gas generators

[cookiedough]

I know Honda engine and inverters being quieter are the way to go, but too darn expensive for my tops 1 time I will use it per year.

Menards has thru tomorrow a WEN 3500 watt brand, very similar in every way to the Champion brand at farm and fleet,  normally 350 on black friday deal only 189 on sale.  Near 1/2 off is unheard of in a mid-sized generator that will power 2 things like a gas water heater and sump pump at the same time or sump pump and freezer at the same time just in case the power goes out for over 24 hours or to go camping with it if no electrical hookups available. 

Anyone heard bad/good on WEN brand?  Is made in china just like Champion and most other generators besides honda and generac brands. 

[Jess from VA]

http://www.toptenreviews.com/home/tools/best-portable-generators/wen-review/

http://www.greendept.com/maximpulse/wen/

http://www.generatorgrader.com/wen-56352-review/

https://www.amazon.com/WEN-56352-Starting-Portable-Generator/dp/B003N9AT5G

[gregk]

Well you know menardos. It may be worth a crap shoot. Pick one up an take another trip back to the cabin to ck it out. You can always take it back. Dont count on ice fishing till January though ha ha.

[Gryphon Rider]

I thought this would be a thread about chili. 

[fudgie]

Gas water heaters use no electricity. 

Im very happy with my Harbor Freight Predator. $499. I got the big one. 8500 I believe. I have my well, living room, fridge, furnace, and bedroom all connected to it. I ran them all at once and never bogged down the gen. I start it every month and it takes 2 pulls. 

[Bighead]

Gas water heaters use no electricity. 

I was gonna state the same but decided some would just blow up over the comment and start name calling

[Rams]

I've got a Predator 7850 gas generator and it's always done a wonderful job as a back up and have used it some on the RV.   Has battery for starting and never had to use the pull starter.   But, it's really more generator than I want or need for my RV.   

Tell ya what, you come on down to Kentucky and I'll make you a heck of a deal on it.   

[fudgie]

I've got a Predator 7850 gas generator and it's always done a wonderful job as a back up and have used it some on the RV.   Has battery for starting and never had to use the pull starter.   But, it's really more generator than I want or need for my RV.   

Tell ya what, you come on down to Kentucky and I'll make you a heck of a deal on it.   

My battery died after a month.

[Rams]

I've got a Predator 7850 gas generator and it's always done a wonderful job as a back up and have used it some on the RV.   Has battery for starting and never had to use the pull starter.   But, it's really more generator than I want or need for my RV.   

Tell ya what, you come on down to Kentucky and I'll make you a heck of a deal on it.   

My battery died after a month.

Not sure what to tell ya about that, the battery that on mine has been there about a year and cranks it every time with out a problem.    I start my generator about once a month and let it run just to ensure reliability then refill with fresh gas mixed with a ounce or so of Stabil.   No issues so far.

[Jess from VA]

I keep a battery tender on my (itty bitty, maybe half the size of my valk battery) generator battery (24 X 7).  All my earlier generators were a bitch to pull (and regularly broke ropes, with the pull mechanism riveted to the machine), especially since they were rarely needed/used;  I figure what's the purpose of spending extra for a battery start machine if the battery is dead when I need it?  (usually in the pitch dark, during a winter ice storm, which is a wonderful time to be messing with 220 volts)

All I had to do was go out and buy a new Honda engine (but not Honda brand) generator with 8500 watt power with battery starter, and I have never lost power since (beyond a couple minutes) (one year plus).  Ain't that always the karma of life?

(I realize I am poking fate with this kind of statement   )

[Hoser]

Gas water heaters use no electricity. 

Im very happy with my Harbor Freight Predator. $499. I got the big one. 8500 I believe. I have my well, living room, fridge, furnace, and bedroom all connected to it. I ran them all at once and never bogged down the gen. I start it every month and it takes 2 pulls. 

+1, I have a hook up to the whole house, runs everything, uses lots of gas, but it's worth it.  I roll it out of the garage and role it as far away as my hookup will allow.  It's kinda loud!    Hoser

[Sorcerer]

The new high efficiency water heaters that duct out the side of your house with pvc pipe use a induced draft fan along with electronic ignition.  Also the instant hot water heaters use electricity. Hence the need for electricity. They cost about 4 times that of the old standing pilot ones.

[The emperor has no clothes]

The new high efficiency water heaters that duct out the side of your house with pvc pipe use a induced draft fan along with electronic ignition.  Also the instant hot water heaters use electricity. Hence the need for electricity. They cost about 4 times that of the old standing pilot ones.

I haven't had natural gas for the last 16 years. I assumed by now they would all have electronic ignition ?

[Robert]

You dont pay that much extra for the higher wattage unit like in the 8 to 9k and can sometimes find the 15k units used. In fact most of the gens you can find used. If you are going to use a backup gen and have a major problem going on in your area you may not be able to get gas. Thats what Happened here in Fl with the hurricane. Gas sitting in the gen during storage is a problem and since most let their gens sit for long periods and do not drain the gas there can be problems. Even if you start it every couple of months with the ethanol there still may have issues. 

