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| This is a great generator, but has a weak point. The
flimsy motor cradle can be bent in shipping if the generator is dropped.
This has been reported frequently on the net. Mine had the same issue.
I could have sent it back for an exchange, but hurricane season was
starting, and the previous two years had been very active.
Consequently, I opted to fix it myself. Not something I'd recommend to
anyone unless you have the skills to do so. Took me about an hour to
tear it down, bend the motor support cradle, and reassemble it. I was
pleasantly surprised that it started on the first pull. This fix was performed in 2006, hours after it arrived. Not had any further issues with the motor cradle since. |
 The problem is easy to spot. The exhaust does not line up with the hole in the end cover. |
 I noticed a smell of melting plastic, and immediately shut it down. |
 This is a friend's generator. Note how his is perfectly centered. Why am I always the lucky one? |
 Man, there's a LOT of screws in this thing. To get to the bent motor cradle, all the sides must be removed. A pneumatic wrench helped speed up the process. |
 This is the piece that was damaged. The upper half should be arched upward. Mine was almost flat. The metal is thin enough to be bent by hand. I guessed at how much it needed to be bent. Can't really tell until it's put back together. |
 Okay, I got it close. Still not perfect, but the plastic no longer melts. Lesson learned here, bend it a bit more than you think. You could always drop it to flatten the cradle again, haha! |
 Now that it's fixed, let's take a peek at the rest of it. The inverter is held in place with a rubber strap, and is located on the end next to the carburetor air filter. |
 Once the inverter strap is removed, the inverter can be tipped downward. |
 The components of the inverter are set in an epoxy. Makes the assembly more water resistant, but also means it isn't repairable. If it fails, it will have to be replaced. |
 There's a bridge rectifier hidden inside. I bought a spare, just in case. |
 With the back panel removed, the carburetor can be seen. There is no fuel filter, which is a mod I need to add. |
 A peek behind the sparky panel. |
My favorite search engine!
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Last updated 08/06/11 All rights reserved. |
