New Predator 6500W Generator, Recommendations/Tips?

[6.7 CTD]

I have a Champion inverter generator 8750/7000 and broke it in with Valvoline daily protection 10w30 for 5 hours. I then changed the oil and used HPL 5w30 NO VII. I then had an outage that lasted about 73 hours and the generator ran non-stop. I changed the oil (to 5w40) and sent a used oil analysis after the 73 hours of continuous use and it looked great; the 5w30 NO VII held up well (I posted the uoa here). I did start using HPL ck4 cold climate 5w40 after that 73-hour run though.

I just bought a Wen 2500 inverter generator. I plan to break it in for 5-8 hours and then switch to 5w40 as well.

I also put NGK plugs in them.

 

[gman2304]

I ran the fridge, one space heater and the oven for a little bit.

Wow, my 7,000 watt Chicom won’t come close to running my oven. It will run the smallest element on our electric cook top but really pulls the rpm’s down. Mine is hard wired into my breaker box and runs everything we need during an outage, gas furnace fan, fridge, basement freezer, lights etc.

 

[JoeDirt41]

Wow, my 7,000 watt Chicom won’t come close to running my oven. It will run the smallest element on our electric cook top but really pulls the rpm’s down. Mine is hard wired into my breaker box and runs everything we need during an outage, gas furnace fan, fridge, basement freezer, lights etc.

This was a gas oven with a 120V glow bar ignitor, not an electric oven, so it wasn’t drawing a ton of power unless the ignitor was on. Maybe 400-600 watts max when the ignitor was on. Obviously the clock, light and control board drew some power, but not enough to really matter.

 

[JoeDirt41]

You got yourself a nice generator love the wheel kit. Try to keep a 50-60% load until you reach 20 hrs. For now I'd run the engine with the gas off until it stalls out top the fuel off and call it good. When you hit 20 hrs switch over to a synthetic blend or full synthetic. Manual says 5w or 10w-30 just use according to weather and season

Thanks! So far I’m happy with it. Very easy to start and powered everything I needed. A bit noisy but I knew that it would be when I bought it. I’ve wanted a generator for a long time.

Was that an electric oven being fed with 240 VAC or a gas oven running a 120 VAC ignitor?

I have the Predator 3500 inverter and here is what I did with respect to oil:

1. Initial fill of 10w-30 Mobil 1 High Mileage
2. Break in for 8 hours then changed with the same oil.
3. At 28 hours the oil was changed to 5w-40 Rotella T6
4. At 78 hours (50 on the RT6) changed back to Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30

I did not notice any difference between those oils but perhaps I might have if pull starting in single digits.

My generator connects via a ten circuit manual transfer switch. I believe I may have seen a maximum load of 2875 VA while running the dishwasher in a heated dry cycle. Other essenstial circuits include the ignitors for the gas furnace, range and hot water heaters, the refrigerators and chest freezer.

It was a gas oven with a 120V glow bar ignitor.

 

[grabgears6]

Yeah the manual claims 30 hours for break-in but that seems excessive to me. I was thinking more like 5-10 max. I was planning on conventional for break-in then synthetic after.

Predator 9500 here, bought new Jan/Feb this year.
I ran the first few hours, then drain N fill. ran another few hours then another drain n Fill. Now I am on the 3rd oil service, and using the generator. I nearly crapped when I saw the break-in metals on the 1st and 2nd drain n fills. researched showed me Predators engines are notorious for this...
First fill: travellers 5W-30
2nd: Toro premium 10W-30 mineral
3rd: Toro premium 10W-30 mineral

when I have enough time on it, I will switch to Toro Full synthetic 10W-30

 

[DCDG]

Predator 9500 here, bought new Jan/Feb this year.
I ran the first few hours, then drain N fill. ran another few hours then another drain n Fill. Now I am on the 3rd oil service, and using the generator. I nearly crapped when I saw the break-in metals on the 1st and 2nd drain n fills. researched showed me Predators engines are notorious for this...
First fill: travellers 5W-30
2nd: Toro premium 10W-30 mineral
3rd: Toro premium 10W-30 mineral

when I have enough time on it, I will switch to Toro Full synthetic 10W-30

View attachment 328406

View attachment 328407

The first picture looks like moisture the second like fuel dilution

 

[DCDG]

Thanks! So far I’m happy with it. Very easy to start and powered everything I needed. A bit noisy but I knew that it would be when I bought it. I’ve wanted a generator for a long time.

It was a gas oven with a 120V glow bar ignitor.

One of these days I’ll up my generator I have a 4000/3500 watt. It’ll run my house minus the 2 ton ac unit. Gas appliances are definitely nice to have when owning a portable generator.

 

[kballowe]

Predator 3500 here. 1st oil change at 5 hours. The oil had sort of a "sheen".
Next change at 15 hours and the oil looked OK.

 

[JoeDirt41]

One of these days I’ll up my generator I have a 4000/3500 watt. It’ll run my house minus the 2 ton ac unit. Gas appliances are definitely nice to have when owning a portable generator.

