Briggs p2200 generator

[phaxtris]

So ive had this generator for quite a few years, but it has minimal hours, maybe 30 or 40. I went to go use it 2 or 3 months ago, and no luck, just pulls and pulls, no puffs, nothing, Ok, bad gas, replace the gas, still nothing, try ether, nothing, replace the plug, nothing, check for spark, it has good spark, ok, fuel directly in the cylinder, i get the odd puff, maybe i flooded it, clean the carb, still nothing. Played with it for a few hours and eventually put it in the shed. Here comes today, rainy, windy, might as well try for the hail mary, ill check the valve clearances, who knows, i have nothing to loose....welll

Broken rocker arm! what the heck? the first attempt to weld it broke immediately on the first pull, hmm. Valve is stuck? its been sitting inside the whole time its been stored, what the heck....what to do....well eventually i figured what the heck do i have to loose, love tapped the valve free, back and forth a few times to get it running again. welded up the rocker arm again, assemble it...drop the rocker arm pivot pin into the depths of the generator.....

tear it apart, reinstall, fires right up! but i dont really trust that will survive any length of time , so i re-enforced the arm with some flat bar, hopefully itll continue to work a long while now

anyways, a little ghetto, but i cant find a source for the rocker arm, and i dont really want to spend money on a new to me one, so there she is, things you can do with a welder

 

[David]

Probably a result of that high lift cam on stock valve springs and bumping into the rev limiter too many times.
Kids these days

 

[DPittman]

So ive have this generator for quite a few years, but it has minimal hours, maybe 30 or 40. I went to go use it 2 or 3 months ago, and no luck, just pulls and pulls, no puffs, nothing, Ok, bad gas, replace the gas, still nothing, try ether, nothing, replace the plug, nothing, check for spark, it has good spark, ok, fuel directly in the cylinder, i get the odd puff, maybe i flooded it, clean the carb, still nothing. Played with it for a few hours and eventually put it in the shed. Here comes today, rainy, windy, might as well try for the hail mary, ill check the valve clearances, who knows, i have nothing to loose....welll

Broken rocker arm! what the heck? the first attempt to weld it broke immediately on the first pull, hmm. Valve is stuck? its been sitting inside the whole time its been stored, what the heck....what to do....well eventually i figured what the heck do i have to loose, love tapped the valve free, back and forth a few times to get it running again. welded up the rocker arm again, assemble it...drop the rocker arm pivot pin into the depths of the generator.....

tear it apart, reinstall, fires right up! but i dont really trust that will survive any length of time , so i re-enforced the arm with some flat bar, hopefully itll continue to work a long while now

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anyways, a little ghetto, but i cant find a source for the rocker arm, and i dont really want to spend money on a new to me one, so there she is, things you can do with a welder

Well good fix! Even if it is ghetto it has to be as good or better than the original to fail in such little use!

 

[Susquatch]

so there she is, things you can do with a welder

I sure am impressed! Wow! Well done sir!

 

[RobinHood]

Great job!

You had nothing to lose, as the rocker arm is a non-serviceable item and B&S does not sell it as a replacement part.

So welder to the rescue…

 

[PeterT]

What would make a valve stick so hard as to break the rocker?

 

[phaxtris]

What would make a valve stick so hard as to break the rocker?

it was never a great starter, so its possible the rocker arm had a crack from almost day one, and possibly when i tried to start it the one day it was stuck and that finished it off. The section that broke is also only 1/4 of 1/8th thick stamped steel, it looks like where it was folded in the stamping process created a notch . After putting it back together and setting the valve clearances it starts far better than it ever did, 1 maybe 2 pulls, minimum 4 pulls before. That's my theory anyways.

In any case im just glad its not scrap.

 

[djberta]

From Dave Freiburger don’t get it right, just get it running.

Ryan, great job. I have seen stuck valves. But usually with a lot of moisture. Exhaust valves with the exhaust left open to the rain on tractor engines. We bought a 54JD with that issue. Now in pieces. Is it worth remaking the rocker in a better metal? Or even stress releasing the one you made? As Rudy posted, nothing to lose and now you have a working gen again.

 

[David]

So I'm guessing the valve stuck shut and the rocker broke on start up?

 

[phaxtris]

From Dave Freiburger don’t get it right, just get it running.

Ryan, great job. I have seen stuck valves. But usually with a lot of moisture. Exhaust valves with the exhaust left open to the rain on tractor engines. We bought a 54JD with that issue. Now in pieces. Is it worth remaking the rocker in a better metal? Or even stress releasing the one you made? As Rudy posted, nothing to lose and now you have a working gen again.

yea me to, but it was unexpected, i kept this thing in a heated garage, and it was put away running, so a little unusual . I dont know if there is much improvement to be made, there isnt much room for a beefier rocker, i think its just a poor design of the rocker, there are millions of stamped steel rockers out clacking away problem free

So I'm guessing the valve stuck shut and the rocker broke on start up?

Thats my assumption as i put it away running, it didnt make even a puff on the first pull, so i think it broke as soon as the cam lob hit it

 

[slow-poke]

I have a similar generator Coleman but larger (6000) with B&S engine. It was free abandoned at the curb on garbage day three doors down. Looked pretty much new probably used once but old gas. Cleaned the carb and I have now used it about 10 times. Starts okay. Very noisy. I don't trust it, just seems like a POS.

I also have an older non inverter Honda same size. Starts like a Honda (usually first pull) it feels like it will last forever I would not call it quiet but it's about half as noisy as the B&S.

Seems to me that the producers of these generic big box home generators are well aware that most users will use them very rarely so they just need to last past the short warranty which is typically 20-30 hours of actual use for the average use it once or twice and then park it until the next power outage type home owner.

I think they are worth about as much as I paid;-)

 

[Susquatch]

I have two. Both Honda's. They are both jewels.

A 3000is that I bought after the big blackout when everything was on the subsequent fire sale.

A 2000is that i got to power my travel trailer off grid.

I hardly ever use the 3000 anymore. The 2000 is much more portable and provides enough juice to run the sump pump, freezers, & fridge. Not all at once of course, but staging is not really a problem when you have no mains anyway. I didn't even bother hooking into the mains. I just run an 12G extension cord to wherever the power is needed. Starts first pull unless its been sitting for 6 months. Then it might take a half dozen to prime it