Low Compression Powermate Pulse Generator Pulled From the Trash

[@jesterr7133]

That is why I fell in love with small engines. There is nothing more rewarding than pulling one of someone's trash and bringing back to life again. It never gets old.

[@gerryj8839]

I used to tell my wife that James was my Small Engine Spirit Animal. Now, I say he's like the Bob Ross of small engines! Love these videos!

[@polishhotdog933]

🙄

[@DanKoning777]

Based on the comments I've read both past/present, it's clear there's no shortage of people that you've helped. Imo you'd of made an effective teacher in a literal classroom setting. Always glad to see a new upload from JC, and I'm looking forward to the next video-that and seeing 250k subs in the near future.

[@PaulMack1249]

Hey, Jim, you inspired me to fix something. So I just dug into my wife’s broken upright vacuum cleaner. The only problem is I couldn’t find a compression release circuit. 😂 Happy holidays, my friend!

[@kd5byb]

🤣🤣🤣 that's awesome!

[@walter2990]

Too funny..., unless she was expecting you to fix it! May be time for a Craig's List treasure find!?

[@woodhonky3890]

I was surprised by the amount of carbon in the combustion chamber. Makes me wonder if the previous owner had to run it with the choke partially closed. Or maybe incomplete combustion from the tight exaust valve. You saved another one from the scrap heap!

[@ickipoo]

Wonder if someone ran it on 2-stroke fuel?

[@RiverratGoRVing]

James, I just sold the 1850 Colman for $50 that I had for more years than I can remember and was always a cold-blooded , which I informed new owner. But it never failed to start or run. On one Santana wind event here in SoCal, it ran 4 days straight, keeping mine and 2 neighbors' refrigerators running. Great save, and it will do the job and run reliable. It just needs oil and gas. Have a Happy New York and a very Good Up Coming Year. Keep Posting.

[@lnk4328]

I bought mine new for $399.00 in November of 1998. Always started on first pull, but disappointed to see the high THD.

[@michaelmathews295]

You did Eric O's "No Mercy Reversey" on that headbolt. Well done.👏

[@cndream1]

Where in the world does Jason keep finding these things ??? Everyday I keep my eyes on the lookout scavaging. I dont find anything even close or a tenth of what he keeps digging up

[@ericvaughn1126]

I believe Jim has said that Jason has a connection, or perhaps works at, the local dump.

[@comeasyouare4545]

You'd be surprised what winds up at the dump. Well now they're called recycling centers. When I was a young many years ago, I did pretty well repairing all sorts of things I found at the dump and selling them at a local auction.

[@JOHNDANIEL1]

Jason is not real, it's James's alter ego, like Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne!

[@ericvaughn1126]

@JOHNDANIEL1 😁👍👍

[@ronaldbrown5745]

A lot of good items end up at the dump due to a moving event and can’t take it with them.

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

You just demonstrated something I’ve been saying for years James, the difference between an average mechanic and a really good mechanic is their diagnosis skills. Any mechanic can fire the parts canon and replace parts but it takes real skill to be able to diagnose a problem accurately and therefore reduce the cost of both parts and labor. I would have taken one look at that jet and said it’s clean and it only took a tiny scrape with the drill bit to fix the problem. I probably would have replaced the carburettor. Well done and cheers.

[@rstephe]

Thank you, Jason for finding a diamond in the rough and saving this from filling a landfill. Great work, James.

[@the1spyderryder]

There are two I found Musty1 several years ago then one day there was James. Thanks James another awesome video.

[@zygmuntwitort8543]

At your full load 1500 W + 100W volts are down to 105, so your output is no longer 1600W and real output is down to around 1423 W. The generator starts limiting itself out of max power. Do you agree? I like very much your videos. You are very professional.

[@terrykohlman7355]

Around 4 minutes in and I'm already clicking the Like button! I really enjoy these kinds of video and James' are top notch. Thanks

[@alharrington7969]

Good morning Jim. Hope you and your family had a great Christmas. Another great video. Love your channel.

