That’s good to know. Seems like it should have been a notice by the manufacturer. When mine is running it’s usually in a wagon or back of the truck.
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Another inverter generator operating discovery I’ll convey.
Most of the suitcase types have screw threaded fuel caps with manual vent valves. Most of the operators manuals saying; and convention saying, for vapor shutting off when transporting in vehicle cargo areas.
Nope. You really want to be closing these to OFF when not-use storing the units too.
My Wife’s Honda 2000 unit after years of non-use storing under a cardboard box cover in the ready location out on our north front porch developed the air humidity gasoline corrosion disease. The insides of the plated steel carburetor bowl now looks like these under cap washer and spring. Sure; I cleaned it up. It will now reoccur with the slightest excuse now again.
Vent was left open, ON.
I must have mistakenly put some of the E-10 in it at some point. the red five gallon cans got mixed up.
So what to do about the other generators fuel caps with out manual vents, eh?
Only the far back one with the red plastic manual vent valve stem off one of the Bilt Hards can be controlled.
All these others - no.
A couple on units with fuel tank vapors charcoal canister recovery systems seem to breathe air in and out there. Have solid sealed caps.
The two flat topped, 20 degree turn;
two finger locked one have internal spring negative pressure valves.
So even on mine I do not have a works-for-all “Best” storage system.
Store tank sucked-out; ran-out; drained-out completely dry? Makes for some too many pulls; been in long storage starting back up problems. Most; women especially, have not patience with that.
Store completely wet with gasoline up to the tank’s fill neck edge? O.K. only IF the gasoline is for sure non-ethanol. Even then. . . . problems. That gasoline will go bad after 6-12 months. Have to be dumped out. Any in-tank expansion can force gasoline past the some of the fuel shut off valves o-rings; then wetting the made dry carburetor bowl. In bowl corrosions and gumming happening then.
Ethanol gasoline with preservative-stabilizer and the gasoline evaporates leaving behind the preservative as a coating layer. That clogs easily these 1/10 a gallon an hour, teeny, tiny carburetor orifices.
Will my now minimal filling; wet-storing with Aspen engineered fuel work for the air breathing gasoline caps & tanks types? Gonna’ take me a whole year to find out.
Here, is hoping.
Four generators now with steel fuel tanks. Three generators now with plastic fuel tanks.
Steve Unruh
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Reading through this, so much attention on alcohol. Made me think of a fuel bladder. Air couldn’t get in at all. But the fuel is still going to varnish, like it always did. The only real solution, I’ve ever found, is not to leave fuel in them. Better to spend time and attention on finding ways to empty fuel tanks. Maybe install drain cocks, have a siphon on hand, …
Rindert
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One more thing to think about. Which kind of turkey baster isn’t affected by gasoline?
Rindert
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Don’t use a foods type extractor.
Use either a manual vacuum pumping oil change extractor - available at Harbor Freight. Or one of the for-fuels, and oil-lubes hand plunger 1000cc hand syringes.
Get only the plastic versions.
My metal body one went internally bad corrosion on me. Probably from sucking out brake fluid.
S.U.
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So I walked down to the auto parts store, and got this siphon for $6.85. 6ft long so it should be able to reach down into the tank on my Corolla. I won’t have to make any more special trips to the fuel station to get fuel. And of course it will allow me to remove fuel from my small engines with very little fuss or mess. I plan to get the chunks out with a coffee filter. Any thoughts on this?
Rindert
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I used a bulb pump like that Rindert but after a couple years the tubing got brittle. Of course for six and a half bucks I can’t complain. Now I have the harbor freight battery one SteveU mentioned. I have only used it for pulling hydro solution out of my grow containers. Sez it can be used to pump gasoline. It sucks good.
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Here is what I have used for small engine gasoline removals:
Listen and not recommended for gasoline.
I do enough heavy gear oils so a gallon or so of gasoline out of a small engine tank will not harm it.
Does somewhat cross contaminate with whatever you last sucked out however. No biggy as far as I’m concerned taking out old gasoline anyhow.
Better is a simple one stroke suction sucker/filler
These last two just the ticket for AWD, PTU’s gearbox units and such. Work sideways and upside down.
For gasoline do oil wet the o-rings before and after.
I do not like motor transfer pumping gasoline. Scares me.
S.U.
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Hi All,
Here is a new video out showing just how much cheap fun is now possible with small engines again.
He is try-it; swapping engine parts from different OEM configurations. Memeber @Wallace here on the DOW has talked a lot about these now clone engine possibilities:
Pay particular attention to this guys detailed fussing at ~1:14 an on, with setting up the engines speed governor to the adapted over used carburetor. He does not want an RPM runaway occurrence to happen damaging his work.
