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DRTDEVL

DRTDEVL

Mothfukle
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
78
Messages
768
Loc
Austin... TX? Nope. Minnesota!
The PO of my home made a widowmaker cable and used an old 5500 watt generator for power outages. Flip the main, plug in the widowmaker, and back-feed the house until the neighbor's power was back on, then reverse the process. Anyway, when I pulled out the generator the year we moved in, I found the engine locked up. I freed it with Marvel, but it spits too much oil out of the exhaust and makes zero power, so it won't handle the home anymore.

Fast-forward to now: I have a 25% off "no exclusions" HF coupon in my e-mail. I was going to pick up this: 9000 Watt Gas Powered Portable Generator with CO SECURE™ Technology, EPA After applying the coupon, it would only be $749.99 + tax.

Before heading out, I was looking online again, and I saw this one on sale: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...&linkId=f440789d2fe9b7b7f4d8b889be9e1c23&th=1 Its a much better thought, but it is really worth 25% more to me? I know the LPG option would be better for long-term storage situations... but I am a cheap bastid.


So, should I get the cheapo with the coupon, or get the Westinghouse that's on sale now for $999.98?
 
Since I like spending other people's money I'd say buy the Westinghouse :laughing:

Other than that I have no useful opinion, i have had the same honda generator since 2004 and it's got a million hours on and its quiet and seems to work fine.
 
What do you burn at your house? (Natural gas or propane)

I'm assuming HF doesn't sell any generators already set up for propane.

It'll cost you about $200 to add the propane/NG adapter to any small generator.

Generator Conversion Kits to Propane(LPG) and Natural Gas

Generator conversion kits to propane, lp gas and natural gas for most gasoline generators and engines.
centuryfuelproducts.com centuryfuelproducts.com
 
Muckin_Slusher said:
What do you burn at your house? (Natural gas or propane)

I'm assuming HF doesn't sell any generators already set up for propane.

It'll cost you about $200 to add the propane/NG adapter to any small generator.

Generator Conversion Kits to Propane(LPG) and Natural Gas

Generator conversion kits to propane, lp gas and natural gas for most gasoline generators and engines.
centuryfuelproducts.com centuryfuelproducts.com
Click to expand...
I have NG here, but no gas line back to the shop yet. I was going to run a line and install a heater in there in the future, but spending all winter in the hospital changed my priorities around this year. I do have multiple bbq cylinders and 40# cylinder that should be able to keep it going for quite a while.
 
I have a Duromax very similar to the Westinghouse you linked. I’ve put about 12 hrs on it running propane and no issues. It’s nice to be confident the carb isn’t going to gum up from shitty fuel, and it always fires right up. It’s also nice to know if the SHTF I can siphon gas out of a car to keep it going.


If it’s cool out bbq cylinders can ice up and starve it, but I haven’t had that problem with the #60.
 
Westinghouse and Predator are pretty much the same quality wise. If NG is worth the extra then do that.

Double check but I believe the remote start needs to have the igniton switch left on to work, so if you don't run the generator constantly it will just drain the battery.
 
HillbillyDeluxe said:
Westinghouse and Predator are pretty much the same quality wise. If NG is worth the extra then do that.

Double check but I believe the remote start needs to have the igniton switch left on to work, so if you don't run the generator constantly it will just drain the battery.
Click to expand...
My bet is they came off the same assembly line.
 
LP is worth it; no worries about getting it to start when you need it after gas sitting in the bowl of the carb fir extended periOSs.
 
Muckin_Slusher said:
What do you burn at your house? (Natural gas or propane)

I'm assuming HF doesn't sell any generators already set up for propane.

It'll cost you about $200 to add the propane/NG adapter to any small generator.

Generator Conversion Kits to Propane(LPG) and Natural Gas

Generator conversion kits to propane, lp gas and natural gas for most gasoline generators and engines.
centuryfuelproducts.com centuryfuelproducts.com
Click to expand...
Came here to post this. I bought the carb because I had an older 6500 generator. If I was doing it new I would buy a tri-fuel factory set up if its within a few hundred bucks and an hour or 2 of my time. Seems warranty piece of mind would be worth the factory set up
 
Nothing to add but I have a HF and was just given a huge Westinghouse NIB that I set up yesterday. Looks like a nice unit and powered on no issue. The electric start was cool. Wife wants me to sell the HF but one is none, two is one. Good loaner or trade bait down the line.

5EB02ECF-CC2A-43A8-A1C9-AE3DB9EDA54C.jpeg
 
WaterH said:
I like this quote.

Other than that, only thing I would say is Diesel or propane. Gas just never seems to work when you need it.
Click to expand...

Yet my HF Predator runs almost every day with pretty much no issues. Add gas and it fires off on the 2nd pull every time. There's well over 500hrs on the stock spark plug.

Gas generators are just fine.
 
WaterH said:
I like this quote.