I really wasn’t sure how much generator I needed, but I shopped around online for a couple hours that morning and the 6500/5500 I picked up seemed like a good middle ground on price and output. I think it’ll be more than enough for me.

I have to look into a transfer switch more. Running the furnace and A/C would be the main reasons for getting one. It was cold when the power went out this time, but not extremely cold, so we were able to manage with just a space heater and the heat that the oven gave off. But had it been much colder, it would have been a lot less comfortable. Same thing in the summer, it can get very hot and humid here and having no A/C is not a good time.

 

[DCDG]

Gotcha. I figured that would be the case with the grounding and have the same experience when trying to charge my Tesla from the generator. Thanks.

floating neutral, most generators don't have neutral and ground tied together.

 

[PWMDMD]

Just relaying my HF Predator experience. I had a 3 year old Predator 9500 inverter that I babied and took meticulous care of both from a maintenance POV as well as making sure I ran it monthly with load. Several break-in oil changes and was running Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 0W40 in it. With 50 hours on it the float got stuck and I had it serviced. Just 10 hours later it had a catastrophic rod failure. Plenty of oil and never ran dry. Sounded fine right up to the failure. Ended up just scraping it.


It was connected to a transfer switch below the breaker and when it worked it was great just bummed about its premature demise.

 

[Bob in Utah]

Correct me if I’m wrong

Shouldn’t a generator be a Gen/Inverter if you’re plugging into your house?

I have a Wen 3600 that I plug into the X/fer system to keep the lights on

No…it’s not a Honda or Yamaha

 

[spasm3]

We had a bad windstorm yesterday evening that knocked our power out for over 24 hours (actually just kicked back on), and these storms have been getting increasingly frequent the last couple years. The house was getting quite cold, and we don’t have a fireplace, so around the 12 hour mark, I went and bought a 6500W Predator Generator from Harbor Freight to try and preserve the food in the fridge and get some heat going in the house.

I bought the wheel kit and installed it, filled it with 1 quart of 10W30 Pennzoil conventional and filled the gas tank with 90 octane ethanol free fuel. It started on the first pull and ran about 8 hours before the power came back on. I ran the fridge, one space heater and the oven for a little bit. By my calculations, I think I ran between 30-60% load on it.

So far I’m happy with the purchase, just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for break in procedure, oil type, maintenance, usage, or upgrades.

View attachment 328342

I would keep the tank completely full of E-0 fuel, this keeps moisture laden air out of the tank.
Run it every couple of months turning off the fuel valve to let it die.
Swap out the fuel every 6 months and burn it in a car or lawn mower.

 

[cptbarkey]

Yup, dump the oil, its going to look terrible but after that it will be fine. Have a 9000w predator at the house, a 9000w champion at our family property, and another 2500 champion inverter. All doing great and ready for whatever mother earth decides to do.

 

[Bob in Utah]

I would keep the tank completely full of E-0 fuel, this keeps moisture laden air out of the tank.
Run it every couple of months turning off the fuel valve to let it die.
Swap out the fuel every 6 months and burn it in a car or lawn mower.

We call it Eth Free Clear….88 octane

I keep 26 gallons on hand

 

[Skippy722]

I changed the oil in my Briggs generator after 5 hours. It was a bit sparkly. It now has HPL Supercar 0w30 in it as that was all I had on hand and about 40 hours run time.

For what it's worth, that 6250w generator runs my entire house including my well pump and 1.5 ton AC.

 

[dnewton3]

The most important thing ... and I mean THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ... is that any generator can benefit from running under a moderate load at least twice a year for about 10 minutes. This is because LONG storage periods without running can leave the magnets fields in a compromised position and they end up not being able to self-excite the field, and therefore won't generate electricity without what's known as a "bumpstart" (not for the uninitiated to attempt if you don't know what you're doing).

Sure - change the oil, use fresh gas; those are obvious. But most generators get neglected because people are too lazy to exercise the power-head twice a year, and then years down the road, they pull out some dusty old Genny and complain about why it won't run right, or at all, in a real time of need.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Nice! I had a Predator 4000 and I have a 9000 now. Only other thing that hasn't been mentioned is maybe consider a magnetic dipstick. I put one on each of them, and there would usually be a little film of stuff on the tip at each oil change. Do make a habit of turning the fuel valve off (unplug the loads first!) to run the carb dry, and don't forget to put Sta-bil in the gas.

 

[JoeDirt41]

Did the first oil change today. Ran it for about 5 minutes to warm it up then drained it. It was very metallic, as expected.

Put one quart of STP conventional 10W30 in, I’ll probably run this for 5-10 hours and then change it and switch to a synthetic.

I also swapped the Torch spark plug for an NGK BPR6ES.

 

[spasm3]

Did the first oil change today. Ran it for about 5 minutes to warm it up then drained it. It was very metallic, as expected.
View attachment 328718View attachment 328719
Put one quart of STP conventional 10W30 in, I’ll probably run this for 5-10 hours and then change it and switch to a synthetic.
View attachment 328720
I also swapped the Torch spark plug for an NGK BPR6ES.
View attachment 328721View attachment 328722

I like magnetic dipsticks.