# Adventures In Setting Up The New Generator



## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

Hi guys. The Champion 200913 Inverter that I ordered was delivered on Saturday. I had some time later in the afternoon so I decided to go ahead and put it together so I could test it out. It seemed well packaged and had all of the accessories. The remote-start key fob is way cool. The unit looked like it had survived travel well for the most part. 

First thing I did was try to remove the two shipping spacers that were installed under the engine mounts. Both consisted of two small orange steel tubes held in place with bolts that ran through the center. I managed to get the first bold unscrewed and the orange spacer removed. The second bolt didn't go as well. I tried to loosen the bolt but no amount of turning would loosen it. I could see that there was a nut that was spinning along with the bolt when I turned it. The problem was there was no way to get to the nut in order to hold it in place while turning the bolt. I tried everything. Finally, out of ideas and getting late, I decided to take a hack saw and simply cut the bolt. I sawed through the orange spacer and then the bolt itself. Finally, when cut in half, I was able to remove the spacer. That was frustrating. The second bolt and spacer is right next to the oil pan, so I didn't want to do anything too radical and risk damaging the pan. 

The rest of the install went fine. Put the wheels and handle on, piece of cake. Took out the Torch plug and installed an NGK. Filled with oil and connected the battery. Added about a half gallon of fuel to test and paired the key fob. Opened the fuel valve and pressed the remote start. The engine fired right up. I pulled out the DMM and took readings. 122 VAC and 60 Hz right on the money, stable. I noticed on the panel that the overload reset button was lit. That worried me a bit because why would it be lit? However, the outlets were all powered and everything seemed fine. The manual says that in an overload condition, the button will blink (red I think). There was no mention of what the button looks like in normal conditions. When the engine running, it lights up solid green. I did press it to see if it would go out, but it didn't. I _believe_ that means the inverter is sending power to the outlets. I have not been able to find a mention of it anywhere, but I assume it's supposed to light up indicating normal operation. Unless it's not? I have no idea. 

This morning, I tried to connect the stake ground wire. As I had expected, when I connected the Isobar, it gave a wiring fault. The inverter is a floating neutral, so no surprises that it threw a fault. I tried to loosen the ground nut on the front panel and it would not loosen. Yep, you guessed it. The nut on the inside of the panel was turning as well. Grrrrrrr. My Wen also did that when I tried to loosen the ground nut. So, I had to remove the front plastic faring so I could get to the back of the panel and tighten the ground nut on that side so I could loosen the ground nut on the outside post. It was mostly simple, although a bit more involved than with the Wen. The upper and lower plastic faring are held on with six 10mm bolts. Once you remove those, you can remove the lower plastic faring and pull the top faring (with the panel) out. You then have to remove six small nuts so you can pull the panel away from the back cover and access the back of the panel itself. So, I did that. I found the ground nut that was turning on me and tightened it. That then allowed me to loosen the outside nut. As I was reversing the procedure and putting everything back together, I look down on the concrete and noticed two small steel tube-like parts. Wut? I didn't notice those before and I could not figure out where they came from. They didn't seem to be used to attach the plastic faring to the frame, so I don't know what they are for. Unless they go somewhere on the back of the control panel, but I didn't hear them drop. They just appeared on the concrete next to me. I stuck them in my toolbox and decided to tell you guys about it in the event one of you knows what those little tubes are for and where they might go. 

I started the generator and plugged in a flat screen TV and a sound bar. Both ran fine. The Champion ran like, well, a champ. It rolls so much nicer than the generator it is replacing for the location, that beast Coleman Powermate which I think weights close to 200 pounds. I had to pick up and head home so I didn't have a whole lot of time to play around with it. But, it seems pretty solid. I'd like to find out where those little tubes go. Maybe I can find a parts diagram and see if I can spot them. They may not be that important, though.


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## Old man here (Nov 5, 2020)

There should be a parts diagram in your operators manual.


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

Old man here said:


> There should be a parts diagram in your operators manual.


I found the parts diagram and took a hard look to see if there are *any* parts that match those two small steel tubes anywhere in the vicinity of where I had disassembled the panel area. They look like small bushings. I didn't see anything in the diagram that looked like those small tubes. The only place there are what appear to be bushings are with the bolts that hold the gas tank in place and those orange spacer things (shipping braces) that you have to remove before you use the generator for the first time. I didn't see anything else that looked like the parts I found. 

