On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:22:42 +0300, "jack" wrote:

question on 3 year old generator (self-starter, battery equipped) stored unused for 3
years

if unit was stored drained from fuel, is there anything detrimental to the non-use,
assuming it was brand new, used for 60 to 90 minutes and then fuel was drained and
item stored ? the battery is totally dead of course, but what about the mechanical or
electronic parts?

oil sat for 3 years but is not colored dark, likely it would contain some moisture but
would it deteriorate just sitting?

anything else that I am not asking, but should ask ?

You drained it, but after that did you run it until it stopped
running?

Depending on what opening you drained it from, there might have been
gas in the carb still, no?

I have 6 lawnmowers that won't start, and I think gas gum is the
reason for 5 of them.

One of them started last year after sitting still for two years, but I
think that was because I put Sta-bil in the gas two years earlier,
while I was still using the mower, so the stabil-mixed gas made it to
every part of the carb. If I knew how many times I was going to use
an engine before not using it, I might be able to put Sta-bil only in
a while before I stop using it, but since I never know, on imporant
stuff, I've been using it all the time.

Anyhow, that lawnmower worked last summer, but by August, I left it in
the hands of a friend who probalby didn't use stabil. When I got it
back, I added some, I had doubts whether it could work its way from
the tank through the line to the small passages wheich is where the
clogging occurred, but no time to use the thing enough. I should have
made the time. It wouldn't start this year.

Another one wouldn't start but I removed the carburetor bowl and
soaked a few parts in professional parts cleaner, which is
unfortunately not as strong as it was 50 years ago aiui, and didn't do
enough, but a wire through one passage got the thing running. The
actual jet, the last part before the gas goes into the flowing air,
shouldn't be cleaned this way, because you'll change the dimensions of
the hole, but then again, this isn't a car, only a lawnmower (or
generator) and one can buy a whole new carb if necessary, so if you
have wire thin enough, it's probalby worth doing. Your engine
doesn't have the performance demands under varying conditions that a
car does and there's probably some allowance possible in jet
dimensions.

I ended up buying an electric lawnmower, used, and for 10 dollars in
parts, that's fixed, and I'm going to try to give away the gas mowers,
any day now.