Thinking of picking up a generator, both to run some tools on the jobsite, and possibly for emergency use. I see that Harbor Freight has some relatively inexpensive ones, but would I be better off buying a used generator from a manufacturer that I've heard of?
Generators?
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JHZR2
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Robin Subaru or Honda.
My friend, a master carpenter, is happy with his ROBIN, though I bet that could be said of many brands.
HF stuff seems to be "Chonda" powered (Honda had Chinese outfits doing their small engine castings, apparently they said to themselves "why not make the whole thing" and take advantage of the loose Chinese copyrite laws) Some of the gokart sites suggest the engines are pretty good. I wouldn't buy one for commercial use but they are probably OK for a few days a year when the utility company gets hit with a big outage.
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I'll throw in my $0.02 as I own the older Harbor Freight blue 5500 watt unit. We bought it for power company outages and it works perfectly fine for that. I run it at 1/2 - 3/4 load once a month with a hair dryer, space heater, and 500w work light. Always fires right up. We've run it twice for extended times, once running 3x sump pumps when Tropical Storm Lee blew up through Central PA and overnight when the Snowpocolypse hit in October. Ran flawlessly.
So back to the HF generators and other Chonda's as well. Before I bought the unit, I did a fair amount of research and as others have said the Chonda engines are generally good and parts generally interchange with Honda. The RV folks seem to like them and their usage pattern would be close to a construction site - long periods of time in all sorts of weather. They mainly love the Champion versions but the HF versions got high marks as well. Other off brands were also well regarded.
What I did was get the generator + extended warranty. I'm covered for 2 years and for our use that's fine with us. I expect it will continue for years and if/when something happens I'll deal with it as it comes.
So back to the HF generators and other Chonda's as well. Before I bought the unit, I did a fair amount of research and as others have said the Chonda engines are generally good and parts generally interchange with Honda. The RV folks seem to like them and their usage pattern would be close to a construction site - long periods of time in all sorts of weather. They mainly love the Champion versions but the HF versions got high marks as well. Other off brands were also well regarded.
What I did was get the generator + extended warranty. I'm covered for 2 years and for our use that's fine with us. I expect it will continue for years and if/when something happens I'll deal with it as it comes.
The Champion Power Equipment gensets look essentially similar to a Harbor Freight unit. But it seems like CPE took a little extra time to actually QC their units.
I've owned mine for over five years and the only thing that has broken was the choke lever. The choke still works, you just have to reach down to the carb to turn the choke by hand instead of flipping a lever above the airbox.
It's worked last summer when it was 111°F and it worked the winter before when it was 9°F.
My dad's RV has a gas Onan generator. It cost him more to repair his generator than it cost me to buy mine.
I've owned mine for over five years and the only thing that has broken was the choke lever. The choke still works, you just have to reach down to the carb to turn the choke by hand instead of flipping a lever above the airbox.
It's worked last summer when it was 111°F and it worked the winter before when it was 9°F.
My dad's RV has a gas Onan generator. It cost him more to repair his generator than it cost me to buy mine.
I'd look at the honda/yamaha inverter models just for the noise reduction... You can run my generator and have a normal conversation standing right beside it and its probably more reliable than a HF model. What's fooling around with a generator worth even with one guy waiting for it to work...
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
The Champion Power Equipment gensets look essentially similar to a Harbor Freight unit. But it seems like CPE took a little extra time to actually QC their units.
I've had no QC issues with out HF unit. Granted there are not a lot of hours on it, probably less than 25 but the engine is a Lifan which is supposedly a good Chonda.
The other sad truth is many of these gensets are made in the same factories from the same plans so a lot of the stuff interchanges.
The Champion Power Equipment gensets look essentially similar to a Harbor Freight unit. But it seems like CPE took a little extra time to actually QC their units.
I've had no QC issues with out HF unit. Granted there are not a lot of hours on it, probably less than 25 but the engine is a Lifan which is supposedly a good Chonda.
The other sad truth is many of these gensets are made in the same factories from the same plans so a lot of the stuff interchanges.
I have over 300 hrs on a little blue 800w genny from hf. no sign of it giving up yet
For emergency use a propane is better. For jobsite a gas is better.
How much gas to you think those with generators in VA have used? Gas was almost impossible to find for the first few days. People are excited about an emergency generator, but few run it monthly and have a rotation of at least 20 gallons of gas?
How much gas to you think those with generators in VA have used? Gas was almost impossible to find for the first few days. People are excited about an emergency generator, but few run it monthly and have a rotation of at least 20 gallons of gas?
