it's one I've been keeping going on the cheap for a friend. I can't remember what's written on it but the engine is pure Briggs & Stratton. Every time it went wrong I'd buy new parts for my wife's because it has the same engine and put her parts on this one (they're only cheap). Last time I had it the fuel tank (which is on the bottom of the carb like a float chamber) had cracked and all the seals were gone because the carb had been jiggling about all over the place. I glued the tank up with chemical metal and changed the seals, I even put a new pull cord on it because the old one had broken so many times it was too short to give it a proper pull. Its fairly knackered and has very little compression but it does start fairly easily and runs ok. Then her boyfriend bought her a new one last Christmas so it's still here, out by the boiler house in a big plastic bag and, errr, under half a meter of snow I should really strip it for spares but in one big bit it'll be hard to loose everything.

My genny is one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-EX4000s ... SS:GB:3160 It's a bit big to transport out here so I should really flog it and buy one here but my brother keeps finding uses for it so it's still with him.

[Bailes1992]

Did I read that right? Your wife's boyfriend?

[steve_earwig]

Er, no. The former owner of this lawnmower is female too. In Croat lawnmower is also female (kosilica) but neither of these are married or have boyfriends.

[Bailes1992]

Well if that changes let me know!
I heard Dai knows somebody who specialises in Lawnmower weddings!

Merthyr is an odd place

[Doggy]

WHat's the power factor of a light bulb? Sounds to me like young Frank there's going to have to do a whole load of research and maths before he can plug a drill into his genny...

Liquid cooled, waste oil fuelled, diesel FTW
(Use your hot water tank in lieu of radiator).

It might take a while to get up to temperature I've seen loads of waste oil-powered heaters here but I'm not sure about a genny, the heaters burn pretty much any grade of oil you stick in them but isn't an engine going to have issues about different grades?

Or were you making a funny?

Std filament lamp/tungsten, PF = 1; cheap/nasty flourescent about 0.7; posh h/f flourescents about 0.95 but with significant harmonic distortion, (which is just as big an issue as power factor, but a whole lot harder to deal with)......

The point of the veggy diesel genny is to save you on the leccy bill. Waste heat recovery is just a bonus, might be able to get a bit more from an exhaust heat exchanger too. As bailes says, they'll run on just about anything, especially with a heated fuel tank, which is much easier to rig up on a static engine.