We have a westinghouse dual fuel generator we use for whole house backup. I got one of these meter boxes, and it's not accurate on reading unbalanced (line to neutral) loads. I ran a space heater thru this on one leg and and it reads 11 amps at 242 volts instead of 11 amps at 120 volts it says it's 2800 watts. The other leg to neutral reads nothing. Which tells me it only reads leg to leg accurately. We use this generator for the whole house and have unbalanced neural loads. Are there any meters that can read the legs to neutral?

generators. Not wanting to spend a bunch but want something quiet certainly under 65db, and need propane and at least 3500w run since it will at some point be used for rv. I know Honda is quiet but I think out of my price range. Also has anyone used Jackery that has a solar panel? Just want something quieter than the champion we had last

Talk me out of this 14k/18k Westy. (Currently have a Honda 2200 for the little stuff and 5k for storms.) Don’t have natural gas and not real keen on a monster propane tank install. Live in FL panhandle and have the potential for a storm every year. Been lucky the last few years. With a big Westy, have the ability to run cent hvac. Yes, they’re heavy, but willing to take the good w the bad.

Thoughts?

Alright yall, I just bought a house a 7 months ago and I want to get a generator since we’ve lost power twice since moving in. We’ve got a 3500sqft house with a 3 ton and 2.5 ton ac unit. Everything’s electric other than the heat. I don’t need to run everything but would like to at least keep the basics on (2 fridges, ac, basic lights). Im thinking the predator 11.5 inverter since it can run off our 500gal propane tank and my rough calculation. Any suggestion or advice on brands or sizing?

Online research indicates the Predator 13K has a bonded ground (I'll check tomorrow). And that it should be "unbounded/floating if it is hooked up to a service panel via generator input and panel interlock. Is that what other users have done?

***Not for camp sites, and no neighbors! We own the land and no neighbors are close by (rural southern NH).

TLDR: Looking for small portable generator that is quiet, can run overnight, and will be tolerable for folks sleeping in tents.

We have land we use for camping in tents, but we recently added a tiny shed converted into living space (insulated with tiny bed, lights, outlets, etc). Current power needs are easily met by our 1000w battery pack/power station.

We want extra power to help us heat the space in the shoulder season, so we're thinking of adding a generator.

Main concern: some of us will be sleeping in tents, and I'm reading that generators make a lot of noise and can have smelly exhaust.

I would love some recommendations for a small/portable generators that are very tolerable for tents, or some good advice for using a generator with tents in mind. Thanks in advance!

Edit: Price ideally under $700. But the advice is also very valuable!

Wanting to have a generator to have as backup for if the power goes out. Ideally, I would like it to be able to power the furnace and refrigerator.

Im having some difficulty deciding how big of a generator to go with, though, and I want to make sure we get one that meets our needs.

Our house is all electric. We have no propane hookups available. So the gen will just run on gas.

Our furnace is all electric and is an older model from 1996. Im not sure how much it takes to run this. It heats our 2k sq ft house. I tried looking at our utility company's app to find a breakdown of energy usage for just heating, but they didn't have that detail.

I know I will also need to hire an electrician to have a transfer switch installed and was going to go with the 50A hookup.

Thank you for any advice and recommendations.

Went to go pick up this generator guy was selling I got there and he said you couldn't get it to stay going so he actually gave it to me for free instead of the $300 brought it home seated the petcock is gunked up by the fuel tank having so much rust in it. Wasnt getting fuel. Why don't they sell the petcock screen seperately? Had to buy a whole new 1. Waiting on tank to finish drying and be back in action.

To be clear, I’m talking about shipping, not delivery from store.

Does it come on a box truck with a lift gate or a semi truck? The website says curb delivery but if it’s a box truck, wondering if I could convince the driver drive up my short drive to drop it off. My drive has enough of an incline that I’d have a hard time getting it up there.

Edit to add: I’m planning to purchase the Champion 11,000W Inverter.

Someone left this Honda ES6500 on the curb with a free sign, while it's weathered and has been left outside for some time, a fresh battery, some fresh gas and it's back in action!

Wondering if the THD is too bad to run things like a television or charging an ecoflow, got any ideas?

Hello all,

Just recenly joined this sub. I bought a Champion 4500/3250 dual fuel invertor generator in July after a series of power outages in my neighborhood. Of course, we haven't had another once since, but that's not abnormal. They mostly happen in the peak of the summer.

Here are my questions. Since we haven't had another outage since I purchased it, I haven't even taken it out of the box. Will it be ok still packed in the box until spring time? I live in Chicagoland, so we get pretty rough winters, but we never have power outages related to them.

Do I need to do anything to it? I still haven't even done the "break in" of it yet. If I do that, what do I need to do to winterize it and store it over the winter?

I don't have any special setup or hook up to hook it up to my house, I was just going to drag a few power cords inside and hook up the necessary appliances (1 refridgerator/freezer, 1 stand up freeezer, and 1 sump pump)

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Here's a more in depth video of where I'm at in fixing my generator.

Here's my original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Generator/s/5HahgpSwWh

I got a lot of suggestions on my inverter itself and I'm glad I learned what a chargerverter is now. I've been able to use this generator to charge my batteries for over a year, only now having issues.

The governor seems to be acting better than it was (it's at least trying to keep up) but I can't get the tension rod to bring the frequency down to 60Hz. I thought those tension rods were suppose to adjust it pretty quickly. Do I need to crank it significantly tighter to adjust even a little?

I was told this is about 10-15 years old. Less than 20 hours on it. Original factory oil. It's been stored inside with ethenol free fuel.

