Posted: 12/15/2010 11:42:45 AM EDT
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Anyone can give advise on a genny to get for around #350 price point?? Don't need a lot, just to be able to run fridge, tv, dvd, game player, microwave, obviously not all at the same time. Was also thinking of configuring the water heater(which is currently hardwired) to a plug so I could use it as well, but it's on a 240 line, so in that event I would need a genny with a 240 outlet. Any help would be great. Used would be doable as I can fix it if need be, but would rather start with a working unit.
Thanks. |
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In before the HELP I need to make my generator quiet thread.
The generators that are routinely available at $350 are noisy. When the power is out that noise draws everyone that hears. This creates a security job for the generator owner, if they want to keep the generator. For a lot less than $350 you can make a plan that will allow you to have most of the conveniences without the security risk. |
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You didn't state what KW rating you need but here are 2 cheapies that should cover your needs..I won't vouch for the quality of course...if you do the harbor freight deal be sure to use that "20% off everything" coupon that you print off to get extra savings http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=202514817&langId=-1&catalogId=10053 http://www.harborfreight.com/7-hp-3050-rated-watts-3500-max-watts-gasoline-generator-67560.html |
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for 350 you wont have enough juice for the hot water tank.
best genny for your money and its pretty quiet. i have one. highly reccomended. |
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for 350 you wont have enough juice for the hot water tank. best genny for your money and its pretty quiet. i have one. highly reccomended. This without a doubt. For what you get at that price nothing can touch it. Unless you get a killer deal on a used unit. |
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I know it is not in your price point but I will throw it out there for anyone who may peek in on this thread, since gennys are a big topic around here. A while back Honda had a deal going on their power equip. where you had 1 year to pay it off before they started charging interest. I did this for an EU 6500i and we tweaked the household budget a bit & got it paid off in 10 months. I believe the units are around $3200 on sale, and the no interest thing is what grabbed our attention. It was a revolving account, they may still be doing it.
FWIW |
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Don't need a lot, just to be able to run fridge, tv, dvd, game player, microwave, obviously not all at the same time. Any one of the items you've mentioned could be powered by the little 1.2 KW Champion - available online for around $200 delivered. |
I have the Coleman Powermate 5000 and love it. NOW, I have been fortunate enough to not have to use it for real. I test it out and run it every couple of months. The reviews on it are really good. My best advice to you is that if you are mechanically savvy, at all, check out the local pawn shops. I hate to say it this way, but maybe you can benefit from someone else's loss. You can haggle with pawn shops. OR, if you have something that you want to part with, take it with you to make the out of pocket less. My mom always told me that I would have been a rich man 150 years ago because I can barter well. 
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I have the Coleman Powermate 5000 and love it. NOW, I have been fortunate enough to not have to use it for real. I test it out and run it every couple of months. The reviews on it are really good. My best advice to you is that if you are mechanically savvy, at all, check out the local pawn shops. I hate to say it this way, but maybe you can benefit from someone else's loss. You can haggle with pawn shops. OR, if you have something that you want to part with, take it with you to make the out of pocket less. My mom always told me that I would have been a rich man 150 years ago because I can barter well. I had a Powermate 5000. 10 HP Tecumseh motor, with a 2 1/2 HP muffler. Loud as shit. Good thing was it came with an electric starter, I hooked up an old set of jumper cables to it so I could start it in the winter. Also had to periodically "flash the field" with a battery to keep the output up. Carburetor float filled up with gas, took a week to find another one. I finally gave it to a farmer/contractor friend who has more patience than I do. |
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I have the Coleman Powermate 5000 and love it. NOW, I have been fortunate enough to not have to use it for real. I test it out and run it every couple of months. The reviews on it are really good. My best advice to you is that if you are mechanically savvy, at all, check out the local pawn shops. I hate to say it this way, but maybe you can benefit from someone else's loss. You can haggle with pawn shops. OR, if you have something that you want to part with, take it with you to make the out of pocket less. My mom always told me that I would have been a rich man 150 years ago because I can barter well. I had a Powermate 5000. 10 HP Tecumseh motor, with a 2 1/2 HP muffler. Loud as shit. Good thing was it came with an electric starter, I hooked up an old set of jumper cables to it so I could start it in the winter. Also had to periodically "flash the field" with a battery to keep the output up. Carburetor float filled up with gas, took a week to find another one. I finally gave it to a farmer/contractor friend who has more patience than I do. I also have one of the older powermate 5000. Mechanically, it has been great. But, it is LOUD. |
| Thanks a lot for the replies guys. It help. Noise isn't much of a concern since this place is pretty much deserted in the cold months. However if it is too loud I can alwasy weld up a muffler assembly to it to quiet it down some. Don't have a problem getting a used one so long as the generator portion functions properly. I can fix the engine if it needs it, but would rather not dive into the coil windings if it can be avoided. So I guess I'll start looking in the classifieds around here for someone selling one in my price range. |
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Quoted: The exhaust is only part of the noise. There is noise from the components of the engine too, and these can be quite loud. You may find that quietening the exhaust fixes less than half of the noise.Thanks a lot for the replies guys. It help. Noise isn't much of a concern since this place is pretty much deserted in the cold months. However if it is too loud I can alwasy weld up a muffler assembly to it to quiet it down some. Don't have a problem getting a used one so long as the generator portion functions properly. I can fix the engine if it needs it, but would rather not dive into the coil windings if it can be avoided. So I guess I'll start looking in the classifieds around here for someone selling one in my price range. |
