After the freeze I bought a Westinghouse 12000 and prepped my house for a manual cutout to the panel.

Unit arrives, check oil and fire it up to do the 5hr break in period. Run the tank dry, fire it a few more times to burn up any remaining gas then store it.

*This is where I screwed up by not running it every other month.

After the winds here in Houston, I pulled it out and it refused to fire. Then Beryl hit while I was looking at options. From what I've been told and agree with, the carb is gummed up with our ethanol gas.


This is the unit:
https://westinghouseoutdoorpower.com/products/wgen12000-generator

This is the carb assembly: Sold Out
https://parts.wpowereq.com/westinghouse-50040214-carburetor-assembly-wgen12000c/

So here's my problem, all shops are backed up until October. My thought was just swap out the carb and then figure out how to rebuild the used one and have basically a spare on hand, but with this being out of stock, I'm not sure what to do. I figure there has to be another available but I don't know if WH parts numbers are equal to other manufacturer parts numbers.

We did spray engine starter into the air intake and it did fire up so I'm pretty convinced the issue is with the carb.

I cannot seem to find a direct replacement, so a disassemble and clean may do the job? Or do I need to rebuild the jet needle assembly? I've never done this before but I'm handy and can follow directions.

Thanks

A thorough disassembly, cleaning & putting back together should do the trick.

Well, you know what a jet is so you are already qualified to disassembly and clean it. It's not hard, pretty straight forward, and you know to pay attention and make sure to clean out the jet too. Just be diligent in paying attention to how things are orientied. But before you do all that, are you sure fuel is flowing through the filter?

AlaskanAg99 said:

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After the freeze I bought a Westinghouse 12000 and prepped my house for a manual cutout to the panel.

Unit arrives, check oil and fire it up to do the 5hr break in period. Run the tank dry, fire it a few more times to burn up any remaining gas then store it.

*This is where I screwed up by not running it every other month.

After the winds here in Houston, I pulled it out and it refused to fire. Then Beryl hit while I was looking at options. From what I've been told and agree with, the carb is gummed up with our ethanol gas.


This is the unit:
https://westinghouseoutdoorpower.com/products/wgen12000-generator

This is the carb assembly: Sold Out
https://parts.wpowereq.com/westinghouse-50040214-carburetor-assembly-wgen12000c/

So here's my problem, all shops are backed up until October. My thought was just swap out the carb and then figure out how to rebuild the used one and have basically a spare on hand, but with this being out of stock, I'm not sure what to do. I figure there has to be another available but I don't know if WH parts numbers are equal to other manufacturer parts numbers.

We did spray engine starter into the air intake and it did fire up so I'm pretty convinced the issue is with the carb.

I cannot seem to find a direct replacement, so a disassemble and clean may do the job? Or do I need to rebuild the jet needle assembly? I've never done this before but I'm handy and can follow directions.

Thanks

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Buy a replacement carb off Amazon for $30.00. Buy a kit also and learn how to rebuild the gummed one.YouTube is your friend. Put the new carb on and practice rebuilding the backup.I just broke down my Honda carb and cleaned. It runs like a charm again. And it is the crap gas that's causing the problems. After I rebuilt the Honda carb I put a cutout cock between the tank and carb plus an in-line filter. I cutout the gas now Everytime I finish mowing. Burns the gas out.No more sitting in the carb! Good luck!

Disassemble carb and soak in sea foam.

Shoefly! said:

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AlaskanAg99 said:

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After the freeze I bought a Westinghouse 12000 and prepped my house for a manual cutout to the panel.

Unit arrives, check oil and fire it up to do the 5hr break in period. Run the tank dry, fire it a few more times to burn up any remaining gas then store it.

*This is where I screwed up by not running it every other month.

After the winds here in Houston, I pulled it out and it refused to fire. Then Beryl hit while I was looking at options. From what I've been told and agree with, the carb is gummed up with our ethanol gas.


This is the unit:
https://westinghouseoutdoorpower.com/products/wgen12000-generator

This is the carb assembly: Sold Out
https://parts.wpowereq.com/westinghouse-50040214-carburetor-assembly-wgen12000c/

So here's my problem, all shops are backed up until October. My thought was just swap out the carb and then figure out how to rebuild the used one and have basically a spare on hand, but with this being out of stock, I'm not sure what to do. I figure there has to be another available but I don't know if WH parts numbers are equal to other manufacturer parts numbers.

