From home depot. The online instructions indicate it's only good for 500 watt continuous, 600 surge but my paper one reads 600/700! Other inconsistencies are my paper instructions read a 5 hour run time at full load vs the Depot ad reading 3 hr at 50%. My manual demands oil changes every 40 hours while the online one has an odd table about higher temperatures needing shorter times.
Other inconsistencies are the manual demanding "10w30w" oil while a sticker on the device wants 15w40.
I broke it in for 30 minutes until it ran out of gas then put 213 grams of gasoline in 'er. This is 0.07513 gallons or 20 cents for you nerds. . I'm running it with a 360 watt load on eco-mode with a kill-a-watt meter and video camera to see what I get out of it: Got .22 KwH out of that fuel or 2.93 kWH per gallon. I pay 19 cents/ KwH for shore power or $1.07/ KwH for this.
Other impressions: It's pretty stupid to need a screwdriver to remove a side panel to check the oil.
Device came with clear plastic "aquarium tubing" in a Wye with two of the three sides connected to absolutely nothing.
It claimed to take 20 oz of oil but I could only get 10-12 in there before it overflowed. It comes with a little tube (straw) that screws into the oil fill so you can tip it and drain the old oil without it catching in its little plastic beauty cover.
It's quiet but not mega-quiet. Rated at 58 dB. It freaks me out hearing the engine change pitch for eco-mode. Makes a clean 60.1 Hz.
I put a hair dryer on it and briefly boosted it to a 710 watt load (1/2 second) then back down. Persisting with this load kicks on the overload protection which cuts the outputs and the machine needs "rebooting" to fix this. I have not yet plugged my fridge in but think it can handle it.
The 40cc engine is a darling little thing that looks like it was assembled with grey stove cement/ RTV instead of gaskets. Its pull string start is a two-finger affair like you'd find on a weedwhacker. It starts just fine with choke and goes to unchoked graciously in a few seconds. Valve adjustment is listed as maintenance after a couple hundred hours. The front panel is smart with a few LEDs and nice workmanship on the breakers and outlets.
Thing has a 12V/8A out for charging batteries which might be something lazy me uses getting the plow truck out of the woods next fall.
In short, it's no Honda in build quality, but the $150 kinda jumps out at you. I dumped my 2-stroke HF 900 watt model on craigslist already.
Other inconsistencies are the manual demanding "10w30w" oil while a sticker on the device wants 15w40.
I broke it in for 30 minutes until it ran out of gas then put 213 grams of gasoline in 'er. This is 0.07513 gallons or 20 cents for you nerds. . I'm running it with a 360 watt load on eco-mode with a kill-a-watt meter and video camera to see what I get out of it: Got .22 KwH out of that fuel or 2.93 kWH per gallon. I pay 19 cents/ KwH for shore power or $1.07/ KwH for this.
Other impressions: It's pretty stupid to need a screwdriver to remove a side panel to check the oil.
Device came with clear plastic "aquarium tubing" in a Wye with two of the three sides connected to absolutely nothing.
It claimed to take 20 oz of oil but I could only get 10-12 in there before it overflowed. It comes with a little tube (straw) that screws into the oil fill so you can tip it and drain the old oil without it catching in its little plastic beauty cover.
It's quiet but not mega-quiet. Rated at 58 dB. It freaks me out hearing the engine change pitch for eco-mode. Makes a clean 60.1 Hz.
I put a hair dryer on it and briefly boosted it to a 710 watt load (1/2 second) then back down. Persisting with this load kicks on the overload protection which cuts the outputs and the machine needs "rebooting" to fix this. I have not yet plugged my fridge in but think it can handle it.
The 40cc engine is a darling little thing that looks like it was assembled with grey stove cement/ RTV instead of gaskets. Its pull string start is a two-finger affair like you'd find on a weedwhacker. It starts just fine with choke and goes to unchoked graciously in a few seconds. Valve adjustment is listed as maintenance after a couple hundred hours. The front panel is smart with a few LEDs and nice workmanship on the breakers and outlets.
Thing has a 12V/8A out for charging batteries which might be something lazy me uses getting the plow truck out of the woods next fall.
In short, it's no Honda in build quality, but the $150 kinda jumps out at you. I dumped my 2-stroke HF 900 watt model on craigslist already.