Generac LP5500 / LP3250: Regulator Repair & Why These Generators Failed In The Market

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Bassguitarist1985

Күн бұрын

#generac #lp3250 #lp5500 #smallenginerepair #propanegenerator #propane
‪@jcondon1‬thank you for your video on the LP3250!
This is a rare model LP5500 generator. Between it and its little brother the LP3250, they both were market failures due to their proprietary faulty designed demand regulator that has no rebuild kit and is too costly to replace. An aftermarket option does exist but requires further fabrication to make it work properly.
Like James the regulator's high pressure rubber plunger fell out and it no longer regulated the flow of propane. the major design flaw of this regulator was the atmospheric vent for the low side diaphragm is pointed upward, leaving it susceptible to debris and water entering the regulator causing corrosion and eventually failure. in my opinion they would have been better off mounting the regulator sideways with the control knob on the side of the machine so the vent would not be easily contaminated.
In any event hopefully either James or myself can find selling value or salvage value for this machine.
Thank you so much for all the support for the channel! My apologies I was not able to get every single step of the repair as I was not expecting it to be successful. Please leave a comment if you have any questions.
www.gensysparts.com/generac-r...

Пікірлер: 49

@jcondon1 11 ай бұрын

Great save. It’s disappointing the cost of the regulator and lack of a rebuild kit.

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

It really is a shame. Don't see yoo many of these or the LP3250s left in the wild anymore, likely for the regulator problems.

@jcondon1 11 ай бұрын

@@Bassguitarist1985 have never seen a LP5500.

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

@@jcondon1 me either. First time laid eyes on one other than reading about them or seeing them at a food truck festival. Nowadays i see Predator inverter gens and Honda EU7000s running food trucks.

@jeffclark2725 6 ай бұрын

@@jcondon1 I fix Generators myself , sometimes its hard to fix and flip these oddball units, so you fix them and keep them,cause what will happen next and can it be fixed a second time, Great video

@BOB12349307 4 күн бұрын

amazing how you got it all fixed up after you told him it was junk and now it's yours

@Bassguitarist1985 4 күн бұрын

@@BOB12349307 actually I gave it to James Condon for his channel. He did a video on it. No money exchanged. The repair cost and the lack of support from Generac made it not a good generator to have as a primary machine anyway.

@chrisssmallengines7163 11 ай бұрын

Great video , like the older generator . Good to see a video thanks for taking the time .

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching!

@bmcc12 11 ай бұрын

Excellent job!

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@bmcc12 11 ай бұрын

Mr Condon sent me here, you guys are great. I’m near 80, and have repaired many engines, but I’m a duffer!

@jcondon1 11 ай бұрын

80 and on KZfaq, not too bad.

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

Awesome! Thank you for watching!

@Rigdawg 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for this video sir.

@Bassguitarist1985 6 ай бұрын

My pleasure! Thank you for watching and supporting the channel!

@NoName-yr1jv 11 ай бұрын

Good job 👍

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@jaygod6140 7 ай бұрын

I rebuilt a tanaka electric start weed eater some years back no parts were availabe so i ended up buying 3-4 baskets off ebay i spent way more than buying a new echo but its the novelty of the unit itself

@jeffclark2725 6 ай бұрын

Generac made it difficult for fixing a lot, Buying whole engines even rether than being able to fix them, found this channel through James Condon

@Bassguitarist1985 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching and supporting the channel!!

@checkitdude8549 8 ай бұрын

excellent video. I have the 5500. I really appreciate your video. Mine doesnt want to run and I suspected of course this regulator.

@Bassguitarist1985 8 ай бұрын

Yeah unfortunately it's very expensive to replace. The aftermarket regulator is cheaper but there is some adaption required

@12wingwfetech 11 ай бұрын

That is what it would cost to ship something like that with in Canada . Shipping prices up here are outrages with Canada Post

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

Shipping costs have increased sure, but so has the markup from companies. They get the freight discounts so much cheaper and they are IMHO marking it up too much. If I had to guess I think they are keeping the freight cost high so that they don't compete with their dealer network who likely get a better cost on freight for minimum order quantities of bulk orders. It's all a big gimmick believe me. Having been on the inside negotiating with these carriers and how many large companies charge freight for I don't think the cost needs to be that high, but with inefficient supply chains, the cost is always passed on to the customer as a penalty of a manufacturer's mismanagement. Okay I'll get off my soapbox now! 😂

@BOB12349307 4 күн бұрын

as a technician this is sad to me!

