Anyone with experience with this gen ? It is on my shortlist for home backup power for the refrig, light, space, heater. Total harmonic distortion to under 0.3 percent at no load and under 1.2 percent at full load, which is as good or better than others. This one has a RATO 212 cc (same a Predator ) with supposedly steel cyl liner, forged crank and dual crank ball bearings.
Wen GN400i Open Frame Inverter Generator
- Thread starter edge10
- Start date
That's a pretty well priced inverter generator for the wattage, sounds impressive. Sorry, no experience with it, but one thing I'd consider if i was looking for a house backup generator would be 240V output, which might be useful if you wanted to plug into your panel through something like an interlock kit.
I've purchased a couple low cost Wen tools in the past and they've worked fine for me (however that's usually for low use or single use tools).
I've purchased a couple low cost Wen tools in the past and they've worked fine for me (however that's usually for low use or single use tools).
I have a WEN 5500 watt unit that I was able to run the household with during the last major storm. Worked great! Loud, but good power output. Picked up on CL for $200 earlier this spring with only 8 hours on it. Worked like a charm!
That is a good point about plugging into the panel. I have seen some cable adapters which allow 120V gen to supply through a transfer switch 120V to each leg of the panel. Of course, you can't run any 240 V appliances, but that works for me. I haven't looked into if these adapters meet any codes or are UL listed.
Wow, that price was a steal.
I'm not sure about the GN400i, but I have the 56380i for my RV. It works awesome and is pretty quiet when I use it especially in Eco mode. We used it after the Derecho in Iowa recently to power our fridges, freezers, dishwasher, wash machine and coffee maker. I burned less than 5 gallons of gas in 30 hours so overall worth it for me!
A couple wishes... One, a larger fuel tank to prevent middle of the night fuel ups if it sees a lot of load. Two, I wish it held more than .55 quarts of oil. That seems like a small amount for a unit that sees the use this one does. I currently use Mobil Super Synthetic 5W30. I think my next change will be to either Mobil Delvac 5W40 synthetic or Mobil Delvac 1300 15W40 that I use in my Cummins powered Ram.
https://wenproducts.com/collections...ortable-inverter-generator-with-fuel-shut-off
Just my $0.02
A couple wishes... One, a larger fuel tank to prevent middle of the night fuel ups if it sees a lot of load. Two, I wish it held more than .55 quarts of oil. That seems like a small amount for a unit that sees the use this one does. I currently use Mobil Super Synthetic 5W30. I think my next change will be to either Mobil Delvac 5W40 synthetic or Mobil Delvac 1300 15W40 that I use in my Cummins powered Ram.
https://wenproducts.com/collections...ortable-inverter-generator-with-fuel-shut-off
Just my $0.02
A predator 4375, has 240v.
$379. I have one works great. Probably not as clean an output.
$379. I have one works great. Probably not as clean an output.
It sounds like the 56380i handles a pretty decent load. Did you do load managing ? How does the ECO mode work ? I think on the GN400i 2400W the load has to be below 2400 (75% load). Not sure if the mode automatically switches off above that or you need to do it manually.
Yes, on the larger full tank with the GN400i too. Specs at 50% load at 7 hrs with 1.8 gal tank.
Recommend oil is straight SAE 30 40 - 100 F, 10w30 40 - 0 F, 5w30 synthetic -20 to 100 F. 17 oz of oil.
It handles everything I throw at it... I don't do load managing. I let the generator tell me what I need to do. It has a load meter on it and barely ever sees more than 50% load. The hardest this thing works is when we are powering the AC on our travel trailer or running the heat gun to warm my sons Nitro RC engine up for racing. I have been very happy with this unit and the push button start is awesome for anyone to start it, no rope pulling!
The Eco mode is a simple rocker switch. I am not sure exactly how it works but the engine runs quieter in this mode and is way better on fuel. As I recall, if the load increases over 50% it suggests you take it out of Eco mode. They also recommend not starting it in Eco mode. Generally I use Eco mode unless running the AC in the camper.
Just my $0.02
Sorry for bumping an old thread, but did you get the WEN GN400i? I just ordered one for $299 on sale. Couldn't resist for the price
Gets here Wednesday
Gets here Wednesday
$299 !!
Link or it didn't happen
No tax and free shipping, too
https://wenproducts.com/products/wen-gn400im-rv-ready-4000-watt-open-frame-inverter-generator
I have two WEN inverters. The baby 56125i and the bigger 56477i. Both have been fantastic units. The big one will run everything in our RV by itself with no issues (Including the water heater if I want).
I also use them to power many circuits in the house if power goes out through a 6 circuit tansfer panel.
Like below, only 6 separate 120v circuits instead of the 4-120's and 1-240. I use the same plug as the RV uses, so it is a simple matter to grab the 30 amp RV power plug, crank the genny and flip the switches.
I power my bedroom outlets, lights, and the master bedroom mini-split. For my fridge and freezer I just run a cord from the generators.
I haven't done an all out power's out test yet, but if I need more wattage I can crank up the little generator and parallel it with the big one and have another 1000 watts on hand.
I also use them to power many circuits in the house if power goes out through a 6 circuit tansfer panel.
Like below, only 6 separate 120v circuits instead of the 4-120's and 1-240. I use the same plug as the RV uses, so it is a simple matter to grab the 30 amp RV power plug, crank the genny and flip the switches.
I power my bedroom outlets, lights, and the master bedroom mini-split. For my fridge and freezer I just run a cord from the generators.
I haven't done an all out power's out test yet, but if I need more wattage I can crank up the little generator and parallel it with the big one and have another 1000 watts on hand.
I purchased this Mi-T-M generator used. Mi-T-M gets $ 900 and change for this generator. The Wen at $ 299 is a steal. It's the same unit.
Wow! Thats pretty shocking. Isn't Mi-T-M fairly well regarded?
Supposedly MI-T-M is contractor grade. I paid $ 150 used and thought it was a steal but after your posting not so much. The Wen is the exact same unit. They probably build them at the same factory in China but just paint and stamp on whatever company is buying them. I priced out the air filter housing for this generator on Mi-T-M website was $ 35 plus shipping while Wen was $ 11.81 plus $ 5.00 flat rate shipping. Point being Wen is great value for your dollar.
Still half price, for a working generator, good deal.
I have the Champion 100520 which has been good to me and has a very similar design to this WEN (Despite being much larger) so I bet that is made by the same factory. WEN also sells it, along with Champion and Predator (HF)
I have the Champion 100520 which has been good to me and has a very similar design to this WEN (Despite being much larger) so I bet that is made by the same factory. WEN also sells it, along with Champion and Predator (HF)
Just arrived, fired up first pull. Going to wait until tomorrow when the magnetic drain plug arrives and give me time to drain some Ecoflows so I can give it a good constant load for the break-in
I was reading the reviews for the Wen GN 400 that you purchased. Some people were put off that Wen recommends 25 hour oil change intervals for this generator. The Mi-T-M that we discussed previously the manual states 100 hours between oil changes. Strange how two company's have such a different perspective on oil change interval for basically the same engine.
The book actually wants it changed every 50 hours. First it wants 8 hours, then 25 hours and then you switch to 50 hour intervals which doesn't seem unreasonable given the generator size. You could probably stretch it a little though, maybe split the difference and go 75
This is the table for "Under Heavy Load", so that tracks I suppose
This is the table for "Under Heavy Load", so that tracks I suppose