Thread: Honda EU20i Generator problem

it can be a dirty contact down on the oil switch that tricks it into thinking its got low oil when it doesnt.

the ones at work suffer that a bit.

The low oil light doesn't come on, but that doesn't probably mean much.

Can you give me some idiot proof information on where the switch is located Dave

Seems to be something with the choke. Not sure if I can do much more than wipe it down with a clean rag and some fuel but it's all working again for now. Every so often it seems to give a cough on ECO mode, but it's now fine when running normally.

the sooty plug says its running too rich......

it could a stuck choke.....as mentioned above......or a sticking needle and seat........in the carby......

the oil switch moves about a bit (we have more than one type of those eco gennies at work) but once you pull the service covers off they arent too hard to find.

if thats not the reason its stopped the other common cause we get is clogging of the air filter.

I couldn't work out how to dismantle further than I did. So I'll leave it at the butterfly of the choke being stuck. I'm not sure what the ECO switch does to the fueling as it lowers the revs there must be some electronics inside there to the carby but I'd really like a service manual before I start tinkering further.

Anyway as I mentioned above it seems it be running OK for now.

A really sooty plug (black) generally means overfueling (or under airing) ... choke left ON after starting is a common one ... I sell these things at work. Seen it lots of times.
Remove the airbox, look down the carby throat, move the choke lever. Is it all as you expect ? I have seen 1 or 2 with a choke butterfly loose and staying partly closed when in the OFF position.

It's not burning oil, or blowing smoke when it's running ?? (Especially under heavy loads).

A blocked air filter, yeah maybe, but it would need to be REALLY REALLY blocked to make it run like you described ...

To check the oil alert switch (which btw is inserted from inside the crankcase - switch - loom inserted thru hole in bottom of crankcase - switch sits vert' in bottom of crankcase - need to split the crankcase to get at it) - drain the oil, remove spark plug, keep HT lead attached, ground plug to gen' frame, turn engine switch ON and pull recoil swifty ... oil alert should light up (should hold ON for approx' 2 sec') and there should be NO spark. Repeat with oil in crankcase - Light should stay OFF, and you should have spark at the plug. If so, switch is OK.

The ECO throttle control is a stepper motor ... see the white (?) cap ontop of the carby with the wires ?? It's all mounted on a black plastic mount ontop of the carby. Right behind the choke lever. The stepper motor is controlled by the inverter.

They all seem to cough occaisionally on ECO. Alot of these EU20i's get used on ECO all the time with small electrical loads, and they can glaze the bore. You should, every 3rd or 4th tank of fuel, run a full tank through with the ECO off, when you can, and change your oil every 50Hrs, not 100Hrs as is recomended.

I've just run off a copy of the service manual from the DVD for you, but it's 11.5MB in size ... too big to email. The DVD manual can only be reprinted as a graphic pdf ... won't print as a readable/searchable pdf.

Idea's ?

Kev..

the eco throttle only runs the engine at enough power to meet what the inverter needs to do its bit.

at the end of the day those units are basically a small engine driving an auto alternator directly wired to an inverter. The eco throttle works (in a nutshell) by tying into the regulator circuit and if the regulator is saying "wind back the excite voltage" then the eco throttle slows down the engine speed till the regualtor says "hrmmm more volts needed on the exciter" when the eco throttle winds back up again.