[@old-n-still-runnin1597]

Another great video! I love those old flat head Briggs. As a kid in the late 60's we would ride our bikes down the alleyways and picked up mowers put out for the trash. Most of the fixes were so simple. We made nice money during the summer selling the fixes! Thanks for the nostalgia rush! Oh yeah the gas tank seems to have quite a bit of wobble back and forth in your last test.

[@jefferyrightmire9520]

You are a great mechanic. It is because you do your research and take your time repairing these machines. They were designed for the last 30 years with a factor called design obsolescence, which makes it even better that you override the status quo. Older machines were built a lot better and could use a bit of retrofit, but still are fit-- for their jobs--

[@Barracuda48082]

So patient we all are. Thank you James C for spending a class day with us. You deserve a coffee and take the family out for a nice dinner. He's a magic man..

[@coaterdave]

Dirty power and all, it was still cool to watch you bring it back to life. Also good to see that some folks take care of their little genys.

[@JR-bj3uf]

I just had to smile when that engine banged off on the second pull. Well done!

[@mjg263]

Wow, I thought that was a junk engine with a fatal rod knock for sure! Never would’ve guessed that it could be brought back to life and work as designed. Excellent video as always, James!

[@pete.i7057]

Thank you James for educating us through 2024 and saving so much stuff from scrap. That has got to be the poorest design ever, looks like the accountant did it. Well done for persevering and look forward to more learning in '25. Happy New Year.

[@matthiaspaulsen5883]

Nice Generator. I got the same one 1,5 Years ago from a Yunkyard. Its a Endress Generator with Briggs & Stratton Engine. 230V, 50Hz, 1500W. All I had to do is replacing the Capacitor, and it runs. The green colour is the same as yours, but the Airfilter and Housing of mine is like your other Machine. To avoid the Vibrations of the Fuel Tank, i took a piece of Rubber down below, and clamped it. Greetings from Germany! 🙋‍♂

[@larrykelly2838]

The surgeon was at it again, great video.

[@jimmyg6215]

That genny was doing the gas tank shuffle😂. Nice to see it back to life.

[@wildefox1478]

That generator just needed a valve adjustment to get it up and running again, not bad for a machine that was thrown away and had no compression, very nice work James!

[@ralphcrume2173]

I bought a machine like that At Sams years ago. It lived in the bed of my truck for about 15 years before it finally gave up. We used it almost daily for running skill saws an drills. I thought it was a great machine for what i needed

[@hectorarroyo2285]

Hello Mr. James. Excellent video, good job, that generator was brand new and complete for being 1994... thanks for giving all the information and showing us how to repair and maintain our generators... I also wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I hope your KZbin project continues to move forward... my best wishes, best regards from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷...

[@daryelljeffries7861]

A new video the day after Christmas, best gift ever! Thanks James

[@paulcalhoun6339]

Every vid is like a Master’s class in small engines.

[@jimyeske8498]

Another great video! Myself, I prefer to clean the top end and lap the valves before setting the valve clearance. You were fortunate to get all the head bolts out. I’ve broken a few in my past! That is basically the end of the project! 🙂

[@johna.s.3847]

That flat head engine will outlast the newer ohv engines even though it may not be as efficient. Simplicity. Great video.

[@davidgilpin5200]

Nice rescue, James. This little gennie would be OK to run an incandescent light stand, maybe a corded drill or saw. With that nasty looking quasi-sine wave and enormous THD, I'd advise against running LED lights or even cordless battery chargers - don't forget that LED lights contain capacitors and sometimes other components, and most battery chargers for cordless devices these days are "smart", contain charge controller chips, capacitors, and inductors.

[@tabelq]

I agree. So at this time what can power this dirty be used for? Other than incandescent lights. Could an old “dumb” car battery charger be used to charge a lead-acid which in turn would charge a lithium battery bank? Lots of conversion losses, sure, but I’m trying to see a use for these old thrown away gems.

[@ivanhorban340]

James, I use a square hardwood block with a valve guide size drilled perpendicular in the block. I then sand the valve end on the disc portion of my belt sander. I lap the valves first, measure the overall length and then sand one valve down the required amount. I then check in the block and continue until I have required clearance. Then repeat for the next valve. Valve recession is a problem in newer engines.