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Quoted: Most noise from the champions is mechanical noise... guard your generator by day... put generator away by night.Quoted: The exhaust is only part of the noise. There is noise from the components of the engine too, and these can be quite loud. You may find that quietening the exhaust fixes less than half of the noise.Thanks a lot for the replies guys. It help. Noise isn't much of a concern since this place is pretty much deserted in the cold months. However if it is too loud I can alwasy weld up a muffler assembly to it to quiet it down some. Don't have a problem getting a used one so long as the generator portion functions properly. I can fix the engine if it needs it, but would rather not dive into the coil windings if it can be avoided. So I guess I'll start looking in the classifieds around here for someone selling one in my price range. |
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The exhaust is only part of the noise. There is noise from the components of the engine too, and these can be quite loud. You may find that quietening the exhaust fixes less than half of the noise.Thanks a lot for the replies guys. It help. Noise isn't much of a concern since this place is pretty much deserted in the cold months. However if it is too loud I can alwasy weld up a muffler assembly to it to quiet it down some. Don't have a problem getting a used one so long as the generator portion functions properly. I can fix the engine if it needs it, but would rather not dive into the coil windings if it can be avoided. So I guess I'll start looking in the classifieds around here for someone selling one in my price range. SuperGen Products Generator Noise Tent 
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The exhaust is only part of the noise. There is noise from the components of the engine too, and these can be quite loud. You may find that quietening the exhaust fixes less than half of the noise.Thanks a lot for the replies guys. It help. Noise isn't much of a concern since this place is pretty much deserted in the cold months. However if it is too loud I can alwasy weld up a muffler assembly to it to quiet it down some. Don't have a problem getting a used one so long as the generator portion functions properly. I can fix the engine if it needs it, but would rather not dive into the coil windings if it can be avoided. So I guess I'll start looking in the classifieds around here for someone selling one in my price range. SuperGen Products Generator Noise Tent http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2262/supergentent.jpg I may be wrong, but I think enclosing an air cooled engine would drastically reduce engine life from overheating. |
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I may be wrong, but I think enclosing an air cooled engine would drastically reduce engine life from overheating. Link to temperature and noise tests here. Although the tent is not completely enclosed, it also has provisions for leaving one side open - Typically, this would be the side that faces away from you. Even in this configuration, there is considerable noise reduction on the other 3 sides, and it still provides some protection against rain, snow, etc. |
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I may be wrong, but I think enclosing an air cooled engine would drastically reduce engine life from overheating. Link to temperature and noise tests here. Although the tent is not completely enclosed, it also has provisions for leaving one side open - Typically, this would be the side that faces away from you. Even in this configuration, there is considerable noise reduction on the other 3 sides, and it still provides some protection against rain, snow, etc. Thanks for the link. I would have never guessed the temp would have risen only 37 degrees in that test. I agree with that guy, when it gets really hot outside don't use it. |
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for 350 you wont have enough juice for the hot water tank. best genny for your money and its pretty quiet. i have one. highly reccomended. This without a doubt. For what you get at that price nothing can touch it. Unless you get a killer deal on a used unit. +1 on this. Just bought one myself and found it surprisingly quiet. Fits my needs perfectly as an emergency, keep the fridge/freezer running, backup genny. |
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how about the new 2000 watt champion inverter gennys.....sell them at SAMs......supposed to be quiet like like the hondas/yamahas about 45 lbs, they are built so you can stack one on the other, and they also can be linked with parallel kit so you can have 4k watts of power if need be....I think they go for around $400
here is what they look like.......there is a review on them, they look to be very good gennys http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24022161.cfm |
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for 350 you wont have enough juice for the hot water tank. Most electric water heaters have more then one element. You might be able to disconenct enough elements to run it off a smaller generator. It will just take longer to heat up. You should give serious consideration to a gas fired hot water heater over electric anyway just on the energy costs. |
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IIRC 9db is reducing the sound by1/2––3 times...power doubles for every 3db (or loudness). Been a while since I had to use that knowledge, so I could be incorrect on that. Im gonna do some research, for no other fact than Im curious. Those numbers are correct for RF power. I'm not sure how sound is measured though. It's not uncommon for marketing people to bend the truth. |
| I never could find any great information. Mostly just charts of what sounds measure. Most are very subjective. But now im curious to what a real world reduction od 9 decibles actually sounds like. Either way Im just gonna build a wooden box to send the sound up, since the wood is sitting in my garage. |
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Quoted: I have a few gennys but not an inverter type I am looking at the champion inverter type to save coin over the honda eu series. same page http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=17&t=637217 |
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$75 to reduce it up to 9 decibles sounds like a lot of money for not much effect. 9 dB is a very significant reduction in noise. As an example, Honda's 3KW open-frame EB3000cKAG generator produces 68 dB. This is a pretty typical value for most 3-4KW open-frame generators. Their 3KW EU3000iSA inverter model produces up to 58 dB. So, reducing the open-frame model's noise by 9 dB would make it almost as quiet as their inverter model. Getting inverter-like quietness out of an open-frame generator would certainly be worth 75 bucks to me.... |
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Well for better or worse, I found a used briggs and stratton unit. 5250 running, 7350 max., with 4 outlets and one L14-30 120/240 volt outlet, for $300.
Fires up on the first pull of the cord, runs good, all outlets show proper voltages on my meter. I plan to get some louvered sheet metal panels to mount to the sides, and find myself a bigger, better, quieter muffler to fit on. But it'll do as is for now. |
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Well for better or worse, I found a used briggs and stratton unit. 5250 running, 7350 max., with 4 outlets and one L14-30 120/240 volt outlet, for $300. Fires up on the first pull of the cord, runs good, all outlets show proper voltages on my meter. I plan to get some louvered sheet metal panels to mount to the sides, and find myself a bigger, better, quieter muffler to fit on. But it'll do as is for now. quiet genny |