Champion generator

my neighbor called me about three o'clock yesterday and wanted me to take a look at his generator, said it was about four years old and only been used a couple times then. Said he never drained the gas or new he should. So the big snowstorm with wind was right over the hill and he decided now would be a good time to get it running. He hauled it over couldn't find the key or owners manual and the battery was dead but he thought it should start without the key.
I never seen such a pile of compact plastic junk, made my old Generac look like a 10,000 dollar machine.

The carb throttle shaft was stuck and couldn't turn it to get the linkage off, the top was plastic I had to bend the linkage over on the governor to keep from busting the plastic. The carb was full of corrosion, rust and goo, could not get the main jet out and took a lot of work to get it poked open, cleaned it up as good as I could and put it back together. It started right up but only runs on half choke which I kind of expected.
Any way this thing has a little motor on top of the choke shaft with about a half dozen wires as well as the manual choke. What would be the reasoning for the little choke shaft motor????
I poured some sea foam in it and told him to run it now and then with the chock half on, but don't be surprised if it don't work. Guy couldn't believe I changed the gas in mine twice a year.

A good example of how many people completely neglect their equipment! At least he didn't wait until the lights were out and the snow was up to his but! You gave him good advice, if it will run at all the seafoam should clean it out.

That little motor on the throttle shaft controls the engine speed of the engine according to load demands.

It's on the choke shaft.

I re read that. I would like to know why it is on the choke shaft as well. Is there one on the throttle shaft also?

found a Harbor Fright 8750 watt gen on the curb stopped and ask if it was junk yup so home it came 12 bucks latter runs like new old carb was full of white crap and old gas .Ebay has all kinds of carbs and they have them for Champion

Just the choke, don't see any sense in it, wouldn't work anyway with a bad battery unless it picked it up from the generator I guess.

A unit not being used. Is the thing I see most often.I have had many get mad at me when I hand them the bill. To get their unit going. I see it all the time. Four year old unit. Two hours on it carb shot fuel tank full of rust. But it is my fault.

You should run it once a month. Are at least four times a year. Turn off the gas and let the carb run out. Drain the tank and protect it.

That motor on the choke is probably to feather in the choke a bit if a sudden load is added. like starting a motor, refrigerator, whatever. I see those on Honda and a lot of the Honda 'clones'.

Thanks, that might makes sense.

They are called 'Stepper ' motors and used as precision adjusters for both choke and throttle . They make a engine easier to start by remote control at a distance and allow it to respond to load variations from the inverter .
Great in theory and while they work but frankly I'd rather have a manual choke and decent load governor .

I work for a large contractor, for years they bought generac generators for the small jobsite stuff, they lasted ok some failures but nothing too bad. Then when they needed a couple in a hurry they bought a few champions local...same generator in different color. And they last just the same for half the money. Not much out there really made to be top notch just different brand names on the same stuff

Amazing how people get through the day when they are that clueless. I am always impressed how many snow blowers, generators, mowers, and other items with small engines that are selling on CL or FB marketplace that have new carbs featured on their listing. It just seems that people don't think they can clean the carb and get back on line quickly. Guessing they buy new carbs on a frequent basis.

I use Sea Foam in small engines that are idle for long periods just to assure that the ethanol laced fuel doesn't sour and I always have more than 1 can of carb cleaner on hand in case we need a bit of cleaning. As you I rotate the fuel out a couple of times a year and something like a generator I will start once a month.

(quoted from post at 12:57:58 01/28/21) Amazing how people get through the day when they are that clueless. I am always impressed how many snow blowers, generators, mowers, and other items with small engines that are selling on CL or FB marketplace that have new carbs featured on their listing. It just seems that people don't think they can clean the carb and get back on line quickly. Guessing they buy new carbs on a frequent basis.

I use Sea Foam in small engines that are idle for long periods just to assure that the ethanol laced fuel doesn't sour and I always have more than 1 can of carb cleaner on hand in case we need a bit of cleaning. As you I rotate the fuel out a couple of times a year and something like a generator I will start once a month.

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I know a mower repair shop who say it is cheaper to order a new one than pay close to that for a kit plus the labor and then they don't always get all the passages clean.

Question I have is how much seafoam do you add to the gas? I've been using stabil but is the seafoam better? Thanks.