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Rate your generators
- Thread starter Scorpio
- Start date
Got this one prolly 16+ or so years ago from farm and fleet. Briggs and Stratton 5550/8550 American made engine and powerhead.
It is a great genny and will run the whole house. I got a really fat power cord long enough so it can run out in the pole barn with the door shut.
It will run on load almost 24 hours on a 5 gallons of gas. I keep it full and keep 30 gallons of Sta-Bil 360 treated premium gas stored for it.
Every fall I run it for a while on load and dump the stored fuel in our cars then replace all of the stored fuel.
I also have a chunk of clear hose to siphon off the cars and truck if it goes on a really long time.
As long as I have been doing this the really bad storms go around us. But it's damn nice to know we can carry on like normal for a while just in case.
It is a great genny and will run the whole house. I got a really fat power cord long enough so it can run out in the pole barn with the door shut.
It will run on load almost 24 hours on a 5 gallons of gas. I keep it full and keep 30 gallons of Sta-Bil 360 treated premium gas stored for it.
Every fall I run it for a while on load and dump the stored fuel in our cars then replace all of the stored fuel.
I also have a chunk of clear hose to siphon off the cars and truck if it goes on a really long time.
As long as I have been doing this the really bad storms go around us. But it's damn nice to know we can carry on like normal for a while just in case.
I got a tri-fuel one this way I am covered. I can burn natural gas, propane or gasoline. You just have to calculate your loads accordingly. You get 100% with gasoline you take a 10% hit using propane and a 20% hit using natural gas. Always base your loads with the lowest common denominator because you will always need to power something you didn't plan for.
My mom burned up their massive Honda generator and drove 2 hours to get my sister's generator only to have the power return 4 hours later. The problem my mom experienced was because they never did any maintenance on their unit. They wanted me to fill the tubeless tires with one of those newly invented cordless drill air compressors while the generator was running.
In times of emergency you need less headaches, not more.
In times of emergency you need less headaches, not more.
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- Mar 31, 2010
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Would this be a good purchase?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Generac-iX2...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Generac-iX2...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
That's only half the watts of the Harbor Freight. Some Generacs are made in USA, some in China, some mixed. I'm not familiar with their inverter gens.
The problems with HF gens is they don't hold up to the vibration, threads on bolts, holes are sloppy, metals soft, camshafts plastic, coating on windings inferior. It's a gamble. Sometimes you get lucky. I've seen Chinese vibratory plate compactors with Predator engines last several hundred hours. If a generator absolutely has to work when you need it, don't buy Chinese. The Japs are using plastic cams on most of their small engines now, too, but not having many problems with them.
The problems with HF gens is they don't hold up to the vibration, threads on bolts, holes are sloppy, metals soft, camshafts plastic, coating on windings inferior. It's a gamble. Sometimes you get lucky. I've seen Chinese vibratory plate compactors with Predator engines last several hundred hours. If a generator absolutely has to work when you need it, don't buy Chinese. The Japs are using plastic cams on most of their small engines now, too, but not having many problems with them.
I bought a new Honda EU3000is inverter generator a year ago for $1999. It works pretty well in warm weather. In cold weather it's only about 95% reliable. The output indicator light blinks and power disconnects. Sometimes won't start, but cranks good with electric start.
Very quiet. Pretty good on fuel. It has a switch for "eco throttle", when it's off, it runs at high RPM all the time, when it's on, it automatically adjusts RPM according to load. I find I have to run it without the eco throttle off most of the time because it's ability to adjust RPM smoothly according to load changes leaves a bit to be desired. Eco throttle will not run a 10k BTU window AC. It will not regulate well enough to run a washing machine either, the surges ruined the electronic board and motor in my new Amana.
I took it back to the dealer but they couldn't find anything wrong with it, bunch of incompetent kids. They did admit that it had to be run with the eco throttle off most of the time and that carbon buildups were a problem unless they were run full load full RPM.
