Honda EU 10i starting up

Submitted: Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 16:57

ThreadID: 76855 Views:3791 Replies:10 FollowUps:13

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Generator Power

The generator, which was discovered by Michael Faraday, is an ingenious device that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Member - GREENDOG

Owners of this Gen i need your help.I brought this model 2 weeks ago and was delivered to me on friday .Today was the first chance to start it up i followed the intructions pretty simple but it says to start with choke off but doesn't start i put choke on it starts fine i run it till i think motor is warm then turn choke off then it konks out.With the instructions it seems strange to have choke off to start which it doesn't start anyway.
cheers GREENDOG

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Reply By: Member - Fred B (NT) - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 17:06

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 17:06

This may seem like a silly question.... but do you have the fuel cap vent open?
regards

Fred B
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AnswerID: 408790

Follow Up By: Member - GREENDOG - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 17:19

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 17:19

Yeah Fred i have followed the intructions step by step.cheers GD

FollowupID: 678743

Reply By: Kim and Damn Dog - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:20

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:20

Gidday

Here’s how to do it:

Turn the choke lever to the closed position which is indicated by the arrow.

Once the generator has started (which should only take one or two tugs)
move the choke to the opposite side. Then after a short period, adjust it in accordance with the revs.

This is assuming you have opened the vent cap and turned the engine switch to “on’. Hope this helps.

Regards

Kim

AnswerID: 408803

Follow Up By: Member - GREENDOG - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:30

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:30

Kim thats our problem with the choke at the closed position it won't start we have to have the choke on for it to start once that happens i then turn choke to the closed position but then it stalls.cheers GD

FollowupID: 678759

Reply By: pop2jocem - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:35

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:35

Greendog, Assuming as others have said you have turned the switch on and the fuel cap is open it almost sounds as if the choke decal is on backwards. What I am saying is you are actually starting it with the choke off and stalling it by turning he choke to the closed position. Have you tried leaving the choke in whatever position the genny will run and putting a load on it. If it carries the load without spluttering maybe the arrow is pointing in the wrong direction. On my EU 20i the decal shows the choke being on to the right as you face that side of the unit.

Cheers Pop

AnswerID: 408805

Follow Up By: Member - GREENDOG - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:42

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:42

Hay Pop you are spot on,yeah my choke being on is to the left.Once it's warmed up don't you have to turn the choke off ?

FollowupID: 678765

Follow Up By: pop2jocem - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:54

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 18:54

Yeah Greendog thats right normally you would turn it off after it warms up but with mine and my son's (he has the same unit as you) in anything other than fairly cold temps no choke is needed to start either of these units. Thats why I was wondering if you were unknowingly starting with the choke off and assuming you needed to turn it the other way when it gets going you were actually choking it and so causing it to stall. Also have you got the economy switch on or off. We always start ours with this function off and then drop it back to economy after they start and settle down.

Cheers Pop

FollowupID: 678770

Reply By: Tenpounder (SA) - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 19:07

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 19:07

Hi there. I think we have a semantic problem here: "Choke closed" means the flap is closed, and the choke is full on, and "Choke open" means the flap is open, and there's no choke ("the choke is off").

AnswerID: 408813

Follow Up By: pop2jocem - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 19:21

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 19:21

You may be right Tenpounder, it's a bit hard to see which way I'm pointing and waving my hands around on the forum...............lol

(;-))

Cheers Pop

FollowupID: 678781

Follow Up By: Member - GREENDOG - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 19:55

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 19:55

Yeah it's abit of a saga i know sorry,i just went out and it started first pop with the choke switch to the left,then i turned the economy on and the revs dropped back alittle,so how long should i leave swich over to the left for cause once i turn it back to the right it stalls,i feel like a dumb bleep LOL.cheers GD

FollowupID: 678791

Follow Up By: Tenpounder (SA) - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 20:16

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 20:16

My advice is stick to the left (ie choke off) once its warm enough. If you swing the choke to the right you will close off the air and flood the motor.
John Howard had the same problem, he stuck to the right for too long, and ended up wallowing. Not good.

