Honda EU2200i Generator Aftermarket Upgrade Part Failure
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- This video shows how to repair a new Honda EU2200i generator that was damaged by the failure of an aftermarket Atima brand magnetic dipstick (sold at Home Deep Hole and Wall Mart).
Apologies for the flicker rate in the video, and the blurred close-ups. I was using the DJI Osmo Action, and didn't realize it has a tough time focusing up close, and processing LED lightings at the settings I was using.
How much did that cheap dipstick end up costing the customer?
A couple hundred bucks. Thanks for watching.
@@austinado16 Well worth it you do very nice work. Thanks for the information.
@@shanwar9844 I really appreciate your kind words. Means a lot! Thank you.
Same thing happened to me! Less than 25 hours on it and it shut off due to low oil pressure. The magnet fell off the end of the dipstick. Haven’t torn it down yet, but I assume I will find the same thing
Just bought two new EU2200's, a Companion along with a standard one. I'm a blue collar guy, always on a budget, but I wanted the best. There are a lot of "experts" out there advising the use of these dipsticks. I'm a skeptic when it comes to these types of parts. I figure if Honda's engineers deemed them necessary, they would've equipped them with it from the factory. Thank you for the very informative video.
Thanks for watching! You spent your money wisely. They'll last you decades. My suggestion is once broken in, use full synthetic in them. I'd also suggest you either treat your fuel at all times with SeaFoam, or that you only use non-ethanol fuel. No other fuel stabilizers work, and ethanol based fuels start to chemically fail after 30 days. Attempting to run the generators out of fuel by using the fuel selector switch, doesn't actually work, because the carburetor takes fuel from a small opening located about 1/4" up from the very bottom of the carburetor bowl. So you'll still need to use the bowl drain in order to remove all of the fuel from carburetor.
Thanks for making this video. This the first time I have seen a 2200i disassembled. I have been inside my 2000i and the 2200i looks to be essentially identical to it. And I second your advice about NO AFTERMARKET PARTS in the generator (or anything else for that matter). I added a magnetic drain plug to a Mercruiser outdrive once. The magnet came off the plug and jammed the gears. I had to paddle back to the dock. These little Generators are really well engineered. Don't mess with perfection and only use OEM parts and accessories. And thanks for the tip about the upper bushing.
You're welcome!
Glad I watched this. I was thinking about adding a magnetic dip stick.
Thanks for the info.
Glad it was helpful!
Just bought one, like some have said this engine needs breaking in, bought supertech conventional oil for the first hour of break in, varied load and split that hour into two half hour oil changes, lots of glitter on the first oil change, I'm guessing the cast iron sleeve is marrying up to the rings? Then an hour with more conventional oil, change repeat twice, finally il be using an hour meter and Pennzoil ultra there on out. Great video!
Thanks for watching!
That's incredible you buy a beautiful generator and you want to extend its life with magnetic drain plug and that want to take care of it actually destroys your new machine, leave it to home Depot to sell you something that's going to bite you in the butt. 😵
I was actually thinking of getting one at the Depot and I would have bought a magnetic drain plug if I had seen one you saved me a lot of trouble. 👍
You've earned my sub 👍
Glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for sharing your video.I have one of those aftermarket dipsticks,but a different brand.Never installed it.I will never use it now.I never thought it was a good idea,and now you proved why.What a project to take that engine apart.
Glad I could help! Thanks for watching!
Greetings from Finland and thanks for your nice videos. It is nice to watch your methodological way of working. In many viedos the mechanics seems to be all too busy. Can it be estimated how many hours will the timing belt last with proper care? Br, Eeli
Thank you for the kind words!
I don't think I've ever seen a broken timing belt, or if I have, it was only once, and so long ago/so many machines ago, that I don't remember. They seem to last the life of the machine, and even when cracked badly on the outside, still work fine. I see a lot of them that being used as the only source of power for people who life "off the grid." The piston rings wear out on those machines, before the belts ever break.
