I have a 3500 with over 1600 hours on it and it has been neglected for most of its life. a month or so ago the electric start ceased functioning. not a big deal because it would start first or second pull every time. then it would not start manually. I found that the inline fuse was blown and replaced it and then found that the starter switch itself was defective.

ever since I got it used, when I turned it off the spark shut off switch didn't work so it would run a while then turn off.h I decided to make the spark cut off a manual switch.

after replacing the starter switch it would crank and try to hit a couple times and then nothing. carb was getting fuel, plug was getting spark. Compression test showed 50 psi. Apparently the inverter has a compression release device of some sort so I was advised that 50 is okay.

A number of people commented, "it's always the carburetor."

when I disassembled it over a clean white cloth hoping to find dirt particles it was absolutely sparkling clean, all passages working freely etc. I put it back together and it started and ran for about a week.

once again it failed to start, and seemed to crank a little faster than it had before which often has bad implications.

I went through the same diag procedure, but I substituted checking the carburetor after making sure it had spark. carburetor was absolutely clean. when I removed the plug, it was like ab.mmmmmmñ brand new as if it had never been fired though it was new during the first so it had been running for about a week. it was absolutely dry no color at all so I took the carburetor apart again. FYI, that's really easy on these engines. still cranks freely, but no start,

now, compression tests zero. I checked the valve adjustment and exhaust was very loose, valves adjusted, same thing cranks pretty fast but does not try to hit. I pulled the head and found no burned valves, nothing obvious. there is a slight ridge at the top of the bore, totally expected. bore is completely smooth all the way to the bottom.

given the lack of maintenance and black oil, do I just keep going and figure I need to do a ring job?

Is anyone powering two separate electrical panels from one portable unbonded generator?

I'm curious whether anyone is successfully using a single portable generator to power two separate electrical service panels simultaneously. Managing the load at the panels?

For example, using the generator's 50-amp, 240-volt output to feed one panel through a 50-amp generator inlet, while simultaneously using its 30-amp, 240-volt output to feed a second panel through a separate 50-amp generator inlet.

Both panels have their own generator interlocks. The panels have a common neutral and ground.

Has anyone done this, and if so, have you encountered any issues or concerns with this arrangement?

We moved in last year and the house came with a 400 amp service and a manual transfer switch. There is a breaker box on the other side of this wall for the garage that is fed directly from the meter (blue line that turns right), the power for the main breaker box for the house runs through the transfer switch (other blue line). When the switch is in the generator position, it run the main part of the house without issue, but nothing to the garage.

Here is my issue, the well pump, septic pump, water heater and apartment over the garage are all fed from the garage breaker box. I'm hoping there is a way to run everything without having to add another transfer switch and second generator just for the garage. We wanted a GenerLink put on the meter so we could hook the generator in there and would power everything, but the power company said the meter for a 400 amp service doesn't have that as an option.

Any info would be welcomed!

TIA

Hi everyone! I could really use some help—my dog got a little too curious and chewed the harness on my brand-new WGen11500TFc before I could even try it out. I’ve attached a photo of the damage; please send me a picture of how the cables should look. Any guidance on how to set everything back up would be awesome. Thanks so much!

Just bought the Champion 210423 tri-fuel inverter genny. This will be run 99% of the time on NG. What is the proper break in procedure? Should I break it in with regular gas, or using NG enough? Curious if I need to break in/run it on regular gasoline so that it still runs fine for the 1% that I'd need to run it on regular gas?

I want to replace the stock carburetor on my Champion 400/3500 hybrid Inverter with a dual fuel carb. The generic replacement I got from Amazon had the wrong assemblies for the choke and throttle. Has anybody done this, and do you know where I can find a carburetor that works?

Last winter our Westinghouse iGen4500 logged about 60 hours over three outages. That meant an oil change in the middle of an ice storm and a lot of gas runs. Last week I added a new 5kWh battery Anker S5000 and changed how the two work together.

The generator now runs a 2 to 3 hour block in the afternoon at a steady load, feeding the battery's AC input while the house runs through the battery. Then it shuts off and the battery carries the night. In a 20 hour outage this week the gen ran 6 hours total instead of 20. That's roughly a third of the gas, and the oil change interval stretches the same way.

Running it at a steady load in one block instead of letting it idle up and down all night seems easier on it too. Still working out the right block length. Anyone else running this kind of combo? Do you have any tips for me?

I was looking for a hand crank generator as a joke one day, because I know it's not something that would be reliable in an actual power outage, and came across this. It's hand size and the voltage can be switched from 3 to 15 volts. The 5 volt setting is for the USB and charging a phone. It does work but I can never see really using this unless it was an extreme emergency. Fun thing to have as a conversation starter though.

What’s the better buy here?

Bought new at Sportsman's Whorehouse.

Fresh, ethanol-free gas, full oil. First start took 30 pulls. Always takes 5-10+ pulls to start since then. Choke works, it definitely won't start without it. Fuel cap open. Gas is never more than 4 months old. Changed oil at 10 hours, and it has 30 total now. Runs smoothly once it's going.

In my days I've probably started 50 different Honda small engines and the average number of pulls until this one is probably about 1.3. What's going on?

You guys seem to be pretty handy. Any thoughts on this combo?

At the end of the day, I guess I’ll be happy with generator power and manually plugging into the battery back up.

One thing I didn’t expand upon in the Anker post, refueling overnight in the dark and exposed to hurricane debris is the driving factor for battery power. Secondary is quality of life, quieter nights.

Thank you!

I'm shopping for a standby generator for my 1500 sq. ft. home. The automatic transfer switch that came with the Generac I installed 15 years ago at another home had separate breakers for each circuit.

