Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Coleman portable generator
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Jack B.
07-17-09, 11:51 AM
I gotten a Coleman Powermate Vantage 3500 portable generator in with the complaint that it was blowing light bulbs. I cranked it up and I could tell that it was over-speeding badly. I checked the RPM's and it was running at approximately 6000 RPM. I've never worked on one of these before but I would suspect the governor. Any ideas? The numbers on the engine are B&S m-115432, t-008101, c-76850184. The numbers on the unit are m-PM0473503, s/n-76850184.
BFHFixit
07-17-09, 12:29 PM
Can you regulate the speed by manually operating the throttle valve on the carb? Could be the butterfly is stuck open and or damaged loose missing screws....
i6pwr
07-18-09, 09:24 AM
Can you post a pic of the carb linkage, could there be a spring missing that is inline with the linkages? I'm not sure how well built these engines are to take that kind of RPM.
Jack B.
07-18-09, 08:59 PM
I found the problem. It looks like someone dropped something on the speed controls and bent the bracket down holding the "choke solenoid" to the point that it was holding the carburetor throttle plate approximately 3/4 open. I'm still not sure what the choke solenoid does other than that's what it's called on the IPL. I'm just hoping it hasn't done some internal damage.