3.5KW runs great for 30 minutes, Dies, Wait 30 minutes, runs great for 30minutes

[TheBishop]

Late last night I found what I thought would be a simple find, I was surprised that of the 6 places I called, most people had no idea what I was looking for.
I called three Tractor Supply stores and the last one had 1 Ignition coil in stock. I drove an hour to pick it up and installed it this morning.
The old generator fired up faster than it ever has, and ran for 90 minutes until I shut it off. I let it sit to cool down some for five minutes. I hit the starter and it fired back up again.

It went from 30 minutes on and had to cool for 30 more minutes before it would start again. The coil WAS the problem after all.
I learned a lesson about a back up generator, let it run for at least an hour during a test.

I'll try to post a pic with the side panel off. Thanks to all for a great discussion about my problem. I hope my problem with a bad coil helps someone else that's looking for help.

 

[Guyfang]

Late last night I found what I thought would be a simple find, I was surprised that of the 6 places I called, most people had no idea what I was looking for.
I called three Tractor Supply stores and the last one had 1 Ignition coil in stock. I drove an hour to pick it up and installed it this morning.
The old generator fired up faster than it ever has, and ran for 90 minutes until I shut it off. I let it sit to cool down some for five minutes. I hit the starter and it fired back up again.

It went from 30 minutes on and had to cool for 30 more minutes before it would start again. The coil WAS the problem after all.
I learned a lesson about a back up generator, let it run for at least an hour during a test.

I'll try to post a pic with the side panel off. Thanks to all for a great discussion about my problem. I hope my problem with a bad coil helps someone else that's looking for help.

View attachment 810697

More pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is an interesting set,

 

[Guyfang]

It runs 30 min then quits every time maybe the tanks not vented and cant draw fuel after a certain pressure is reached 30 min worth ??

A mute point now, but.................To answer your question.
Could be. Seen it happen before more then once.

Also, if the set has a day tank, 30 min. is about the limit. But we don't know what it has.

In my experience, (with humble pie smeared all over my face right now) sets smaller then 5 KW, are not water cooled, and do not have a day tank. BUT, there are always exceptions to that rule. That's why I said we need to get smart. Pictures, if no data is available.

 

[TheBishop]

Late last night I found what I thought would be a simple find, I was surprised that of the 6 places I called, most people had no idea what I was looking for.
I called three Tractor Supply stores and the last one had 1 Ignition coil in stock. I drove an hour to pick it up and installed it this morning.
The old generator fired up faster than it ever has, and ran for 90 minutes until I shut it off. I let it sit to cool down some for five minutes. I hit the starter and it fired back up again.

It went from 30 minutes on and had to cool for 30 more minutes before it would start again. The coil WAS the problem after all.
I learned a lesson about a back up generator, let it run for at least an hour during a test.

I'll try to post a pic with the side panel off. Thanks to all for a great discussion about my problem. I hope my problem with a bad coil helps someone else that's looking for help.

View attachment 810697

I found label under the coil.

 

[TheBishop]

I found label under the coil.

It runs 30 min then quits every time maybe the tanks not vented and cant draw fuel after a certain pressure is reached 30 min worth ??

It runs 30 min then quits every time maybe the tanks not vented and cant draw fuel after a certain pressure is reached 30 min worth ??

I posted but it didn't hold, and lost it. Now I'm trying again.

Yesterday I finally found a ignition coil locally at Tractor Supply. It was an hour away but they only had this one so I took off to get it.

I installed this morning and the old military generator started up faster than it ever has. The new coil brought the old girl back to life. It past the old 30 minute mark running. Past 45, 60 ,and 90 minutes. I shut it down at 90 minutes and let it sit for 5 minutes and it started back alive as soon as I hit the button.

The first photo is a shot from the side with the cover panel off.

The second photo is a label I found under the coil.

The 3rd photo is the name plate. I told you it was almost gone.

It's running again and I want to thank the guys here for your posts about my problem.

I hope my problem might help someone else fix their trouble.

 

[TheBishop]

It runs 30 min then quits every time maybe the tanks not vented and cant draw fuel after a certain pressure is reached 30 min worth ??

I replaced the coil and it works fine again. It ran for 90 minutes until I shut it off and it restarted quickly.

2nd Pic I found under the coil, The 3rd pic is the badly kept main label.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Chainbreaker]

I dont know if its water cooled and if it is these are the things that i check on my generators when they stop for no aparant reason . It looked as if everyone had coverd all the other ideas .Should i check with you first before i post any more ideas ???????

The way you phrased your "idea" seemed as if you knew it was water cooled. I only asked how you knew given the lack of information presented.

