Teardown: Harbor Freight Storm Cat or Tailgator generator review
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- čas přidán 4. 02. 2017
- NOTE: I have compared this Stormcat generator to the new Tailgator brand generators Harbor Freight is selling and it appears they're the same. It looks like they're simply rebranding the Stormcat generators to the new Tailgator name.
Here I tear apart the 69381 Harbor Freight generator to see how well it's made. I paid $89 plus tax for this generator using a coupon.
This generator claims to produce 700 watts running and 900 watts peak.
Here’s a link to my video on the voltage problem I had with this generator:
• How to check and adjus...
Here’s a link to a video about the starter mechanism problem it had right out of the box:
• Harbor Freight Storm C... - Věda a technologie
We have used the czcams.com/users/postUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y for probably 30 hours with our camper and it’s been great! The noise level is really only noticeable when running the AC and other appliances like the microwave, hair dryer, or coffee pot. It’s not huge like other ones and it has wheels so even at 90lbs, I can move it!
I'm always amazed at the number of parts and processes that go into a product like this for $89.
Naegling they have to spit out an insane number of these to keep the prices down. thats why you see so many of these under different names. there cheap but it beats nothing.
Really cheap parts....almost no labor costs, likely not very good working conditions either.......? 20 amp recept. allows just about any cord to be plugged in....
It costs the Chinese factory $20 bucks or less to produce one of these which seems unbelievable regardless of how long they last.
+scdevon It's really amazing just how far this meme has spread in such little time. Orange man bad.
These generators cost $125 now, I’m guessing due to the China tariffs.
Changed spark plug and put a fuel filter on it when I got mine 3 years ago I have put thousands and thousands of hours of run time and then some on it and is still going today great compression runs like a champ and also have always ran it Rich from day on well worth the money
Yeah I agree. I have one of these and I use it quite often especially in the summer. Instead of a gas powered weed eater I put this thing on the back of my truck and use a 100 foot extension cord with an electric weed eater and it works flawlessly including not dealing with the smell of burning fuel or heat that you deal with with a gas powered weed eater. I also use it for my shop for misc power too. You cannot go wrong for $89.00
one thing that helps these 2 strokes is snow machine 2 stroke oil, it mixes better and haven't seen it settle out of gas as I have seen with some 2 stroke oil.
@John Davis been powering his meth lab 7 days a week for 12 hours per day and got 13k hours on her
An example of what I don't get about some Chinese products. They cheap out so much in some areas but do decent in others and if they just spent a touch more in some areas of the product design and sold it for slightly higher price, you would end up with a decent product. In this case, a better starting mechanism, better air filter, add fuel filter, better spark plug wire, and maybe better wire connectors and you might just have a fairly decent generator for maybe $110 retail price.
@John Davis He's full of shit. I have a Yamaha with an hour meter. I use it a lot and have right around 2000 hours on it.
Thanks for taking the time to tear that down and show us.
I saw those generators at Harbour Freight. I wondered about the quality.
Correction the fuel oil and air mixture lubricates the bearings before it is burned otherwise it would be carbon buildup in the lower crankcase but good video thanks
Can you imagine how many generators are made like this in one year? Say what you want about these generators but for around 100 bucks, it's pretty clear that the quality is nice for the price point.
I have 3 of the blue version of this one. They are great. I changed the spark plug and run a good synthetic oil. I mix the oil somewhere between 50:1 and 40:1. My oldest one had 300+ hrs on it when I stopped keeping track. The scoring you saw is likely contaminants from the machining process. Adding oil before you start it won't do anything. Plus being a 2 stroke it gets oil as soon as it starts.
Chris Leggett prelubing is a big thing to do because they don’t do that so a table spoon keeps it from tearing up the bottom end
Great review. Just subscribed to your channel. I like the honest reviews and tear down videos. Good stuff man.
Very detailed video, and interesting to see a tiny generator as opposed to the larger ones that I see often. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us!
Seems there's already a lot of feedback on many aspects of the unit; however I want to add a few comments.
The rear support bearing, (the 6203) is a non-standard design with a locating pin in the side of the bearing. That prevents it from slowly turning in the housing and causing the aluminum to wear out. Do a search for "6203 RS With Locating Pin" and you will find the company Jiang Xin Technology Co., LTD with this bearing. I have a feeling the JT (or was it JP?) on the bearing may be used to denote the pin feature; however I can't confirm that.
You mentioned not being able to remove the rotor from the crankshaft; as well as the 10mm headed screw being very tight. The crankshaft has a tapered end, and the rotor has a tapered bore. They clamp together with that screw, and the tapers wedge together to prevent relative motion. The generator rotor acts as a flywheel for the engine, so there is a lot of torsional vibration at the interface between the crank and the rotor. The tapered connection prevents this from fretting or working loose.