[@wingracer1614]

Back in the 90s I built 5hp Briggs for kart racing. One of my customers was a master machinist but knew nothing about how to make power out of ICE engines so he bought my motors. One day he came by with a present for me. It was a custom made fixture that held a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel, a valve, an indicated adjustment wheel to set the valve length and a dial indicator. You could put the valve in it, zero it then dial in exactly how much to take off. Saved me a LOT of time and effort. Kind of overkill but when you have to do it 4-6 times a day, it was awfully nice.

[@davidbarr1579]

James, thank you for making these videos. Your hands on approach to teaching small engine repair is excellent and very easy to follow. In a future video, I would like to see you diagnose and repair a home backup generator like a Kohler, Generac, or surplus military generator.

[@raysmancave1]

I own an old pulse i bought it second hand in 2095 I use it to run power tools from my van, I fitted a bit of rubber weather strip between the case and the fuel tank, my one rubbed a hole in the tank with vibration. I stuck a patch with epoxy over the hole, the machine is still running strong. It doesn't matter if the power is dirty in my case as the generator only drives drills and grinders etc which it copes with easily. But thanks for the video showing how to dismantle the machine, luckily as yet no problems except for the tank, oil, filters and 1 spark plug..

[@electricboatal]

I have one of these generators and I never thought it was very good. I suspected that it was dirty power so I only used it for lighting on my farm. I replaced it with a 2000 watt Honda and put it on the shelf. It always ran well but the Honda is much better and I could use it for electronics as well.

[@earlwarren2265]

Good job Jim. Thanks for the view.

[@waynedavies3185]

I own an identical one just like this. Picked it up a a second hand store a few years back. Problem was it requires a valve job as it had no compression . Needed cab work as well and a good electrical system cleanup. Parts are super hard to find so be very careful when doing work on them. It took quite a bit to get the valves seating right and closing p[roperly but I as able to do it. From there everything else was quite easy to get back into proper operating oder. It now runs like a dream for an old machine. I liked it so much I kept it. It now starts on two pulls. It's was built in the same year as tis one shown here. Repair was successful. Like I said I still have it and it looks just as good as the one shown here.

[@mbazzy123]

Thanks!

[@jcondon1]

Thanks!

[@mbazzy123]

@@jcondon1 For the education you have provided to me, its the least I could do. Happy new year.

[@jcondon1]

Thanks, Happy New Year

[@martyb3783]

Its always so interesting watching you diagnose and repair these machines. I have learned so much. I try to diagnose issues before I hear what you think the problem is. I am getting better at it. Thanks for that. Happy New year!

[@brianwood5220]

Another excellent episode, James. Your knowledge is only exceeded by your skill. Thanks for sharing this great comeback with us.

[@willybeeish]

Thanks James - a real masterclass in mini generator revival. May 2025 be a bright one for you. Bill B - UK.

[@cliffordreynolds1835]

May 2025? But it's not even January 2025...

[@SpotlightSynthesis]

Hey James another excellent video. I would love to see you do a video specifically explaining how to fine tune different types of carbs. What to look out for in terms of how the engine should run, sound etc.

[@5t3v3n12343211]

Would love a video talking about power/signal quality, not too sure about all that stuff and would love to learn, keep up the awesome videos!

[@tonync_60]

Another can't take your eyes away video. Thanks for what you do and Happy Holidays to you and your family! 😃

[@zonie70]

I did little research . The day the engine was built ,. June 3 1994 WAS a friday ! 😊

[@P_RO_]

"Is it time to punch out and go home yet? Sheesh...."

[@Barracuda48082]

Ha! Liquid lunch maybe?

[@neiltheplayer]

As a suggestion, you might be able to use some tubing over the needle so you can adjust in situ. that cutout would privide enough clearance, and, when done and final, you just pull the tubing out and voila. Thank you for posting James. Merry Christmas

[@wingracer1614]

Absolutely would work. But I would be leery of putting such a thing on a customer's generator. They might be tempted to screw with it and end up blowing the thing up.

[@dantyler6907]

The smokw is probably from the disassembly, cleaning and reassembly. Not a serious issue, I'd bet. Probably stops ALL smoking after a bit..