I could have just as easily guessed that perhaps it was an old 2 stroke motor and suggested he check his fuel mixture if we are just throwing things out there.

No you don't have to check with me first. Just carry on...

 

[TheBishop]

I replaced the coil and it works fine again. It ran for 90 minutes until I shut it off and it restarted quickly.

2nd Pic I found under the coil, The 3rd pic is the badly kept main label.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for all the post. Sorry for my extra post attempts. The site kept telling me, "There was a problem with my Upload, so I did it again, Sorry

 

[Coug]

To do an answer from my experience for the whole " It runs 30 min then quits every time maybe the tanks not vented and cant draw fuel after a certain pressure is reached 30 min worth ?? "

If it's going to have a tank venting issue like this, then it's not going to be up and running again after only 30 minutes for the same amount of time. A few years back Husqvarna had an issue with some of their riding lawn mowers for this exact issue, unit would run for a bit, then die, but it would sputter out a bit, and not shut off cleanly like the switch was thrown as the OP described.

I'm late to this because I just got back from camping for the weekend, but the 30 minutes run, then runs again once cooled off my first thought would be checking for spark. Glad it turned out to be that issue, as most of the other issues I can think of matching this set of symptoms are nowhere near as easy to troubleshoot.

 

[Guyfang]

I will look in my old TM file, and see if I have anything for this.

 

[G744]

I had a genset doing very much the same thing.

It turned out to be a shop rag in the Diesel tank. It would get sucked up to the intake and shut down. Let it rest a bit, and away it went.

G744

 

[Guyfang]

I had a genset doing very much the same thing.

It turned out to be a shop rag in the Diesel tank. It would get sucked up to the intake and shut down. Let it rest a bit, and away it went.

G744

Before RESET, when a unit came back from down rang, we found the darnedest things. Dead animals, weapons parts, shop rags, clothes, sand by the ton, trash and anything under the sun.

 

[G744]

Pulling a vaccuum on the fuel tank is a good suspect, too.

Conelrad

 

[TheBishop]

Hey Guys,

The 60s military generator is running fine thanks to all.

Last night, my brother-in-law called me and ask if I wanted his Generac 5550 portable generator. He started it 15 years ago the day he bought it from Home Depot. It has less than 15 minutes run time. He paid a little over $800 for it.

He said his wife made him buy it in case they lose power. They live in the city and it's rare to loose power, but she thought it was a good idea. He was just going to run a cord to the fridge but never did. Power was always less than a hour outage. He drained the gas and run it dry and put it the garage storage closet and it's been there 15 years.

Today I pulled the plug and put some oil in the hole and pulled the starter a dozen times. I'm going to wait a few days before I put gas in the tank and try to start it. And it still has break-in oil in it as he called it.

Now I have another backup generator, but living in South Louisiana I guess I need all I can get.

Thanks again for the help

 

[Scoobyshep]

Hey Guys,

The 60s military generator is running fine thanks to all.

Last night, my brother-in-law called me and ask if I wanted his Generac 5550 portable generator. He started it 15 years ago the day he bought it from Home Depot. It has less than 15 minutes run time. He paid a little over $800 for it.

He said his wife made him buy it in case they lose power. They live in the city and it's rare to loose power, but she thought it was a good idea. He was just going to run a cord to the fridge but never did. Power was always less than a hour outage. He drained the gas and run it dry and put it the garage storage closet and it's been there 15 years.

Today I pulled the plug and put some oil in the hole and pulled the starter a dozen times. I'm going to wait a few days before I put gas in the tank and try to start it. And it still has break-in oil in it as he called it.

Now I have another backup generator, but living in South Louisiana I guess I need all I can get.

Thanks again for the help

one can never have too many generators.

 

[frank8003]

Hey Guys,

The 60s military generator is running fine thanks to all.

Last night, my brother-in-law called me and ask if I wanted his Generac 5550 portable generator. He started it 15 years ago the day he bought it from Home Depot. It has less than 15 minutes run time. He paid a little over $800 for it.

He said his wife made him buy it in case they lose power. They live in the city and it's rare to loose power, but she thought it was a good idea. He was just going to run a cord to the fridge but never did. Power was always less than a hour outage. He drained the gas and run it dry and put it the garage storage closet and it's been there 15 years.

Today I pulled the plug and put some oil in the hole and pulled the starter a dozen times. I'm going to wait a few days before I put gas in the tank and try to start it. And it still has break-in oil in it as he called it.

Now I have another backup generator, but living in South Louisiana I guess I need all I can get.

Thanks again for the help

Pull it thru a bunch of times or keystart Her then see if She will start.
If She starts and runs 30-90 seconds [way, way above idle] the shut it down and change the oil. then put a load on it and RUN Her.