To separate the two, you would want to place a driver tool down through the bore of the rotor, which would bottom out on the crank; ensuring it is not resting on the threads. Then, strike the driver tool inwards, to jar the tapered crank out of the rotor. The early Briggs & Stratton generators were made this way back in the 60's and 70's.
The two different wire gauges in the stator winding are because the stator has two separate circuits. One of them is the output winding which goes through the circuit breaker to the electrical outlet. The other winding is used for building up field current in the rotor. The smaller gauge winding will be connected to the capacitor, which work together with the rotor diode to induce a DC current in the rotor winding. The capacitor winding operates at a higher voltage and lower current than the main winding, therefore it has more wraps of wire, but smaller wire.
The manner in which this generator works is as follows. The generator rotor has two "poles" made of the same type of stacked laminations as the stator is made from. The rotor windings are around these poles creating a two-ended electromagnet. The rotor winding is in a loop, with a diode in the loop. This allows current to flow in one direction only, building a stronger and stronger magnetic field as more and more current builds in the rotor winding. The stator's capacitor winding coils are in between the output winding coils. As the rotor poles pass the capacitor winding coils, more magnetism is built in the rotor. As it passes the main winding coils, some magnetism is lost from the rotor. The balance between them sets the voltage output of the generator. This type generator doesn't have much regulation of voltage and is very sensitive to reactive loads such as motors; and as you saw in your other video about the voltage - they are very sensitive to changes of engine speed. If you find a situation where the voltage is wrong, even with the engine speed set for 60 Hz operation, you can change the value of the capacitor (the black plastic one shown early in the video) to adjust the voltage without changing the frequency. More microfarads gives more voltage, less uF gives less volts.
As for the 5-20R outlet rated 20 amps on a 8 amp generator, that's not intended to indicate how much power it can put out but more to help the end user to connect their existing extension cords with the unit. The 20 amp outlet will accept 20 amp, 15 amp, as well as 2-wire small cords. People may have extension cords which are rated to carry a maximum of 20 amps, and have the 5-20P connector on the end. If the generator had a different outlet, this would render the extension cord incompatible with the generator. It certainly doesn't hurt to have an overly robust extension cord, so long as the device connected at the other end is within the generator's capacity. So basically they use that outlet on the small generator to ensure the greatest compatibility with cords people probably already own.
Is this an alternator (AC) or a generator (DC)? I don't see brushes for a generator. They call this an inverter generator but I don't see any kind of inverter...the diode? If it is already AC, why would there be an inverter? I am looking for a 12VDC 15A generator which it seems are not made by any company. People make their own.
Thanks for the video, I'll keep running my little 1500 watt Coleman that I bought in 1995, no telling how many 100s of hours it's been used, oil changes and stabil has been a plus.
I have a pair of these and to be honest, I am not real nice to them as far as service goes. I would go as far as to say the reason I got a 2 cycle generator is because there is essentially no service involved with them. I run them on the same premix I run my chain saws on, which is ethanol free premium gas and I think the premix bottles are 32:1. When I am done with them for the day I unplug the load and turn off the petcock and run the carb out of gas. I have never changed or cleaned the plugs. I have never had an issue with the fuel line. One of them sits in the shed behind the house, and I have a 10 ga extension cord running into the house that terminates next to the outlet strip the living room runs off of. If the power fails, and we live in a rural area so the power does fail on a pretty regular basis, it is easy to unplug the outlet strip from the wall and plug it into the extension cord. BTW, the reason they use a 20A outlet on the generator is twofold. One is so any extension cord will fit into it. You really don't wanna be stuck with an extension cord that will not plug into your generator. And second, you want to use a heavy extension cord because you don't have a lot of power so you want to get it to where you use it and not heat up the wire along the way. The one in the shed fires up the cable modem, the router, the big TV, the ROKU stick, the stereo, our notebooks, and a couple lamps with 9W LED's in them. The other one of these I have I have used for many back woods building projects, running alternately a small air compressor and chop and table saw. You need to give the saws a few seconds to spin up before using them, and you get so you have a good feel for how hard you can push them before the breaker on the generator will pop. I also do display fireworks and in the past have used this generator to run a pair of 500W portable halogen lights to illuminate the field when we tear down after a show. The generator will run a pair of these if you turn one on, and than the other. I have a *much* more efficient portable work light system now, but it is nice to know I can run the halogens if I have to.
