Inverter Generators

Whatcha got? Why do you like it?
More importantly, what don't you like about it?

Have got a Generac 3250 traditional style genset that works great. Starts on the 3rd or 4th pull everytime, never misses a beat. I want something a tick smaller, lighter, and slightly more portable. Most importantly, quieter. Occasional use.

I see Costco has a Firman brand for $450-500 bucks which I have one of their larger gensets that has done me right. I also see the Predator brand from Hazzard Freight. Seems anyone in the genset market also makes an inverter style.
Looking for something small suitcase size, 2000watt or so. Easy to throw in the back of the truck or trunk of the car.

Honda, Briggs, Generac, CPE, Predator, Firman, Yamaha, whateverbrand....

Whatcha got?

Harbor Freight is tough to beat. Their 2000 inverter has jumped to 550 thought. I guessing you popularity and word of mouth. I have a Honda 2000eu. If I knew what I know now I would have bought 2 predators for the same price.

Most of the inverters and some old school gensets put out a lot of RFI, radio frequency interference. We discovered this at our Amateur Radio Radio Day event. My Generac I2000 is noisy but my Wheelhouse us not.

I use this kit to block the extension cord from becoming a RFI antenna.

I have 2 small Honda ones both are 10 years old plus and they run like they did brand new. I only run non-ethanol gas and regularly change the oil. We did have them for camping and the occasional power outage. Lately we use them just to grab and go with power tools since they are so light and quiet compared to a larger one. I know people have had great luck with Generacs and love them and Generac is a pretty well respected brand. I know one person who bought 2 HF ones and had one run great while the other one crapped out the second day so I’d steer away from them. Looking at it today you can almost buy 2 Generacs for 1 Honda … that makes it tough … but I definitely would stay with one of those. It likely it would be the Generac and go a little larger with the 3500 model which is only a little bigger and about the same price as the 2200 Honda.

Got this one on sale at sams for $300ish. No complaints, been great so far

I have two of the Predator 3500 units. Runs the whole house (one wired into each phase) except for oven, dryer, and A/C. Haven’t had to use them much. Did take one to my mom’s house at Thanksgiving a couple heads ago to run the electric turkey fryer. Tripped breakers last time we tried it with her outdoor outlets (I think storage room fridge and freezer were on the same one, had to unplug them to fry the bird).

They (HF) recently released three other models. Not as quiet, but I think the biggest is a 9K or 9.5K.

I picked up the HF / Predator 3500 a couple months ago and have used for 3 camp weekends. No complaints at all starts up right away with electric start.

@MDof2

If you’re around Charlotte, you’re welcome to stop by and check one of my 3500 predators out. Would at least give you an idea about the 2000 (knowing the 2000 would be smaller and lighter).

I think @Chdamn has at least one of the 2000 models.

I picked this one up from Woot for 448.00 recently.



Mostly for camping trips where power will be needed. It's still sitting in the box in my shop.

"Most importantly, quieter."

that means Honda.
we have 3 generators.
the Honda is much quieter.

Northern has the Powerhorse lineup. The smaller one is $30 right now, and I have a $20 code if you need it. Free shipping if you don’t wanna pick it up. And heck, you could even use PayPal credit and got 6 months no interest if you wanted.

BigWaylon said:

@MDof2

If you’re around Charlotte, you’re welcome to stop by and check one of my 3500 predators out. Would at least give you an idea about the 2000 (knowing the 2000 would be smaller and lighter).

I think @Chdamn has at least one of the 2000 models.

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Appreciate the offer.

turkeydance said:

"Most importantly, quieter."

that means Honda.
we have 3 generators.
the Honda is much quieter.

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Relatively speaking to some degree. Quieter to the 3250 or the 9400 I have.... I *think* most of the inverters are in the sub-60bd range, or at least from the wandering around I've been doing looking at specs for each.
I would never take the 3250 I have to a tailgate or camping. Primary drivers being size and noise level.

Appreciate the other input from others as well.

Not sure if this one is too small, but I hadn't noticed it before.

I do not know why but I think if you do not have a generator … now is the time to get one. 2020 was C-19 and we had a bunch of named storms but they really didn’t hit us that bad … I just kinda feel 2021 ain’t gonna be as lucky. With possible inflation ready to jump up it could actually be a good invest now … by winter all goods prices will likely have gone up.