To look like no one ever worked on it you gotta leave the oozed sealant ! Lol. Good job, nice video. I like to make things look like they haven’t been worked on too.
Great point and so true! I feel like if a customer knows something's never been worked on, they won't notice and/or won't care if they were to see sealant oozed out. The Honda commercial mowers are like this. But after it's been worked on, and the customer gets it back, I know they're going to inspect the machine. If they see oozed sealant, they won't think, "Cool. The tech put it back just like Honda built it." They're going to think, "What a hack job. Just slap it together and charge me full pop!" So I always make my engines and machines look clean.
@@austinado16I don't mean this as a hostile question, it just sounds that way. Do you charge customers for the time you take to bring your repairs from normal to perfect?
@@ThePelagicHermit lol... I'm not sure it takes "extra" time.
Wow, you need to go to work for NASA., great job with the generator.
lol... I wish! Thanks for the comment. You made my day!
Thanks for the video. Besides learning about magnetic dipsticks, it was great to see the unit disassembled. Can you do a video showing how to change the jet? I live at 7800' elevation. Mostly camp/fish on weekends in summer & fall around 10,000'. Wintertime I go downhill to 1500' - 3,000'. Thanks again for the no-nonsense video.
Yes I can. If you look on a parts website, like boats do t ne t, you can look up pics of the carb, and select one of the smaller jet sizes, or maybe more than one, so that you can get just what works the best for your altitude.
In a nut shell, you'll need a large slotted or phillips screwdriver, a 1/4 drive ratchet with an 8mm socket, and 12" extension, which allows you to work away from the machine a bit, and spin the ratchet easily. You'll also need a 10mm box end wrench, and a slotted screwdriver with a very specific shape.
-Remove the service door
-Remove the air filter cover
-Remove the lower pre-filter from the air filter housing
-Remove the 8mm headed bolt you find behind the pre-filter
-Remove the 2 8mm headed nuts on air filter duct at the carburetor.
-Remove the air filter housing by slipping off the crankcase breather hose located just below the air duct portion of the air filter housing, and the pull the housing out.
-Pull the fuel hose off the carburetor and rest it upward, against the ignition coil, to the right of the carburetor.
-Unclip the white round clip, below the carburetor, and release the bundled wiring from the clip
-Pull the 2 fuel drain hoses from out of the bottom of the side panel
-Pull the carburetor towards you and out of the engine compartment
-The wiring will be attached to the top of the carburetor, under a a white cap
-Depress the tabs for the white cap and pop it off the top of the carburetor
-Pull the wiring connector out of the top of the carburetor motor, and then removing the wiring bundle from the carburetor
-The carburetor is now free and can be worked on
-Turn the carburetor on it's side, on a pile of clean rags, and remove the 10mm headed bolt from the bottom of the carburetor bowl.
-Pay attention to how the bowl is positioned, so you can re-install it correctly
-Remove the bowl
-At the center of the exposed inside of the carburetor/bowl area, is a metal "tower" of sorts. The jet is inside this tower
-You need to source a slotted screw drive that is just wide enough to fit inside that tower, AND has a blade thickness that is a snug fit in the brass jet, which has 2 slots, like a slotted screw. If you don't source a screwdriver that fits snug in the brass jet, you will destroy the jet, and never be able to remove it. Proceed with caution!
-Using a lot of pressure, seat the screwdriver AND THEN twist, like you're removing a screw. There will usually be a nice "pop" as the jet breaks free and starts to spin.
-Spin the jet out, spin in a new jet with a smaller diameter, and then re-assemble the carburetor and machine.
It's a lot of steps, but it only takes about 10min to do this job. Change your oil while you're in there, and consider switching to synthetic.