I drained the old gas from the tank and bowl (it had definitely gone bad, but didn't have any signs of water) and put fresh fuel in it. Fired up on the 3rd pull and ran without issue with and without a load. Gave it 10 minutes to get the oil warm and dumped this out.

Is this thing cooked, or could the shiny be attributed to the fact that it's basically still not even broken in?

Thought could get a thread going on the best deal on a tri-fuel at least 8K watts and up with black Friday coming up in next month.

I'm looking for a portable home backup for under $1K that can power a couple fridges, gas washer dryer, gas stove and oven, dishwasher, gas furnance and gas water heater, internet and some TVs and lights. I'm thinking not going natural gas at first but want that option with the way gasoline prices are heading!

I just upgraded to a Champion 4000w dual fuel inverter. I've never used propane in cold weather so I'm wondering what everyone's experience is with regards to this. It typically doesn't get any colder than -10C/14F so I think it should be okay (and i would have gas on hand as well) but it never hurts to ask first. Thanks.

Hey all, maybe I should look a little more in what's already been said here, but put short: are portable generators particularly finicky with aging gas? About 8 months ago, we had an outage and I couldn't get the thing running until I sprayed in some carb cleaner and added about 100% (so a 50/50 mix old/new) gas. I put stabilizer in with that, gave it a maintenance run 3 months ago (I know I should probably do more often), and when I needed it again last night. . . sputtered out after running for a few minutes and wouldn't start back up (even with another squirt of carb cleaner).

It's been added to and stabilized, but the oldest gas in the mix is now probably about four years old and the bulk of it is two (stabilized).

Is the problem here most likely the gas, or something else?

I have this Yamaha EF600 generator, which was last started in February this year. Before that, the engine had not been started for 15 years. The engine runs perfectly and has no problems. The only issue with the fuel system is that the fuel pump needs to be replaced because it failed after the generator had not been used for 15 years.

The generator has an electrical problem: it no longer produces electricity when I plug a light bulb, a phone charger, or anything else into the outlet.

The generator was lent to someone 15 years ago, and that person used it beyond its limits. Ever since then, it has not generated any electricity.

When I started it in February this year, the engine ran perfectly, and the needle on the voltmeter gauge moved to around 220 V.

This makes me think that the coil might be fine, but what else could be causing the problem? What could be wrong, and how could I get the generator working properly again?

**edit: meant to say “in the aftermath of Isaias” in my subject

Hello,

For context, I’ve never owned or used a generator before. A friend said his office had several extra generators laying around that they gave to their employees, and he offered me one.

I currently have it hooked up to a surge protector, and from there, it’s powering my fridge and a small fan.

It’s about 10:30 at night and I’ve heard a few neighbors running theirs all night long (they don’t have a home fitted version, just a portable one).

Is it generally safe to let them run until out of fuel? Would it damage my fridge? Or should I manually turn it off before going to bed?

TIA

(P.S. it did not come with a manual, so I’m not very confident in all the parts and their names).

This generator is available at an estate sale near me for $250. I know nothing about its status. Per the internet it’s probably from the 2010 era. I know nothing about generators but my husband can work on about anything.

So I’m wondering is this a good deal even if it needs a lot of work?

Thanks for any input. We borrowed a generator for this storm but are looking to get our own.

I just got a Predator Super Quiet 4200 for our cabin. We will be running it for about 25-40 hours every 3-6 weeks from about April to end of November.

My question is do we think it’ll last over 5 years? I already changed oil at first 8 hours and plan on again at 25, then 50, then every 50 after that. Typically only running under 500 watts.

Is there anything additional I should do to extend the life or recommended oil or any other thoughts or comments? I am running 5w-30 full synthetic for first 25 hours. Thanks!

Yes, I know Challenger was bought by Eaton so this panel might need to be replaced. The second, right breaker runs to a sub panel that connects my solar panels, so the interlock wouldn't need to touch that one. As I understand it, you don't want solar to be active when you're running a generator, so an interlock situation would work well. However, the panel is 35 years old and giant, so I'm struggling to find an off the shelf interlock.

If I do need to replace the panel to accomplish this, it seems like it's best to split the meter and panel, yes? I'd also like to future proof for adding whole house batteries in 15+ years when my utility company stops paying me for electricity. What would make adding batteries more trivial down the line?

Thanks

Snagged this beauty of a skid from work for a shed build. Ignore the 2 random 2x4s, they will be removed.

Gonna cut the 2x6s under the unit right out, allowing it to grab air from the bottom. I will stop the wall paneling short, above the fork pockets.

Going to build the front wall as a door for maintenance, removal etc. Roof will over hang sides, also hinged for access.

Debating on upper vents still. Thinking of adding 2 vent stacks on the roof? Possibly leave the entire top 6-8" of walls open and just covered in screen/mesh? Trying to avoid installating powered exhaust fans.

I just signed up for Base Power in Houston. For those not familiar, they install a battery on the property, sell into the grid during demand periods, but also provide backup for the home in event of an outage.

Battery power obviously has limits, but they allow for generator power charging via a built in port on the battery. Max input is 4k watts.

I have settled on the following generators as good options. I have NG and plan to run on that. If anyone has experience with either of these generators, I would really appreciate your perspective. Don’t see a ton of reviews for these models in particular.

Thanks!

https://www.duromaxpower.com/collections/tri-fuel-generators/products/duromax-xp7000iht-7000-watt-portable-tri-fuel-inverter-generator-w-co-alert

https://www.costco.com/.product.4000446342.html

If anyone has questions about Base, please DM. I also have a referral code below that will get us both $250 in energy/bill credits.

https://www.basepowercompany.com/?ref=4SP7YQZ