Generator won't start after sitting in the shed all winter - carb issue?

Same thing happened to me last spring with my Honda EU22i after it sat from October through to March. Classic stale fuel gumming up the carb.

Few things worth trying before you pull the carb off completely:

• Drain the float bowl — there's usually a small screw at the bottom, let all the old fuel out
• Carb cleaner spray into the air intake while cranking (don't go mad with it)
• Fresh fuel — and if you're using E10 petrol, that stuff goes off fast, especially over winter. Switch to E5 if you can still find it
• Run some Briggs & Stratton carb cleaner through a fresh tank, it's cheap and works a treat

If none of that gets it firing, the jets are probably blocked and you'll need to actually strip it down. YouTube is your friend — most small gen carbs are dead simple, just fiddly. New carb kits on eBay are usually under a tenner.

Going forward, either run it dry before storage or use a fuel stabiliser like Sta-Bil. I dose every can of fuel now regardless, lesson well and truly learned after a £40 carb kit.

What gen is it? Some are easier to sort than others. Inverter gens tend to be fussier than the older open-frame types in my experience.

Anyone else got a preferred carb cleaner they swear by? Keen to know what others are using.

@OffGridDawn yeah the stale fuel thing is real — ethanol in UK petrol is brutal on carbs if left sitting.

Before pulling it apart, try this:

• Drain whatever's in the tank completely
• Spray some carb cleaner directly into the air intake and attempt a start
• Fresh fuel + a few drops of Marvel Mystery Oil can help free sticky float valves

If it fires briefly then dies, the main jet's almost certainly clogged. At that point the carb bowl's coming off whether you like it or not — honestly not a bad job, takes 20 mins once you've done it once.

Going forward, Briggs & Stratton fuel stabiliser in the tank before winter storage is a game changer. I dose mine every October now before the shepherd's hut generator gets mothballed.

Drained mine into a jam jar last autumn and the colour alone looked like something you'd find at the bottom of a Norfolk dyke — just run Briggs & Stratton's own carb cleaner through the bowl first before you commit to a full strip.

@NorfolkDweller that colour test is actually a decent quick diagnostic — fresh petrol is fairly clear/pale yellow, degraded stuff goes darker and smells sour.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet: the pilot jet. It's a tiny orifice and blocks before the main jet does. Even if you drain and refill with fresh fuel, a partial blockage there means it'll crank but not catch.

My EU22i lives in the shepherd's hut and I got caught out exactly once. Now I run it monthly through winter on fresh fuel — takes 10 minutes. Carb cleaner spray through the air filter intake before pulling the carb saves a lot of faff.

Also worth checking the spark plug hasn't fouled from the repeated failed start attempts. Cheap fix if that's it.

Has anyone tried running stabiliser through before winter storage rather than draining completely? Picked up some Briggs & Stratton fuel stabiliser last year but wasn't sure whether to trust it long-term — the generator in my shepherd's hut setup sat for about five months with treated fuel and seemed fine, but I've only done it the once.

Also worth asking — if the carb does need coming off, is it worth just replacing the whole unit rather than cleaning? I've seen pattern carbs on eBay for some Honda models for under a tenner. Any idea whether those are false economy or actually decent for occasional backup use?