A while back I posted about a Westinghouse iGen2500 generator I'd purchased that had several issues right out of the box, prompting me to return it to Amazon. I decided to give it a second chance, the item came back in stock and Amazon agreed to match the price I'd paid originally ($450 vs $600 now).
Got the unit and it fired right up, no issues whatsoever. I began my break in routine which is oil change at 1, 3 and 5 hours. The generator was at 3 hours when I did the second oil change. Afterward, I started it up to run a couple more hours but within a couple minutes of running it began surging until it died, acted exactly as if it ran out of gas. If you let it sit several minutes it will restart and repeat the same thing.
I discovered sort of on accident that there is no fuel flow when the gas cap is tightened. The carb bowl has a drain valve with a piece of clear hose attached. I wasn't getting anything out of it after cracking the screw, but when I opened the fuel cap, it began to flow like normal. I confirmed this theory by letting the generator run without the fuel cap, and it runs solid and never dies. As soon as you install the cap you get about 1-2 minutes run time and it will die every time.
Is there anything simple that might cause this? Hoping I can fix it myself and avoid another return to Amazon. I really like this machine but need to be able to install the gas cap! I'm baffled why the unit ran so great until that second oil change-- changing the oil requires tipping the unit on its side, and I may have turned it past 90 degrees, not sure if this could cause an issue like this. Any help / suggestions would be much appreciated!
Got the unit and it fired right up, no issues whatsoever. I began my break in routine which is oil change at 1, 3 and 5 hours. The generator was at 3 hours when I did the second oil change. Afterward, I started it up to run a couple more hours but within a couple minutes of running it began surging until it died, acted exactly as if it ran out of gas. If you let it sit several minutes it will restart and repeat the same thing.
I discovered sort of on accident that there is no fuel flow when the gas cap is tightened. The carb bowl has a drain valve with a piece of clear hose attached. I wasn't getting anything out of it after cracking the screw, but when I opened the fuel cap, it began to flow like normal. I confirmed this theory by letting the generator run without the fuel cap, and it runs solid and never dies. As soon as you install the cap you get about 1-2 minutes run time and it will die every time.
Is there anything simple that might cause this? Hoping I can fix it myself and avoid another return to Amazon. I really like this machine but need to be able to install the gas cap! I'm baffled why the unit ran so great until that second oil change-- changing the oil requires tipping the unit on its side, and I may have turned it past 90 degrees, not sure if this could cause an issue like this. Any help / suggestions would be much appreciated!