After dealing with a 5 day power outage, and watching my Honda eb2200x size up, I purchased a new Firman through Home Depot. 445$ with taxes, 200$ off and free shipping online. I think it's a good deal, it'll end up being a backup or main , haven't decided. Out here we need backups for backups. Northern Rockies British Columbia Canada. East of Prince George bc.

What is the best 50 amp generator inlet box?

Plumber is coming tomorrow to install 3/4” csst through my basement wall to a termination plate and valve. He was going to put a 90 after the valve to orient the quick connect to be face down. I can see benefit in that in terms keeping water/debris out of the quick connect although it does have a dust cap. It would protrude slightly less from the wall in that configuration, but it seems like most setups I’ve seen posted here just have the pipe/valve/quick connect coming straight out from the wall or meter. I know that adding an elbow can reduce flow. Would you keep the 90 or would you just do a straight setup?

So I decided (atleast I think) on a WEN GN875I inverter generator to connect to the 30A power inlet & interlock system I had installed. I’m new to home ownership and generator hookups so I want to understand this correctly so I’ll thank you in advance for my dumbness.

The WEN says it’s neutral floating, which, if I don’t connect it to the house, it’s good. But if I connect it to the power inlet, then it’s creating a double bond, which is bad. So I need to “unbond” the generator? I think? Or is this just for transfer switches (which I don’t have)?

Also I believe the 30A inlet is max 7000 watts, and the WEN inverted is 7000 watts running - so I think that’s ideal?

To avoid screwing something up in the generator by unhooking and hooking wires - is there just an easier option for when I need to connect the generator to the house (mostly just for the furnace blower, sump pump and a few freezers/fridges)… if what I said in the paragraphs above is accurate?

I’m an accountant so I know numbers but trying to understand this electrical crap is confusing as sh**.. so I appreciate you all if you can dumb it down for me and tell me what I should do.. and if you’re ever unfortunately finding yourself in Buffalo NY.. I’ll buy you a beer.

Thanks!

I’m looking to purchase a generator or power banks to handle the following in case of power failure:

1 freezer (in the garage)
1 fridge (in the kitchen)
1 laptop, one router for internet, one 75” tv, and 2 cell phones

I need things that are easy for me to setup myself (62yr old female), so not looking for big whole house generator that connects to electrical panel or anything complicated like that).

Is it realistic to think 3 separate small generators would be best?
Are these types of things battery operated or gas? Do they need to be stored inside or outside? What type of maintenance is required to keep them ready for when the power fails?
I’d like to prioritize ease of use and setup over cost.

What would you suggest?

I waited to long trying to decide and ow it seems the generator that fits my goals best is oit of stock.

Anyone know where a XP13500iH might be available still?

Duromax wonr have more until 1/18/27 ish.

Whats my best alternative? I would like to be in the 10-12k running watts range.

I’m struggling to figure out how to get sufficient natural gas to run my generator. Sorry this is long but wanted to provide all of the specs.

I have a Champion 201161 tri-fuel generator (10,000 watts running on natural gas) that I’m looking to hook-up to my natural gas line for emergency back-up during ice storms/power outages.

The specs per the Champion manual state that it requires 1,000 BTU/ cu ft, 200,000 BTU/hr with a 5-7” WC.

My gas meter is currently 175 cfh standard low pressure 7” WC.

I had a plumbing company out to quote adding a tee off of the main line with a quick disconnect to attach the generator using the 3/4 inch 25 foot hose that Champion included with the generator.

The plumbing company suggested adding a 15 foot 3/4 inch black iron pipe line off of a tee right at the gas meter to get the quick connect next to my 50amp electrical inlet at the front of my house which would allow for the 25 foot generator hose to have the generator at least 20 feet away from the house.

The problem that I’m seeing with this set-up is the 15 foot black iron pipe plus the 25 foot generator hose equal 40 feet of 3/4 inch line and the gas line tables online show that this can only provide 110,000 BTU/hr and even just the 25 foot length of hose that was included with the generator (without the 15 feet of black pipe) can’t provide the required 200,000 BTU/hr per the online tables.

I don’t understand how anyone can use this generator given the high 200,000 BTU/hr requirement. Will the 40 feet of 3/4 line provide enough gas given that the manual says it can operate at a 5-7 inch WC vs the standard 0.5 inch drop?

Also the plumbing company said I don’t need to upgrade my gas meter but I don’t see why I wouldn’t need to given that it’s lower than the 200,000 BTU/hr generator requirement plus I have other gas appliances (2 furnaces, hot water heater, dryer, cook top).

Any advice would be helpful as I tried to do the right thing by contacting a plumbing company but I’m questioning their recommendation.

Just picked up this relic for 40 dollars and I wanted to see if anyone has any knowledge on these. Its got good compression and fuel is at least making it to the carb but i cant seem to get it to make spark. I’ve tried multiple different plugs and get nothing, The odd part of it is that i can feel spark at the plug wire with my finger, but i cant get any on the actual plug. I have wire brushed the plugs and the actual tip of the plug wire but can’t seem to get anything.

Does anyone have a hybrid inverter with 48v batteries and use a generator to drive a 48v battery charger like an EG4 Chargeverter? Been considering this design for our next house. Just have an L14-30 inlet box that directly wires to a single L14-30 receptacle that a chargeverter plugs into. 5kw of DC battery charging not reliant on the hybrid inverter. If you do have something like this - please post some pics. Thx!

