Setting up a governor

[Estam]

Homelite 3000/3500 Generator and have just replace the carburetor and believe it or not it fire right up.. lol
My issue is the rpm's go from hi to low continuously and slight pressure on the governor rod evens it out nicely.
I notice the spring just goes from each end of the rod. could this be the issue.

Regards,

Dave

 

[Rivets]

You are not going to like my reply, but I’ve got to say this. Your unit is a 120VAC, 60hz unit. If you adjust the RPMs without checking the hertz, you could very easily destroy any equipment plugged into it. To many times I’ve seen DIY guys adjust the governors to get the engine to run smooth, only to burn out equipment because they didn’t check the hertz level. Be careful when making any adjustments. That being said, I’m willing to bet that because the carb has been replaced you need to adjust either the carb or governor. Is the replacement carb an OEM or aftermarket? Aftermarket are very unreliable especially when used on a generator. RPMs on those units ran between 3000-3300, but more importantly the HERTZ need to be between 59.25-61 hz. Your hertz will change as the RPMs change.

 

[Estam]

Whats not to like..... Thanks .... it's an aftermarket and when I hold the governor/ throttle in a certain position it runs well and close to 60hz as I need.
I would like to have the governor hold that rpm and am concerned, as mentioned the spring situation as I think it should be attached to something
applying some tension to the governor arm. Am I correct and any suggestions on the procedure on setting up the governor?

 

[Rivets]

Not being able to see your exact unit setup it is very difficult to offer solid advice. Can you post some pictures so we can see what you are seeing. You may have to resize your pictures to attach them here, as most times they are too large, especially when taken with a phone, download them. Post all engine and unit numbers and I’ll see if I can find any diagrams or pictures.

 

[StarTech]

I would try doing the static governor adjustment. When you change carburetors sometimes the linkage position is changed as it might have been a loose and it moved as you remove the old carburetor.

Basic you move the throttle lever on the carb to full throttle while watching the linkage going to the governor bellcrank arm. Then you loose to the retainer on the bellcrank while holding the throttle at full, continue rotating the bellcrank in direction it as you moved the throttle lever, and then tighten the retainer. This should get the static adjustment done.

 

[Forest#2]

You asked:
I notice the spring just goes from each end of the rod. could this be the issue.
Not sure of your question here but here is some info that might help you.
This link is about how to adjust the governor SPRING sensitivity. You can search on-line and find more general info about such.

Adjust the Governor Droop

This bulletin covers the following Champion Power Equipment models: All Champion Power Equipment products instilled with a 717cc or 754cc engine. Please read all the instructions completely before pe…

help.championpowerequipment.com

What is the model number on the Honda gen?
How do you know it's running a 60 HZ when you hold the rod? Do you have a HZ meter or going by feel?

Just couple basics here as Rivets says:
Not knowing your model number:
Normally on a generator the governor spring has constant tension and some Honda's have a big Phillips screwdriver adjust or similar and the tension is increase on the governor spring to increase the HZ and decreased tension to reduce HZ and several holes in the gov arm or linkage so as to adjust the sensitivity of the governor. (sensitivity is how long it takes for the governor to stop hunting up/down when a 80% load is applied and removed) 3000 x 80%=2400 watts or around 2000 watts. The 3500 watts is for intermittent surge loads only.

You can probably get a general idea of such by searching on-line on how to adjust a emergency gen governor for correct Hertz.
Also it's quite common for the governor springs to become weak and require replacement and on the Honda's sometimes a thread locker (blue or green) has to be applied to the governor adjust screw so as vib's does not loosen the adjustment screw/nut.
Unloaded you need about 63hz and 58 when a 80% RESISTANCE LOAD is applied. (average of 60hz)
Resistance load is electric heating elements or light bulbs, not motors.

 

[Rivets]

Manuals say that the 3000/3500 Homelite generators are 60 hz. Only thing I forgot to say is that you need to set them under load. If you set the RPMs and hz outside the specs I posted, you’re risking burning up equipment when high loads are applied.

 

[OldDiyer]

No one has really answered the OPs real question of where the spring gets attached or did, I miss something. Seems they got a lot of good help but not an answer about the spring.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

No one has really answered the OPs real question of where the spring gets attached or did, I miss something. Seems they got a lot of good help but not an answer about the spring.

If your engine is hunting and surging, most likely a dirty carburetor, not a governor adjustment. Did you put a tachometer on it to checlean RPMs? Most generators are set up to run 3600 RPMs so that hertz is correct for under load.

 

[Forest#2]

No one has really answered the OPs real question of where the spring gets attached or did, I miss something. Seems they got a lot of good help but not an answer about the spring.

After reading this I edited post #6