Honda generator eu3000is start manually but not with electric starter

Question

my honda eu3000is generator work well and start only with the recoil string. The battery is charged and starter crank when I turn the key but so spark no start with electric starter. Once again start immediately when I pull on the recoil string!! One chap on YouTube has the same problem but no solution 😕 any one found out what is the cause? Thank you for you help

Answer 1

My gut is telling me, when you turn the switch to utilize the starter motor, it is also grounding out the ignition circuit at the same time, causing it not to start. I'm assuming your Honda engine, like most small engines, has a magneto ignition. On these, to kill the engine, you actually ground the ignition circuit. This bypasses all electrical discharge from the magneto directly to ground bypassing the spark plug. What I'm thinking may be the problem is, when you turn the switch to "start" the generator, it actually grounds this circuit like what you'd do to kill the engine, thus not allowing it to start with the starting switch, but would allow you to start it while pulling on the cord.

To test my theory you'd need to directly energize the starter instead of using the switch. You'd need to use a fairly healthy piece of wire from the positive battery post to the stud on the starter. If it starts this way, that'd prove my hypothesis. If it does start this way, it could be the switch causing it, but you'd need to test it further to know for sure.