# Coleman Powermate 5000 -engine runs but unit will not generate -bad brushes suspected



## cwatkin

Coleman Powermate 5000 -engine runs but unit will not generate -bad brushes suspected
I picked up a broken Coleman Powermate 5000 PM0525312.17 generator last night for a little more than the cost of the gas to go get it. This unit looks pretty used and abused but seems to have potential. The engine runs fine after a little TLC on the carb and the change of oil that was essentually a tar-like sludge. The generator doesn't generate as indicated by the guy I got it from.

I tore into the generator head after getting the engine stable. The first thing I noticed after pulling the back cover was that one of the brushes was completely MISSING and the pieces were laying inside the housing. I have a new set of brushes on order for $10 including tax/shipping but had a few questions. I found an entire parts manual as a .PDF online and have it downloaded.

1. Could this have damaged anything else like diodes or such? Is there anything I should do to the commutator before installing new brushes? The brushes have a part number of 0050439 and a description of "E-4R brush". 

2. How do these engines rate overall? This is a 10HP Tecumseh and I have never been a big Tecumseh fan (seen too many explode on push mowers) but this seems to be a decent engine with some nice features. For example, this includes a cast iron bore and a low oil shutdown. I figured it would be burning oil and smoking after seeing the oil I changed in it but it seems to run fine and not smoke at all on the fresh oil. If I fix the gen, I need to get the air cleaner and a few other things fixed up but I am waiting for the unit to generate before doing anything else.

3. What is the suggested oil for these 10HP Tecumseh horizontal shaft engines? I put some oil I had laying around that was Briggs and Stratton 30W for small engines. I usually like to put 10W30 synthetic in all my small engines, especially those with overhead valves, but I figure I am going to change this oil out to "rinse" the engine from the neglected oil change if I get the unit generating. I also figure this is better than sludgy excuse for oil it came with, especially for the short term while I test and repair the unit.

Are there any other promises or pitfalls related to this generator or engine? I know nothing about the history of this unit besides that I can tell it was used and abused. I think they guy used it on jobsites so it didn't have an easy life. The pull cord starter handle is a large bolt with the rope tied around it.​


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## SonnyT

I wouldn't think any damage to diodes would have happened and I would think just adding the new brushes should do it. 
Tech motors are so-so. Some are good and some are trouble. I would use the 10w-30 you are using in the rest of your engines.


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## cwatkin

I wanted to write back that this genset is alive and well. It was only the brushes. I decided not to dress the commutator but cleaned it off with carb cleaner. I also cleaned and re-greased a little bearing race in the side cover of the unit that appears to possibly support the end of the generator shaft.

I put it back together and fired it up. I let it run for 5 minutes or so to wear in the brushes before putting it under load. I tried an electric drill at first and it ran fine. I then added a hair dryer. It was late so I did this again with two 1500w space heaters and it ran fine with 3000 watts of load so I think I am good on this one.

I changed the oil again after giving it a good run and it came out BLACK AS COAL. You would have never known I had changed the oil when I first got the unit. I filled it again with mostly 30w small engine oil and some synthetic 10w30 to top it off (ran out of the 30w) and ran at again for like 30 minutes. I changed it and the oil looked like decent used oil, not something that had never been changed. I went to full 10w30 synthetic at this point and then ran it again for like 5 minutes. It hasn't been run since but wasn't smoking or blatantly using oil.

Now I am going to fix some of the other quriky issues. The muffler fell off. Sure, it was rusted but I probably could have prevented this had I known someone had removed a bolt from the mount. This is too thin and rusty to weld so I think fixing this one is out. I guess these are common and easy to get.

The air cleaner mount is also broken. It looks like I need a new bracket that has a bolt through it. I am going to look at fixing this myself but will probably just get a new one.

This one doesn't have wheels either. I am going to add some cheap dolly wheels or something along those lines. I have seen these at Harbor Freight and I am sure others have them too.

I also got several extra brushes as they are not made anymore and had a hard time finding them. This took several tries with cancelled orders before getting them.

Thanks again,

Conor


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## 89yt12

glad its running

im sure you can get parts for the air cleaner and muffler for the tecumseh pretty easily


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## Johnny Spimony

cwatkin said:


> Coleman Powermate 5000 -engine runs but unit will not generate -bad brushes suspected
> I picked up a broken Coleman Powermate 5000 PM0525312.17 generator last night for a little more than the cost of the gas to go get it. This unit looks pretty used and abused but seems to have potential. The engine runs fine after a little TLC on the carb and the change of oil that was essentually a tar-like sludge. The generator doesn't generate as indicated by the guy I got it from.
> 
> I tore into the generator head after getting the engine stable. The first thing I noticed after pulling the back cover was that one of the brushes was completely MISSING and the pieces were laying inside the housing. I have a new set of brushes on order for $10 including tax/shipping but had a few questions. I found an entire parts manual as a .PDF online and have it downloaded.
> 
> 1. Could this have damaged anything else like diodes or such? Is there anything I should do to the commutator before installing new brushes? The brushes have a part number of 0050439 and a description of "E-4R brush".
> 
> 2. How do these engines rate overall? This is a 10HP Tecumseh and I have never been a big Tecumseh fan (seen too many explode on push mowers) but this seems to be a decent engine with some nice features. For example, this includes a cast iron bore and a low oil shutdown. I figured it would be burning oil and smoking after seeing the oil I changed in it but it seems to run fine and not smoke at all on the fresh oil. If I fix the gen, I need to get the air cleaner and a few other things fixed up but I am waiting for the unit to generate before doing anything else.
> 
> 3. What is the suggested oil for these 10HP Tecumseh horizontal shaft engines? I put some oil I had laying around that was Briggs and Stratton 30W for small engines. I usually like to put 10W30 synthetic in all my small engines, especially those with overhead valves, but I figure I am going to change this oil out to "rinse" the engine from the neglected oil change if I get the unit generating. I also figure this is better than sludgy excuse for oil it came with, especially for the short term while I test and repair the unit.
> 
> Are there any other promises or pitfalls related to this generator or engine? I know nothing about the history of this unit besides that I can tell it was used and abused. I think they guy used it on jobsites so it didn't have an easy life. The pull cord starter handle is a large bolt with the rope tied around it.​


Very good.


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## Zamenasew

Thank you for*good*communication.


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## vicdoc

I have a Devilbiss made Powerback branded 11hp Tecumseh generator from back in 1999, and it has never failed me. 

It is extremely loud. You have to wear hearing protection with the old muffler, which is tiny. I finally got a low tone muffler from Jack's Small Engines and it really tames the noise, but it's expensive. 

You can also weld something over the muffler holes to attach another muffler for better sound reduction. Even with a great muffler, it will never be really quiet because of the open design and the clatter of the engine and generator, but 72 dbA is where mine is now, about the same as my new Honda EM6500. 

The only issue I have had is the oil seems to be trickling out somewhere, about 2 ounces a day when running it 24/7. It could be a bearing, a gasket, or breather tube related. If it's no worse than it is, just topping it off every day is enough to keep mine from shutting off. 

During last month's ice storm it chugged along for about 45 hours straight before the low oil cutoff shut it down.

I've changed out my fuel tubing, filter, gas cap, breather tube and related gasket. 

IIRC I use SAE30 oil.


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