Champion Genny only runs on choke

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Willowflowage

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Jan 22, 2018
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Ladysmith Wis
I have a two yr old champion 3400 gen/invertor with electric start. I use supposed premium gas only and it has 100 hrs on it and oil changed awhile back. I start it once a month or so and shut the gas supply off when killing it.
  It starts fine but if I kill the choke it won't start or run. I imagine from what I read it's a carb issue. Will the warranty cover this? Disappointed cause it worked great till this popped up. Is gas that bad nowdays especially premium?
 
Do not know if warranty will cover but yes it sounds like a carb issue. 

FIrst step is to add carb cleaner to tank (you will have to calculate the amount)  and see if that clears it.  Never been that lucky but give it a try.    Then carb kits are less expensive (usually) than sending it back to factory for warranty.
 
Willowflowage said:
Is gas that bad nowdays especially premium?

IMHO....Yes

I only use gas that's been treated with sta-bil

https://www.amazon.com/STA-BIL-22208-Fuel-Stabilizer-Fluid_Ounces/dp/B00125ZMD2/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2CEGZ8G2FXASN&keywords=gas+treatment+stabilizer&qid=1578093827&sprefix=gas+treatment%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-4
 
I would run Seafoam through it (get it at Walmart).  Your generator looks like it's a portable unit.  I would dump a whole can of Seafoam into a 5 gallon tank.  Premium is not always best option unless unit calls for it.  Ethanol does not play nicely with many carburetors.  Also as said above, although Seafoam is also a great fuel stabilizer, and so is Stabil, always keep your gas treated if you are not using the motor frequently.
 
Call Champion.
They have the best customer service. They will go out of their way to help you.
Even if the unit was 10 years old.
Try them.
 
Old gas may be causing your problem. I agree with Spencer about the benefits of Seafoam but drain out the E10 gas first if it is over 3 months old.

Always use ethanol free gas unless it is not available in your area. Gas with ethanol added can damage small engines and absorbs 50 times more water - see the link below. It produces less horsepower and cuts gas mileage. Whenever possible I use only ethanol free in my RV gas engine.

https://www.husqvarna.com/us/forest/basics/ethanol-free-fuel/
 
+4. Likely old gas. Our Honda 2K generator had the same issue. Seafoam cleaned it just fine, and now runs with choke noff just like it did when new.
 
SpencerPJ said:
I would dump a whole can of Seafoam into a 5 gallon tank.

Seafoam degenerates into a thick paste and gunks up a carburetor really good if you add more than the recommended amount and then let it sit in the carburetor.  A guy named Mustie1 on Youtube makes a living getting non-running generators and lawnmowers cheap or free, fixing and then selling them.  90% of the time the only problem is a carburetor gunked up either from bad gas or putting the engine into storage with too much Seafoam in the gas.
 
It is always best to remove the carb and carefully clean it manually using carb cleaner blowing out all passages. It is probable that the problem is contained to the float bowl which only requires dropping it, cleaning it and reinstalling the bowl.

If the carb is not easily accessed or mechanical skills are a problem then using and additive is an OK alternative but a manual cleaning provides quicker and a more thorough cleaning.
 
Lou Schneider said:
Seafoam degenerates into a thick paste and gunks up a carburetor really good if you add more than the recommended amount and then let it sit in the carburetor.  A guy named Mustie1 on Youtube makes a living getting non-running generators and lawnmowers cheap or free, fixing and then selling them.  90% of the time the only problem is a carburetor gunked up either from bad gas or putting the engine into storage with too much Seafoam in the gas.

Oh this gets debated often on a motorcycle forum I frequent.  A can of Seafoam is to be mixed with 12 gal of fuel.  I was recommending a can for 5 gal tank.  The actual Seafoam website says you can run an engine on strait Seafoam.  I believe you that Mistie1 says, I also believe that gunked up carbs are #1 problem, but this is the first time I've ever heard of Seafoam causing gunked up issues.  Personally I run a full can through my Motorcycle every spring, its an old 1983 1200, and runs great all summer.  I treat with Stabil at the end of the season.  I would more bet on Stabil (more oily) causing gunking issues that Seafoam (firtually clear liquid).
 
I?ve been using Seafoam for over 15 years in my two Honda 2000$, all yard equipment and snow blower. I never dump the gas and never have any issues with gunk forming in the tank due to using seafoam.  It will clear most carb issues up.
 