God only knows how many hours I have on each of these. Many days worth. They never fail to start, though they can be moody in the winter, and once you have them running and have some load on them, they run great. If you have never used one of these they tend to cough and spit a bit with no load, the engines are designed to work at least a little bit, not idle, so they do not idle super well. I get them off the choke ASAP too, to keep the plugs clean; I have been totally happy with them. They even seem to run pretty good with year old stale gas.
Eventually the head bolts creep (stretch). Lost compression. Won't run so you tighten them. Youll tighten the bolts twice then the stretch will be too much to tighten the head on and then you throw the generator into a lake. The head bolts are the weakest link on the 2 cycle generators.
The bearing is not ONO, instead of that read aside OZO
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OZO BEARINGS AND AUTOMOBILE PVT. LTD.Address :Branch Office: Sco 81, Second Floor, Sec-10A,
Gurgaon - 122001, Haryana, India
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GOOD REVIEW, remember HF is not as bad as in the past
Cheers
I was waiting for you to put it back together and start it. AVE style 😁
I’ve beat on mine for years. It’s pretty easy to overload it, but it’s a tiny generator. I’ve ran a small fridge, halogen work lights, and an angle grinder all at once. Had to play with the trigger on the grinder to get it going, but it powered all three lol. It definitely wasn’t happy. Not one single mod.
Thanks for the video. I bought one 3 years back, added an hour meter to it; just crested 200+ hours and still going. Clearly not a commercial unit but doesn’t hurt to give it maintenance every once in a while. Wear a beer hat next time. 😏
Best deal around for 89 bucks, I've had one for about 8 years now and all I've done is cleaned a little bit of metal out of the carburetor and replaced the spark plug.
Adam Batchelder interesting, thanks for sharing... How much have you used it?
@@chrisjones8741 well over 200 hours.
Adam Batchelder cool, thanks!
Here I am smashing my Briggs and Stratton because they never run right.
@@bryanmartinez6600 Don't leave gas in it during the off-season. 99% of the time it's old gas that gums up the carburetor. It doesn't matter what kind of small engine you have, you still have to maintain it. I find so many lawn mowers that people throw out just because the carburetor is dirty.
I have on that looks identical except it's blue and came from northern tool. Probably came from same supplier. It has been a good generator so far.
I have a lot of hours on my Storm Cat. Increase the fuel to oil ratio to 40:1 and make sure the recoil starter pawl is contacting the flywheel before you pull the cord and you will get a whole lot of service out of the $89 generator. I still have the original sparkplug in mine.
You have a great review on this generator. The only thing I can comment on is that the cylinder is cast iron and it will not be as smooth as the aluminum castings no matter who casts the parts. When my Storm Cat wears out or fails beyond repair, I will buy another one.
They put in a 20 amp plug because they got a good price on them
We're the only ones using those recepticles and there all made in China anyway. It probably was a good price. Minimum would be a 15 amp. And honestly a 15 amp outlet handles 20 amps just fine. They underrate them knowing people will hook a 12 gauge wire to the cheapest recepticle they can purchase. If you take one apart there's not much different in the . 60 cent 15 amp or $2 20 amp. Besides a nema 15-5 stamp. And they've had to idiot proof everything. Someone moves into a house doesn't know ahit about electricity but watches a CZcams video or listen to Billy Bob and how to change that outlet that doesn work. They go shut off the main breaker bought the cheapest outlet and install it. If people houses started catching fire people would raise hell and blame the manufacturer. Your cheap outlets handle 20 amps all day. I use them wired to 10 gauge for extension cords I make. It cheaper to buy 12-2 or 10-2 and wire a recepticle box and outlet. My saw on some really tough wood can draw 30+ amps when it's about to bind or cutti g a not. Cheap recepticle has never failed of melted. 13 amp grinder pulls near 30 on start up as well. Always surprised me my saw never popped a 15 amp breaker. When my plug in meter is ahowing 30+ amps with bogging down Eventually putting some plastic loom around it for protection.
I could make use of this little fella. Paying $89 for it would be my way of saying thanks for making the effort.
The voltage on generators is set high intenionally. It's assumed no one will be running these inside with devices plugged directly into it. They expect people to use extension cords. So generator's I have to they are set high to compensate for voltage drop.
Three years ago, a neighbor gave me one of these. It wouldn't run with the carb full of oil. Maybe he poured oil in the tank and waited too long to mix in the gas. Drained the tank & lines. Then took the carb apart & sprayed it with cleaner. Added a couple fender washers where the air-box bolted on, so the nuts wouldn't chew through the plastic. It runs fine, but I've hardly used it.
It's now at my parent's house, where I'm also keeping a 15 year-old Big-Lots 2000 watt Chinese generator with probably about 120 hours. When I'm done, I always shut the valve and run the gas out of the carb with these. Even drain the tank if they're going in long-term storage.