I picked up one of these last year. It seemed to be one of the higher-output-for-the-size options out there.

I have the 2000 predator and you can’t tell a difference between it and the Honda 2000 other than it’s half the price.

Thinking about picking up the 3500.

Keep an eye out on here for deals

Slickdeals.net

I've got a 3500 Champion inverter. It's not totally enclosed so it's not quite as quiet as the ones that are enclosed.

I've owned 4 Predator 3500s and ran them hundreds of hours. Hands down the best bang for the buck under a grand. I also have the Honda EU2000.

The HF genny is quieter and.makes more power. It also has a longer run time

since "enclosed" was mentioned, how about a generator box?
there are several You Tube videos using Predators
to build a box and reduce the noise.

I'm on year 16 with a Craigslist buy HONDA eu2000i. I use it ALOT and have for years.
If it died today I'd buy another just like it.

It punches way above it's weight class.

I've got a 2800 dual fuel Champion inverter. Starts on 2nd pull with propane. Not real noisy. It's too little too run the house, but a few dropped cords gets me a running refrigerator, tankless gas water heater, a coffee maker, electronics, and a 6000 btu window AC. This keeps me happy enough through outages.

Here’s a dual fuel option with free shipping:

Dual fuel has some secksy factor to it.
Don't know much about that brand, but from what I've seen, dual fuel in the 2kw range adds a fair amount to the price.
Almost double in some brands. (Generac iirc)

Maybe not though....

$480 on sale for that Duromax brand

Ikarus1 said:

I've owned 4 Predator 3500s and ran them hundreds of hours. Hands down the best bang for the buck under a grand. I also have the Honda EU2000.

The HF genny is quieter and.makes more power. It also has a longer run time

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Interesting testimonial. They don't sound so great if you've had to have 4 of them. Has to be more to the story. Is it business related, multiple trucks or what? What happened? Old technology, expired patents, time itself all drive prices down but there's still cheap junk posing as same quality. Our 6500 Yamaha isn't big enough to run the whole house by a long shot but it has been pretty reliable in emergincies and built a few houses over the last 25 years or so. Can't get parts anymore, so I hope it keeps on chugging. I feel a lot differently about a few hundred dollars today than i did when that was serious money. Honda is still a solid investment and not nearly as expensive ( in fuzzy fiat dollars) as it used to be.

MDof2 said:

Dual fuel has some secksy factor to it.
Don't know much about that brand, but from what I've seen, dual fuel in the 2kw range adds a fair amount to the price.
Almost double in some brands. (Generac iirc)

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Dual fuel is great. No gummy carbs if you only run propane. The downside is propane makes less power so a 2800 watt set only makes 2500 peak.

I've had good results finding vintage, lightly used Generac generators. 5500 watts for $300.

MDof2 said:

Maybe not though....

$480 on sale for that Duromax brand

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SBHR3GF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_NXFB78T0DMJ7T70GWP36

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That’s the price ($479) at the link I posted as well.

What about the in ground generators? For the whole house?
Good? Bad? Uggo?
School me

MDof2 said:

Dual fuel has some secksy factor to it.
Don't know much about that brand, but from what I've seen, dual fuel in the 2kw range adds a fair amount to the price.
Almost double in some brands. (Generac iirc)

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Haven't had any issues with my duromax

Spartan01 said:

What about the in ground generators? For the whole house?
Good? Bad? Uggo?
School me

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Great if you have LPG or gas service. Expensive. They allow you to live without interruption. Last I heard there's a wait too, order today and install in 9 months or so.

RR said:

I picked this one up from Woot for 448.00 recently.

View attachment 336818

Mostly for camping trips where power will be needed. It's still sitting in the box in my shop.

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Same here, grabbed the 2,000w unit from Woot 2yr ago. Only had to use it once when the power went out and it worked quite well, very quiet compared to the 30yo Craftsman my mom gave me years ago.
Someone on YT did a review of this WEN and I think the HF Predator. They’re practically identical!

Edit: Found a video. Tell me these aren’t made in the same factory.

