generator dies at half tank mark

[Will Procter]

I find out that my generator shuts down if my fuel gauge goes below half! is there any way to by pass that or is this normal??

William Procter

[jack14r]

Most coaches have the fuel line for the generator at 1/4 tank so that the generator will not use all the fuel and strand you,1/2 seems high but I bet Newell can answer the question.

[fulltiming]

Stopping at one half full is not good. Most of the Newells I have seen with a single fuel tank drop out the generator feed at about 1/4 tank.

[The Newell]

Typically, the generator fuel shut off is at the quarter or third of a tank so you can't run yourself out of fuel with the generator and not be able to start the engine. Half sounds too high, are you sure your gauge is accurate?

[77newell]

Will: a couple thoughts; has it always been this way or did this recently start to happen. If it is recent then "sticking" the tank to verify the level will help determine if the gauge is off or something else is going on. I would really want to verify the gauge so that I don't get a second surprise of totally running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere. Another way to verify the gauge if this has been going on for awhile is by how much fuel it takes to fill the tank when the gauge indicates half full.

If the gauge is reading the tank level correctly AND this problem has only started recently I would guess you have a leak somewhere in the line from where fuel is picked up in the tank to the fuel pump on the generator. My theory is that as the fuel tank level drops there is more suction required to pull fuel from the tank and the leak admits air in increasing amounts until it is sufficient that the engine stops. It is also possible the fuel pump is going bad but that would be rare. One way to test the system would be to reroute the line to the generator into a gallon container of fuel and once the gen is started gradually drop the container below the level at which it has been shutting down. If it stays running the problem is in the tank or connection at the tank, if it shuts down then the problem is upstream of the end of the hose you dipped into the container.

Good luck and let us know what you did and how it worked out.