EU2000 clogs every month

M

meep

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I’ve never had to do this so much to a honda. I have a 2 year old EU2k. It’s probably got 80 hours on it, and has been bad about surging after sitting. I’ve had it apart 3 times, and clearing the pilot tube every time fixes it. All my fuel has stabil in it, and i added a fuel filter the last time I was in it. It ran one month ago just fine for several hours, but now is back to surging badly. The first one I had 12 years ago never did this, at all. This one is very particular to it.

are some of the copies more prone than others to this? I may start draining the carb after every use, but that’s a pain.
 
You should absolutely drain the carb after every use. Generators are low use items that sit a lot. The carb has a bowl drain screw. Use it. Then once the bowl is drained, put the choke on and give the rope a few pulls. This will suck any residual gas out. I’ve done this for ten plus years on all my equipment and it always starts and runs perfect.

Using a fuel shutoff valve only is not sufficient as this STILL leaves several teaspoons worth of gas in the carb bowl. You must use the drain screw on the bowl to drain the fuel.
 
By "pilot tube" do you mean the low speed jet that is inserted into the top of the carb (after removing the throttle plate stop screw). The stop screw must also be properly adjusted, it will surge if turned out too far.
 
Drain all fuel clean carb fuel with VPracing 4stroke fuel C9 if possible. I would let unit in storage on th VPracing and if needed run unit with whatever fuel you use but always store on the VPracing.
 
To me it sounds like some gas sat too long in it , and there is gunk in the tank. New gas is releasing this stuff from the tank and it's caught in the carb.

I'd get some berryman b-12 and mix a stout mix. Pour it in the tank till full. Slosh it around and let it sit 1/2 a day then dump it.

Add some b-12 to some fuel at the recommended rate and fill the tank, let it run all that out.

From here out use non ethanol fuel and Tcw3 @ 640:1.
If you buy non-ethanol fuel from a multi pump island, pump a couple of gallons into you car first , then fill your fuel can.
Otherwise some residual E-10 or E-85 from the previous customer could end up in your "non-ethanol" fuel.
 
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I'll bet more people have issues with Stabil than not treating at all that is the first thing I'd ditch.
 
Brian123 said:
Put a Fuel Shutoff Valve on this Generator and run it out of fuel. If you are going to leave fuel in there, then it needs to be VP Racing Fuel.
Click to expand...
This is the only way. A filter and Stabil in the fuel won't prevent the ethanol fuel from gunking up the carburetor jets. The Stabil might help the fuel last another week or so, but that's about it.

Any of my machines I know will be sitting for more than a week I let run out of fuel.
 
#18FAN said:
I'll bet more people have issues with Stabil than not treating at all that is the first thing I'd ditch.
Click to expand...
It does help but not significantly. I found the fuel lasts about another week or two when using the Marine Stabil or the type meant for Ethanol fuel. Probably not really worth it to most people.
 
I store a Honda trimmer, lawnmower, snowblower and the neighbors EU2200 with non-ethanol fuel.

Every unit starts on the first or second pull.

I consider it essential.
 
I also have a Honda EU2000i. Awesome little generator.

Mine started surging once and luckily it cleaned up with a lot of Sea Foam.

I fill a 5 gallon gas can at the local pump (E-10) and add the blue marine Stabil 360 (according to the instructions on the bottle) and also add 1oz of 2 cycle oil (TC-W3 is what I use).

Whenever I am done with the generator, I drain the gas tank and run it dry. I then open the carburetor bowl drain screw and pull the starter cord a few times. This helps get any remaining gas out of the lines and float bowl. Then tighten the drain screw and store away.

Any residual gas in the system will evaporate away, leaving a thin oil film that protects against corrosion. Also, this oil film is dissolvable by the fresh gas the next time you need to run the generator.

I've been doing this now for 10 years and don't have any issues with the little Honda EU2000i, the lawn mower (GCV160) nor the larger Honda generator (GX160).
 
I stopped using the Stabil brand years ago. Poor results with long term storage. I've got 16 gas tanks to protect, and I no longer get enjoyment cleaning carbs. Currently using CRC marine stabilizer and I give my cans an extra 1/2 oz. shot over the recommended 1 oz. per 5 gallons. Zero issues on year old fuel in saws for example. I buy it by the big jug. Next time I need more I'm going to try the PRI brand.
E0 fuel for storage and OPE cans.
 
If you have a Conklin dealer nearby, pick up a bottle of Fuel Mate Plus conditioner. It works great as a stabilizer.
 
Well, I pulled it apart, cleaned the pilot and it ran fine, almost like it wanted to surge... But not quite. Drained the bowl this time.

i use this one nearly every month - I’ve just not ran into this before… had another one 10 years ago that never did this at all. AND I added an inline fuel filter the last time I was in it. AND all my fuel as stabil in it. I wonder if some debris is sitting somewhere, working its way thru.

thansk for the thoughts, especially on ways to store it dry. I like that kill switch too.
 
meep said:
Well, I pulled it apart, cleaned the pilot and it ran fine, almost like it wanted to surge... But not quite. Drained the bowl this time.

i use this one nearly every month - I’ve just not ran into this before… had another one 10 years ago that never did this at all. AND I added an inline fuel filter the last time I was in it. AND all my fuel as stabil in it. I wonder if some debris is sitting somewhere, working its way thru.

thansk for the thoughts, especially on ways to store it dry. I like that kill switch too.
Click to expand...
The original kill switch shuts off the fuel and the ignition simultaneously.

Adding the Hutch Mountain kill switch isolates the ignition cutoff from the main switch and replaces it with a pushbutton switch. This ends up giving you two ways to shut off the engine.
1. Hit the pushbutton to kill the engine immediately by disabling the ignition.
2. Turn off the original main switch to shut off the gas and run out the remaining gas in the carb.
 
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