Spartan01 said:

What about the in ground generators? For the whole house?
Good? Bad? Uggo?
School me

Click to expand...

Timfoilhat said:

Great if you have LPG or gas service. Expensive. They allow you to live without interruption. Last I heard there's a wait too, order today and install in 9 months or so.

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I had a whole house system installed about 2 years ago.

20kw Briggs and Stratton with their Symphony 2 power management system and transfer switch.

All in installed on the generator I was just under 10k. Another 2k to have a 325 gallon propane tank buried and first fill.

And yes the time between signing the contract and installation is a bit of a drag. In my case it was January to May. Likely longer now.

When the power goes off here there's a 15 to 30 second delay and everything powers back up. It runs for 30 mins a week automagically for maintenance. I pay the installer a yearly fee to do all the oil changes and preventative maintenance on it. Well worth it not to have to mess with it.

BigWaylon said:

That’s the price ($479) at the link I posted as well.

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I'm noticing that now... I'm a little slower than the average bear on some days.

RR said:

I had a whole house system installed about 2 years ago.

20kw Briggs and Stratton with their Symphony 2 power management system and transfer switch.

All in installed on the generator I was just under 10k. Another 2k to have a 325 gallon propane tank buried and first fill.

And yes the time between signing the contract and installation is a bit of a drag. In my case it was January to May. Likely longer now.

When the power goes off here there's a 15 to 30 second delay and everything powers back up. It runs for 30 mins a week automagically for maintenance. I pay the installer a yearly fee to do all the oil changes and preventative maintenance on it. Well worth it not to have to mess with it.

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As far as in / on ground, this is what I wish I did originally. Cry once.
I had a large 8-ish? KW CPE (Champion) generator that I returned after 3 years because the seam on the gas tank started leaking, and CPE basically told me to pound sand. Wasn't their problem anymore. Thank you Costco for a more than generous return policy. So, needless to say, probably not going to be their customer anymore
I ended up with a Firman 9.5KW dual fuel, and it works beautifully. Have a whole house isolation breaker, (manual) , but it's a heavy somebitch to move out in the dark, and the breaker bar doesn't automagically switch over. So while I love it, use it actually pretty often because it also runs a larger welder on job sites / remote where I don't have 240v 50a. But it's big, bulky, heavy, etc.
If I were to do it again, I'd spend the money and brain damage on a 15 or 20KW whole house / hands off unit, (Generac, etc.) just as @RR did and then buy a smaller one for camping, barn, jobsite, etc.

Relapse said:

Interesting testimonial. They don't sound so great if you've had to have 4 of them. Has to be more to the story. Is it business related, multiple trucks or what? What happened? Old technology, expired patents, time itself all drive prices down but there's still cheap junk posing as same quality. Our 6500 Yamaha isn't big enough to run the whole house by a long shot but it has been pretty reliable in emergincies and built a few houses over the last 25 years or so. Can't get parts anymore, so I hope it keeps on chugging. I feel a lot differently about a few hundred dollars today than i did when that was serious money. Honda is still a solid investment and not nearly as expensive ( in fuzzy fiat dollars) as it used to be.

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Sure. We live off the grid in our 5th wheel. I have been running them nearly 24/7 on whatever crap gas is cheapest at the local stop and rob. No ethanol free or stabilizer. Each one had over 2000hrs when I decided instead of maintaining them myself I would just swap them out under the $99 1 year warranty I bought on the second one. The first one I borrowed from a friend with 9hrs on it. I adjusted the valves at 1000hrs and it died about 2200hrs. So i bought him a new one and swapped the dead out under the 90 days with the receipt. The third one was faulty (carb issues) out of the box. The fourth one has been running 24/7 for 6 months.
The only thing I have done is kept synthetic oil changes with Castrol 0W40 euro oil every 250hrs
So take that testimony as you will.

So the piece of shit lasted only 3 months? And you abused the warranty to cover your losses? Thanks for clarifying your splendid testimonial.

Relapse said:

So the piece of shit lasted only 3 months? And you abused the warranty to cover your losses? Thanks for clarifying your splendid testimonial.

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Looks like he said 2200 hours.

Tomorrow is Friday, come back then.