FollowupID: 678796

Reply By:- Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 19:58

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 19:58

Gidday Greendog,

I had the same problem with mine. I used fuel that was a few weeks old (possibly many, many weeks old and not kept in a particularly good fuel can - good enough for the mower, but probably not quite air-tight) and the genny kept konking out within a minute or so of starting it. I got some fresh petrol, topped up the genny (it was only about 1/4 full before that) and swished it around a bit to mix the new fuel with the old, and BINGO - it worked a treat.

AnswerID: 408823

Follow Up By: Member - GREENDOG - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 20:05

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 20:05

MMM funny you say that i put in the petrol that iv'e had in a gerry that would be about 2 mths old which i thought would be ok ,now i feek like a real dick.cheers GD

FollowupID: 678794

Follow Up By:- Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 20:22

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 20:22

Heya Greebdog,

I did exactly the same, fuel is fuel right? Now I know otherwise. I'm glad my mower doesn't mind though - it will run on any old crap.

Please let us know if this solves you problem - for the sake of anyone who has the same problem in the future...

FollowupID: 678797

Follow Up By: Member - GREENDOG - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 21:19

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 21:19

Yeah i'll let you know how i go if i get time tomorrow morning before work i'll drain the fuel and start from scratch.cheer's GD

FollowupID: 678813

Follow Up By: The Rambler( W.A.) - Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 22:21

Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 at 22:21

The choke lever should be to the right(choke on) for initial starting and then turned to the left(choke off) for normal running. If left in the right position the motor will stall(flooded). If the motor continues to stall after running check the oil level as this is critical in these units and will automatically shut off if the oil level is slightly down.

FollowupID: 678816

Reply By: Phillipn - Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 07:18

Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 07:18

If you purchased a new generator and it has a problem, send it back to the supplier to have it corrected. If it is second hand, then that is why they sold it to you.

AnswerID: 408869

Reply By: Muddy doe (SA) - Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 08:57

Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 08:57

Hey Greendog,

You never mentioned about Oil in your post or replies. As Rambler said above, check the oil. When I bought mine at the show 3 years it had no oil and Honda gave me a bottle of oil to put in it when I got it home as well as a spare bottle.

Cheers
Muddy

AnswerID: 408879

Follow Up By: Member - GREENDOG - Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 22:30

Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 22:30

Hi Muddy yeah mate it has oil in it i checked that and it looks fine,and yes it is brand new if i dont have any luck tomorrow it will be going back to the store.cheers GD

FollowupID: 678992

Reply By: tonysmc - Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 12:31

Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 12:31

Hello Greendog,

As was mentioned above, when the choke is closed it means the choke is on. When the choke is open it means the choke is off.
It sounds to me that you are starting it with the choke off and then turning the choke on. Reading the manual it is not really worded that well.

(If it NEEDS choke) You should be starting it with the choke lever to the RIGHT. Once started move the lever to the LEFT which is the open position. I think you may be doing the opposite!

Choke closed = Choke on
Choke open = Choke off = running mode

Hope this helps
Tony

AnswerID: 408907

Reply By: j100 - Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 15:55

Monday, Mar 15, 2010 at 15:55

Greendog
If the generator is secondhand and the previous owner did not drain the carby you will have to clean out the gum deposits out of it.
Carby cleaner in an aerosol from supercheap or similar will do the job
I found out the hard way when I didn't drain the fuel and it resulted in exactly the symptoms you describe

Regards

J100

AnswerID: 408933

Reply By: Member - GREENDOG - Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010 at 22:25

Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010 at 22:25

Would just like to say to every one that replyed to my post a big thank you,i took the Gen down to the store today and got it looked at and the guys there were great,it appears that i had beed getting the choke mixed up,you know is it on or is it off,so to every one a big thanks hay.cheers GREENDOG

AnswerID: 409163