Repair-It

https://wenproducts.com/products/wen-gn ... -compliant

Been tracking this for a while. Thinking about just buying it.

Ordered it. No tax or shipping so $810. That's amazing for what it is. Also ordered a magnetic oil dipstick as well as a 40 foot cord plus a new 30 amp house receptacle. Dipstick was $21 and particularly good for break in (these Chonda engines have no oil filter, like the original Honda's they copied). The cord and receptacle were in a discounted bundle for $114.

https://www.amazon.com/Buddle-Items-Gen ... B08N125WH5

It was delivered today and appears to be in one piece. I was concerned.

Li-ion is surprising but I would bet this is actually cheaper for them than to supply a lead-acid.

Next step is to break it in for 5 hours or something. I'll use my magnetic dipstick. Also need to install my new receptacle, breaker and use my new cord for the next outage. Or try a whole house test. That sounds fun.

Did the 5 hr break-in on SAE30. Drained it, filled with M1 EP 5W-30. Synthetic 5W-30 is recommended for all temp ranges.
First whole house test run: https://youtu.be/UqwfiYXSE7I

Love it so far. Initially I speculated that this could use a larger jet due to seemingly running on the edge of lean, which I blamed on the CARB calibration. I bought some micro drill bits and tested the high altitude jets it ships with. Here are my results:

- The 3000-6000 ft jet measures 0.037"
- The 6000-8000 ft jet measures 0.036"

And yes I confirmed these with my micrometer.

I found a website that claims the stock Chonda 420cc jets range from 0.036 to 0.038 (actually it says the Honda GX390 has those ranges which this is a clone of). Well....that could mean that the factory jet is in fact an 0.038".

https://www.bmikarts.com/Main-Carbureto ... _4936.html

So it would be cool to measure the stock one. Maybe it is actually 0.038".

Then I found this website with performance jets for modded 420cc engines: https://www.ombwarehouse.com/jet-kit-fo ... 420cc.html

They claim that 0.041" and 0.042" are good when you have a header and performance air filter. So that suggests that the optimal jet may be like a 0.039 or 0.040". Pretty cool. Of course I could also attempt to drill out one of these high altitude jets with the bits I have. I could probably just do it by hand honestly. But not sure if that is a good idea. Also my biggest drill bit is a 0.039" so that's as far as I could take it anyway. Which might be perfect...

Got my new fuel gauge already.

Installed. https://youtu.be/Jz8LzhcPD4g

The old one was bent and also the movement was very jammed so obviously it couldn't move properly with the level in the tank. Now it works great.

Oil change @ 29 hrs. Probably will try to change at 50 just to get back on 25-50-75-100 intervals.

Also, just wanted to mention for myself that an empty tank registers a tad below 1/4 tank on the gauge. I believe the float contacts the bottom of the tank before the needle can rotate fully to the E mark. This could be mitigated by pushing the float up the float arm but I looked at the one I took out and there is no easy way to adjust that due to the way it was constructed. It's ok. This isn't the space shuttle. I can deal with the fact that 1/4 on the gauge is effectively "running on fumes" and that equates to maybe 45 minutes of remaining run time.

Looking like a blizzard or near-blizzard for tomorrow. If so I may end up doing that 50 hour oil change this weekend...

Just ran the generator for 20 minutes for testing purposes. Turned fuel on, and while I waited for the carb to fill I checked the oil. Pulled choke out, pressed crank switch and it fired right up like I just shut it off. Ran it mostly in eco mode but did a ~3-4 minute stint eco mode off for good measure. Should be ready for tomorrow. It is entirely possible that we will be without power for 2-3 days, breaking our 48 hour record (which we've hit twice I believe). We shall see.

Changed oil, tested. Ready for hurricane season.