[@stevewhite4621]

Good job with the explanation of what you are doing. Good find on the plaque in the jet.

[@jldwolfe]

As soon as you pulled the cover off I knew that was a model 9. Love those little engines on mini bikes

[@johncourtneidge]

Excellent, again, James. Our thanks to you, Jason, the unkown 'donors' and to the donor of the lft, all thosee many months' ago! Onwards!

[@davidbgraham461]

Nice to see my favourite pullover, James. That is still looking good !

[@hectorarroyo2285]

¡Gracias!

[@jcondon1]

Thanks!

[@txfarmer7463]

I like how you explain what you are doing, and what each item does. I diy small engines and have learned more from watching your videos. 👍🏽👍🏽

[@dljones61]

About 15 years ago we had a wind storm here in Oregon and took the power out in my area for a few days. I borrowed one just like the gray one from my parents and hooked it up to my more basic gas furnace to get the house warmed up, it ran the blower motor enough to fire off the heater for a day or so, I did notice the furnace was quieter running but didn't know that low power was a bad thing. When the grid power came back the motor was fried, I guess it was running but similar to brown out condition. Lesson learned.

[@jcondon1]

HVAC equipment seems to be most prone to failure when voltage, hertz or THD go out of range.

[@danielruta8769]

Merry Christmas James

[@blakestone8088]

I have the same unit, I bought mine new, I've had no issues with it Yet... Now I know what to lookout for I do have a Roto-Hoe's B/S that I can't get to run, It's on the rebuild list I just switched out the Motor with a spare I had for now Good Troubleshooting - It Live's! thx James

[@CanDriveSoon]

I usually stick with a brass brush for removing carbon, it does not chew into the aluminum much if at all. The circles on the top of the piston were almost totally sanded off here.

[@jdboy9]

Yep brass cone brush in drill works great.

[@jesterr7133]

Someone definitely laid this machine on it's side at some point. I have gotten several mowers out of the trash that ran like this on first startup. Oil gets everywhere when they are laid over, and you just have to burn it off.

[@v-g-z3689]

This seems to be a very nice unit, compact and powerful, and a Flathead engine is always a plus when it comes to reliability and lifespan. Only thing I´m missing here is an AVR, but tother than that, this was an excellent episode!

[@10forthebigguy753]

Seafoam works well for cleaning up varnished carburetors.

[@dirtyroofer3678]

Oven cleaner works pretty good on that thick carbon i use sprayway oven cleaner , great job james

[@toddosterhout9866]

Great repair as always. Love the meticulous repair. I wouldn't have thought about putting a micro drill bit through the main jet to clean it up

[@2OO_OK]

I think that pilot screw is an air bleed not fuel supply. So to enrich the mixture turn the pilot screw inward clockwise.

[@mraaron12341]

Thank you James. Happy Christmas to you.

[@gregorythomas333]

I would definitely use this generator...for anything other than sensitive electronics...very nice machine considering the age :)

[@lynnh7694]

I'm glad they sent your video my way. I like this kind of stuff .

[@sjanninck]

Great save on this one! It might electronically rough around the edges, but could run a sump pump in a power outage rainstorm!

[@benjamincresswell3713]

Hello James, Another fine quality video. If I may make some observations: 1). FLOAT LEVEL I never see anyone check float level. Float level can easily change due to the composition seat degrading over time or some kind of fuel additive attacking it. Also the needle may attain an indentation from sitting against the seat for long periods of time if it's Viton tipped. And there could be a buildup of gasoline residue much like you suspected the highspeed jet became clogged with. Those things could be responsible for a lean A/F ratio just as much and easily more than the adjustment of the idle speed mixture screw. On my Holley Carburetors there is a screw on the side of the float bowl that can be removed to verify that the fuel level is correct. Back in the day, the bowl screw was removed, and much like your B&S oil level should be right at the top of the threads, the fuel should just weep out of the hole. And #2). The Foam Rubber part of the air filter medium missing may be partially to blame for lean A/F as the intake air will be less restricted. I believe you have talked about that in previous videos. And in some cases, the original A/F ratio was adjusted for gasoline that was quite different than it is now. All of these things can change the dynamics that make up the A/F ratio. And last but not least, if you put some Techron, made by Chevron, in a 10X richer mixture than the bottle recommends, IT WILL CLEAN THAT RESIDUE RIGHT OUT OF THERE WITH TIME. I am a big believer in Techron, I've seen it fix small engines that are hunting/ surging when no mechanical repairs were made. I don't work for Chevron, but I probably should! It's available at Walmart and every auto parts store and I believe as of this writing Napa Auto is selling it in 12oz bottles for $5.00 and that is a cheap fix if 'n you axe me. OK, FB young man, carry on and I hope I helped someone too. ben/ michigan PS I had an earlier model of that little B&S engine on my Go-Kart, it was a great engine, no governor EVER and I ran it WOT just as fast as it would go.

