Generator

[Rich M]

I have the Honda 2000 - runs a refrigerator, chest freezer, window air conditioner, fan, lights, tv. Don't remember if I had em all on at once but the AC, fridge, & freezer definitely. 8-9 hrs per gallon.

Did a 6.5 days w/o power on 10 gallons of fuel.

 

[dieselchessy]

I have a Firman 2100. It’s about half the price of the Honda or Yamaha.
The power off of it isn’t that clean. It runs motors, heaters, ect... fine, but it’s not good with electronics. It will lock up the screen on my IPhone if I try to charge off of it.
I just use it to charge a 12v battery and then charge my phone off the battery.
So in today’s world of fancy electronics I’d recommend the pricier Honda or Yamaha generators. The inverter circuitry isn’t where you want to be pinching pennies. You need it to generate a relatively clean representation of a 60hz sine wave.

 

[Huntinkev]

Its hard to beat generator with Honda motor. Multiquip is the best for clean power, but you will pay for it.

We have used some of the 8000 generacs for construction and they do alright for cheap alternative. Don't last as long as the multiquips.

 

[Nomad2217]

I’ve put roughly 200 hrs on a ryobi 2,000 watt inverter and 500+ on a predator 4375 watt.

The ryobi is a piece of junk. Everything on the case rattles so I had to take off the wheels and handle off to make it quiet. It also has a carb issue where I have to open the housing and manually choke it to get it started. Takes 15 mins and a lot of pulls.

The predator is a beast. It’s survived 4 trips to the beach. Each one it ran non stop in 100+ degree weather for 5-8 days powering a 30ft camper with the overhead A/C and a small window unit.(Stopped for oil changes). I’ve dropped it out of a truck once or twice... tons of use for work purposes.

I wouldn’t hesitate to get a predator inverter if I ever need one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ZDR]

I live in blackout central. Wildfire prevention.

I bought the new Honda EU2200. I run my fridge, my neighbors freezer, some lights and my tankless gas water heater (just the computer and the ignition). It’s quiet. I can run it nine hours. It’s just a bit over 1 gallon to fill it up. My neighbor got solar and batteries, so I am on my own now. It should go longer.

niw having said that: my old boss bought the 2000w yamaha unit from Costco. much Much cheaper than my Honda. It’s been flawless. And I honestly think it’s quieter.

The Costco Yamaha/i power generators are a cheap alternative to the Honda's. Mine has been flawless other than needing multiple pulls to start when the temps are below 20. That not much to complain about...
I saw a few refurbished ones on Amazon recently for even less $$$.

 

[rayporter]

it looks ok, the only thing i dont see is a decibel number for the engine. they just say it is quieter than a honda. it says 2.6 gal for the fuel tank but it only goes for 8 hours run time? my honda 3000 runs 17 hours on the same amount of fuel.

hondas have a fuel pump. which allows adding a boat tank for extended run time. i have read that hondas are the only genny with a fuel pump,, can anyone discount that?

Does anybody have any knowledge about the Generacs? Here is one that I was looking at today.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Generac-IQ3500-3500-Watt-Gasoline-Portable-Generator/1000615731

 

[passinggas33]

Story time...I bought the Honda 3000ish generator for my travel trailer. Foolishly, I took it up the mountain without starting it. Filled with fluids, and never could get it to start. Ran to the nearest town and bought the Harbor Freight Predator 3500. Went back up and started first pull. Eventually got the Honda started back at home. Next to each other the Predator was actually quieter than the Honda. So I took it back and got back $1500.

I’m not saying the Predator is as nice or will last as long as the Honda, but I can buy 3 more before I reach the cost of the Honda. For as much as I use one, that should be about 2 lifetimes. If I was using it daily or my life depended on it, then the Honda would be more inticing.

 

[rayporter]

there is a shop that sells hondas west of me that has one setting on the counter with a sign on it that reads "if it dont start on the first pull you can have it"
i figure they start it first thing every morning. just to be sure.

 

[*zap*]

If my honda 2000 i sits for a few months it take a dozen pulls or so to start it.

 

[sasquatch]

I have Yamaha 2k. Love it, hasn’t failed me in years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Scout308]

I have an old Coleman 6250 that I've had since 2004. Knock on wood, I've never had an issue with it!

 

[Broomd]

Timely thread.....

