questions on 500wi generator

I'm working on a Powerhouse 500Wi generator. Engine fires for a few seconds with starter fluid, but otherwise will not start. I'm about to dig into carburetor (tricky to extract from the unit) but had a few questions. See photos below.

1) Fuel comes from the tank, goes through a cutoff valve (not shown) and then enters into the mystery device shown in the photos. The mystery device has a hose which supplies fuel to the carburetor (via the fuel filter), and another hose which I believe is for breather purposes (it goes to a tee, and one hose from the tee goes to the intake manifold). The mystery device has no electrical connections. The carb intake is higher than the bottom of the fuel tank so I first thought this mystery device was some sort of pump, but not sure how it can operate. Any idea what this device is?

2) The carb (I can't read what make/model) has a pipe with nothing connected. Is this OK? Is this where an external primer hose would be hooked up if it were present?

Mystery device is a vacuum operated fuel pump

Hello Tim,

I ILENGINE has already answered your question.

If the generator has sat for a long time, the float needle is likely stuck, and the entire carb needs a good cleaning.

Is the oil level hi and full of old fuel?

Check out James Condon on You Tube. He has a lot of great generator repair videos. He corrects the electrical issue but also corrects a lot of carburetors on them.

Makes sense that the device is a fuel pump. Thanks for pointing that out. First time I have encountered such a device (I usually work on mowers, trimmers).

Oil level is at the upper level as defined by the user manual. I dumped the old, smelly fuel.

Finally got the carb pulled and it is all gummed up. I will attempt to clean. Only markings on the carb are "Keruidi 110". I'm not having much luck finding references to that carb on the internet.

It is a Chinese carburetor. Your best bet is to try Parts Tree using the model plate information off the generator.

Here is a parts link i found, but no pricing shown.