onan generator

[sunny1955]

Just sold the 1991 van- pick up is wed, but he said the generator doesn't work- is was working before but the float valve in the gas tank is stuck and the tank shows empty even when it has gas. The question is will the generator believe the gas gauge and not run thinking the tank is empty?? I think it might be the problem, but not sure where else to ask. I know it won't run if the tank is under 1/4. Thanks for help.

[skater]

No, my fuel gauges rarely worked, and I never had a problem because of that.

There's probably something wrong with the generator - but we'd need to know more about how it's not running (fails to start, doesn't even try to start, stalls, etc.).

[EricZ]

My impression has always been that the gas-tank fuel intake for the generator is at the 1/4-full level, meaning that when the tank gets to 1/4 full, the generator sucks air instead of fuel. I've never verified that this is how it works, though.

Regardless of the mechanism, the purpose of the 1/4-tank limit is to avoid people leaving their generators running until the fuel tank is empty, then not being able to run the engine (to drive to a gas station, for example).

Perhaps your fuel tank actually IS below 1/4 full.

Otherwise, as skater said, we'd need to know more in order to help.

[skater]

My impression has always been that the gas-tank fuel intake for the generator is at the 1/4-full level, meaning that when the tank gets to 1/4 full, the generator sucks air instead of fuel. I've never verified that this is how it works, though.

It's worth noting the 1/4 tank thing isn't true for the B190s with two fuel tanks, like my '91 had. The generator pulled from the front tank and it would happily run that tank dry for you. I assume Airstream hooked them up correctly for vans with only one fuel tank, but if I had one I'd go underneath to trace that fuel line to be sure.