I had a GN400 years ago but it was a Suzuki Motorcycle.
Wen GN400i Open Frame Inverter Generator
- Thread starter edge10
- Start date
FWIW-
https://www.northerntool.com/products/wen-rv-ready-4000w-open-frame-inverter-generator-surge-watts-4000-rated-watts-3500-voltage-120-model-gn400i-5808965
Other retailers are advertising for more than WEN direct sales.
Miscommunication or just sloppy WEN management?
https://www.northerntool.com/products/wen-rv-ready-4000w-open-frame-inverter-generator-surge-watts-4000-rated-watts-3500-voltage-120-model-gn400i-5808965
Other retailers are advertising for more than WEN direct sales.
Miscommunication or just sloppy WEN management?
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I tried to ride this GN400, but handling was poor. Couldn't even get down the driveway, and the exhaust burnt my backside
That model itself is more expensive on the WEN website, thats the CARB Compliant version, which this one I got is not. The CARB one is on sale for $382
https://wenproducts.com/products/4000-watt-open-frame-inverter-generator
Not sure why anyone would purchase from Northern Tool! I guess maybe they have it in the store?
Added a Tee and a Shutoff and spare spare tube, so I can easily drain the tank. I plan on doing the same as my other generator, where I keep it topped off, but drain and refill every 6 months. I just put the gas in my truck
Magnetic dipstick
Adding a switch to switch from floating to bonded
Added an hour meter
Adding a switch to switch from floating to bonded
Added an hour meter
So your switch just ties the neutral to the frame / ground pin? I presume all the outlets already have the neutral tied together so you just had to grab one point?
Yep pretty much, just snagged neutral off a spare screw on the 120v outlet into the switch, and then the other side of the switch to the common ground lug
I just wanted to give some tips if anyone is going to buy conversion kit to tri fuel as I tried to convert mine last week. I had an old spacer block from a previous tri fuel conversion and drilled the holes so spacer block fit onto my carb. The issue I ran into was the lack of clearance between air box assembly and frame. I could have trimmed air box but decided not to and leave my generator strictly for construction site work.
Take aways from this if you are going to convert to tri fuel your best bet is to go with motor snorkel or be prepared to trim air box.
Take aways from this if you are going to convert to tri fuel your best bet is to go with motor snorkel or be prepared to trim air box.
I've been rotating Ecoflows that charge between 1 to 1.2kw, so far running like a champ. At 4 hours now, will change the oil at 5 per the book
Video of the first run
Testing to see how well it picks up a 1200w load
Impressive and kudos for testing.
Now the big question:
Do you have a sound level meter? How does an open frame inverter compare to an enclosed unit?
Important for RV's, campgrounds, etc.
I do have a sound meter actually, when my neighbor gets done with his Zero Turn I'll get some readings, that could throw it off
I think this is too loud for campgrounds, maybe an RV could work if its enclosed
I think this is too loud for campgrounds, maybe an RV could work if its enclosed
Here are some thermal shots. This is at hour 5, it has been running under load for 5 hours (500w-1000w)
What we all came for, the oil change money shot. This is 5w30 Synthetic, I drained and filled back up with 15w40
Filled the tank to the top and added Sta-Bil and drained the carb, so probably won't see much unless I decide to play with it some more, or we have a power outage and I loan it out
Hour meter is dead on the money per my cameras
Filled the tank to the top and added Sta-Bil and drained the carb, so probably won't see much unless I decide to play with it some more, or we have a power outage and I loan it out
Hour meter is dead on the money per my cameras
My SIL has this exact generator -
Used it the first time with Hurricane Beryl.
I helped him set it up - everything worked fine - I installed an interlock switch on his breaker panel a year or so ago in anticipation of a power outage.
The only minor thing the TT-30R receptacle - we used a conversion plug to feed a L1430 cord.
We had to put a 4x4 under the plug or it would work its way loose.
When done using it we decided to drain the fuel - you have to remove the fuel petcock otherwise it leaves about 5 ounces of gas in the tank.
The choice leave gas tank full or totally drain - decided since it could be years between uses - better to drain.
Last time I used my generator before Beryl was February 2021 so over 2 years.
One other thing - the adapter to go from the TT-30R to the L1430 was purchased from Amazon.
We hooked everything up and it went straight to overload. I thought it was strange because we had the breaker turned off.
I grabbed my multimeter and everything seemed good. Still as soon as we plugged it in - went to overload.
Then I determined the adapter plug has the ground and hot connected inside the plug.
I was lucky I had a spare TT-30 to L5-30 adapter and a L5-30 to L14-30 adapter. Come to think about it maybe double plug adapters is why we needed the 4x4!
Used it the first time with Hurricane Beryl.
I helped him set it up - everything worked fine - I installed an interlock switch on his breaker panel a year or so ago in anticipation of a power outage.
The only minor thing the TT-30R receptacle - we used a conversion plug to feed a L1430 cord.
We had to put a 4x4 under the plug or it would work its way loose.
When done using it we decided to drain the fuel - you have to remove the fuel petcock otherwise it leaves about 5 ounces of gas in the tank.
The choice leave gas tank full or totally drain - decided since it could be years between uses - better to drain.
Last time I used my generator before Beryl was February 2021 so over 2 years.
One other thing - the adapter to go from the TT-30R to the L1430 was purchased from Amazon.
We hooked everything up and it went straight to overload. I thought it was strange because we had the breaker turned off.
I grabbed my multimeter and everything seemed good. Still as soon as we plugged it in - went to overload.
Then I determined the adapter plug has the ground and hot connected inside the plug.
I was lucky I had a spare TT-30 to L5-30 adapter and a L5-30 to L14-30 adapter. Come to think about it maybe double plug adapters is why we needed the 4x4!
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Quite a few times when helping out on mobile deployments that involve portable generators, I'll use a glue gun on low and put a few dabs of hot glue around the plugs. Easy to pull out still but stops it from working its way loose
I have this generator (GN400i) and I am working on converting for tri-fuel. I found a solution without going motor snorkel or air box cutting.
I bought the carb for the WEN DF402ix generator as it's a dual fuel carburetor with the NG/LPG nipple. The GN400i and DF402ix are the same generator except the 402 is dual fuel. I bought the carb from WEN directly for about $32. Here is the part number: DF402iX-0805.
I have run the generator on gasoline with the 402 carb and it runs the same as with the original carb.
The stepper motor is the same too. The 402 carb has a fuel cutoff built into it. If you plumb a hose from LPG/NG to the shutoff on the carb, as soon as the diaphragm sees pressure it closes the gasoline main jet off. So if you don't have the bowl drained of gasoline for some reason, and you run it on LPG/NG, the main jet for gasoline is closed off.
Interestingly I found another video of a different WEN generator that has "automatic fuel selection" where you can fill it with gasoline, run it on propane, when it runs out of propane or if propane is shut off, the valve opens the main jet and then it switches to gasoline, without cutting off the generator. I think it would work with this setup too, although I don't think I would do that. When I get set up for NG I will not be using gasoline and it will all be drained out of the carb and fuel tank.
By the way I am going to be using a Garretson KN Demand style regulator so that if the engine dies, NG won't be still flowing.
Hope this helps someone.
Edit: You don't have to use the fuel shut-off feature, everything will still run if you don't.
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Pic of DF402iX carb on the GN400i. And 3-port fuel valve to make draining fuel tank easy.
The clear vinyl hose is plugged and temporary. Will have a good rubber hose when tri-fuel is setup.
The clear vinyl hose is plugged and temporary. Will have a good rubber hose when tri-fuel is setup.
Very nice!