Have you thought about comparing the difference with the part numbers 63024/63025 like you did the grinder.
I've seen guys modify the housing to allow the use of a socket on a drill to start the unit after the paw fails. I use the drill method all the time for trouble shooting. Don't want to waste my fight pulling, I need that for fixing.
A lot of people trash Harbor Freight. Just because something cost less that doesn't mean it's junk.
These generators are great for the price. Also most of Harbor Freight tools are excellent quality. I use there sockets in an impact gun and they hold up. I have put insane amounts of pressure on their rachets and they hold up while Craftsman tools break.
11:20 - That set screw tapped into the outer bearing race suggests they've had issues with bearings spinning in the journal on the housing due to poor fit/tolerance/quality. Hopefully they used bottom taps and that doesn't go through the whole race.
that looks like grease or something, you cant drill and tap a bearing race, its hardened. (well at least if you did it would have to be by the bearing manufacture before heat treating. and they would never anticipate this)
Thanks for the video.
The markings on the carb looks like a Briggs sign. The 20 amp outlet was probably used cause of bigger generators. Would have liked to see exactly how motor to generator was connected together. Nice job on the tear down. Shame about the spilled beer...lol . Take care
I've had one of these and it has been put through the wringer in both summer and winter conditions with many hours of run-time with ZERO issues. The trick is to take care of it and run clean fuel in it. This is well worth the $89.00 I paid for it.
I am impressed that you can build and sail something like at for under a $100 dollars and still make a profit.
String winding ties are the standard way to do it. you'll nearly never see another way, even in extremely high end equipment
I thought they ran out of zip ties LOL!
Very thorough. Uber clear and concise. Crystal clear and rock steady videography. Not to mention fantastic post production. Now get out of here and keep producing, Mr. DeVille
Nice video! BTW the beer part was awesome. High Life is cheap but delicious, how do they make all those little bubbles?
hello nice break down, can you give more details on the carburetor as I have the same generator. does it have hi & low adjuster? how do you adjust the idle properly? mine sounds like it's idling little low on rpm. thanks
I think the smaller guage wire is the exciter coil to allow generated current to be fed from this coil to the voltage regulator into the rotor. I think it uses residual magnetism at start up and then feeds current from the exciter winding to generate the magnetic field on the rotor. The larger guage is the coil for the actual voltage output. If I am incorrect, please call me out. Great video btw.
The closest I've seen so far.
There isn't any actual voltage regulator on this machine...
It's controlled via engine speed & governor.
The exciter coil amplifies the residual magnetism in the rotor via an AC capacitor, and returns it via induction.
The larger coil then outputs the voltage.
20 amp socket allows a heavy gauge cord. Always use bigger gauge when you can.
no
the reason why is that is the only supplier they could find for a single outlet that was cheap enough for them
@@TheSoloAsylum Uh, Yes. Thicker wire = Less loss.
One other question since you got it all I'm parts are you going to change any of the parts in that little bitty generator to make it better our last longer.?
Excellent tear down instructional video!
I brought one of these in July of 2014. So far it's still holding up.
Really great job on this video! Thanks for all the time it took to make this video.
Maybe you can use it for an Aquarium equipment if you have a power loss. Like airpump, filter, heater,etc..
Have one. Never worked well. Won't run a corded drill. Excellent review
I used my generator like this and a pole saw from harbor freight to cut tree limbs. They worked great together and it seemed to me that the generator didn't even work too hard running the pole saw.
Mine is wonderful use it all the time. Let it run for days on end.
Pre lubricating through the spark plug hole prior to first start is not only a good idea, but a requirement of the manual, and warranty on these generators.
Thanks for the video. Very informative. Was wondering how was made inside.
What kind of NGK spark plug do I need?
Personal experience with three of these. Tl;Dr buy one.
Ive put well over a thousand hours into three combined, best lifespan was about 600hours in the newest version. Using parts from older two I was able to get another 100-120 hours before I broke the spark plug boot he mention. I'm amazed I didn't break that Sooner, it's an absolute weak point.
Absolutely the worst failure point is the gas tanks will CRACK. usually under the bottom seam on the starter side. I swapped the tank from an older one, which also cracked in the same spot. Huge problem since the spark arrestor, while on the other side, does get clogged and quite hot.
Certain generations have different problems that new ones don't. Older versions will cut the pull start cord due to rough edges inside started case.
Fuel line broke, but that was because i swapped the tank, not good but replaced it quickly.
As for load, was able to run TV, a couple lights, and a laptop while the geni was performing well, which it does for a reasonable amount of time. However be warned that the variable voltage can burn or electronics like laptop.
