northstar generator problem

[danny_565]

Hi all

been having a few issues with my my lamp for a while now. when i try to light it the fuel runs down the generator and onto the tank, when it does finally light get a lot of flames for about 30 seconds then it calms down. also i have to turn the valve on/off loads of times to get fuel to come out.

i have stripped the genny apart and cleaned it and it doesn't look that dirty. but i have turned the lamp on with just the genny screwed in and the fuel seems to ooze out instead off a jet.

i know a genny is only £9 but i want to make sure that is the problem first.

Thanks

dan

[the ambassadeur]

Usually, a good soak in clean petrol and a clean with a pipe cleaner can sort out any of the usual problems. Sounds like it's faulty or damaged.

[milo]

Originally Posted by danny_565

Hi all

been having a few issues with my my lamp for a while now. when i try to light it the fuel runs down the generator and onto the tank, when it does finally light get a lot of flames for about 30 seconds then it calms down. also i have to turn the valve on/off loads of times to get fuel to come out.

i have stripped the genny apart and cleaned it and it doesn't look that dirty. but i have turned the lamp on with just the genny screwed in and the fuel seems to ooze out instead off a jet.

i know a genny is only £9 but i want to make sure that is the problem first.

Thanks

dan

same happens with mine but the jet is fine, doesn't ooze out like yours, i do get the fuel issue where you have to mess about with the nob to get it going, if i were you get a new generator, and see if that helps a bit, i take then glass off to lite mine because it flames up too and screw it back on when the flame settles, this will stop the glass from getting blacked out, just make sure the mantle is out of the wind when u do light it up. hope this helps, cheers bud.

[arran44]

the same happened with mine. once i got it started properly i left it on for about 10 minutes and turned it off. after it'd cooled down i tried turning it on and it start up fine with no fuel running down the generator.

though i did clean it out before i tried that. i took the spring out of the generator and checked that etc but didnt seem to of changed. might of just been bunged up with crap out of petrol.

[MikeR]

Replace the generator, use coleman fuel after that. The problem is the fuel additives in our unleaded petrol. I've read before that alternating between 2 tanks of unleaded and 1 of coleman fuel can also work.

Seems like an American product that really isn't that compatitble with the Europe market (the dual fuel part).

[simon b]

the lamp ive got at the mo is about 4yrs old the secret in my books is, allways use the filter when you fill up the tank, its a must, one minute partical and it causes problems, only other way is to strip it down and blow it through an air line ......si

[Krakov]

MikeR is correct - the problem is caused by all the additives in unleaded fuel clogging up the jet and the needle valve.

Whilst you can clean the jet by using a specialist degreaser ( I use one from the Por15 range that I primarily use when renovating bike carbs ) it doesn't always work as the heat tends to harden the deposits. If you try cleaning the jet with a bit of wire or pipe cleaner you will damage it & it won't work properly anyway.

As you've already found, you can use it for a fair while after it starts getting dodgy by simply opening and closing the valve until it works properly. However, if the petrol is dribbling down the generator I'd say it's time for a replacement.

I treat the generator as a consumable now, and replace it every couple of years. I did think about using coleman fuel, but the cost of that against unleaded and replacing the generator periodically didn't stack up.

[danny_565]

thanks everyone some great replies there. Think it is defo the generator as when i remove it and open the valve the fuel pores out freely.

Time to stop being a pikey and spend a tenner i think!

cheers again
dan