I'm in the market for a new portable emergency generator. I've had a Briggs and Stratton 10K that I've had nothing but problems with. I've always tried to use fuel additives, run it regularly and not let gas sit in the carb but the carb keeps getting gummed up and it's have staring issues. There are no ethanol free gas stations around me so I'm considering possibly getting a generator that does propane too and not even bothering with the gas. I'm looking for something decent in the 9k-13K watt range. I've been looking at the Harbor Freight predator generators which seem to have a lot of good reviews and word of mouth. Anyone ever used one? I'd appreciate recommendations that may fit what I'm looking for. I'm not looking to spend Honda money though.
Look at Champion, they are at least as good as the HF models, probably better IMO/IME, and you can actually get parts/service on them if needed. Good choice going with propane...or dual fuel.
I bought a little Champion 2500 inverter genny a couple years back, it had a running issue when I bought it, I was certain it just needed a carb clean, it did not. I called their tech support for help diagnosing it, which they did, and said the main control board was bad (turns out it wasn't) and it was the single most expensive part on the machine! Since I bought it used I thought there would be no warranty, but he said he could tell it was less than 1 YO by the serial number, so he sent the part no charge. That did not fix it and it took me a bit to nail down the issue, but they sent the failed part, also no charge. He said If I would have had the original paperwork on it, I could have dropped it at a dealer to have them fix it under warranty (or just replaced if the dealer couldn't fix it) Don't know what your needs are but consider an inverter genny for fuel economy and quietness. I personally like the 2 genny plan...2500W inverter to run most of the time when only a lil power is needed, then a big ole cheapy 6500W for when the well (etc) needs to run. I've had my big one since 1999, no carb gum issues, but I treat the fuel, close the petcock, and drain the carb after I run it. The 5-gallon fuel tank gets pumped out into the zero turn once every few years too.
I thought that generators with inverters are less fuel efficient. Am I wrong? I looked at the tri fuel champion 11000/9200 generator without inverter for $999 at Home Depot. Looks like a decent unit with many good reviews. We live in New Hampshire and generally lose power at least once or twice every winter, sometimes for up to 24 hours or more. Basically we need something to run everything in our house. However when we're running on generator power we're usually pretty concientious. We're not baking bread while doing laundry and running the dishwasher all at the same time. I remember people in my town running large Christmas light displays on generator power last year. To each his own but it just seemed a little dumb to me. What is your philosophy on the best way to maintain the generator and keep it in tip top shape> I tried with the Briggs and Stratton but it always seemed there was a carb issue. I'd add stabil to it, run it once a month, shut the fuel line valve off and run the gas out of the carb when done etc.. etc... but always had issues. Some people say you can leave fuel in the tank for extended periods of time if it's been treated but I'm leery of that. I think I may drain the fuel out of it completely if it's been in it for more than three weeks or so, even if it's treated, with the new generator.
An inverter usually has an "ECO" mode, in which it will match RPM to load, which unless fully loaded will result in an RPM reduction and fuel savings, generally A LOT of fuel savings, unless you are running a large load like electric water heater/clothes dryer/whole house AC, well pump (but that's not a long term load) etc. Most of the time the load on your homes electrical system is really pretty light, so having an old school genny with a 10-12 HP engine screaming away at 3600RPM (60HZ) is very inefficient in that scenario. Best scenario would be E free fuel, but since you can't get that locally, the next best plan would be to run stabilizer in the fuel, shut fuel off and run it out, then open the fuel bowl drain and let the carb bowl drip dry for 10 minutes or so...when you just run it out of fuel there is a spoonful of fuel left in the bowl that can still gum things up (smaller quantities actually go bad faster) If you treat what's in the tank, and its full (back to that quantity thing) you should be able to use that fuel for a year at least (unless you have a really poor gas station that you buy from and the gas is full of water and has phase separation already when you buy it!) I like those, never actually owned one though.
I have a gas only champion inverter genset, over 50 hrs on it. I use treated 93 and just run it every month/other month. I run my air compressor to exercise it. Bought it for camping but hardly have it used it for that. Good excuse anyway to get one.
Is the unit stored somewhere that gets fairly hot? The go-go juice does not like heat. My Yamaha is stored right now. There is not a drop of fuel in it. When needed I will gas it up. This is my end all be all solution that may not work for everyone. As far as fuel stabilizers go, my new favorite is sold by Echo. I have done some semi-long term testing with it and it seems to work pretty well. I had a motorcyle that I did not ride often stored in a heated but not air conditioned space. Had some high test (will stay fresh longer than 87 due to additives keeping carbon chains stable for longer) and the Echo stuff and other than a slightly odd smelling exhaust all seemed normal after an 8 month spell. I was behind on changing out the gas which normally happened every six months. I'd use a kerosene siphon to pull as much of the old fuel as I could then would top the tank with fresh and some fuel additive. Idle the bike for 10 minutes or so to get the stuff in the pump and lines. The old gas went into my pickup that doesn't care because dillution. Bit of a pain but I never had any fuel issues or tank rust in a bike that sat for three years. I'd do it again.
I have a HF 2K Honda clone. I don't use it much and it's sole purpose in life is to power the OWB setup if we lose power in the winter. It also goes on an elk hunting trip with my BIL once a year to run a mini chest freezer. I store it with fuel treatment and fire it up maybe three times a year....fires right up every time. Works flawlessly. Highly recommend.
I spoke with my electrician and he mentioned he likes Duromax inverter/generator that is dual fuel. Running on propane does not give the same output as running on gasoline.
Not sure where you are in Southern NH. But you can go to Sunoco in Keene or the Hampton airfield to get E-Free. Either is well worth the trip. I stopped using ethanol in my OPE about 5 years ago. Will never look back. Usually I plan the stop with other business. But I’m happy to make the drive of it means less headaches. Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada Stabil FastFix helped me remedy my ethanol caused snowblower issues a few years ago. After that, I never used ethanol again.
I got tired of my B&S engine clogging up also. I bought a propane conversion carburetor for my 2012 Generac 6500. I've been running it on bbq tanks since 2021, no more gas! I also have 2 smaller champions inverter gens which I really like as well. both of those are dual fuel but never saw a drop of gas. Here's the $40 conversion carb on Amazon https://amzn.to/4oaeJb8
My only advice is that as others have said, get an inverter generator - suck up the extra cost now and possibly save yourself frustration down the road. A lot of things don't like "dirty" power. If you decide to get a battery station or two down the road, those definitely don't like dirty power. Before you automatically poo-poo the battery station in the future thing: It's nice not to have a noisy generator at night when sleeping - and makes for better neighbor relations. Hey, and that noise just guides less than honest people to your place, at night when those types are likely to be out, if there is an extended outage. You can store the extra production from the generator (as brenndatomu referred to) so in the end, you use less fuel You would not believe how many people come on the battery station forums and say their have xxx generator and it won't charge their station. When told why, they then bemoan that the generator is only 1-2 years old so they don't want to get another one (and in the end, spend more money than if they had just done so in the first place).
No issues with anything on an inverter genny? I have an inverter on my service truck at work and our Metabo brand grinders will not run on it...a red light comes on like there is a power problem, no issues with anything else that I know of though
Kulicks in Winchester has E-free gas. This site is decent to find other locations Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada
I have a harbor freight; my small OPE will fix it; it’s a Honda clone most Honda parts fit. A new HF 5,000 watt dual fuel inverter with electric start is a $1,000 Which most people will use maybe 5 times in its expected lifetime