The big issue is that different production runs have specific failure points, so finding a good one requires a bit of luck.
For $90 it works great for emergency storm power, and can be used in short term for "low grade living."
Get an APC voltage regulator 1200 watt about $60
Hey thanks for the video, what's the part number for the NGK plug please ?
Those jagged edges on the intake ports are why the cylinder is scored.
@@MaFTB the crankshaft bearings are lubricated by the intake fuel oil mix. Not the exhaust.
My comment is meant for the author. Sorry
@@MaFTB if you increase the size of the ports, you'ill gain more power at higher rpms. And when you do any kind of port job, you'id also want an expansion chamber exhaust to extract the most power. But since this runs at constant rpm, you'll likely LOSE power by doing that (2 stroke typically have very peaky power curves).
On one of mine, the crank seal on the gen side popped out of the relief it's driven into, while running under high load (beyond rated capacity). It quit running and of course wouldn't restart with the big air leak.
Generators like these have been made for about 4 decades in about 50 to 100 ? ? 200? ? models and brands The design came from a Yamaha ET650 AND ET950 of about 10 years ago, before that the Yamaha ET600. The Yamaha specs for a ET650 are output 0.8 KvA Rated and 0.96KvA max. and often with a 12 volt DC 8.3 amp out to charge car and motorcycle batteries. The grandfather of all these was a Yamaha ET500 back in 1979 that was 0.5kVa rated, brushless too. It has a tank that looks slightly different, the later Yamaha's tank looks similar to todays clones. My Homier unit from about 2006 has the 12 volts 8.3 amp DC extra plug and wire/clamps to charge batteries, plus an AC voltmeter, came with an extra plug that I still have not used yet. The original Yamaha units had specs that were valid, todays clones are often marketing BS, the peak often fibbed. What the generator cares about is Volt Amperes, not watts. Thus a folks often wonder why these often may or may not run a 5000 BTUH AC unit. The amps running are often 4.5 to 6 amps but the locked rotor amps on the compressor is typically 25 amps. It is marginal. An AC unit that is undercharged with refrigerant draws less amps, plus cool ambient drops the amps too.
A volt ampere is a Watt. I appreciate the background, very informative.
@@guy9239 This only applies with textbook resistive load like a toaster or lightbulbs. With AC motors and transformers the volt amperes can be 1.5 to 6 times more than the watts. Thus folks size generators and wiring too small. The dorm fridge here with inside light on is 12 VA and 12 watts, with compressor and light on is 242 VA and 147 watts. The real load the generator sees is 242 VA. With a 2.0 KVA transformer in my shop the no load watts are 55.6, the volt amperes are 309. The ratio of the two is not one but over 5. Regards.
I add 115v hard start kits sppc5 ? to my 5000 btu ac units , and for me that is difference of using my AC unit with this generator or not ......it gives the needed boost on start up, then drops it off the circuit when running.................Erik
Nice thorough teardown of this interesting cheap generator.
better yet just use it as is its $87.50 right now
Excellent review. Considering one as a small back up for just a couple of appliances during storms
I have a deep cycle and an inverter for small things. I use the generator to charge my battery during the day. Works great.
I bought two generators very much like this one, probably, earlier models, from an auction. Both were like new, but, defective with bad ignition coils. I bought two exact replacement coils from the Generator Guru and one of the new ones was bad, too. One generator, with a good coil, ran like crap, so, I threw it away! The other one, with the only good coil, runs and works as well as I would expect a $25 generator to work.
The crankshaft and generator armature appear to be the same piece based on my own attempt to tear one of these down. The metal parts were fairly decent, but things like the engine ignition ancillaries are mostly duff (the winding on the ignition magneto was superfine copper which was glued in place, as were the 'fridge magnets' on the flywheel - it had all disintegrated.)
They may have ordered the same outlet for multiple models, which include higher amp rated models. Saves on having two different outlet types in the facility.
I believe the 2 different gauge wires used in the coiling is to allow a Transformer like effect inside the coil itself stepping up(or down) the voltage/current....
I could be wrong
No, it's the number of turns of wire that changes the voltage. Thicker/thinner wires just handle more/less current. Not sure why the two different gauges, but it can't be for different voltages.
It could be because this basic design is available with 12 volt output from different places
JUST subscribed, THANKS for this teardown, I have the GREEN Tailgator, worked for awhile, then had to result to using starter fluid to get started, THEN it quit putting out electricity, can you advise on HOW to fix that & WHERE to look?? TY
I thought these types of generators were all permanent magnet this appears to be an alternator . That makes sense but now I need to do some rechearch. Do the magnet gennys output in dc?
