Hi Andy, welcome to Outdoorking. I wish you had come here sooner, you might have saved a lot of money on electrical maintenance on that Intek engine.

First, a couple of basics. Here is the operator's manual for your engine:
http://bsintek.basco.com/BriggsDocumentDisplay/msuwEN-K_ny7tH217FzoPu.pdf

Here is the illustrated parts list:
http://bsintek.basco.com/BriggsDocumentDisplay/18mmwHXDnfBhU7y.pdf

The Briggs Intek engines have several characteristic sensitivities. There are two that seem to be relevant here:

1. The engine cannot crank if the decompressor is not operating. The starter motor does not have enough torque to turn it over. If you try anyway, you will destroy the starter motor, the starter motor electrical cable, and before long, the battery. It is much cheaper to keep the decompressor working.

2. The decompressor will not work if the exhaust valve tappet clearance is even 0.001" more than the maximum specified (0.007"). Because the stamped steel rocker arms and their pivots tend to wear a fair amount, especially from new when small burrs may be present, it seems the only way to keep the engine starting, and the wiring and starter motor flame-free, is to keep a close watch on that clearance. If you can keep it at a steady 0.006", all will be well. If it ever reaches 0.008", the decompressor will not work, and bad things will follow.

So, in summary, it seems extremely likely that your exhaust tappet clearance is currently slightly more than 0.006", and you need to adjust it carefully. The minimum specification is 0.005", and it seems a good idea to set it carefully for that clearance, so it will take a bit longer before the decompressor stops working again.

Briggs specifies that the tappets on that engine must be adjusted annually, and I suggest you adhere to that.

The Intek engines have some other unlovely features as well as that one. In particular, I suggest that you have a very close look at the air filter housing. Many of them do not seal around the filter element, resulting in the engine becoming dusted (excessive cylinder wear due to inhaling dusty air).