@@austinado16 Thanks! What about associated adjustments such as the pilot jet? In my research I've read the pilot jet may need adjustment when the 'altitude jet' is changed. But you're probably aware of all the conflicting advice out there on the web. I've read that magnetic dipsticks are good. I've read that there's no harm in running the mixture rich & that there's no reason (or not worth it) to change the jet. I'm taking the uninstalled replacement jet to the hardware store today to find the right screwdriver which will live in my generator kit. Regarding the synthetic oil, I've read run regular oil for the 1st 100 hours or so before switching to synthetic. What do you think? I've got a whole 4 hours on my new eu2200i by running it at varying lighter loads. The oil looked pretty dirty when I changed it.
@@stevefogdenIf you don't have any luck at the hardware store, spend the money and buy a screwdriver off your local Snap-On or Mac tool trucks. "Real" screwdrivers are worth their weight in gold, and because they are not only machined correctly in shape, but are also hardened correctly, they literally pop tight screws loose, where a hardware version will just strip the head. Re: the jets. Honda only offers 3 main jets, the stock 65, a 62, an a 60. You can probably get something smaller by shopping in the EU2000i parts lists. Same goes for the plastic pilot jet. It's a 38 in an EU2200i, and a 35 in the EU2000i. I live at sea level, so I haven't had to play around with re-jetting for altitude, and have no experience doing it. You won't want it running rich though, because that will soot up the inside of the muffler and spark arrester, and while the spark arrester can be removed and cleaned, if the muffler gets packed with carbon, it's ruined. Also, you risk packing the exhaust port in the head, and the area around the exhaust valve with carbon and soot, which will adversely affect engine running. I'd suggest popping in the 60 for 10,000' and after an hour or so of run time, under load, remove the spark plug and see how it looks. If it's black and sooty, you know you're still too rich. Re: oil, you're probably still a little early to move to synthetic, but I'm glad you've already changed the oil, even at only 4hrs. $2 well spent. There are definitely uses for magnets in engine oil, just not in these. That's must my opinion though. We sell and service hundreds of these (Honda EU's) and bigger Honda generators every year, and never once has there been a situation where a generator had an engine failure due to metal shavings. The ones that have come in with an actual engine failure either have a broken timing belt due to extremely dirty oil being left in them for years, or they have worn out or stuck oil control rings, and smoke badly, but actually still run fine. If you want to keep your Honda generator happy, spend your money on top quality oil, with zinc in it, and either non-ethanol fuel, or SeaFoam to treat your fuel year round. Again, just my opinion.
I am in the market for my first generator. I have calculated my wattage needs and this unit will be just fine. I would rather buy quality once and have this investment last a very long time. You made a point which my dad taught me, stick with OEM parts and you can not go wrong. The enginerring in this generator really shines when compared to the mass produced and relabled generators with the same Ducar Chinese engine in them. Question, when you flip the switch to put the generator in economy mode, what is happening inside the machine to allow it to lower its RPM? Thank you for the great video.
The eco throttle switch is activating the electronics which control an electric motor located on top of the carburetor. This motor connects directly to the throttle shaft, located just below it. So the electronics are controlling throttle plate position, and hence engine speed, based on the electrical load placed on the generator. Control is such that, even with a 1,500w electric heater plugged in, the eco-throttle system will still not be running the engine at full throttle.
The unseen benefit to Honda inverter gensets is that they have capacitors that are capable of sustaining a large initial load, for quite a long time. This allows the generator to take a large hit, and not kill the engine, or disconnect the electrical feed. For example, it's well known in the RV world that an EU2000i will power the overhead air conditioning unit, with 2 simple mods: An easy start capacitor on the AC compressor motor, and synthetic oil in the generator. I don't know of any other generators of the same size (2000w max) that will take a hit like that.
So buy with confidence and once you have it broken in, consider switching to full synthetic oil. If you run only non-ethanol fuel in it, or at a minimum, treat your "pump gas" with SeaFoam, you'll probably have the machine the rest of your life.