I just came across that video...
In order to get the rotor from the engine shaft you should do the following...
There is usually a hole with a thread in the engine shaft. So you should put a threaded rood, with a notch for a flat head screwdriver on top, through the rotor axle down to the engine shaft and thread it in for a couple of turns. The threaded rod length should be just about right so you can put the bearing screw back. That screw will press on the threaded rod ant therefore extracted the rotor from the engine shaft. For future use it's recommended that you make that rod from a higher grade steel.
I haven't tried it on this smaller 2 stroke generator but that's how it's done on the bigger ones.
Hey man nice video and I had just bought one that was refurbished and saw that the little spark plug wire a little curly q thing that holds over the the head of the spark plug just came out and it's like a wire that goes into the black part so is there any replacement for that wire to hold spark plug. Thank you and once again great video
On mine it has a fuel filter on the end thread of the fuel tap, inside tank. The big pulley with fins is the actual flywheel of the engine. Theres no pulley on these engines as it's a direct shaft. I would be very interested in the method of adjusting the voltage as I want to change mine. Cheers from old George
How do red and yellow wire from generator body connected? Which color is for field and which for armature? Or do they connect to internal electronics?
I Just got one of these but it had been run with no oil so it is seized. Is there parts available for these. There is no specific brand name on that I can see. Im going to need a new cylinder and piston assy.
I loved my old 1500 watt Coleman/Powermate generator, bought new around 1988 it came with a Kawasaki 4 stroke engine and would run 6 hours full load on one gallon of gas! It ran my microwave and charger for my batteries in my RV, I put about 3500 hours on it @ 6 hours running a day 7 days a week as it was my sole source of power. It never gave me any problems. Of course that was when gas was 89 cents a gallon, so burning a gallon a day cost me less than $30 a month.
Offhand I seem to remember the engine was number FA110, a NICE little engine, smooth, quiet, but later Coleman went to the crappy disposable Briggs.
When comparing the castings, is part of the reason for the apparent quality difference have to do with the difference in material? Like I'm thinking the cylinder head is cast iron and some of those other more silver/gray pieces, are they aluminum? Is one easier to cast than the other?
The cylinder is cast iron which is good for durability. Cast iron cannot be die cast because of its melting temperature. Therefor it has to be sand cast which results in a rough casting. Aluminum melts at a much lower temperature, therefor steel dies can be used for casting resulting in very smooth accurate parts.
we have one for the money its been great no complaints here.
I've had one of these for about. 5 or 6 years now. It's been a great little generator It will run a dorm fridge and I've used it to test a gas dryer . Follow the break in period though. I think it read "20 hrs @ 800 watts". Also, be smart and dont store fuel in it if you go without using it for months at a time.
So, bottom line: For the basic user; replace sparkplug & squirt some oil in the cylinder before first start, add a fuel filter and better spark plug boot & you're done. Take care when starting so as not to break that plastic pawl. For the advanced user, all of the above, plus remove the head, mark the position of the piston crown at BDC, put a ceramic coating on the combustion chamber & piston crown, clean up those gawdawfully ragged cylinder ports, & add some scavenge ports in the piston walls w/ matching holes in the cylinder walls into the transfer ports (this is why you marked the BDC w/ a Sharpier earlier, so you can get proper placement..] and make a decent expansion chamber for the thing so it can actually pull a decent load when it's maxed out w/o stalling. Oh yeah, you'll probably have to fiddle w/ the jetting due to the new exhaust, but that's an exercise left to the reader... ;-)
First video I have seen of yours good stuff but that spilled your beer line cemented the sub lol
Did you use a rms meter to measure the voltage?
That socket is a 20 amp due to the shape and design need and the fact a 15 amp shaped the same is not a normal item from manufacturers.
Јоhn Daniel
I was hoping to see how the. Crankshaft connected to the generator head.
Ive had 5 of these and they don't run smoothly and they make a loud cracking sound.
Tapered fit, about two inches outside of the crank case.
Easier to pull the bearing on the end & remove the stator.
If you really need to separate the two, you'll notice that the end of the generator shaft (with the bearing) is threaded.
That obviously doesn't engage the bolt that holds it together.
Drop a chunk of round stock in the hole & chase it with a bolt.
Careful though...
When it pops loose, it really goes flying.
Really good video, Very informative, I have 1 question, With not being able to run down parts, Would you say that if something goes wrong it would not be easy to replace and fix? Thank you.
Yeah, unless it's something very common I suspect you might have trouble tracking down parts. I have found some common parts like recoil assemblies on places like ebay.
Thank you very much for your reply, You have been a very big help..