Now, I guess those parts _could_ have already been on the cement floor of the garage, although I don't recall seeing them when I plopped down to remove the front faring so I could get behind the panel. I didn't disassemble the panel itself or any of the components on or behind it. I only unscrewed the front bolts and rear nuts so I could physically get behind the panel. The bolts and nuts were all accounted for when I reassembled everything. If you look at the diagram, you can see those six front bolts and the six rear small nuts. I guess those tubes could be shims of some sort for the faring (?), although they don't seem to show up on the diagram anywhere. I doubt they are critical parts, although I'd feel better being able to identify them to make sure they are not something important.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

what is the ID on those spacers?
are they same as the tank bolts?

some honda engines had spacers on the tank bolts as stand offs for heat.
and yes if you had the electric panel off they use spacers for the same .

what else did you have off?

do they fit inside the plastic shipping spacers?
could be anti crush spacers for shipping.


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

iowagold said:


> what is the ID on those spacers?
> are they same as the tank bolts?
> 
> some honda engines had spacers on the tank bolts as stand offs for heat.
> ...


I can't locate them in the parts diagram, so I don't have a part ID for them. 

I removed the shipping braces. They were larger bushing-looking tubes on the bottom of the generator and were painted bright orange. So I know the parts I found on the concrete are not the same ones. I did not disassemble anything to do with the fuel tank, or engine for that matter. The only thing I disassembled was the plastic faring where the panel is located. I didn't disassemble anything else. I removed the six bolts holding the front two plastic pieces onto the frame, and the six small nuts holding the front panel to the rear cover. The steel bushings I found are far too small to fit on any of the bolts. They almost look like pins, but are tubes. When I looked at the diagram, I didn't see anything that looked like that on or near where those two plastic pieces are located. That's the weird part of it.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

id= inside dimension


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

iowagold said:


> id= inside dimension


Ah, okay. No, I don't think so. They are pretty small. They look more like they might be used as pins rather than bushings. I'll have to look at them again. Better yet, I can post a pic of them. I didn't mess with the tank hardware, so I doubt the parts are from that area, if they are part of the generator. Plus, I think the bushings for the fuel take are rubber, not steel.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

yea post a pix please


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

iowagold said:


> yea post a pix please


I'll post a pic of the pins when I make it home. I'm really curious to figure out what they are and if they are part of the generator.


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

Turns out they are not really pins but seem to be bushings of some sort. The orange bushing is one of the shipping spacers for reference. Penny is for scale, obviously. I can't find those silver bushings in the parts diagram, if they are generator parts.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

are those 8mm id?


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

iowagold said:


> are those 8mm id?


Looks pretty close to that. I can't figure out where they might fit onto the inverter, if they do.


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## Old man here (Nov 5, 2020)

LaSwamp said:


> Looks pretty close to that. I can't figure out where they might fit onto the inverter, if they do.


Will they slide into the orange bushing?


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

Old man here said:


> Will they slide into the orange bushing?


No, the silver bushings won't fit, too big. I tried to find them on the parts diagram but didn't see anything that looked like them.


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

LaSwamp said:


> silver bushings


Those look like the bushings that go inside rubber fuel tank mounting grommets. Check inside any grommets that you removed bolts from.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

and the same if any panel mounts are rubber.


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

iowagold said:


> and the same if any panel mounts are rubber.


What's confusing me is that the only bolts I removed were for the panel faring. I didn't go near the tank bolts or remove anything other than what I needed to remove to get behind the front panel. Now, there are what appear to be bushings in the bolt holes on both the upper and lower plastic farings, However, the mystery bushing tubes are far too small for those bolts. So, I know that's not where they go. And those don't appear on the parts diagram, at least not what I remember when I looked at it. I can check the tank, but I didn't mess with it so I don't know how those bushing could have fallen out.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

lol
whistle as you put the spare parts in your pocket and walk away!!!
LOL!
i am bad!

back to reality.. HUMMMMM...
unless it was left over from another project...
or parts fell out of the inside???
darn flywheel magnets could to have picked up some thing when it was in the factory!


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## somedumbguy (Sep 17, 2020)

LaSwamp said:


> I started the generator and plugged in a flat screen TV and a sound bar. Both ran fine. The Champion ran like, well, a champ.


Did that red overload light come on again on this second start-up? I got a different model Champion inverter last year and it did something similar but only on the first start. Then it was fine.


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

somedumbguy said:


> Did that red overload light come on again on this second start-up? I got a different model Champion inverter last year and it did something similar but only on the first start. Then it was fine.