The issues I see regularly with them, are all owner induced:
-Machines used on boats or in extremely coastal locations get so much rust/corrosion on the electrical connectors that they are eventually ruined.
-Machines used in off-grid applications where they sit at idle, literally 20hrs a day get all choked up with carbon build up.
-Machines with large amounts of run time and abuse, with no oil changes wind up with either cracked, or broken timing belts (very rare to break a belt) and oil rings that are worn out causing the engine to smoke heavily.
-Machines that see little to no use, and are left sitting with automotive, ethanol based fuel in them, have destroyed carburetors and sometimes the intake valves will be glued solid with old fuel varnish. This is the most common repair that I perform (carburetor cleanings, or replacements).
Thanks for the comment, and for watching!
Thank you, I am a subscriber now.
Thanks for the sub, and thanks for watching!
Thank you thank you I was just looking to buy a magnetic dipstick
Thank you
Glad I could help! Thanks for watching!
Hi, one other thing I would like to ask. What do you think about through the cap feeding auxiliary fuel tank systems, do you see any problems with those? Br, Eeli
Hi. I have no experience with those systems.
You do high quality work.
Thanks for the kind words! Decades ago I was extremely fortunate to be able to train under a couple of extremely talented techs in the automotive world. I learned early on, that the customer should not be able to tell their car was even touched.
You made that repair look easy ! I just bought a new EU2200i with Bluetooth. Just ran it for the first time to start the break in. On eco mode it stutters a little , once in a while ! I guess I could take to the Honda equipment dealer to have them look at it. Here is my problem, If I lived close to you I would let you look at it because I can tell you care about other peoples equipment , lots of repairman do not and you get your stuff back looking like they used a hammer a crowbar to take it apart and nothing looks like when they started. I know there are no adjustments on the carb , should I just try running it some more and see if stops this little issue ? I appreciate any advice you may have for me . I agree fully on your advice to no aftermarket parts on my Honda !
They all seem to have the occasional lean miss in eco mode. They are simply set to run so lean, in order to meet emissions constraints. My suggestions: 1) Only run it with the high octane, non-ethanol based fuels. If you can't find that type of fuel (the dealer's usually sell it), then run high octane automotive fuel, and add a few ounces of SeaFoam to every fuel tank. Seafoam is the only product that stabilizes fuel from degrading, and it's a great fuel system (carb) cleaner. 2) Once you have 5-10hrs on the engine, consider changing the oil and using full synthetic 10w-30 in it after that. 3) Try to remember to fire it up monthly, run it at full throttle with full choke applied until it settles down and starts chugging and smoking, and then turn the choke off, and run it with a load on it for 15-30min. A small electric heater makes a nice load center. The full throttle/choke applied trick, causes the engine to pull a large vacuum on the carburetor (because you've completely closed the choke door, blocking 90% of the air flow through the carburetor), which helps dislodge and pull through, any crud or funky fuel that might be starting to partially block the tiny internal jet orifices in the carburetor. Enjoy that new machine! You'll likely have it the rest of your life!
@@austinado16 Thanks for there info ! I will keep all you said in mind
Wow nice seeing what's inside that 2200. Thinking about getting one this week. I wonder how long that timing belt would last? Do most of these small generators use timing belts?
The belts last a long time. It's really old engine oil that kills them, so change your oil every 40-50hrs of run time, and consider using full synthetic 10w-30.
Nicely done
Thanks!
Todd,
Any opinion on the Hutch Mountain propane conversions on these?
I've not installed one, because they aren't allowed in California (at least not at the dealer level). But I've seen units with them installed, and the kit looks extremely well done.
Hi Todd, We live in SLO and were wondering if you have a local business here? We have an Elna SU Air Electronic that we might need help with.
Maria, apologies for the delayed reply. I did email you, so hopefully you received that. I don't work on machines for a living, it's just a fun hobby. I spin wrenches on much larger equipment!