Bit late to the party, but I hear tell that Harbor Freight is moving to really up its game as far as their replacement parts service goes. See www.harborfreight.com/parts. As of right now (Dec. 2019) it's only a whomping big 126 page PDF available parts list to wade through, but you will find a few things in there for this StormCat genset. Notably, the rather failure-prone pull start assembly (Part 12195 RECOIL STARTER ASSEMBLY) can be had for $15.20.
if you remove the fuel shut off valve it has a basic sieve filter built in to it (mine did).
take a look at ailGator generator 63024 vs 63025 comparison - Which Harbor Freight Generator to buy?
KevCentral
I have one that sounds like the end cap bearing is shot with a grinding sound. After sitting for a winter it doesn't want to start. Haven't took the time to figure it out, so it's just a $100 chunk of metal sitting there.
I saw another video where the no-load waveform is erratic, this is likely due to the 2 stroke engine RPM stability. It would help a lot if a good heavy flywheel was installed in that endcap.
I have been using one of these for 8-9 years now. It has paid for itself many times over. The only thing that I have EVER had to replace was the cheap fuel line (cracked at about 2 years old). Still running the original spark plug. LOL
Although I cannot find it now, I recall seeing a CZcams video that indicted that older models of the Tailgator had 12vDC output available through a removable rubber cover on the generator housing. Did you see, in your examination of the alternator, positive and negative posts, presumably connected to the inverter? I would like to add such a feature to my own tailgator. Thoughts please?
I bet if one were to sell the individual parts, one would make significantly more than $89.
We're talking about cheap Chinese parts here. It would be hard to make that much selling them individually unless all the buyers were oblivious to quality and value.
You are probably right. Yes these generators are not the best quality but if they are properly broken in, change plug and boot to better quality, these things can last quite some time. For $99 on sale, you can’t go wrong.
Mine's gone dead while on load, without any warning signs. Had a good look round at the windings and capacitor, and reckon I have to look at the rotor diode and winding connections. This is a great video, many thanks. If I have trouble separating rotor and crankshaft, I'm going to undo the 10mm bolt just two turns and whack the head. (12:00 on the video). Any other tips most welcome!
Wonder if they use a 20 amp power socket so you can use a heavier extension cord, thus giving lower voltage drop or maybe they just ran out of 10 amp ones that day?
the 20 a outlets are just built better. no returns for s slightly better part
Chinese made 20 amp outlets are rated by momentary surge, never exceed 50% load for continuous use.
did you happen to catch any details about the governor? mine is running a bit slow and it's not responding to changes to the adjustment screw. I'm convinced something is stuck with the governor interally and it's not allowing it to get up to full speed. the governor "pin" on the top that connects to the governor only has a tiny amount of rotational throw, which could be normal but I also found that the engine didn't respond to inputs to that pin. even with the governor disconnected and the throttle wide open, the engine speed didn't increase. I'm a bit stumped
I still don't know how and where the stator (or rotor) get the power to get it magnetized and why they don't use strong permanent magnet just like friction bike dynamo?
The rotor maintains some residual magnetism once it's been energized. The residual magnetism makes the stator generate some power, which in turn powers the voltage regulator, which regulates the output voltage by controlling the current through the rotor through the slip rings.
@@davesherman74 thanks for your explanation
This generator is a Yamaha clone so poorly made parts can be replaced with Yamaha one's like the pull start also when starting make sure you take up the slack and pull it straight so the string does not rub against the edges of the hole
orange12v Good to know...
www.amazon.com/Femitu-Yamaha-Generator-Recoil-Rewind/dp/B005CRLPJQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1505986490&sr=8-5&keywords=et950
nice to know , Yamaha copy cat made on the run
I want it to rub against the hole 😂
@@thebuyingseller That's what she said.
You mentioned an external filter, well if you have room it's a good idea but have you checked the shut-off valve ? Most have filter screens on top in the tank . There is a place for lightweight cheep generator's .We all know the difference in a quality machine but sometimes we just need a little quickie setup and this can fill the budget.
We had mandatory power outages from the power company due to their fear of high winds knocking down power lines and starting fires. They were nice enough to provide dates and times of the outages. We used frozen items from the freezer to keep the refrigerator cold, but after that. I used my $89 TailGator to power the full-sized, French door refrigerator through the night. WORKED GREAT!!! I use it for yard tools, garage tools, etc. Never an issue. Same spark plug, 50-1 fuel mix, 5w30 oil. I have had it for 3 years now. If it breaks, I got my moneys worth.
