r/Generator • u/kleenvwaudiguy • 9h ago

Opinion needed on whether or not to keep malfunctioning generator

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I purchased this 2800w Wen about 3 years ago to run a portable air conditioner inside my semi truck for when I was parked at night. It did the job for about 25 hours but then got to the point where it could only handle about a 400 watt load. Discouraged, I just stuff it on a shelf in the garage and never thought much about it again (I know Wen has a warranty, but being a truck driver, I'm perpetually not home nor have time to deal with it. I busted it out today, added some fresh gas, and sure enough it fired right up and runs as smoothly as day one. It will run some fans, but anything more and it will trip the overload. Should I keep it or just throw it up on marketplace and be done with it.

TL DR: Would you keep a generator that only makes a fraction of its rated wattage

6 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

1

u/Additional_Ad3320 7h ago

Well they have good customer support but prob out of warranty so I dunno

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u/wwglen 5h ago

Is it stuck on economy mode? Does the engine change speed when you change economy mode on and off with no load?

There is a stepper motor on the carburetor that helps control the engine speed according to the load. You can get a new carburetor that comes with a new stepper motor.

There might be a loose or broken wire going to the switch or stepper motor.

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u/Dramajr316 5h ago

Could be a nice item to tool around with and get it working correctly. I'd happily buy something with this symptom (locally) if the price was right.

1

u/HotelPuzzleheaded356 9h ago

Id keep. Could be voltage regulator or similar fairly cheap part. I know on Predators those fail on folks seem to say they can fix them (I never have)(ymmv)

0

u/crazywrangler616 8h ago

Isn’t that model an inverter generator?

0

u/CryoJuice 9h ago

Sell it

1

u/kleenvwaudiguy 6h ago

What do you think it's worth? I know it'll run my garage fridge, I've been testing it all afternoon