On our third day of running the generator for power here at home after a huge storm ripped through north Idaho last Tuesday night. Trees down everywhere.
Glad I have one and that I wired the house for it while building....

Running a 9000/7500 Westinghouse for whole house, well etc, and a smaller Westinghouse 2400 invertor in the late evenings for flat screen, stereo, IMAC etc. ---less gas use.

 

[Billy Goat]

I know a guy who does this stuff.....


But basically need to figure your amperage to run the house, that's going to be a determining factor for the size if you haven't done that. Then determine the frequency of use, the northern tool brand generators have been pretty good for several I know, can't currently remember the name. The more frequently you need to use it things like electric start and decibel level come into play. Then you also need to have a disconnect wired up on the house.

That's all I can remember, I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn last night. But I do like my generac.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I’ve been a sparky for 30 years. If you are hooking it to your house absolutely put in an interlock /transfer switch. It protects the lineman from you hitting him with juice. Also If the power comes back on and your generator is hooked to the grid there’s a good chance it’ll smoke your new generator.

 

[22lr]

there is a shop that sells hondas west of me that has one setting on the counter with a sign on it that reads "if it dont start on the first pull you can have it"
i figure they start it first thing every morning. just to be sure.

Ya, if I started my Honda once a week it was a 1 pull start, every time. More than a week took 2 or 3. Starting after 5 months took 5 or 6...

 

[caesAR15]

Honda 2200 EU owner checking in. Haven't had to use it yet (thankfully)

 

[PAhntr91]

I had a Honda eu3000 great option in my opinion. Ran all night hooked to the rv. Quiet.

 

[rayporter]

not a fan of harbor freight but my bud has a predator and he drives a flatbed truck.

one day we went hunting and he lost his genny getting in. 2 days later a guy stops to talk and says he found a genny along the road and upside down. none the worse for the wear we fired it up and used it for the rest of the week.

my step son works on them and says they are throw away [no parts] well that day ya could not throw it away!

 

[rayporter]

this tale still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. and i am still a honda fan.

we bought a new eu3000 in 03 when i retired. it had a one year warrantee. well about 10 months later we had trouble with it so we took it to the nearest dealer in town. on the store front was a sign with four foot tall letters that read "honda of forrest city"

a week later i went in and they had it torn down and said the inverter was shot and it would cost 1000bucks.
not happy i talked to the manager and eventually the owner. and they would not honor the warrantee because the were only an atv dealer, [ they had a generator for sale on the floor] and were not authorized to work on generators!

i called honda headquarters in cali and was told they were not a honda dealer but they operated on someone's license in Mississippi. ???? so the sign meant nothing and they never told me when i brought it in and told them it was under warrantee and i wanted it fixed.

i wanted to walk off and leave it in parts on the floor and then report it as stolen but the ol lady got them to give us a new genny for a few dollars less than a new one in place of the one in parts.

i still wish i had called the cops.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Hello all. I am a new member but here it goes.

I have a 2003 Forest River Windsong with a Onan Marquis Gold 5500 generator. I would like to use the generator as a backup power source for my home. THe generator has 2 breakers one 30 amp and on 20 amp. The wires go into an automatic transfer switch. If I run the 4 wires from the generator into manual switch box then to the auto switch box then From the manual switch box for the other out would go to a female 50 amp plug(similar to the plug you use for power at an RV Park) . I would then use a cord to go to another 50 amp plug next to my breaker box. Go through another manual switch then to my breaker box to a 50 amp breaker. Would this work and would this provide 240 volts to my panel?

Any help would be appreciated.

If this is your generator, then, no, it won't give you 240 volts at your panel (unless you put a transformer between the generator and panel). 240V household circuits consist of two 120V hot wires (usually colored black and red) that are 180° out of phase with each other, one neutral wire (white), and possibly (depending on the age of the house) a ground wire (green or bare). You can think of one hot wire as being positive 120V and the other as being negative 120V, which yields a total voltage difference between them of 240V. If you were to route two 120V wires from your generator to your panel (assuming that's what you're asking about), you would get 0V (line-to-line) at the 240V receptacles/devices connected to the panel because those two 120V wires would be in phase with each other. If the generator doesn't have a built-in 240V receptacle, it's not going to be capable of powering any 240V household circuits (unless you run the generator outfeed through a 120V single phase-to-240V split phase transformer).