Hey ToddM, I stumbled upon your video because my very dumb friend decided to "assist" me with the oil change his way and got oil all in the bottom pan of my EU2200i. I got most of it out but was curious if you knew if there was a way to take out the bottom pan of the generator without dismantling the entire thing. I would imagine it's held on by some bolts but i can't find any schematics for this eu2200i model. :(
I'm sorry to hear that happened. Frustrating for sure! The engine sits down into the bottom panel, and is secured to it by 4 rubber bushings at each end of the engine (under the engine), which form a hollow tube shape. Then 2 metal tubes are inserted through the hollow tube created by the bushings. This then, traps the engine into the pan. 2 very long 6mm bolts (with 10mm hex heads) are hidden behind the lower gray skirt, on the back side (the side the doesn't have the service door) of the generator. With the gray muffler cover removed (4 screws), that gray skirt can be slid down and off the machine. That exposes the 10mm hex heads of those long bolts.
So, the method to get to the pan is to take apart the entire generator, as you see I have done in this video. You have a couple options: 1) Take the rear and both sides off, and pull the front away as much as possible. Then "mop" up the oil using absorbent mechanics rags. Paper towels may just smear it all around. 2) Go the step further, as I had to do, and remove the engine. This includes removing the electrical harness from the back of the control panel.
To take it apart:
-Remove the 4 screws at the control panel (the gray end of the machine that you plug electrical cords into)
-Pull that panel away from the machine slightly
-Remove the 4 screws at the gray muffler cover and remove it
-Remove the 2 screws on the back side of the top handle. These are usually seized and require a long HI QUALITY PHILIPS BIT, PLACED INTO AN IMPACT DRIVER. Then you lay the generator on it's side, and smack that driver hard, to shock each screw loose. If you don't have a Mac, Snap-On, or Matco philips screw driver, don't even attempt to loosen them. Cheap screwdrivers will not fit well, because they are made so poorly, and will strip out the screw heads.
-Slide the lower gray skirt off the bottom of the machine, on the back side, as mentioned previously.
-Remove the 2 long 6mm bolts that go through the lower engine mounts, and into the other side panel of the machine.
-Remove the single philips screw, from above the pull start handle
-Both red body panels can now be removed.
-If you want to move the engine out of the way, use something like a 3/8" extension, or a big screw driver, and shove the metal tubes out from the 2 lower engine mounts, as previously described.
-The engine can now be moved around a little, and you can probably mop up all the oil.
-Upon re-assembly of the body panels, be patient, and test fit it all. It will all sort of snap back together, IF you have it all lined up, and have it all fitting correctly. DO NOT make the mistake of thinking the screws will do the job of aligning it, or pulling gapped panels back into each other. It should all be snapped back together, AND THEN you install all of the fasteners.
Hope this is of some help. Thanks for watching!
How long does it take an experienced technician to rebuild a job like this?
I've been spinning wrenches both professionally, and otherwise, since the late 70's. I'm a Honda generator tech for a dealer. I go through these machines pretty quickly. I was doing the fuel valve replacement recalls in 8min. When corporate got wind of that, they wanted my process photographed, because dealers were complaining it was taking their people 30min.
@@austinado16 Good to meet you ! Am glad to find someone with your experience. I also collect old Honda generators! The question I have is on a 1965 Honda III300. This unit appears to have a cam run by a rubber belt. I cant seem to find a proper manual for this machine. This one does not have a air filter serviceable from the outside , it has a really small filter in the cooling shroud. I look at the parts book I have and it shows the cam with a gear that looks to be driven off the crank like most other small engines. But there is a rubber belt that runs from the crankshaft to a plastic gear on the side of the engine , right where the cam would be. As you would expect, the belt full of cracks, but the generator runs like clock. It has always been stored in its box. Looks like it was just built. Do you know if the cam is actually driven by this belt ? Thanks in advance.
Amazing what people will buy from Chinazon..
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