Westerbeke Generator Problem

[MyPleasure]

Hi Fellas,
For the life of me, I cannot get my 5kw gas generator to stop hunting. I’ve contacted Westerbeke and they sent me a troubleshooting guide for the electronic governor, but I can’t even get the generator to stop hunting long enough to test the voltage at the connections that they describe in the guide.
I’m wondering if the electronic governor has bit the dust. The generator only has 880 hours run time on it, but it is over 30 years old. I’ve got the gain as low as it will go, but it still will not run without hunting enough to even switch the power over on the inverter to charge the batteries or power the boat.
I’ve tried adjusting the engine speed with the electronic governor speed control, as well as adjusting the mechanical adjustment, but the only way that I can get the generator to stop hunting is adjusting the speed so fast that the generator shuts itself down because the revs are too high.
The guide says to check the magnetic pick-up for 0.030 clearance from the ring gear, but there’s no way that I can check the MPU position without taking the generator apart.
I guess that I’ll have to call an expert and have him try and figure out what’s going on, $$$$.
Thanks for any advice with this problem.

[bud37]

Have you considered/ cleaned the carb ?
Hunting can be a symptom of an engine looking for fuel resulting from a plugged carb jet.

[MyPleasure]

Thanks bud37,
That’s something that I never thought of, I will run some carb cleaner thru it. I have a feeling that it’s more of an electronic problem though, all of which are expensive fixes.

[bud37]

Fwiw....carb cleaner won't do it in most cases, you have to physically disassemble and clean the jets/emulsion tube as the holes in them become restricted over time. Just a cheap easy thing to do to cross off the list.

[km1125]

You might want to post the actual generator model number for more specific suggestions.

Are you sure all the linkage from the governor to the throttle operates freely? Perhaps some cleaning and lube?

Does it hunt with or without a load?

[MyPleasure]

The model number is 5.0 BCG. I’m going to disconnect the speed actuator and see if I can get the generator to run at a constant speed so that I can check the terminals for the correct voltage according to the troubleshooting guide. The throttle linkage’s eye bolts must be 2 5/8” apart, so that’s a measurement that I have to check as well.
The throttle linkage is all free and lubed up with the recommended graphite lubricant, I have had that problem before.

[Viper]

Fuel delivery issues be it before the generator or on board such as carb, pump, etc., ignition issues, and low voltage will also cause hunting. It may not be an engine control issue but an engine runnability issue itself. I'd make sure those are all up to spec before moving on to anything else.

[MyPleasure]

Thanks Viper
I still think that the problem might be the electronic speed controller. I’ve tried adjusting the speed adjustment, but it doesn’t seem to be working, it starts up, then over revs which is causing the generator to shut down. I can stop it from hunting, but the rpm is a bit too high, which again shuts the generator down.
If I can just get the revs down a bit, it should be OK