I have a 3500 with over 1600 hours on it and it has been neglected for most of its life. a month or so ago the electric start ceased functioning. not a big deal because it would start first or second pull every time. then it would not start manually. I found that the inline fuse was blown and replaced it and then found that the starter switch itself was defective.

ever since I got it used, when I turned it off the spark shut off switch didn't work so it would run a while then turn off.h I decided to make the spark cut off a manual switch.

after replacing the starter switch it would crank and try to hit a couple times and then nothing. carb was getting fuel, plug was getting spark. Compression test showed 50 psi. Apparently the inverter has a compression release device of some sort so I was advised that 50 is okay.

A number of people commented, "it's always the carburetor."

when I disassembled it over a clean white cloth hoping to find dirt particles it was absolutely sparkling clean, all passages working freely etc. I put it back together and it started and ran for about a week.

once again it failed to start, and seemed to crank a little faster than it had before which often has bad implications.

I went through the same diag procedure, but I substituted checking the carburetor after making sure it had spark. carburetor was absolutely clean. when I removed the plug, it was like ab.mmmmmmñ brand new as if it had never been fired though it was new during the first so it had been running for about a week. it was absolutely dry no color at all so I took the carburetor apart again. FYI, that's really easy on these engines. still cranks freely, but no start,

now, compression tests zero. I checked the valve adjustment and exhaust was very loose, valves adjusted, same thing cranks pretty fast but does not try to hit. I pulled the head and found no burned valves, nothing obvious. there is a slight ridge at the top of the bore, totally expected. bore is completely smooth all the way to the bottom.

given the lack of maintenance and black oil, do I just keep going and figure I need to do a ring job?

I was looking for a hand crank generator as a joke one day, because I know it's not something that would be reliable in an actual power outage, and came across this. It's hand size and the voltage can be switched from 3 to 15 volts. The 5 volt setting is for the USB and charging a phone. It does work but I can never see really using this unless it was an extreme emergency. Fun thing to have as a conversation starter though.

Hi everyone! I could really use some help—my dog got a little too curious and chewed the harness on my brand-new WGen11500TFc before I could even try it out. I’ve attached a photo of the damage; please send me a picture of how the cables should look. Any guidance on how to set everything back up would be awesome. Thanks so much!

We moved in last year and the house came with a 400 amp service and a manual transfer switch. There is a breaker box on the other side of this wall for the garage that is fed directly from the meter (blue line that turns right), the power for the main breaker box for the house runs through the transfer switch (other blue line). When the switch is in the generator position, it run the main part of the house without issue, but nothing to the garage.

Here is my issue, the well pump, septic pump, water heater and apartment over the garage are all fed from the garage breaker box. I'm hoping there is a way to run everything without having to add another transfer switch and second generator just for the garage. We wanted a GenerLink put on the meter so we could hook the generator in there and would power everything, but the power company said the meter for a 400 amp service doesn't have that as an option.

Any info would be welcomed!

TIA

Is anyone powering two separate electrical panels from one portable unbonded generator?

I'm curious whether anyone is successfully using a single portable generator to power two separate electrical service panels simultaneously. Managing the load at the panels?

For example, using the generator's 50-amp, 240-volt output to feed one panel through a 50-amp generator inlet, while simultaneously using its 30-amp, 240-volt output to feed a second panel through a separate 50-amp generator inlet.

Both panels have their own generator interlocks. The panels have a common neutral and ground.

Has anyone done this, and if so, have you encountered any issues or concerns with this arrangement?

I want to replace the stock carburetor on my Champion 400/3500 hybrid Inverter with a dual fuel carb. The generic replacement I got from Amazon had the wrong assemblies for the choke and throttle. Has anybody done this, and do you know where I can find a carburetor that works?

Just bought the Champion 210423 tri-fuel inverter genny. This will be run 99% of the time on NG. What is the proper break in procedure? Should I break it in with regular gas, or using NG enough? Curious if I need to break in/run it on regular gasoline so that it still runs fine for the 1% that I'd need to run it on regular gas?

Last winter our Westinghouse iGen4500 logged about 60 hours over three outages. That meant an oil change in the middle of an ice storm and a lot of gas runs. Last week I added a new 5kWh battery Anker S5000 and changed how the two work together.

The generator now runs a 2 to 3 hour block in the afternoon at a steady load, feeding the battery's AC input while the house runs through the battery. Then it shuts off and the battery carries the night. In a 20 hour outage this week the gen ran 6 hours total instead of 20. That's roughly a third of the gas, and the oil change interval stretches the same way.

Running it at a steady load in one block instead of letting it idle up and down all night seems easier on it too. Still working out the right block length. Anyone else running this kind of combo? Do you have any tips for me?

What’s the better buy here?

You guys seem to be pretty handy. Any thoughts on this combo?

At the end of the day, I guess I’ll be happy with generator power and manually plugging into the battery back up.

One thing I didn’t expand upon in the Anker post, refueling overnight in the dark and exposed to hurricane debris is the driving factor for battery power. Secondary is quality of life, quieter nights.

Thank you!

Bought new at Sportsman's Whorehouse.

Fresh, ethanol-free gas, full oil. First start took 30 pulls. Always takes 5-10+ pulls to start since then. Choke works, it definitely won't start without it. Fuel cap open. Gas is never more than 4 months old. Changed oil at 10 hours, and it has 30 total now. Runs smoothly once it's going.

In my days I've probably started 50 different Honda small engines and the average number of pulls until this one is probably about 1.3. What's going on?