# Generator didn't start anymore after I leave it alone for a while



## Yankleber (May 28, 2018)

Hey all!

I have a question. I am new with generators and around one year and a half ago I bought a brand new small 4 stroke gas fueled generator (1.2 KVA) and for absolutely lack of time I left it in the box. Six months later I brought it to the yard, put oil, fueled and started it. It ran instantly. I checked the voltage with a multimeter and everything was right. I left it running for a few minutes until run out of fuel in the carburator and then I left it alone again for a whole YEAR. One day we had a small local blackout and so I decided to use it but it never started again.

:tango_face_crying:

Checking what could be the reason I figured that there was no sparkle. I imagined that perhaps it was a burnt coil and brought the generator to a repair service. After a few days they called back telling me that there was a chance that the problem be in the "governor" (till then I never had heard about this part before) but to be sure they would have to open the engine head. Since it was going beyond my expectations I preferred NOT to authorize the job, picked the generator back and sold it as is.

At the repair service they told me that is very common that governors get stuck when generators are left alone. They told me also that to avoid this I have to start the generator at least once in a week and let it running for a while. Honestly I cannot nanny a generator like this because I have a ton of other things to do. Also I am very surprised that generators are THAT fragile.

My questions are:

1) Is this true that generators have to be kept running periodically to not get stuck?

2) If YES, does exist ANY kind of small generator that doesn't demand such level of care that I can left it in my garage and when I need it will just work?

Thanks!


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## tim4 (Jul 6, 2014)

Some times the throttle on the carburetor sticks and you might have to spray it with pb blaster and move it with your hand back and forth to soosen it up. But I never heard of the governor itself to stick. If you are not using the generator drain the fuel tank and open the bleader on the float bowl to drain the bowl then close it. If fuel is in the tank you can put a little stable in the tank and run the generator for about a minute to circulate in the tank and carburetor.


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