We did spray engine starter into the air intake and it did fire up so I'm pretty convinced the issue is with the carb.

I cannot seem to find a direct replacement, so a disassemble and clean may do the job? Or do I need to rebuild the jet needle assembly? I've never done this before but I'm handy and can follow directions.

Thanks

---

Buy a replacement carb off Amazon for $30.00. Buy a kit also and learn how to rebuild the gummed one.YouTube is your friend. Put the new carb on and practice rebuilding the backup.I just broke down my Honda carb and cleaned. It runs like a charm again. And it is the crap gas that's causing the problems. After I rebuilt the Honda carb I put a cutout cock between the tank and carb plus an in-line filter. I cutout the gas now Everytime I finish mowing. Burns the gas out.No more sitting in the carb! Good luck!

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This is my issue, I don't know which carb to buy. Is the westi grouse part number universal?

I've watched a few YouTube videos, seems pretty straight forward. I have large hands and the space after the fuel filter and the body of the generator is really tight. I checked before the filter and yes gas is flowing but it 100% should. Tomorrow morning when it's cool I'll take another crack at the after line.

And after you get it fixed source no ethanol gas, should be a little over $1 more than regular unleaded.

rab79 said:

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And after you get it fixed source no ethanol gas, should be a little over $1 more than regular unleaded.

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Yup, Bucces carries it.

Generally in May I stocking 40 gallons and add stabil. Around Feb the following year I run it through my vehicles and then start the process over.

Visit the MOTOALL Store
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 46
Carburetor 16100-Z9E-033 Compatible with Honda GX630 GX690 V Twin Cylnder Engines for Predator 670 Carb

This shows to be the carb on Amazon. 713cc btwin Westinghouse carburetor. $41.00

Mechanic in a bottle. Had gas sitting in my rv generator for three years (due to rats chewing up wires.) replaced wire harness and Got it running with starter fluid and ran a few gallons of gas through it with mechanic in a bottle.

Also used sea foam in air inlet/carb while it was running. Used the pb blaster carb clean product too but you can't find that in stores anymore for some reason. Sprayed some gunk out in it while it was running also.

That was probably the worse I've had a small engine gummed up. Took about three days of running it off and on to get it running smooth. Mechanic in a bottle seemed to have the biggest impact out of all the cleaning products I tried.

Best tool for cleaning carbs $60 at HD.

Best tool for cleaning a LOT of stuff.

Example of separated ethanol gas.

Looks fine on top but separated ethanol goes to bottom of gas tank and float bowl in carb.

Ethanol eats rubber o-rings and seals. Can eat the interior lining out of fuel lines and vinyl tubing fuel lines which clogs jets and passages. Also creates a varnish film inside small passages.

Ethanol clogs fuel filters and restricts flow.

Tends to eat up rubber and plastic parts not made for ethanol fuel like this diaphragm in a mechanical fuel pump for example.

Fuel tanks on boats and other equipment act like a lung that sucks in humid air through the vent. The moisture in the air condenses on the side of the fuel tank then mixes with the gas.

The ethanol binds to the water molecules in an irreversible bond.Over time through heat cycles over months and years you got a blob of ethanol floating around in your tank or in your carb fuel bowl.

Once this blob of ethanol forms you got to drain the tank. No fuel treatment or additive can reverse it.

Bad ethanol fuel will typically have an amber tint to it an a distinctive smell.

Yeah, how many engines have epa gas regulations ruined!

Point is that ethanol gas in an engine that doesn't get run on a regular basis is asking for trouble.

If you run ethanol gas all the time, it's fine. But as soon as it starts sitting for an extended period of time in your tank and the float bowl of a carb you on the clock.

Ultimately the problem is a result of politicians that think they can change the weather by diluting gas with corn.

So we're stuck with the problems described above so that gas stations get to charge more for Non ethanol premium gas that is taxed to facilitate even more restrictive and harmful regulations like EGR for example.

I mean, I ran it for 5 hrs and ran it dry.

I'll check the fuel filter tomorrow before I start tearing it apart.