Other than that, only thing I would say is Diesel or propane. Gas just never seems to work when you need it.
Click to expand...
I would trade the predator genset for one of those little 1400’s though. I’d get a lot of use out of a small quiet unit.
 
HillbillyDeluxe said:
Yet my HF Predator runs almost every day with pretty much no issues. Add gas and it fires off on the 2nd pull every time. There's well over 500hrs on the stock spark plug.

Gas generators are just fine.
Click to expand...
If you run it ”almost every day”, I believe you. The problem is if you don’t run it for eight months and then the power goes out. Of course, now a days, the power goes out a lot more than yers ago. So you may be fine.
 
WaterH said:
If you run it ”almost every day”, I believe you. The problem is if you don’t run it for eight months and then the power goes out. Of course, now a days, the power goes out a lot more than yers ago. So you may be fine.
Click to expand...

Keep the carb dry and fresh gas ready and they'll all run just fine. You can't leave this garbage ethanol shit sitting in the carb and tank.
 
Pukemaggots said:
The first question is what is the total load of everything you plan on running?
Click to expand...
Just my whole house. One central air unit, one full size refrigerator, too mini-fridges, two deep freezers, modem, computers, phone chargers, a few lights... I won't be welding or running the air compressor or anything when under backup power, so just the normal stuff. Stove is electric, too.
WaterH said:
If you run it ”almost every day”, I believe you. The problem is if you don’t run it for eight months and then the power goes out. Of course, now a days, the power goes out a lot more than yers ago. So you may be fine.
Click to expand...
I have a cheapo from some off brand that I picked up at Sam's nearly 10 years ago. It is now semi-permanently mounted on the tray I built for the back of my RV. I had some trouble with it last summer coming home from Sturgis, as there was a little bit of rust buildup in the float bowl clogging the carburetor. I dropped the bowl, cleaned it out, then pulled off the carb and sprayed all the passages, and it ran just fine to power my rooftop air for the way home. All I have done for additional maintenance to the thing besides oil changes is to turn the fuel valve off and let it die naturally when running it the final time after each use, and I run ethanol-free fuel whenever possible.
 
Dead Pool said:
I’m thinking for camping, woods use.
Click to expand...

Well if you wanna do some trading, lemme know. This little gen works great, but an open frame is way easier to mount on my truck and the extra power output will let me step up in size on my ac unit. This one will run anything you want for camping and it sips fuel. I've gotten 16hrs out of 1 tank with my ac cycling. And it's small enough to carry with you.
 
WTF? said:
LP is worth it; no worries about getting it to start when you need it after gas sitting in the bowl of the carb fir extended periOSs.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but those fucking regulators are a damn joke.
 
HillbillyDeluxe said:
Keep the carb dry and fresh gas ready and they'll all run just fine. You can't leave this garbage ethanol shit sitting in the carb and tank.
Click to expand...
This.

I have a Troy-built 5500W generator from 2004 that only runs at length when a hurricane knocks out power. I might fire it up once a year if I remember to otherwise.

For fuel I fill up a few gas cans with ethanol gas and add a storage dose of the marine sta-bil to it at the beginning of hurricane season. If nothing happens the gas gets dumped in the cars at the end of hurricane season. Repeat this process next year.

To store the generator after running, I’ll drain the tank back into a gas can, then run it until it runs out of gas in the line/carb. It it hasn’t ran for a year+ it gets an oil change.

It has started no problem every time doing this.
 
grandeyota said:
This.

I have a Troy-built 5500W generator from 2004 that only runs at length when a hurricane knocks out power. I might fire it up once a year if I remember to otherwise.

For fuel I fill up a few gas cans with ethanol gas and add a storage dose of the marine sta-bil to it at the beginning of hurricane season. If nothing happens the gas gets dumped in the cars at the end of hurricane season. Repeat this process next year.

To store the generator after running, I’ll drain the tank back into a gas can, then run it until it runs out of gas in the line/carb. It it hasn’t ran for a year+ it gets an oil change.

It has started no problem every time doing this.
Click to expand...
Manufacturers suggest emptying the bowls. I've always done what you're doing. It's legit.
 
WaterH said:
If you run it ”almost every day”, I believe you. The problem is if you don’t run it for eight months and then the power goes out. Of course, now a days, the power goes out a lot more than yers ago. So you may be fine.
Click to expand...
Fire it up once a month, Let it run 30 mins or so and run Canned gas, Tru Fuel or something non ethanol and it should be fine.
 
DRTDEVL said:
Just my whole house. One central air unit, one full size refrigerator, too mini-fridges, two deep freezers, modem, computers, phone chargers, a few lights... I won't be welding or running the air compressor or anything when under backup power, so just the normal stuff. Stove is electric, too.
Click to expand...
So do the math and figure out the total load.

www.generac.com

Powering your home, your business, your world.

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www.generac.com www.generac.com
 
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