Your last generator Maintenance Run

kirkawilson · Jul 3, 2024

The control module on my Briggs & Stratton Q6500 (see picture) 'fried' a few months ago. Bought it new from Home Depot in 2018. Only use has been for camper and home back-up, so less than 20 hours total on the unit. Failure occured at the end of a ~1 hour home power outage. All home back-up power is connected thorough a Reliance 6-circuit transfer switch. Still don't know the cause of failure but the engine has always started easily so I decided to replace the control module.
Ordered a replacement from Walmart (IPC Store, Wilmington Delaware) for $525 (with tax), and after one 'wrong part' shipment, got the new one installed yesterday and generator is now working fine. Reassembly of shell was tricky but unit seems solid again. Just could not bring myself to pay the new Honda inverter prices for my use case, even though the quality & reliability difference is well documented. This is the 3rd generator I've owned. Hope I don't hafta but another.

WinterDeere · Jul 3, 2024

Shame they potted everything in like that. Understandable, those things will vibrate the components off the board without it, and many of those potting compounds offer higher thermal conductivity and protect against ionization breakdown. But it looks like it could have been a simple $3 repair, otherwise.

3930dave · Jul 3, 2024

Racer4 said:
Checked my generator today (yellow light on) and it’s calling for an oil change. Have to do that Wednesday.

Did oil & filter changes on my wheel horse tonight. Greased everything up and sharpened the blades.

Getting Things Done !

That reminds me.....

Rgds, D.

3930dave · Jul 3, 2024

kirkawilson said:
View attachment 878406
The control module on my Briggs & Stratton Q6500 (see picture) 'fried' a few months ago. Bought it new from Home Depot in 2018. Only use has been for camper and home back-up, so less than 20 hours total on the unit. Failure occured at the end of a ~1 hour home power outage. All home back-up power is connected thorough a Reliance 6-circuit transfer switch. Still don't know the cause of failure but the engine has always started easily so I decided to replace the control module.
Ordered a replacement from Walmart (IPC Store, Wilmington Delaware) for $525 (with tax), and after one 'wrong part' shipment, got the new one installed yesterday and generator is now working fine. Reassembly of shell was tricky but unit seems solid again. Just could not bring myself to pay the new Honda inverter prices for my use case, even though the quality & reliability difference is well documented. This is the 3rd generator I've owned. Hope I don't hafta but another.

Fingers crossed for you on the new board (lasting).

If you haven't already, re-visit existing generator ground wiring - connection integrity, and what Briggs grounding requirements are.

Can't point to a particular case of grounding taking out an Inverter unit (yet)..... just "feels" like they aren't going to be less-sensitive to Grounding issues than olde pure rotary setups....

Rgds, D.

JasperFrank · Aug 26, 2024

Not sure how to feel about this. Last January we had our big ice storm. Checked the 27 year old Homelite 4400 Watt generator in December with new gas and oil and checked oil and stuff and cleaned the air filter, replaced the gas filter. It always started on second or third pull. Okay..... check that off and add some stabilizer to the gas. So we get this ice storm. Utilities said it will be a week or more to restore. No utility power for 8 days. Wife was really mad about the situation. Damn generator would not start, ..... pulled and pulled, had spark, and cleaned the carb in the cold. And made sure it had oil and was level. Made an attempt to start and work on it everyday to no avail. But I didn't have any Starter Fluid. We stayed out of power for eight days till utility came back on. We figured its time to get a new one, so we are looking these up online.
Just for laughs, I pull the gen out, this week, late August, for one last try before replacing it. Maybe I can get $50 for it as non-running. Starts on second pull and purrs like a cat. WTF....

5030 · Aug 26, 2024

Sounds like the old corn gas syndrome.

JasperFrank · Aug 26, 2024

5030 said:
Sounds like the old corn gas syndrome.

That may have been the case. I always ask for clear, but the attendant might not have known what I was specifying, to put in the can.

grsthegreat · Aug 26, 2024

JasperFrank said:
Not sure how to feel about this. Last January we had our big ice storm. Checked the 27 year old Homelite 4400 Watt generator in December with new gas and oil and checked oil and stuff and cleaned the air filter, replaced the gas filter. It always started on second or third pull. Okay..... check that off and add some stabilizer to the gas. So we get this ice storm. Utilities said it will be a week or more to restore. No utility power for 8 days. Wife was really mad about the situation. Damn generator would not start, ..... pulled and pulled, had spark, and cleaned the carb in the cold. And made sure it had oil and was level. Made an attempt to start and work on it everyday to no avail. But I didn't have any Starter Fluid. We stayed out of power for eight days till utility came back on. We figured its time to get a new one, so we are looking these up online.
Just for laughs, I pull the gen out, this week, late August, for one last try before replacing it. Maybe I can get $50 for it as non-running. Starts on second pull and purrs like a cat. WTF....

Yup….that is always the way. Thats why i have 3 generators.

I did the same thing with my portable 2 ton winch. I went to help a friend haul his kubota side by side to repair shop. I tested it prior to loading in truck. Got to site…..no work. I messed with it for an hour, than we found a hand crank winch to load it. Frozen transmission and 4 flats. Took over 1.5 hrs to load it.

I get home and was going to tear into it, but when i hooked up battery, it works great.

JasperFrank · Aug 26, 2024

I wonder what other people do to get the noise level down. My gen is LOUD. Tried adding an automotive muffler, but that didn't really work. And tried running the exhaust under water. That also didn't work. Figured out if I set it up to reflect noise away from the house, it is much better. The noise is in the single piston engine design. Even outside on the ground, we can feel the vibrations inside, panting the windows.