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🍁 Conçu pour les foyers canadiens — rédigé selon le Code canadien de l’électricité et les règles provinciales. N’est pas destiné à un usage hors du Canada.
ÉBAUCHE — cette page n’a pas encore été révisée par un professionnel licencié. Aperçu éditorial seulement.

Backup generator won't start

A generator that won't start is usually a small, fixable thing — stale fuel, a closed valve, low oil, or a flat battery — not a dead machine. Most of these you can rule out in a few minutes.

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In Canadian homes, start with fuel — especially on a portable that has been in storage. Check that the tank has fresh gas, the fuel valve is open, and the choke is on for a cold start. Old gasoline that has sat since last winter is the usual villain: it varnishes the carburetor and won't burn. Draining the stale fuel and refilling with fresh gas (ideally treated with stabilizer) fixes a large share of no-start portables. Never do this near any flame, and only ever run the generator outdoors, well away from windows and doors.

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handymanHow to fix it

Move the generator outdoors and well clear of the building, then restore fuel: open the fuel valve, top up with fresh gasoline (treated with stabilizer), and set the choke for a cold start. If the fuel is old, drain the stale gas and the carburetor bowl before refilling.

  1. Set the generator outdoors on level ground, well away from doors, windows, and vents, exhaust pointing away from the building — before you do anything else.
  2. Open the fuel valve (petcock) and check the tank. If the fuel has sat since last season, drain it into an approved container and drain the carburetor bowl to clear varnished gas.
  3. Refill with fresh gasoline, ideally treated with fuel stabilizer, set the choke closed for a cold start, and turn the engine switch to ON.
  4. Start it (pull cord or electric start). Once it catches and warms, ease the choke open. If it still won't run on confirmed-fresh fuel, move on to oil, battery, or spark plug.
schedule30 min savings$5–30
Fresh gasoline + fuel stabilizerRegular unleaded per the manual; a stabilizer such as those sold at Canadian Tire keeps stored fuel from going stale
report Only ever run it outdoors — and never into your outletsBefore you start any generator: run it OUTDOORS ONLY, well away from doors, windows, and vents, with the exhaust pointed away from the building — never indoors or in an attached garage, even with the door open. Generator exhaust contains carbon monoxide, an invisible, odourless gas that kills people during outages every year in Canada. A battery-powered CO alarm in the house is cheap insurance. And never plug a portable into a wall outlet to power your home: back-feeding can electrocute you or a utility worker and start a fire. Powering your house from a generator safely and legally needs a proper transfer switch installed by a licensed electrician.
gavel Vérifiez d’abord votre province AB: permis au propriétaire · BC: permis au propriétaire · ON: permis au propriétaire · PE: permis au propriétaire · QC: permis au propriétaire
Routine engine maintenance on a portable generator (fuel, oil, spark plug) is owner-permitted across Canada. This does NOT extend to wiring a generator into the home, which requires a licensed transfer-switch install.

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A standby generator's automatic transfer switch connects your house to both the utility and the generator, and its controller manages that switchover under load. Working inside it means live, dangerous voltage and permanent fixed wiring — in Canada this is licensed electrical work in every province. Confirm the AUTO/mode setting yourself, but leave any diagnosis or repair of the controller or transfer switch to a licensed electrician.

gavel Vérifiez d’abord votre province AB: réservé aux licenciés · BC: réservé aux licenciés · ON: permis et inspection requis · PE: réservé aux licenciés · QC: réservé aux licenciés
Standby generator and transfer-switch install/repair is licensed electrical work; confirm the provincial rule before presenting any of it as homeowner-permitted.

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visibilityHow to check the spark plug

warning Make sure it can't start while you workEven a stopped engine can kick over on the recoil or fire unexpectedly. Before touching the spark plug, close the fuel valve, let the muffler cool so you don't burn yourself, and pull the plug wire/boot off. If you're not comfortable working around the engine, a spark-plug service is a cheap job for a small-engine shop.
  1. Stop the engine, close the fuel valve, let it cool, and pull the rubber boot off the spark plug so the engine cannot possibly fire while you work.
  2. Unscrew the spark plug with a plug socket and look at the tip: a healthy plug is dry with light tan/grey deposits; wet-black, oily, or heavily crusted means it is fouled.
  3. Clean a lightly-fouled plug and re-gap it to the manual's spec, or fit a fresh plug of the exact part number. Reconnect the boot and try starting — outdoors only.
buildspark-plug-socketbuildratchet schedule20 min
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Pourquoi la liste est dans cet ordre

Nous ne classons pas seulement selon la probabilité. Nous classons comme le ferait un bon artisan honnête : éliminer d’abord les causes gratuites, sûres et courantes. C’est pourquoi les vérifications peu coûteuses passent avant les réparations chères — et pourquoi tout ce qui est dangereux reçoit un arrêt net plutôt qu’un encouragement. Cet ordre existe pour vous faire économiser, pas pour vous vendre quelque chose.