Running once a month for 30 minutes is pretty great advice for small engines with carburetors, but the very best advice anyone can ever take when it comes to carbureted engines, especially ultra tiny fuel-efficient ones - is spend the extra money on ethanol-free fuel every single time. Never even let regular 10% ethanol fuel touch your tank one time. In as little as weeks, the corn ethanol can turn into yellow crystal and clog your fuel filters, fuel lines, and most importantly the tiny pinhole sized jets in the carb. Ethanol-free fuel has no components that harden and crystalize, so your fuel stays fresh for a year, and even then doesn't crystalize.

I own a WEN generator.  I changed the oil 4 times when I first got it.  I have a magnetic oil dip stick, and I would run it for an hour, and change the oil.  Run it for an hour, and change the oil... until I stopped seeing metal shavings on the dip stick.  When I store it I let it run completely out of gas so that there is no fuel in the lines or carburetor.  I now put about half a cup of fresh fuel in the tank every couple of months and run the tank dry, and store it dry.  Once a year I change the oil, now that the motor is broken in; but if I use the generator more than a dozen hours or so in a spurt, I change the oil more frequently.  

Let's be honest.... A WEN is not a Honda.  When you buy a WEN you have to be more vigilant about maintenance and care.  I could not afford a Honda when I bought my generator.  I am doing everything I can to keep this running well, and I expect that it will.  If it fails, and I cannot repair it, I will buy a Honda.  My dad owns a Honda, and he treats his like crap.  He keeps old gas in it for over a year, never changes the oil, and the damn thing runs like a top.  He didn't even do a break in period.  I'm not sure if he's even changed the oil in 5 years, and the Honda keeps running.  To be fair, I have no idea if the WEN could do that, because I have not tried, and I won't.  I have had zero issues with my WEN generator; but I have not had it but a few years, I treat it like it's a princess, and I have not run it for days on end; whereas I know my dad's Honda has run for many days on end regularly; so there is a difference in the sample.

I like the WEN.  It has given me no problems, and I'm curious how long it will run; but I don't have so much confidence in it that I'm not going to do my part.  But to be frank, if I bought a Honda, I would still do what I am doing now.  Maintenance is important, even if only to make you feel better.  

I have very high hopes for the WEN; otherwise I would not have bought it.  I have run my square drop camper, power tools, air compressor, and my house fridge when the power was out.  I have used it several times, requiring disparate power draws each time.  The eco mode is quick, and adjusts itself on the fly.  It starts every time, and barely uses any fuel.  The features are BETTER than the Honda.  It has a fuel gauge.  I am happy with my purchase.  It will take me several years though before I will be able to call this a slam dunk purchase.

I have a 2018 Wen56200i (49.6hrs) and a 2022 56235i (9.7hrs). What I found resulting in the 235i running terrible after it ran out of fuel on ECO-idle under load is that because the 235i is a single flywheel engine (the 200i has 2 flywheels, engine+alternator) the much lighter rotational mass of the 235i's single alternator flywheel stops so fast (about 1 second) that the throttle stepping motor looses alternator power and can NOT make it to the full throttle stop's "calibration point". On the next restart, the throttle may be at 3/4 throttle, so the ECU cannot control the "out of calibration" throttle properly. I finger pushed the throttle plate to the full throttle stop and PRESTO! it started and ran great!
BTW, if you see another person complaining about 3, 4 or 5 or more pulls to start the engine, be it the first time or after draining the carb, it is because THEY DID NOT WAIT LONG ENOUGH for the carb float bowl to fill up!! Give it 20 seconds . . . for a ONE PULL start. Also the Choke needs to be moved toward the OFF position ASAP after parking the recoil start handle, delaying the choke movement just long enough so the engine doesn't hesitate/stall for lack of fuel.
You're welcome

customer service is very important to me now days. It’s a big influence on my buying decision. Thanks for the info about Wen’s customer service.

