Need help with selecting a good portable generator

[Rick in PA]

Originally Posted By: bigdreama
I have and recommend the Honda EU2000i. Not cheap but quiet and reliable.

That being said, I just saw this one which is certainly a chinese unit at a great price point:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/sportsman-trade-2000-watt-portable-gasoline-generator-4458506


A buddy at work got one of those $99 generators (that model). It did work, once he got it "squared away". It ran a bit, then stopped, some debris from the gas shut-off valve got into the carburetor (gas was pouring out of the carb). A fuel line was too tight and had to be replaced. Then the recoil starter cord broke, he fixed that. He is a regular "Mr. Fix-it". In the end, it did work and he loaned it to a neighbor, and it ran for some time OK.

Another fellow at work has a Champion and had good luck with that over quite a few days. They did find out the low oil shut off works, and it saved the generator.

 

[webfors]

This unit is interesting, in that you can stack them in parallel for a total of 4000 surge watts, 3200 continuous:

http://www.championpowerequipment.com/generators/73536i/

Or use just one for light duty use. Quiet rating of 53db which is impressive.

I suspect you'll find this unit on sale for around $500 at some point.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: 123Saab
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: ChrisJH
I wouldnt hook anything electronic up to it, at least not without a good UPS thats capable of AVR and line conditioning (buck/boost)


Depends on what it is. Most modern electronic stuff is 110/220 50-60 hz and converts to some lower DC Voltage. Most likely it will be fine.

Now specialized stuff may be a different matter. I would suspect low voltage would not be an issue. After all, power quality is highly variable even in the USA.


Even in the USA?


Sure. Except for the stuff that uses the little wall worts (check the label for input specs), most of the new stuff is multi voltage. Much easier to design 1 power supply and ship it everywhere rather than dedisn 1 for the North/South America, one for Europe, one for Japan, etc.

 

[ChrisJH]

I was more referring to the whole "perfect sine wave" vs "square sine wave" thing. Even stuff that converts to DC might work/not work/die an early death based on the quality of the wave coming into it the input (before its converted to DC)

I for one noticed some "oscillating" dim/brightness with my lights on powered by my generator. Not sure if the gen is bad, bad connections to my xfer panel or if its just normal (Ive never run most of my house off generator before, this was the first time I used the xfer panel)

On the flip side, its not like we're running for months on generator so the overall effect might not be that big of a deal regardless.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: ChrisJH
I was more referring to the whole "perfect sine wave" vs "square sine wave" thing. Even stuff that converts to DC might work/not work/die an early death based on the quality of the wave coming into it the input (before its converted to DC)

I for one noticed some "oscillating" dim/brightness with my lights on powered by my generator. Not sure if the gen is bad, bad connections to my xfer panel or if its just normal (Ive never run most of my house off generator before, this was the first time I used the xfer panel)

On the flip side, its not like we're running for months on generator so the overall effect might not be that big of a deal regardless.


Aaah. I get what you are saying now. I do notice the flickering on CFL's with our generator. I found it goes away after a minute or so, so I assume it is a warmup type of thing with the CFL's I've used.

Not sure about the square vs pure sine thing. I know that a suqare can cause a little more heat in the electronics and motors but well designed stuff shouldn't be hurt by it - it should have enough heat reserve to cope. I've run laptops off the cheapest inverter I could find and they all lived to a ripe old age, sd I suspect any of the lifetime shortening stuff may be well beyond the life we keep these sorts of things for. I'd suspect it's similar to shortening the life from 15 years to 12 years for a computer - few keep them past 5-7 years so we'd never see the decreased life.

 

[user52165]

Originally Posted By: webfors
This unit is interesting, in that you can stack them in parallel for a total of 4000 surge watts, 3200 continuous:

http://www.championpowerequipment.com/generators/73536i/

Or use just one for light duty use. Quiet rating of 53db which is impressive.

I suspect you'll find this unit on sale for around $500 at some point.



