I have a COLEMAN 6250 Watt Powermate too, and it stopped producing 3 hrs into our blackout. I unbolted the four 7/16" bolts holding the end bell assembly, and looked at the circuit board (bridge rectifier assembly) and saw that 4 of the diodes had melted free from the circuit board. This is a $30 replacement part, and seems to be a common problem with these units.
http://www.jackssmallengines.com/coleman_control_board.cfm
Other common and cheap to fix problems may be the brushes are worn out. Unscrew the phillips screws under the plastic tab on the end bell of the generator, and pull out the metallic rectangular posts attached to the copper wires. If they are shorter than 1/4", broken, or uneven, they may need to be replaced. They are about $3 each.
I probably drew too much power from 1 outlet on the generator, and it caused the board to fail instead of tripping the circuit breaker. (BTW, the repair shop told me it would cost $550 to replace the entire rotor/stator circuit board assembly. I have a strong feeling they didn't even look at any of the above parts, because they didn't have a clue as to what they were doing!)
I liken this to taking your car in because it won't start, and the mechanic saying you need a new engine!
Good luck!
×