# Honda em600, no juice



## vangasman (Oct 7, 2013)

So my neighbor had a honda em600 that had hardly been used since it was bought by his father in 1982. I had a Champion 4000 watt that I no longer needed so we decide to make a trade. We tested mine and it all checks out so we add fresh gas to the Honda and it fires up in about six pulls. We test the power with a saw and it works so we let it run while we do some other things. The trade is made and I bring it home and wouldn't you know, it is no longer making 12v or 120v. I am a pretty decent wrench but I don't know much about generators, I've opened it up and don't see anything burned up, looks like new. From what i can find, there is no regulator, brushes, just a diode (95.00!) I can test things but I don't know what values to use. Oh, by the way I tried flashing it but no go, but it did light the pilot light up temporarily. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
John


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## Robert Coats (Nov 10, 2011)

Honda has a fully-detailed paper shop manual (67 pages) that covers the EM500 and EM600. You can find it here:






They are also sold on Amazon.com.

For the EM600, for "No AC output" it will be either the Stator, Field Winding, or DC Diode.

*Stator:* Open or short circuit. Measure ohms at 6pin connector, Main Winding (Red-Blue) should be 1.15 ohms, and Exciter winding (yellow wires) shoudl be 1.04 ohms.

*Field Winding.* Open or short circuit. Measure resistance between winding ends 65 ohms is factory spec.

*DC Diode:* Open (either of them). Do a diode check between the heat sink and the diode (infinite resistance) then between the diode and the heat sink (10 ohms).

[email protected]
_Caveat: I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone._


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## vangasman (Oct 7, 2013)

Thanks for the reply Robert. Just a few questions, Do I need to unsolder the diodes before I test them and the field windings? Also I don't see any wires off the exciter winding. Trying to bone up on electrical theory, should be a learning experience!


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## Robert Coats (Nov 10, 2011)

vangasman said:


> Thanks for the reply Robert. Just a few questions, Do I need to unsolder the diodes before I test them and the field windings? Also I don't see any wires off the exciter winding. Trying to bone up on electrical theory, should be a learning experience!


No need to unsolder the diodes to test, just be sure you use the multimeter so it is set-up correctly to test a diode (e.g., current flowing from one tip to the other only). 

Looking at the shop manual, there is a modular plug that snaps into the AVR through the rear housing. This wires from this plug split into the two main leads connected to the exciter winding:










[email protected]
_Caveat: I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone._


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## vangasman (Oct 7, 2013)

Thanks again, I did some testing but not quite sure of results.
Stator 001.2
diodes heat sink + diode - 0.530
diodes heat sink - diode + out of limit
Unsure which wires to test for the field, I assume that one is the wire soldered to the heat sink, not sure of the other one.
No wires to a exciter winding,from the diagram in the owners manual it looks like north/south magnets. I think the diagram you posted is for a em500, I have no avr either. Most you tube videos deal with testing brushes, capacitors, etc so I can't find alot of info on this type of generator. Hate to buy a book since the parts are so expensive that if it's major it would not be worth repairing. Any more info will certainly be appreciated.

John
p.s. is it possible that because of the type of exciter this is why it could not be flashed?


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## Robert Coats (Nov 10, 2011)

vangasman said:


> I think the diagram you posted is for a em500


Your are right; the shop manual I have is 90% EM500, with a few supplement pages for the EM600. Not much there, unfortunately. The engineer who really knew about these old (60s/70s era) models retired two years ago, and we lost a LOT of know-how. 

You may want to ask here; lots of old-Honda fans and they know generators quite well:

Honda Generators - SmokStak


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## vangasman (Oct 7, 2013)

Thanks for the help, i'll try my luck over there. If that doesn't work I will have to break down and buy a manual, I would really like to expand my knowledge of generator repair. 

John


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## vangasman (Oct 7, 2013)

So I pulled it all apart, looks like new inside. Did all my tests and this is what I got.

Stator 1.2 manual 1.15 dc winding 0.3 manual 0.3
lamp winding 0.3 manual 0.3
My diodes came in at 5.83, they should be 10.0 but from what I have read you should have them disconnected to test, can anyone confirm?

Tested the field windings and got this.
21.50 manual 65.0
The diode appeared to be working as I could only take a reading one way.
Nothing appears broken,burnt, etc. What would go wrong with it and why?
Trying to learn more about this stuff so any info is good!
Thanks John


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## hondagenuser7591 (Sep 7, 2017)

Hi vangasman

Just wondering if you ever got your Honda EM600 working and if so what was the problem? We also have the very same generator which starts fine but produces no power.


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