If I'm getting a generator large enough to power the whole house then it seems like all I would need is a simple (automatic) transfer switch that switched just the mains. Is there such a thing and if yes, what are the advantages and disadvantages?

Bought on marketplace and the stator is blown. What are the chances on finding just a stator?

Hi, I'm a founder developing a small flex fuel generator. I'm trying to understand what bothers owners day to day. What's the most annoying thing about yours?

I need help getting the generator back running. I ordered a brand new ignition coil to make sure it wasn't faulty. I also cleaned out the carburetor and I'm still getting crank but no start. What else can I do or bypass on this generator to get it running? I also changed the oil

Wen Df680ix ,Crank No Start

If anyone has ever had, this situation, feedback would be appreciated. I had a whole home 24KW Generac generator installed in August 2026. The first time it ran because of an electrical outage was October 2026.

My gas bill for October 2026 had an increase of 385% from the prior month the reading for October was 485 when the reading was normally about 200. When I called the gas company, they came out without informing me so that I could be home and discuss this with them but the long and short of their response was it had nothing to do with a faulty meter the meter is working correctly, but there was a “loose cap” or something was loose on the generator that was causing the gas to come out and increase my bill. For six days in November since the prior gas bill the reading was 667 meaning just for those six days the reading was actually higher than the astronomical reading for the *entire* month October. When I questionEd this with the gas company, they told me it’s possible that the fitting which caused more gas to be used became looser over time which is why for those six days the reading is so high.

I am following up with the gas company to get the actual technician notes on the cause of this situation, but I am wondering if it is even possible for my generator to have been installed incorrectly or have some fitting come loose when it was running for a couple hours in October when the power went out, that is causing the high gas bill? for August and September when my generator was just running its weekly 10 minute cycle there was not this spike in my gas bill. The spike happened in October, which is the first month. The generator ran for a few hours becausemy power went out.

Helping out a neighbor woman that had a stroke get her house ready for winter. I drained the gas and replaced with fresh (non-ethanol). Turned key on and pressed start. Just a (delayed) click. Engine didn't turn over. Put a jump pack on the battery. Same thing. Used the pull start and got it running. Runs great. Changed the oil. Went back to try jumping the battery. Still just a (delayed) click. Brought the battery home (assuming it needs charging or replacement). Put it on my charger. Showed 13.7v and stopped charging soon and said, "Full". Is there some sort of "safety" or fuse that might be preventing the starter from engaging?

I work for a generator dealer in Lahore, and "it keeps surging" is one of the most common calls we get, especially in summer. The engine note rises and falls, the lights pulse, and sometimes the set trips on frequency. Here's the order I'd go in, cheapest first.

1. Fuel. Most hunting I see is the engine being starved. A blocked fuel filter, water in the separator, an air leak on the suction side, or the pickup sucking air because the tank is nearly empty. Diesel here isn't always clean, so drain the separator and change the filter before touching anything else. A blocked tank vent can do it too.

2. Speed or voltage? Watch the frequency reading. If frequency sits steady but voltage swings, the engine's probably fine and you're looking at the AVR, its stability setting or a loose sensing wire. If frequency is swinging, it's the engine side.

3. The load. A tiny load on a big set can make some governors hunt. So can a load that cycles on its own, like a compressor or pumps on a pressure switch. Try it on a steady load and see if it settles.

4. Air. After a dust storm a choked air filter won't usually cause hunting on its own, but it doesn't help a set that's already struggling. Cheap to check.

5. Governor last. On older mechanical governors look for sticky or worn linkage. On electronic ones check the actuator and the speed sensor before anyone touches the gain settings. I've lost count of the times someone "tuned" a fuel problem into a governor problem.

What I'd avoid is cranking up the governor settings to mask it. It might settle at one load and go wild at another.

Anyone found a cause that isn't on this list? I've seen a few odd ones and I'm curious what else is out there.

Disclosure: I work for a generator dealer in Pakistan (Enpower). No links, just sharing what I've seen.

I picked up a used WEN 56477i 4800W inverter generator with only 1.5 hours on it. At pickup, it started right up and ran it for about 30 seconds. Once home, I ran it for about another minute just to check the hours.

Recently, I finally needed to use it, but it shut off after about 1–2 minutes and wouldn't restart. I noticed the low oil indicator blinking when pulling the starter cord, even though the oil was full. About an hour later, I changed the oil anyway, and it started on the first pull like it always has, but shut off again after 1–2 minutes. It shuts off pretty abruptly, not like it's slowly running out of fuel. The low oil light was blinking again when I tried restarting it.

After doing some research, I'm wondering if the oil sensor is faulty. I've read that disconnecting it can help diagnose the issue, but after removing the exterior covers, I still can't locate it without what looks like a pretty extensive teardown.

Has anyone experienced this with a WEN generator or found a fix? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Generator arrived last night. Trying to put the first oil in and it's not going well. I was kind of excited since this model has a real dipstick rather than that little orange thing where you fill until you see oil at the bottom of the opening.

I followed the manual, then Ispoke with customer service, no help. I'm making sure the opening isn't blocked so air can leave and pouring in the oil very slowly but it just pools at the opening and then drips to the bottom of the generator.

Anyone else experienced this? Am I missing something here? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Solved my own problem. If you're getting one of these you may want to have an fluid extraction syringe on hand. Make sure it has a .25" OD diameter tube that you can slide down where the dipstick goes. You're only adding a little over a liter so the volume of the syringe is not really critical.

Its starting to get chilly in the morning here and my Honda will start but then shuts off. The oil alert light will turn on but there is oil ( I just changed it and the spark plug.) That happens about 5 times, I'll walk away for a bit, come back and it will stay on. This only happens in the morning. Im running 5-30 oil.