Posted: 5/3/2011 1:30:49 PM EDT
| I've managed to acquire a few Home Depot cards and I was thinking about a generator. The Generacs they sell seem reasonably priced, but I don't see much discussion about them. Is there a good reason to avoid them? |
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Quoted:
I ran one one time during a hurricane aftermath for 13 straight days 24/7. 312 hours straight. Its not recommended but I did it and it ran great with no oil change obviously.  I know several people with Generacs plumbed into the home natural gas lines that ran them for three weeks straight after Ike. They did have to top off –– and had to borrow my good oil to do so –– but they ran flawlessly. The one with a bypass filter on the oil plumbing added as much oil as the others, but his oil still looked pretty clean at the end of three weeks, which impressed the heck out of me. Everyone else had jet black oil. So I was impressed, yes. ETA: One thing that all of them have had happen at least once is the generator not start because the service people have left the gas turned off, so make sure that you know where that valve is. |
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I have a XL4000. Its got the generac OHV and runs at 4000 watts, 5250n surge. Bought it summer of 1999. It's reliable enough that I would unhesitatingly bet $100 that it will start exactly on the second pull of the cord. We do not use it tons, but run it a 8-12 hours at a time every month or two (when power is out, we are on a fragile line). Works great every time.
Fro |
| i have the 5500 watt one its 11 years old. i used it to run a compressor and raection target simulator for the ranges that i goto. the generator has over 700 hours on it and all i do is cange the oil filter and plug. start 2nd pull every time. its gettin louder probaly needto get a new muffle for it. i would recomend it |
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Note that Generac was split into two separate companies a few years ago. Briggs & Stratton bought the old Generac Portable Power division, and re-named it Briggs & Stratton Portable Power. This division still makes portable generators and pressure washers in the old Jefferson, WI factory under both the "Briggs & Stratton", "Generac" and "Troy-Bilt" brands. Parts and service are now handled through B&S.
The other old Generac division that was NOT bought by B&S is now called Generac Power Systems, and makes both portable and stationary backup generators under the "Generac" and "Centurion" brands. So, you basically have two more-or-less different companies still selling generators under the "Generac" brand. Confused yet? 
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Skibane, I don't think B&S is currently producing anything under the 'generac' brand. Everything generac at HD and Lowes is made by Generac Power Systems.
I've owned both briggs and current generac generators and there's nothing wrong with either one. However, it has been my observation that recent production generacs are more heavy duty than the typical briggs unit. i.e. stiffer frames, fewer plastic parts, longer service life engines, etc.) My generac GP7000E came with a bad fuel cutoff valve, but once that was replaced I haven't had any problems. The good thing is that there are plenty of generac service centers around the country. The bad news is that generac has a bad reputation for being slow about sending repair parts to the service centers. They'll get there, it just may take a few weeks. ETA- You never mentioned whether you were looking at the larger regular generators or the smaller inverters. The little inverters are actually made in China under private label for generac. I've got an ix2000 and like it a lot. |
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I've used Generacs through the years as portables to keep radio paging sites on the air during outages. I have one for my home (5500 Watt).
I beleive they are GTG. Louder than a Honda, but less expensive. My 5500 runs the whole house on about a half gallon of gas/hour. GL, Eric |
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Quoted:
ETA- You never mentioned whether you were looking at the larger regular generators or the smaller inverters. The little inverters are actually made in China under private label for generac. I've got an ix2000 and like it a lot. I was looking at the larger generators. The little inverters looked like they'd be more difficult to service and a little unwieldy to move around. Probably the 3250 watt or 5000 watt models. Again, thanks to all for your input. |