You can purchase the carburetors for very little cost on Amazon for these generators. Most cases cleaning carb doesn't work. These carbs are so inexpensive that you're better off to just purchase one and maybe soak your old one in Berryman's some day and you might have a good spare carb to use in the future. Most people report that they didn't need to adjust the new carb and started on 1st or 2nd pull. I'm talking about carbs that sell for about $12 to $25 They are quality aftermarket parts, often better than OEM.
 
Aftermarket carbs for common Onan gensets run around $50 on Amazon or Ebay, but the range is fairly broad depending on the genset model. The carbs for lower-priced portables like the Champion are indeed $15 or so and usually a far better option than trying to clean or repair one.
 
  Symptoms of a partially plugged main jet. In many small carbs, the main jet also doubles as the bolt to attach the fuel bowl. Obviously, this means the main jet can be checked and cleaned by simply removing this bolt/ jet. Usually the fuel bowl will remain attached with the bolt removed, but, I remove it and spray carb cleaner through the plastic straw into the main jet passage.
  Ingenious engineering IMO. My Onan microlight is set up like this along with most of my other small modern engines.
 
Willowflowage said:
I have a two yr old champion 3400 gen/invertor with electric start. I use supposed premium gas only and it has 100 hrs on it and oil changed awhile back. I start it once a month or so and shut the gas supply off when killing it.
  It starts fine but if I kill the choke it won't start or run. I imagine from what I read it's a carb issue. Will the warranty cover this? Disappointed cause it worked great till this popped up. Is gas that bad nowdays especially premium?

Unless the owner's manual specifies premium, I suggest not using it. It may not like the higher Octane.
Surely it provides another method of stopping it than just stopping fuel flow.



 
while my inverter generator is a Ryobi, the symptoms were similar. Mine was about 2 yrs old and had run fine till one day it didn't. I had to play with the choke to keep it running at all and then it surged horribly with or without a load. VERY annoying....

I don't know if yours is the same or not but on mine I found that it has a separate idle jet from the main jet. The idle jet on mine is basically a plastic plug that has a tiny orifice. It was clogged so I took a very fine wire (from a wire brush in my case) and cleared the blockage, it now runs perfectly and it only took about 15 min to fix.
 
Generally on small engines requiring to be choked when up to temperature will be caused by a lack of fuel. I have dealt with many fuel problems in small engines.

I have never replaced a carburetor. I have always been successful manually cleaning the carburetor. It is fairly easy to do. I will suggest to be careful if you decide to use wire to clean out the Jets. A softer material like fishing line would be a better choice. Wire can scratch the inside of the jet and alter how the fuel moves through it.

When I was a landscaper back in the day I would shut down the equipment for the season by draining the fuel from the carburetor bowl and in some cases remove the fuel from the gas tanks. I never had a problem with any of the equipment. I never used any additives. The equipment was always stored in a 50f - 70f.
 
Henry J Fate said:
Generally on small engines requiring to be choked when up to temperature will be caused by a lack of fuel. I have dealt with many fuel problems in small engines.

I have never replaced a carburetor. I have always been successful manually cleaning the carburetor. It is fairly easy to do. I will suggest to be careful if you decide to use wire to clean out the Jets. A softer material like fishing line would be a better choice. Wire can scratch the inside of the jet and alter how the fuel moves through it.

When I was a landscaper back in the day I would shut down the equipment for the season by draining the fuel from the carburetor bowl and in some cases remove the fuel from the gas tanks. I never had a problem with any of the equipment. I never used any additives. The equipment was always stored in a 50f - 70f.

Absolutely spot on advice.  Many of the cheap carburetors found on eBay and elsewhere are junk.  I participate in other forums that deal with vintage engines and the stories never end about the junk.  If your issue is a dirty carburetor, fix the real problem, clean it.  Another cleaning tool for tiny jets is a bristle from a paint brush.  The only additives I ever use is Sta-Bil in gasoline that may not be used for awhile.
 
I sort of had this issue with my Predator, and found that my spark arrestor was solidly clogged. Cleaned it out and problem solved. I only had 150 hrs on it at the time so clean it about every 100 hrs now.
 
Chains45 said:
I sort of had this issue with my Predator, and found that my spark arrestor was solidly clogged. Cleaned it out and problem solved. I only had 150 hrs on it at the time so clean it about every 100 hrs now.

If that is a 2 stroke engine, use a better 2 stroke oil.  If it is a four stroke, then there might be an oil consumption issue.
 
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