[@wingracer1614]

Yeah being 90s, I'm sure it was tuned for straight gasoline, not E10. Needs to be a touch richer for ethanol bearing fuels.

[@Rein_Ciarfella]

Everyone else - hard to start, took 5-15 pulls. James - hard to start, took two pulls. 😂😉🔧👍

[@jesterr7133]

You never know what people do with generators when they buy them. I picked up a 2000 watt generator about a year ago with an 04/05 production date that had never been out of the box. Who buys a brand new generator, keeps it for 18 years, and never uses it? I recently picked up a 16 year old push mower that was only used once. The original owner bought it, overfilled it with oil, used it til it quit, and then just parked it and never touched it again. It looks brand new once I cleaned it up, and essentially is. Despite it's age, this generator might have only been used a couple of times. You just never know.

[@frankwrogg2515]

I have a two year old duramax 13000 for the house and never did start it our put fuel in it. I'm just waiting for the day i need it, if ever.

[@habana7638]

@@frankwrogg2515 And then hope it works?, not really smart..

[@lnk4328]

@@habana7638 Plus, shouldn't it be broken in before putting it to use?

[@sebastiannielsen]

Propably they bought the generator as emergency, but no emergency happened for 18 years, so they had no use of it. Kind of like an fire extinguisher. You buy it for peace of mind, and never need to use it.

[@wingracer1614]

When I lived in VA, we once bought a generator just because it was a screaming deal and figured it might come in handy one day. It sat in the garage unopened, new in the box for 6 years, never needed it. Then that hurricane came through around 2002 or so. I opened it up, put it together, oil and fuel, battery was dead (it had electric start) but also had a pull start and fired right up on the 3rd or 4th pull. That thing ran a full 10 days straight before they got the power back on. I was even able to get the battery charged and working. Only had to use it one more time a couple years later and that was only for a few hours. I gave it to a friend of mine when I moved to FL a few years later. He still has it but has never had to use it.

[@DatBlueHusky]

any engine i work on around 2000's and later, i always always make the jet slightly bigger when i clean it with those torch tip cleaners. The EPA emissions here make engines run lean as possible from factory and making the jet bigger always makes them run way better and lasting longer.

[@watermanone7567]

Excellent video, All of the carbon looks like someone used the wrong oil in it. Thanks for the video.

[@dadskrej5226]

Is the 'dancing gas tank' a bonus feature? Or is it the video that makes it look like it's dancing? Anyway...cool video James!

[@darrenmarrable2530]

I had it down for 3 pulls. 😂 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Love your channel. Always learning😊

[@knowone6214]

that's one of the better Breaks and Scrappems....should run great for a long time....James...with few problems....good job

[@darrelllitherland8880]

outside of color and brand name this looks just like the coalman power mate 1600 ive been working on .

[@jesterr7133]

One trick I have found for carbs is to buy a clone and use it to fix the OEM one. I recently had a machine with a Nikki carb that had a needle and seat assembly failure. The rebuild kit was $61, and the needle and seat assembly had to be purchased separately. Since a clone carb was available for $18, I purchased a clone carb and used the gaskets and needle and seat assembly from it to fix the OEM carb. I kept all the OEM jetting, but used the clone parts to fix the non essential parts, and did it for less than a fourth of what it would have cost me to purchase the OEM rebuild kit.

[@MazichMusic]

That's works if the clone is exact. I tried that with a clone on my generator and I ended up using the new clone. The OEM carb was too far gone.