I think every situation is different. Propane has the advantage that it won't gum up the carb but it can also be hard to get after a disaster. With propane you have to keep 100 pounds of it or you are going to be trying to find grill bottles while everyone else is as they are also cooking with it. Or you will have to find a propane place that has power to pump it, same with gas.
With gas you have to store it but it's relatively easy since rotating it is as simple as dumping into the car and buying new. For us I have 2 five gallon containers that are full. I keep about 1/2 a tank in the generator. Stabil and MMO in all seems to keep it fressh for 6 months or so.
Natural gas may be the best option as that runs in a power failure but it can get quite expensive too.
With propane or gas in the event of a disaster you may be driving over an hour to get fuel. No matter which option you choose it will be expensive to run a generator.
With gas you have to store it but it's relatively easy since rotating it is as simple as dumping into the car and buying new. For us I have 2 five gallon containers that are full. I keep about 1/2 a tank in the generator. Stabil and MMO in all seems to keep it fressh for 6 months or so.
Natural gas may be the best option as that runs in a power failure but it can get quite expensive too.
With propane or gas in the event of a disaster you may be driving over an hour to get fuel. No matter which option you choose it will be expensive to run a generator.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
I'd look at the honda/yamaha inverter models just for the noise reduction... You can run my generator and have a normal conversation standing right beside it and its probably more reliable than a HF model. What's fooling around with a generator worth even with one guy waiting for it to work...
+1. That's why I like my Robin Subaru...
I'd look at the honda/yamaha inverter models just for the noise reduction... You can run my generator and have a normal conversation standing right beside it and its probably more reliable than a HF model. What's fooling around with a generator worth even with one guy waiting for it to work...
+1. That's why I like my Robin Subaru...
Originally Posted By: itguy08
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With gas you have to store it but it's relatively easy since rotating it is as simple as dumping into the car and buying new. For us I have 2 five gallon containers that are full. I keep about 1/2 a tank in the generator. Stabil and MMO in all seems to keep it fressh for 6 months or so.
...
I figure keeping a couple of full jerry cans around is probably a good idea.
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With gas you have to store it but it's relatively easy since rotating it is as simple as dumping into the car and buying new. For us I have 2 five gallon containers that are full. I keep about 1/2 a tank in the generator. Stabil and MMO in all seems to keep it fressh for 6 months or so.
...
I figure keeping a couple of full jerry cans around is probably a good idea.
Many of the chondas have a muffler that would not look out of place on a geo metro. They can tune the exhaust note pretty well running at a fixed 3600 RPM. Try one before you knock it. Mine are so quiet they sound like they need a tune up because "not much is going on". And I mean it plural, have a much-maligned "sportsman" 1500/2000 watt, a home depot chonda 2500/3250, and the infamous HF 800 watt two stroke. Even the little guy will start my fridge, it has a capacitor start. For $79 on sale it's a no brainer. It's the one I lend out (yeah I'm an enabler).
On bigger than the two stroke ones you can do better than HF. Watch online with amazon, o.co, home depot, auto parts stores. HD had a "spring black friday" a few months back: dumb, I know, but out of hurricane season. Got the 1500/2000 for $135 or so. Wanted the 4-cycle engine.
HF sells a car fuel pressure tester for extremely cheap; $10 or so, I can't find any cheaper way of getting the fittings! You can splice into its hose and use your car to pump its gas tank dry in a crisis. Also you may find stations rationing gas to "no cans- just your car".
On bigger than the two stroke ones you can do better than HF. Watch online with amazon, o.co, home depot, auto parts stores. HD had a "spring black friday" a few months back: dumb, I know, but out of hurricane season. Got the 1500/2000 for $135 or so. Wanted the 4-cycle engine.
HF sells a car fuel pressure tester for extremely cheap; $10 or so, I can't find any cheaper way of getting the fittings! You can splice into its hose and use your car to pump its gas tank dry in a crisis. Also you may find stations rationing gas to "no cans- just your car".
Originally Posted By: eljefino
HF sells a car fuel pressure tester for extremely cheap; $10 or so, I can't find any cheaper way of getting the fittings!
Nice hint! I've been looking for a cheap source.
HF sells a car fuel pressure tester for extremely cheap; $10 or so, I can't find any cheaper way of getting the fittings!
Nice hint! I've been looking for a cheap source.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Many of the chondas have a muffler that would not look out of place on a geo metro.
I think my CPE's muffler is actually bigger than my Suzuki Swift's muffler was.
To me, it sounds louder on the intake side than than the exhaust side
Many of the chondas have a muffler that would not look out of place on a geo metro.
I think my CPE's muffler is actually bigger than my Suzuki Swift's muffler was.
To me, it sounds louder on the intake side than than the exhaust side
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