I expected more for $2K
Very quiet. Pretty good on fuel. It has a switch for "eco throttle", when it's off, it runs at high RPM all the time, when it's on, it automatically adjusts RPM according to load. I find I have to run it without the eco throttle off most of the time because it's ability to adjust RPM smoothly according to load changes leaves a bit to be desired. Eco throttle will not run a 10k BTU window AC. It will not regulate well enough to run a washing machine either, the surges ruined the electronic board and motor in my new Amana.
I took it back to the dealer but they couldn't find anything wrong with it, bunch of incompetent kids. They did admit that it had to be run with the eco throttle off most of the time and that carbon buildups were a problem unless they were run full load full RPM.
I expected more for $2K
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My 7,000 surge to 12,000 Brigs/Generac fired up instantly after not having been run in 12 years after Irma. It's all USA built and I have had it for going on 20 years now. It's strong enough to fire up the 2 1/2 ton central air unit in the bedroom area. Run it for 2 hrs after the sun goes down and sleep comfortably.
I've had one for the last 6 or 7 years. So far my only complaint is that it can be a b**** to start sometimes.
I haven't had to really work it for days on end *knock on wood*, but every few months I spin it up and run my refrigerator or some other big load off of it for a few hours. No problem. Pretty good on gas, too.
It's not the quietest generator in the world, either.
So yeah, maybe not the best 2 kW inverter on the market, but mine has been good so far. And for the money it's worth looking at, IMO.
I haven't had to really work it for days on end *knock on wood*, but every few months I spin it up and run my refrigerator or some other big load off of it for a few hours. No problem. Pretty good on gas, too.
It's not the quietest generator in the world, either.
So yeah, maybe not the best 2 kW inverter on the market, but mine has been good so far. And for the money it's worth looking at, IMO.
I bought a new EU2000i generator on sale for $899 out the door. I put around 35 hours on it so far. It works pretty well in temps down to 10 degrees f so far (haven't tried it below that), but will not start at that temp. Fortunately (unlike my EU3000is) it's light enough to carry indoors to get it warm enough to start. Usually takes about 5 pulls to get it to fire. I bought the optional 12 volt charging leads and have been using that to charge my battery bank, which takes several hours at high throttle. If you try to charge 12 volts at eco throttle, it puts out very little, which leads me to believe that the 12 VDC doesn't go thru the inverter.
Update on my EU3000is: The operational limit is 25 degrees F. It will not start below that. If I manage to start it at 26 degrees it will run until the temperature drops to around 22. I bought some Mobil one 0-W-30 oil which I will replace the 10-W-30 with to see if that helps. I was impressed that the battery and starter cranked it so vigorously and repeatedly in cold weather without slowing. It would even fire and stay running a few seconds at full choke/almost full choke, but never came up to speed below 25 degrees.
I suspect that the poor performance in cold weather is due to lean carburation. They achieve low emissions and good fuel economy at a price.
Hondas are fair weather generators. I wonder if anyone has tried rejetting them.
Soon I will purchase a 5 to 7 KW gasoline generator to use as the main house generator and it will not be a Honda. The main purpose of the house generator will be to supplement the solar when there is snow on the roof or just overcast winter weather. Cold weather reliability is what gasoline powered generators are known for. Too bad Honda chose low emissions and fuel economy instead. I'm looking for an old Onan RV generator made in the eighties.
Update on my EU3000is: The operational limit is 25 degrees F. It will not start below that. If I manage to start it at 26 degrees it will run until the temperature drops to around 22. I bought some Mobil one 0-W-30 oil which I will replace the 10-W-30 with to see if that helps. I was impressed that the battery and starter cranked it so vigorously and repeatedly in cold weather without slowing. It would even fire and stay running a few seconds at full choke/almost full choke, but never came up to speed below 25 degrees.
I suspect that the poor performance in cold weather is due to lean carburation. They achieve low emissions and good fuel economy at a price.
Hondas are fair weather generators. I wonder if anyone has tried rejetting them.
Soon I will purchase a 5 to 7 KW gasoline generator to use as the main house generator and it will not be a Honda. The main purpose of the house generator will be to supplement the solar when there is snow on the roof or just overcast winter weather. Cold weather reliability is what gasoline powered generators are known for. Too bad Honda chose low emissions and fuel economy instead. I'm looking for an old Onan RV generator made in the eighties.