DO NOT use 5w-30 engine oil to premix 2 stroke oil. Engine oil has all kinds of additives that are great for lubricating 4 stroke engines but will burn and create ash and gum that will foul up a 2 stroke engine. Only use specialty low ash 2 stroke oil to premix with methanol free gasoline for your 2 stroke motors. Valvoliine makes an excellent 2 stroke oil I have used for over 30 years in outboard motors, chainsaws and weedeaters with no spark plug fowling or carboned up exhaust ports and mufflers. However over the last couple of years I have given in and buy the canned premix for my chainsaw and weedeaters. I find the fuel lines don't fall apart and the motors will start easier the next season after sitting up.
Very informetive,the only mistake I know you made is the way the main bearings are lubricated by the exaust gases which could not be.They are lubricated but the intake gases.
Great video. Why the dislikes? Is that an alternator or a generator the engine is turning? I am looking for a 12VDC 15A generator.
Mine had a filter in the gas tank above the shut-off valve.
Hi, thanks for pulling yours apart, I have an older model that doesn't seem to start, I've cleaned carb and it's working kind of, I'm cranking with a drill and spraying start spray but firing randomly. Noticed crankshaft seal on generator side is wet (leaking). I was hoping you could get some measurements if it's not too late. Wondering if that would stop it starting?
Yep, that leaking seal will definitely cause it not to start.
He's doing fine but the recoil spring has more parts then he showed I'm having problems with a broken recoil spring help me with the replacement
The seal on the crankshaft, behind the ignition, isn't pushed in far enough 5:35. One of the lips of the seal is riding on the VERY edge of the tapered part of the crankshaft, as you can see at 20:14. These seals have two lips so it won't fail right away but eventually an air leak will develope here. An air leak of this seal will cause the engine to run lean and eventually overheat and melt the piston. Another problem is that the edges of the transfer ports, should be chamfered inside the cylinder, so that they don't catch on the rings 15:46.
I have one of these and the problem im having is it will fire up no problem but only run for about 5-10 minutes the shut off kind of like an overheat shut down or something and thoughts?
I noticed some of the same issues with mine. A borescope inspection revealed the same scoring in the cylinder after the first run even though I did lube it with a teaspoon of oil before attempting to start it. Subsequent inspections after a few hours of use, however, seem to indicate that it hasn't gotten any worse, which makes me wonder if it's an assembly issue. Additionally, mine was also set to 140V out of the box, and I had to adjust both the idle screw and governor to fix it. Periodic readjusting may be necessary as well. Anyone know if you can get replacement parts for this somewhere?
generatorguru.com has all replacement parts for these
cabmaker thanks
cabmaker sure does i had to order new circlips and a new needle bearing, a filter. because my generator was knocking it was the needle bearings sliding in and out on the rod I added brass shim washers to keep the bearings in the center but when I was trying to install the circlip it shot out and disappeared banggood.com has the whole top end kit that includes cylinder ,cylinder head,piston,piston rings,wrist pin,needle bearing,circlips
...I'm at 12:06....guessing the generator has a tapered shaft, stuck into the end of crank...or crank has the taper...? Pretty common even for good USA stuff.... And open ball bearing on crank...no problem for 2 strokes...they live well enough with just a mist of oil/gas...
They used to different gauges of wire for the stator because it's actually a repurposed electric motor stator, the thicker gauge wire is the start winding.
the thin winding is the exciter winding for the brushless rotor it is connected to the 12uf cap ,,, motors are the other way around ….
@@n4120p
Sooo... What happens if I connect 12 volt DC constant to the exciter circuit?
As far as I can tell, the 60hz comes from the capacitor.
The 120 volts seems to be the natural voltage produced by the windings.
I'm looking to reduce the voltage to get more amperage and add a rectifier, in order to run a small spool gun for wire feed welding.
NOT. Please try again.
what 3k (full time) generator do you reccomend ?
I wonder if they chamfer the port or would reduce the scoring.
Was that 144v idling or under 900W load? They probably bump it so it might run some power tools, which would drag the voltage down. ;)
I had both rings on the piston fail on mine. Any idea where to get more rings and gaskets?
Someone higher up the comments said this is a clone of the Yamaha ET650? [Go look for yourself, I'm busy right now! ;-D ] so yeah, I'd scope out FleaBay for appropriate replacement parts for the Yammie...
What should we expect it’s the same cost of about 17 cups of coffee at a well known coffee shop.
about the 20amp socket...i would guess that because instead of making many sockets with different types of loads ..example : 5 amp , 10 amp 15 amp 20 amp etc....it would be more cost effective to just make one size fits all...as the price difference would be so small ...so the same socket can be used with many generator models specially the big ones also it would save on parts stocking costs when it comes to making alot of these generators