Simplest first- is it getting fuel and is there a spark? I tried to start my welder generator a few days ago. I always run the carb dry and it always fires by the second pull. This time it took 30-40 pulls before I got it to fire but then it ran awful, bogging when I tried to weld. I started at the fuel valve and had fuel going to the filter but it didn't look like it was filling. I pulled the filter and found that the outlet had deformed and pinched, somehow. I replaced the filter and it ran like a champ.

GottaRide said:

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Simplest first- is it getting fuel and is there a spark? I tried to start my welder generator a few days ago. I always run the carb dry and it always fires by the second pull. This time it took 30-40 pulls before I got it to fire but then it ran awful, bogging when I tried to weld. I started at the fuel valve and had fuel going to the filter but it didn't look like it was filling. I pulled the filter and found that the outlet had deformed and pinched, somehow. I replaced the filter and it ran like a champ.

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It's has spark, was able to run it with starter fluid.

Also one thing to consider is whether the fuel tank is properly vented to the atmosphere. If the fuel tank vent is clogged or restricted then fuel can't flow out of the tank into the carb. A lot of times this is the simplest thing but also tends to be last thing checked.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Best tool for cleaning carbs $60 at HD.

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Hey, that's the same bath the jewelry stores use to clean jewelry.

I've let ethanol **** up more equipment than I care to admit. I KNOW better, and it still happens. Motorcycles, generators, boat motors, anything with a carb, I've killed that thing with ethanol. Man, **** ethanol.

This thread served as a good reminder to go ahead and order some of the supplies I made a list of things for generator during the storm for redundancy, especially since it became an artery for "survival":

Carb Cleaner
Starting Fluid
Extra air filter for Generator
Extra Carb assembly for Generator
Extra Spark Plug
Extra set of fuel lines
Extra pull string

The first two are mostly for other people. Every damn storm like this I run into several folks that have issues with their generators. While it's not my responsibility to fix it, it would be nice to maybe help and/or help clean mine if for some reason I screwed up on maintenance.

Yeah, you usually end up having to take the carb part and soak it in parts cleaner or mineral spirits and scrub and brush out all the passages and jets.

Ethanol separation always creates a mess. I try to remember to run my equipment dry at the carbs before I store it.

On the right side is feed to tank and depressing the clips allows you to slide the clamp back up the hose.

On the left is feed to carb and hose is smaller and clamp is tighter, it wont budge. There's barely 2 finger widths of hose before the body. I'm mildly concerned if it get it off, I won't be able to get it back on.



EDIT never mind, got it, not the filter.

Going to buy a new carb

Dumb question - if you can't get it back on, are you in a worse position than you are now?

I'd imagine some persuasion will be needed for the line to be removed and a combination of pliers and then pulling and maybe twisting from the filter housing (assuming that's what it is) will be needed. Almost makes you want to replace those clamps with hose clamps too but they can get stuck on too.

Good luck!

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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Dumb question - if you can't get it back on, are you in a worse position than you are now?

I'd imagine some persuasion will be needed for the line to be removed and a combination of pliers and then pulling and maybe twisting from the filter housing (assuming that's what it is) will be needed. Almost makes you want to replace those clamps with hose clamps too but they can get stuck on too.

Good luck!

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No, I wouldn't be worse off. I just switched from needle nose pliers to lineman pliers and was able to move it. Just needed more grip.

I also use a stick transfer pump which makes moving fuel easy. Those new gov't red gascans are so terrible.

Glad you got it off! I cannot stand the new gas cans! I finally picked up some funnels but never used them because power came back on. I cannot stand taking 3 minutes to empty a 5 gallon gas can into my generator. Or I just need to go pick up the VP racing cans and call it a win.

Everything ordered, and added in more gaskets, air filters, spark plugs etc.... I'll come back to this in a week or so to detail the swap and cleaning.

Thanks for everything!

I have a portable generator for home use during emergencies. Has worked well so far.

It's an electric start, so how do I keep the 12 volt sealed battery from draining? Just disconnect and store indoors, or keep it on a trickle charger?

Start it once a month or so, that'll charge the battery but also keep the rest of the generator ready to go, which is more important than the battery.

Motorcycle battery charger / maintainer w/ a pigtail plugin is an option.