On Feb 4, 8:58 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
Art Todesco wrote:

Pop` wrote:
Toller wrote:
I have a 4 year old Honda EU2000i with about 200 hours of use. I
have done the proper maintenance on it.
I leave it with gas and gas stabilizer, and start it up for 5 minutes
once a month. When it gets hard to start I change the gas; that is
about once a year.

Tonight we had 2 brief power losses, and since it is 5 degrees out, I
thought it would be a good idea to warm up the generator. It wouldn't
start. I brought it in the house for a half hour, but that didn't
help. I changed the gas; that did the trick. As I understand it,
the most volatile parts of the gas evaporate, leaving something
behind that is inadequate to start the engine; is that correct? Is
there anything I could add to the old gas to revive it? Everything
worked out fine (no outage so far, and the generator finally started)
but I would hate to have to do this in the dark during a real outage.
(I mean, besides changing the gas more often...)
Thanks.

Are you adding the proper amount of stabilizer? Too much will make an
engine hard to start.
I fill the tank, use about half the stabilizer amount suggested, and then
start the machine every second weekend, third on occasion, more often when
the mood strikes. Have never had a problem with having to change the gas,
but it would be my first choice if I had serious trouble starting it. I
also keep a can of ether starting spray handy just in case. Seldom use it,
but it's worth a fortune when it is needed.

So maybe a little less stabilizer and starting it more often and let it run
until it warms up every couple weeks would help a lot.

Pop`
This has been a real interesting thread.
I totally gave up using stabilizer years
ago, because, every time I've put the
required amount in the tank, the engine
would not start the next time. I will
have to try the 1/2 amount approach.

I've been using stabilizer for years, in the amount specified and have
never had any issues. In the case of the OP's Honda EU2000i there
shouldn't even be evaporation from the gas since it has a selectable
vent on the gas cap that should be kept closed when not running.

I would check the condition of the plug and oil and then try starting it
with as little ether as I can get away with to get it going. Of course
open the gas cap vent and perhaps check it to make sure it is really
opening.

Pete C.


I had fuel storage issues when my state switched over to gasohol.
Gas with alcohol in it goes to crap much quicker- not to mention the
fact that anything without closed-loop mixture control runs 14% lean
on gasohol, making starting harder, and making it run lean.

Dave