I have one. Paid $450 new, boxed. Amazing unit, first pull start every time. Quiet as a Honda or Yamaha - actual measurements by me with a SPL meter.

See the massive Champion 2000 thread in this forum.

 

[webfors]

Originally Posted By: user52165
Originally Posted By: webfors
This unit is interesting, in that you can stack them in parallel for a total of 4000 surge watts, 3200 continuous:

http://www.championpowerequipment.com/generators/73536i/

Or use just one for light duty use. Quiet rating of 53db which is impressive.

I suspect you'll find this unit on sale for around $500 at some point.



I have one. Paid $450 new, boxed. Amazing unit, first pull start every time. Quiet as a Honda or Yamaha - actual measurements by me with a SPL meter.

See the massive Champion 2000 thread in this forum.


Nice deal! I'm liking that option and CPE seems to get good reviews from a support/service perspective.

link to thread? I can't find it for some reason. Probably not looking hard enough

 

[Gillsy]

Originally Posted By: Drew2000
The Saturday before the storm, I managed to pick up a B&S Storm Responder 5500 watt (8250 start) genset from Lowe's for $799. It's assembled in USA and has pretty good user ratings. I couldn't find a 250v 4-wire twist lock anywhere, so I used the 25' heavy-duty cord that came with the unit which gives 4-20A 110V recepticals. Eventually I'll install a breaker interlock on the house panel main and a 30A receptical outside to back feed the panel.

B&S Storm Responder 5500


I really couldn't be happier with the unit. I was without power for 11 days, just getting it back today at noon. I ran the unit around 5 hours in the morning and 5 hours in the evening to power the fridge, gas boiler controls, washer, some lamps, FIOS, and a UPS for the computer. The output voltage was rock-steady at 115 volts. The big 7 gallon tank would last almost 2 days as I usually did'nt have that much load on it.

Changed the oil with 10w30 dino at 5 hours as per the book, then at 10 hours changed it again to 5w30 Pennzoil Platnium which is good for at least 50 hours.

I have the same generator. with 5500 steady, and 8250 starting power, that's a 50% reserve for inrush. I've yet to see that kind of reserve on any other genset. I am very pleased with my unit as well. Please be advised that this is not a pressurized oil system motor, and it must be kept level to avoid possible failure. I would buy another if the need arose.

 

[user52165]

Originally Posted By: webfors
Originally Posted By: user52165
Originally Posted By: webfors
This unit is interesting, in that you can stack them in parallel for a total of 4000 surge watts, 3200 continuous:

http://www.championpowerequipment.com/generators/73536i/

Or use just one for light duty use. Quiet rating of 53db which is impressive.

I suspect you'll find this unit on sale for around $500 at some point.





I have one. Paid $450 new, boxed. Amazing unit, first pull start every time. Quiet as a Honda or Yamaha - actual measurements by me with a SPL meter.

See the massive Champion 2000 thread in this forum.


Nice deal! I'm liking that option and CPE seems to get good reviews from a support/service perspective.

link to thread? I can't find it for some reason. Probably not looking hard enough

Sorry - my bad. That huge thread is on another forum:

RV.Net

 

[webfors]

Originally Posted By: user52165
Originally Posted By: webfors
Originally Posted By: user52165
Originally Posted By: webfors
This unit is interesting, in that you can stack them in parallel for a total of 4000 surge watts, 3200 continuous:

http://www.championpowerequipment.com/generators/73536i/

Or use just one for light duty use. Quiet rating of 53db which is impressive.

I suspect you'll find this unit on sale for around $500 at some point.





I have one. Paid $450 new, boxed. Amazing unit, first pull start every time. Quiet as a Honda or Yamaha - actual measurements by me with a SPL meter.

See the massive Champion 2000 thread in this forum.


Nice deal! I'm liking that option and CPE seems to get good reviews from a support/service perspective.

link to thread? I can't find it for some reason. Probably not looking hard enough

Sorry - my bad. That huge thread is on another forum:

RV.Net


Ahh, yes. I did find that one.