I have a whole house natural gas gen and it does everything including ac which is one of the higher power consumers. I also have a smaller gas gen at 9k. The water heater is natural gas also and does have a pilot. I would prefer not to have one with electronic ignition for the reasons you need electricity and just what if the gen has a problem. The hurricane taught me a few things being without power for 21 days. I did not even have a generator when the storm hit and the guy next door allowed me to hook a line to his gen a few times. A good cup of coffee after a couple of days was like heaven. 

There is an alternative in propane besides natural gas and some generator mfgs or survival outlets make gas to propane conversion kits. The whole house gen I have can use either and its so nice not to have to worry about clogging the carbs. But another benefit is the lower emissions that they put out. Less chance on killing yourself with the exhaust.

Honda does make some of the quietest gens but Im not to sure about the inverters ones since one of the food trucks had one and it was giving him problems that the older Honda gen didnt.

[gordonv]

I worked for the local phone company for 5 years. The cell division was changing over all their diesel gens to propane. You remove all the problems of fuel storage, and the ease of hooking up a 20lb BBQ bottle to it, while their larger 500lb tanks are changed out (air lifted to tops of mountains).

How long does diesel store for, before it becomes a problem?

[Jess from VA]

In doing my research on propane generators, I discovered that small quantity propane tanks don't like to flow in cold or freezing winters.

[cookiedough]

The new high efficiency water heaters that duct out the side of your house with pvc pipe use a induced draft fan along with electronic ignition.  Also the instant hot water heaters use electricity. Hence the need for electricity. They cost about 4 times that of the old standing pilot ones.

I have a tankless gas water heater that you plug in to an outlet thus the need for electricity.  ONLY 2 things I do not like is it takes 1-2 minutes to get hot water up into the bathroom being the furthest away from it wasting cold water and if do not keep hot water flowing constantly while doing dishes in the sink it will turn cold again.  Plus,  if doing laundry filling it up with hot/warm water and taking shower at same time it will not supply hot enough water to keep the shower fully HOT.   It does save though about 15 bucks per month on gas usage though not having to constantly keep hot water in the tank all the time.  

Tempted to take a chance on the $189 3500 watt WEN brand since never will be cheaper than that normally say 260 on up in price.  Biggest thing I think is to not let old ethanol gas in them for say more than 2-3 months and changing oil say once per year or so (depending on usage), and running them every 2-3 months for 20-30 minutes regardless if needing it or not.    3500 watt is enough to handle 2 appliances at the same time which is plenty for my needs.  

[Jess Tolbirt]

3500 watts at 120 volts is 30 amps worth...

[MarkT]

I don't start mine that often.  I do keep seafoam in it and swap out the fuel at least annually.  Never had a problem yet but I suppose I should increase the start-run frequency.  Ever since I got set up to handle power out, the Co-op power company got reliable. No electric start and that big 7000w gen takes effort to crank on the recoil starter. But it starts on 2nd pull and I might need it once/year.  No hurricanes etc here but we do get ice storms and heavy snow at times.

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

I have a champion 3500surge 3000 constant. Very quiet and only weigh 100 lbs.  runs about 12hrs on 4 gallons.  Runs my whole camper at deer lease. About 400 bucks with wheel kit.  My big generator is 5500 watt northstar by Generac pretty quiet 9hp Briggs vanguard about 20 years old and still kicking.

[cookiedough]

I have a champion 3500surge 3000 constant. Very quiet and only weigh 100 lbs.  runs about 12hrs on 4 gallons.  Runs my whole camper at deer lease. About 400 bucks with wheel kit.  My big generator is 5500 watt northstar by Generac pretty quiet 9hp Briggs vanguard about 20 years old and still kicking.

that champion you have is very similar to that WEN I was considering at Menards, both made in China and both comparably equipped.  I decided to skip it since sale ended yesterday at Menards for 189 vs. normal 329.  I figure in 23 years living here,  not needing it once since power comes on usually in 4-9 hours later or so all the time.  Would have been nice though if we ever go camping iin our enclosed trailer I just bought new last year, but the wife prefers hotels instead not roughing it as much.  I can get by without showering for one day, maybe two, just washing hair/face in a sink.  Nothing wrong with blow up air beds for 1-2 nights inside the trailer right with the generator if needed to run electrical heaters or fans inside the trailer as well as other smaller electrical plug ins. 

Question though if I ever get one -  instructions on that WEN 3500 watt generator -  I read up on and states to ground with wire and rod into ground while using it.  Does anyone do that?  Is there really a need to do that attaching the wire to the generator grounding plug/screw?

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

I've never grounded either one of mine. Probably an insurance thing. My champion came from Canada I believe. I ordered a new handle for it and it came from there.

[MaverickValk]

The grounding thing is for safety to avoid a potential shock/electrocution problem. OSHA requires all portable generators be grounded where they have jurisdiction.

[Jess from VA]

Since mine plugs into my house power supply, I assume it grounds to the big steel rod grounding my 200 Amp circuit breaker box?