[@j.m.5995]

I don't know if it would be correct to say a carburetor has "non essential parts". If its on there it's probably for a reason

[@kevinturley6673]

I am always blown away by the things you can do, thank you for your videos

[@PhilipHathaway-r3p]

I like your new set up to machine down valves. Much better than using the side of a grinder wheel.

[@iandennis7836]

Hi Jim, hope Christmas was good for you and yours........now, let's get going on this😁

[@YukonHawk1]

Once left for dead comes back to life. Well done James.🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@whatdoyouthinktodd]

So I was wondering. What James did for work, still or after KZbin came along? I'm just curious. It still amazes me. What backgrounds people have and end up doing on KZbin. I don't really have a KZbin channel. But it was a machinist for 35 years before I retired. But I think I would be one of those guys that cut lawns for free on KZbin If I really wanted to spend that much time on KZbin.

[@rogercollins2653]

3 pulls. Engine sounding healthy. After some tweeks and dialing it in.

[@Madison-in-da-house]

Another video another fixed generator. Always enjoy Thursday mornings cause I know a new fix is in store.

[@Rein_Ciarfella]

On having to ream out that main jet - I run every carb through the ultrasonic for two 30-minute cycles, rotating all the parts halfway through. I’ve always thought your very short runs were much too short and this particular time bears that out.

[@rodneymiddleton9624]

The ones I've had ran at partial choke until it warmed up but under load it ran perfect. Those are really good little machines in a pinch. I sold all 3 of the ones I had after hurricane Helene. Thanks!

[@Maurice1151]

Good job again. Bit weird with the stator bolts and the tin covers. Certainly in excellent condition.

[@BryanBelman-d1f]

Super awesome video, we are the same DNA. I hope to find one of these in the trash soon. I have learned a lot from this video.

[@drunkingsailor2359]

Merry Christmas Condon Family

[@ClemBunce]

The noise you herd was the carbon build up hitting the head. I have seen it before. been there done that.

[@Craig1967]

Excellent video as always. I have one suggestion: When testing capacitors, there are two factors - the uF which in this case was right on the money, and the other is ESR. Equivelent Series Resistance. The capacitor in a brushless generator limits the amount of current going into the field coil of the rotor. I had to figure that out on my own - seems there is very little explanation on Google. I am wondering if the capacitor had a higher than normal ESR, if that would cause the power to be so dirty. Looking at the scope, you can clearly see the second and third harmonics. Happy Holidays!

[@MarkParshall-mg2fv]

The capacitor on this is a "plastic" cap i.e polyester or polypropylene. Under normal circumstanses they can last a lifetime. Most of these gens have electrolytic caps which use a paste dielectric which dry up over time and result in a dead short. These high voltage caps can be "reformed" by applying a controlled voltage or reduced constant current which over several hours will revearse the problem, which is what I would suggest with any tube type electronic gear like audio amplifiers which have not been powered up for one or more years. I have a number of vintage tube guitar and stereo amps that I collect and just have in storage. I would never just plug it in and turn it on. Always slowly ramp up on a variac while monitoring the current draw. The problem is that the dead short of the caps can ruin the expensive and sometimes irreplaceable power and audio output tranformers. Long live tubes!

[@johnburns5783]

Nice video again James. Merry Christmas to you and your family 👍👍

[@colinevans7134]

You done a really good job, Colin from London England ❤

[@woody95124]

Another fine excellent job James..Cheers

[@namvet-l8m]

17:30 I'm curious about spinning the engine with the end of the rotor shaft not supported. 1:15:25 Wow, just that little bit of clearance in the jet fixed the surging!

[@troyyarbrough]

I almost bought that generator model about 10 years ago. After watching your video I'm glad I didn't.

[@AvaPxiaO]

One reservation, running without a complete and oiled filter makes it slightly leaner. Since it also has a foam outter layer and drawing oil vapor from the engine it is possible to get too rich.

[@FerFBDiaz]

Gracias por tus videos traducidos al Español👏👏👏, gran trabajo, saludos desde España👌👍

[@suburban404]

Prospero ano Nuevo!