After that when he sets up his camera stand gravity bottle gasoline gravity feed for engine starting and testing do see he is in a warming long sleeved sweat shirt.
Mean his shop is kept cold.
Cool-cold keeps wicked gasoline still somewhat safe.
Gasoline at above ~60-70F/16-22C becomes more and more flash-point self vaporizing evil always trying to burn you. Burn up your equipments. Burn down your shops.
Treat is as actively mean, and evil; always out to harm you with the least bit of loss of attention. All snakes can and will bite. All dogs can and will bite. All guns can and will Unintentionally Discharge.
Never forget this warning about gasoline.
Steve Unruh
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Hey Stuie,
If you like that kind of thing you ought to have a look at John Stouts Woodgas Rat Rod Build.
One of my goals is to make something for fairs and parades.
Rindert
The ColoRODans host little events up in Longmont. I always want to go with a woodgas vehicle.
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Fun with small IC engines can be making new, old-basic solutions:
Ha! Ha! At 71 old and decades married now I can only dream-away.
Can’t afford the Dee-Vorce. (kindda’ sounds like some kind of motorcycle, eh!)
And old, and wrinkled, getting a bit stooped-bent now - with not all that much money, a younger gal just ain’t in the cards. Don’t want to sleep solo anymore, ever again.
S.U.
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I started stripping down that diesel generator yesterday as i have spent forever trying to get it to run without it pouring out black smoke , i have a feeling the person who sold it me may have rebuilt the internals and maybe miss aligned the timing marks easily done i am told ,
in the mean time i bought a Japanese generator set that was not making power , i managed to get that to make power almost as soon as i got home with it , and 20 seconds after plugin something into the outlet the engine came to a VERY sudden stop !
opened it up 3 days ago to find the crank in half ,plus half a conrod a cracked barrel and piston to boot = scrap Oh and while out collecting the said generator i got zapped by a speed camera , still waiting for that to drop in my mail box , i may be lucky but the way my lucks going i doubt it .
But then maybe my luck is changing on my daily trolls through Market place and Gumtree looking for a small diesel generator i went back maybe 3 dozen pages and came across a picture of a rusty old looking generator listed about a month ago ,in a sound proofed box with the listing 2 x 50hz generators for sale $100 must take both , of course i was sending him a message even before reading the full advert , i waited the whole bloody day for a answer and by tea time decided it wasn’t ment for me , next time i checked my emails was 10.00pm and there was a message saying yes he still has them and he would ring me in the morning , i could hardly sleep with excitement 2 identical generators for 100 bucks is like so many Christmases and birthdays rolled into one , went over to collect this this afternoon and a very heavy built man came out and said to me there bloody heavy , boy he wasnt kiddin he was built like a brick shit house and he struggled to lift his end high enough onto a bench about 2/3 the hight of the tail lift so we could get it into the back in 2 lifts it has to be in the region of 150kg 800x600x500 its a fair size for sure and he had 2 of them identical , so i am going back in the week with a little crane on the back of a truck as it was hard work lifting that one .
Anyway got home lifted it off with the grab on the excavator with a sling and the bloody sling slid off letting it drop onto the ground before it rolled over on its side spilling a little fuel out bugger ! re tied it up and got it close to my shed and opened it up and it looked like new inside he had said they were both working when he moved into the property about 1.5 years ago but had never used them .
Checked oil bolted a battery on turned the key the damn thing started up turned the breaker switch and it was making power how good is that ! i reckon it has to be between 10 /15kva , not really sure , i know its way heavier that my 8kva one , he is going to look for a manual for me , just goes to show don’t go by looks i think that’s why he had not sold them because the outside looks like a box of rust , but inside where it mattered it was clean and dry so it looked like new .
Happier now Dave
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I liked that Janus video. If I had a lot of money I might show up at their sales counter, with my chargas generator in the back of my truck, and ask whether they would consider building me a chargas bike. Just wonder what kind of reaction I’d get.
Rindert
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I am a bit over two hours away from the Janus factory in Goshen, IN. I am ashamed to admit I never heard of them until today. Time to get a tour! Good Grief! 
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Well if you go to the amish craftsman factory, maybe you can convince them to use woodgas for their generators. 
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Actually, I’d be interested to hear what Amish people think about Woodgas.
Rindert
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We had a group of them come to visit at Argos a couple years back.
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Here is a couple of videos for you “Diesel” Dave
As you’ll see this fellow had a hateful of problems hard mechanical to electro-mechanical he had to work through.
A few fellows I’ve talked to in cold-cold winter say just skip the cold diesel problems. Cold-cold: use gasoline. Just cold: use propane. Set back the diesel use for warm times.
You are more moderate climate even if windy stormy, wet.
Regards
Steve Unruh
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