@lnk4328 11 ай бұрын

Bottom line, the customer abused the machine by leaving it out in the weather. I would go ahead and adapt an elbow or piece of tubing to the vent to prevent further water intrusion. Being a vent, it doesn't have to be anything special.

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

Exactly. A simple hose pointing downward would do the trick, or better yet, never keep the generator outside in the rain! 🤔

@r8118830 11 ай бұрын

Or both.

@YukonHawk1 11 ай бұрын

I think i missed something....did you actually replace and repair the regulater as i saw the genny running and making power?

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

No you didn't miss anything. I didn't film the reassembly of the regulator. After the customer did not want to invest the money i also didn't want to put too much time into it. Was pleasantly surprised when the machine actually started up after resealing the diaphragm with "The Right Stuff" gasket maker and repairing the small tear in it. James Condon went into more detail on the reassembly, but his regulator was not as damaged as mine was.

@paulolson6380 10 ай бұрын

Can it be converted to reg gas?

@Bassguitarist1985 10 ай бұрын

No. The compression is too high for dedicated propane engines. You would have to run high test fuel to prevent pre-ignition. Not practical.

@exmechanic5790 11 ай бұрын

Sure looks like a Century demand regulator. Not my favorite company. I would make the Garretson work some how.

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

It's possible, but dollars and cents wise not worth it sadly.

@philliphall5198 11 ай бұрын

There’s cheap kits from china that will work fine and a carb with it also 😊

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

Got a link?

@BOB12349307 4 күн бұрын

this is why you never let a backyard "tech" keep your machine trust me they know how to fix them it's not rocket science!!

@Bassguitarist1985 4 күн бұрын

@@BOB12349307 actually we are a real LLC here in CT. We charged for the diagnostic and even sent this video link to the customer. Everything was disclosed. The cost to maintain this generator when the regulator eventually failed would not have been a good dollars and cents decision.

@BOB12349307 4 күн бұрын

why couldn't you do this for your customer?

@Bassguitarist1985 4 күн бұрын

@@BOB12349307 do what exactly?

@BOB12349307 3 күн бұрын

@@Bassguitarist1985 amazing how fast you got it fixed when it was yours

@Bassguitarist1985 3 күн бұрын

@@BOB12349307 just because I did repair it doesn't mean the repair I made would last. I glued the diaphragm haphazardly, it wouldn't have held long term. Go watch James Condons video on this. He wound up replacing the regulator I repaired with an aftermarket regulator. Again, the former owner of this machine has seen this video and James' video on it. Everything was fully disclosed.

@philliphall5198 11 ай бұрын

Looks like a imperial brand regulator There’s all kind of reg that will fix it I’m not paying that much for anything they have period

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

Agreed. I'm sure any model/brand requires fabrication to work properly. I was hoping for some sort of cross reference part from another manufacturer, but the form factor I have not been able to match exactly.

@markgeorge3960 11 ай бұрын

Very good video. Kind of a stupid design, and poor customer service with regard to parts. If it were mine, I would consider retrofit, as you suggested. Selling it at this point is an ethical dilemma!

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

You hit the nail on the head and I'm glad you picked up on the ethical part. The reality is the market is making the decision for me, Even though it now runs and makes power because it's such an older model and only runs on propane it's worth peanuts I'd be lucky if somebody took it off my hands for like a hundred bucks

@markgeorge3960 11 ай бұрын

@@Bassguitarist1985 yeah, it's kind of neat as a novelty, but it takes up garage space! Did you say Mr. Condon wants it? For parts, I guess...

@Bassguitarist1985 11 ай бұрын

@@markgeorge3960 yes he said he would take it next time he's in my area. I have no use for it.