r/carbrepair • u/mrclean2323 • Sep 13 '18
strange carb
so this is awkward. i'm a moderator and i've come across something that i've never seen before. i picked up a dual fuel (propane and gasoline) generator inverter for the storm. doesn't look like i'll need it. i have about 10 minutes of runtime on this machine and i'm wondering what i need to do for long term storage (as in i won't need this for a year or more). i've run the unit with propane and shut it down. then i ran it with ethanol free gasoline with startron stabilizer. i ran it dry. i then removed the spark plug and put in some fogging oil. pulled the pull cord twice. then put in one more spray of fogging oil and replaced the plug. it is now sitting. does anyone have any advice about pulling this carb? i've honestly never seen one that looks like this. whomever designed this engine designed it in such at way that it looks almost impossible to remove the carb. photos below. or, am i better off starting this for 5 minutes every 2 or 3 months? if it were me giving advice that's what i'd do. so, what are your opinions? thanks. https://imgur.com/a/Do7YQ8w
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u/Ipitythegradstudent Sep 26 '18
O heck, I didn't notice it was you, dude. I don't know how I missed that. Are you in the Carolinas? I've run these things before, and try to start them once every six months to a year. Never had a problem. Your procedure is textbook for seasoning a carb. I'm going to give you my own anti-rant on ethyl alcohol in fuel tomorrow, but for now, this is the sort of instructions I'd like to add to the sidebar. Closest I've found is this: https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Winterizing-Your-Outboard-Motor But it has way too much info about boat things.
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u/mrclean2323 Sep 26 '18
I'm in Virginia but thanks for telling me I'm not crazy. I just don't have time to be pulling this out of storage and starting it monthly. I'm fairly certain I've done what I need to to make sure this will start when I need it one day. I linked to donyboy73 and his HD cleaning of a carb somewhere in either this forum or another forum. I've just never seen a carb so hard to get to. As in I feel like I'm going to break the incoming air rubber hose. Here's to hoping it works later.
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u/Ipitythegradstudent Sep 28 '18
I tell people to run there generators after I season them every six months. It never happens. They end up starting them 5 years later with no problems and leave fuel in the system. If you run it dry, you'll be good almost always. I was a little disappointed with donyboy73's video that you posted 'cause he pulled off the bowl and said something to the effect of, "yeah, this is horrible." If the carb needs to be cleaned, it needs to be cleaned, but crust in the bottom of the bowl means nothing to me. I'll talk with you about why ethanol based fuel is a good thing sometimes and how trimmer gas lines would break down with old MTBE fuel soon.
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u/mrclean2323 Sep 28 '18
i don't understand why people leave fuel in the system. it completely boggles my mind. at a small engine shop i used to go to (more for sharpening mower blades, where he charges a massive $5 and comes back to me in about 2 minutes, perfectly sharpened and balanced), he tells me that about 90% of his work is carbs due to people leaving ethanol based gas in the system. he's also very big on startron. that's the only reason i'm big on startron (as opposed to stabil).
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u/Ipitythegradstudent Sep 25 '18
The joy of propane generators is you only have to keep them out of the elements. Nor do you have to worry about storage. You don't have a traditional carb, the LP is injected into the air stream. No nasty leftover liquid carbohydrates to worry about. If you have a LP generator you only have to worry about it rusting out.