My 56200i has 175 hours on it no issues other than ethanol fuel destroyed the seals in the fuel shutoff & they were out of stock for a few months. I run mine once a week & change the oil every 15 to 20 hours. My dad always told me growing up "oil is cheaper than metal"  Have cleaned the carb 2 times as preventative maintenance. Have not cleaned or changed the plug. Adjusted valve lash 1 time. Run 2 cap full of marvel mystery oil every tank. On a very light load while camping 17 hours on a tank is normal.  Looking at the 56125i now for camping as the 56200i is overkill for most of what I do.

I have an old wen contractor generator that I have put thru hell for over 10 years. Yeah it is about beat to death but 10 years so.....I am sticking with WEN. These inverter generators look pretty good to me.

I have the 2250 and very much enjoy having it. Biggest lesson was learning during offseason to run it every 3-4wks for about 15-20min and shutting down with the fuel bowl off setting. When starting be sure to let it sit on choke setting for 45sec to refill the fuel bowl. Great little gen.

Good advice 👍

Good video.

WEN makes several generators with the 79CC Yamaha clone motor. It seems odd to me that they offer so many different weights and output options from what should be the same setup.

The good news is that finding parts and getting service shouldn't be an issue.

Good advice,  thank you. I'm researching if I Want to get one of these.

I just bought a wen 2000 but I also have a predator 3500, I ran out of gas on the predator and had a heck of a time starting it back up. I finally did and it ran great. I'll make sure I don't run out of gas.

From my experience Honda and Yamaha inverters do the same thing have carb issues. Have family with both and they all have experienced the same issue. I been using WEN gennys and I'm very pleased with them. Great video and testament to Wen CS if I ever need them.

I use the heck out of my Wen 5623i.  I own a small scamp and use it pretty much every weekend, and with the cold temps I run the gene for about 40 hours per trip.  The biggest problem is the spark arrestor screen clogging up.  When I first started running it I ran it for a hundred or so hours before it clogged.  Now it will do so pretty much every trip.  I just take it out and use a toothbrush to brush it clean which it does quite well.  The screens are available from the wen site for about $6 each so I just ordered 4 so I have spares to keep available for a quick change.

I think they sell thousands of those things I would highly recommend you getting the extended warranty Because they’re bound to have a hiccup with one or another

Read your instructions guys! I did not do a break in run. Started working it right away evwry day, didn't change the oil after 2 years yes I'm horrible but ran it about less than 2 hrs a day so more hours some days not at all. Changed oil and spark plug and wont crank, I'll be looking into the oil sensor and swap it but if it does not start probably take it in or just buy another one and properly maintain it. Sticking with it because its never had a hiccup other than it not running all my things at once but again i got the 2350 so of course.

Mine wouldn't run when I first got it. I disconnected the oil sensor and it runs like a champ now. Apparently, these are a known issue with Wen generators.

This thing ran for 5 days straight 24 hrs a day. No problem! I just wish theyd incorporate Blutooth monitoring

Another reason for the dual fuel. The issue with gasoline is unfortunately the same issue with all small carbureted engines. The alcohol or methanol reacts with some of the plating like nickel and creates a jelly that clogs and also sometimes you get just plain old corrosion and this happens just from a little bit of fuel sitting in the bowl from a test run from the factory for example. The key to fixing that. Unfortunately it does not come in a bottle and if it did, you'd just be paying twice as much for gasoline because those bottles are expensive. So-cal stabilizers do not work. The good news is that the solution actually provides you with a useful byproduct which is pure ethanol and you have to extract the ethanol from the gasoline and that's rather easy to do. It's the same way you separate water from oil and I could go into it but you can look it up here on YouTube. It's safe and easy and the ethanol is actually worth quite a bit of money. I probably wouldn't drink it but for any other use.

That's why you spend the extra money and buy the Honda.  Also,  with the Honda I can get the factory service manual and troubleshoot/repair it myself,  plus the Honda parts for it can be gotten from any Honda dealer.  Where the "WEN" parts come from,  who knows,  but I think we all know.

Was it explained why the carburetor worked for the first tank of gas and not the second?  I'm just curious what was the cause of what specific failure.  Was the carburetor clogged? I am just trying to understand how it fed enough fuel in the beginning and not later.  Thank you for the video!