Both times I ran the generator, the overload light button was lighted. But, it was green, not red. According to the manual, if there is an overload condition, the light will flash red and there will be no power to the outlets. I concluded that the green light means normal operation and that the inverter is supplying power to the outlets. I wish I could find mention of it somewhere, but I can't find anything about a solid green light. The eco mode button also lights up solid green when it's activated.


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

LaSwamp said:


> Now, there are what appear to be bushings


Part #44 in this diagram?
44100715500 Bushing, Ø9 x Ø6.6 x 10


https://y79961nbs4u2hvbnwronx9zx-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/200913-EPL-English.pdf


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

tabora said:


> Part #44 in this diagram?
> 44100715500 Bushing, Ø9 x Ø6.6 x 10
> 
> 
> https://y79961nbs4u2hvbnwronx9zx-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/200913-EPL-English.pdf


That's the bushings for the gas tank bolts. I didn't mess with those. I only removed the flange bolts, part #1. I didn't go near the gas tank.


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

LaSwamp said:


> That's the bushings for the gas tank bolts. I didn't mess with those. I only removed the flange bolts, part #1. I didn't go near the gas tank.


Do the measurements match? If not, check the #70 bushings, etc. I've found extra components in equipment that were dropped in during original assembly.


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

tabora said:


> Do the measurements match? If not, check the #70 bushings, etc. I've found extra components in equipment that were dropped in during original assembly.


The part #70 bushings are the orange shipping braces. The mystery parts are not big enough to be that. I can pull one of the fuel tank bushings to see if it matches, but I suspect that the bushings for the fuel tank are probably much larger than the mystery bushings. Plus, I didn't remove any hardware from the tank or near it, so none of those bushings could have fallen out.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

take your metric calipers and measure the parts for us.
get all of the dimension numbers please.

and ty for the pix!


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

tabora said:


> Do the measurements match?





LaSwamp said:


> I can pull one of the fuel tank bushings to see if it matches


You don't need to do that; I gave you the dimensions:
Part #44 in this diagram?
44100715500 Bushing, Ø9 x Ø6.6 x 10

So, 9mm OD, 6.6mm ID and 10mm tall.

Although, you MAY want to check all four of the tank mounts to make sure the assembler didn't accidentally omit 2 of them...


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

I didn't remove any of the tank bolts. A possibility is that the bushings were in the box but not in their proper place, if they are tank bolt bushings. They look too small for that, but I can check anyway when I can pull out the generator and take a look.


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

LaSwamp said:


> I didn't remove any of the tank bolts.


Sigh... I UNDERSTAND THAT.


LaSwamp said:


> They look too small for that


Just measure them. Takes like 10 seconds. If the dimensions match the specs I provided, then you either have extras or you're missing some on the tank mounts. Good luck.


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

I think I may have figured out where those bushings came from. They are far too small to be used with any of the bolts I removed. The fuel tank bolts do have bushings, but they are much larger than the mystery ones. The only other thing I did when prepping the generator was to remove the spark arrestor. There are two bolts that hold the spark arrestor in place. I suspect the bushings may be shims or spacers for those bolts. The bushings fit perfectly when I tried placing them on the bolts. I _did_ remove those bolts during prep. The bushings could have easily dropped onto the plastic and fallen on the floor when I move the plastic to the trash can. I checked and they are not on the parts list, but they do fit. That's likely as close as I am probably going to get in identifying them at this point.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

if the bolts are long enough and the right dia!
it might be those!


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

Hopefully you have found the correct location for them now. Just curious, @LaSwamp, why is it that you refuse to provide the dimensions of the bushings in question?


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## LaSwamp (Mar 16, 2021)

tabora said:


> Hopefully you have found the correct location for them now. Just curious, @LaSwamp, why is it that you refuse to provide the dimensions of the bushings in question?


I didn't refuse to provide anything @tabora. I don't have a set of calipers with which to measure anything such as small bushings. If you examine the photo I provided, it shows the relative size of the bushings. The important take away is that the bushings are far too small to fit any of the standard 10mm bolts that secure the gas tank and the plastic faring bits. So we already know that's not where the mystery bushings were designed to fit. They do, however, fit the smaller bolts that hold the spark arrestor in place. But thank you for your help in solving the mystery.


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

LaSwamp said:


> I don't have a set of calipers with which to measure anything such as small bushings.


You don't need calipers, just a mm rule.


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