(drilling sounds)
(generator rumbling)
- [Narrator] So this generator here runs
for about, 5, 10 minutes,
then it just dies like that.
I'll show you in a second here what the issue is.
So to show you what's going on here,
if I take out the drain bolt here from the carb,
you'll see that gas will flow out, then stop.
So now if I put the bolt back on
and wait a few minutes,
the same thing's gonna happen,
so I'll put it back and wait.
Okay, so I've waited a few minutes here.
You'll see that there'll be lots of gas flowing out again.
And the same thing's going to happen.
It flows, then it stops.
So that's why the generator's running for a few minutes,
dying and then running again and dying
and that's because of what's going on with the fuel flow.
So what I've done here
is disconnected the hose from the fuel valve.
I'm gonna turn it on.
And you can see there's barely any fuel coming out.
So we know it's a problem at the fuel valve,
not the carburetor.
I usually try to isolate this first
before taking the carb off.
It saves a lot of time.
So what I'll do now is take the valve off.
So here's how I tipped the machine over
so I wouldn't have to drain all the gas.
And I made sure to put a safety stand there.
Now, on most generators,
you'll need a 14-millimeter wrench to get that valve off.
Then it just unscrews from the tank.
So there's usually a filter here at the end
of the valve.
It's probably fallen in the tank.
So now I'll take this cover off.
I used a 10-millimeter wrench to do that.
If you look inside, you can see a bunch of dirt in there.
So there's a small rubber O-ring you can get out.
And here's that screen.
It's all dirty.
I'm just gonna air blow the screen,
the valve here and figure out a filter for it
and then put it back on.
Okay, everything's clean.
Let's put this little screen back in.
Now, the O-ring and this cap.
Now, this is made of plastic
so you've gotta be super careful tightening it.
Now, usually these generator fuel valves
have a filter like this
that goes on top here.
This filter here in my hand goes in the fuel tank,
thus preventing the fuel valve
from getting clogged
but I don't have any screens
or filters like this that fit here.
So it kinda looks to me
that the screen underneath in the plastic bowl here
is the filter.
Now, if you want, you can replace the valve
with a filter or you can add an extra filter
between the carb and the valve if you want.
However, this valve here
will have to be periodically cleaned.
And to clean the valve, like I did today,
you don't have to take it off the machine like I did.
I just took it off because it was easier for me to film,
bring it in the shop
and show you precisely what it was.
But if you have the same generator,
put the valve back on,
and then periodically, turn the valve off,
then take the bottom part off,
retrieve the little screen, clean it,
put it back in.
It's that simple.
So now I'll just put the valve back in.
I usually screw it quite a ways in
and then I tighten up the nut.
Okay, got the valve nice and tight.
Before I hook up the fuel line,
I'm gonna bring the generator back down and do a flow test.
Okay, let's try this.
Wow, look at that now.
And before it was barely dripping.
So there'll be no issues now.
Okay, got the fuel line on.
And remember, the flow test at the beginning
of the video from this bolt here?
Let's try it now.
It's flowing good now.
And steady.
(fuel flowing)
Okay, I'll start it up.
Get the choke on first here.
(generator rumbling)
So that did the trick, guys.
That's all you need to do.
And again, what you can periodically do
is turn the valve off
and take this little plastic ball off,
retrieve the screen, clean it like I did previously
and then put it back on.
So do this maybe once or twice a year,
depending on how much you use it
and this machine here should stay running pretty good
if you do that.
Thanks again for watching, guys.
Make sure to subscribe
and have a great day.
(drilling sounds)