We weren't doing anything special, just running our battery charger for a bit. We noticed the change in the sound of the engine and noticed that the red overload light had come on and, while the engine was still running, it was no longer producing power (which is normal in "overload" situation).
After that, we had intermittent problems. We thought maybe it was the electric light we had plugged in because it worked OK the next time without the light and just running the charger. Fritzed again. With NOTHING plugged in, it still goes into overload mode. We performed various tests that we could and everything seems fine. A friend sent us bits of his shop manual which didn't give us a YOWZA That's It moment... In fact, most of the solutions were to "Call Technical Service" and this is for the guys in the shop.
I now declare that it is permenent and not intermittent as it hasn't worked in about 5 days. Darn.
We assume it is probably the inverter portion of the unit which was also the problem with the previous Honda. The inverter costs over $650 and how much more for the service of diagnosing the problem, buying and shipping the part, and installation, plus getting it to and from a service repair center?
We can buy a new Honda from Indiana for $899 including shipping to 47 states for free. He would ship it to Florida to VI Cargo for us.
But, do we want another Honda??? They are great while they work, but after having two quit...
I called the Honda car dealer (who, we've been told, also repairs generators) Friday afternoon but the store was closed, probably due to the Crucian Christmas Festival's Children's Parade. Many places close down for that. So Monday we'll see what they have to say, and then order the Honeywell.
If the Honda can be fixed, we'll sell one or the other. If not, I wonder if anyone wants our Honda for parts as the motor runs great. It would be a shame to throw it away.
So It Goes...
