OT: Should I Buy This Generator?

Winter is coming. Last year we had 2 weather related power outages.

I borrowed 3500W generator and ran my furnace, fridge and a couple of lights with it for about 24 hours.

The more I spend on a generator, the less likely it will be that we'll ever have a power outage again. That's said, this appears to be a good deal. The listing shows "Asking $300" which mean he'll take less.

Posted 1 month ago.

"Description: Used. Maybe has 20 hours of use, full tank of fuel, starts first pull."

Should I buy it? Should I offer $250, settle on $275?

formatting link

Thanks.

Reply to
DerbyDad03
Loading thread data ...

Winter is coming. Last year we had 2 weather related power outages.

I borrowed 3500W generator and ran my furnace, fridge and a couple of lights with it for about 24 hours.

The more I spend on a generator, the less likely it will be that we'll ever have a power outage again. That's said, this appears to be a good deal. The listing shows "Asking $300" which mean he'll take less.

Posted 1 month ago.

"Description: Used. Maybe has 20 hours of use, full tank of fuel, starts first pull."

Should I buy it? Should I offer $250, settle on $275?

formatting link

Thanks.

If it has the Subaru engine, I wouldn't be afraid to buy it. Mine is a Generac (only thing available at the time) and it's loud as are most in this class (low cost). His asking price is a fair price considering these run around $700+ new.

Check the oil, start it and plug in something (drop light..) in all the outlets. It's going to sound terrible but that is the nature of these beasts and since you have used one in the past, it should sound about the same.

Bob S.

Reply to
Bob_S

The "Powered by B&S" label is false advertising ? :-) ... or is Subaru now the same thing .. ? John T.

Reply to
hubops

They ask $ 400 - 450 Canuck-bucks around southern Ontario.

formatting link

My Honda EM5000 was $ 1200. used at an auction sale in 1999. Still going strong. John T.

Reply to
hubops

If there is a HF near you check them out first.

Reply to
OFWW

either buy it or some more blankets and keep the flashlights charged

and sharpen your hand tools beforehand

Reply to
Electric Comet

Put a load on it. I blew the rings on mine after Sandy. after 2 weeks, I wanted a shower and shut everything but the water heater and it was too much of a load. I blew the rings , blue smoke everywhere. After it was only half as capable.

Reminds me, I need to order rings. But put a good load on it if you can, it wil tell you more than a light load. Bring a few heaters, or a powerful motor. Your goal is 30 amps about. That's a good load.

Reply to
woodchucker

On Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at 8:41:30 PM UTC-5, snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.ca w rote:

Bought it. I made it easy on him. He was asking $300 so I texted him and said "I'll offer you $250 and we can settle on $275, OK?" He said sure.

I also told him that I wanted to start it and plug in a work light. I asked him not to start before I got there as I wanted to see it start cold. (I read that if you go to buy a used generator and the engine is warm when you get there, it's possible that it may be hard to start when cold so the seller warms it up before the buyer gets there.)

I got there and he pulled it out of the corner saying "It usually starts on 1 pull, but it's been sitting so it might take 2. The engine was cold to the touch. 2 pulls later it was running strong. No flicker on the 500W halogen work lights.

I asked him why he was selling it. He pointed to his camper and said that it's too loud for his campsite. He bought a nice, quiet (expensive) Honda.

Now that I own it, it will probably be 60° every winter for the rest o f my life. ;-)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I don't think these little generators are intended to be run for extended long periods of time.

Reply to
Leon

Be sure to run the gas out of it, these little generators are notorious for not wanting to start after sitting with old gas in them. At the least use a gas stabilizer and shut off the carb to run the carb dry.

Reply to
Leon

Reply to
DerbyDad03

That would be a good trade off. I think about buying one every year but have not done so yet. I've not been able to justify it. A couple of weeks ago our state had a bad wind storm. About 300,000 people were without power, some for days. Ours went out for about 15 seconds.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

They run at 3600 rpm to maintain frequency - probably why the old-style engines would not hold-up for too long in continuous operation. All the newer ones have < OHV ? > engines that can endure the long hours. My Honda has run for 2 - 3 day outages but never tested it for 2 - 3 weeks. I think it calls for an oil change after 50 hours ? The real nice quiet ones will operate at 1800 rpm or else be the newer inverter style. John T.

Reply to
hubops

I went 5 days without power after an ice storm. About 10 minutes after the power went out, I was looking out my front window and watched the transformer for my part of the street blow up. Scary but cool.

My wires were ripped off of the house but not from the meter or the pole. I cleaned off all of the limbs, exposed the wires and laid them atop my

6' wooden fence. My neighbor did nothing, leaving his wires lying in his yard underneath all the branches for the whole 5 days.

Before they energized the new transformer, they climbed the pole, and disconnected my neighbor's wires. Then they put a ladder up against my house and "temporarily" tacked my wires back up near the roof. It pays to be neat. My neighbor got the message and cleaned up his wires, but it was a few more days before he could get the utility to come back and power him up.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I've hemmed and hawed for many years, not wanting to spend just a few hundred on a small generator that wouldn't be much help but also not wanting to spend many hundreds for something bigger that would just sit around doing nothing.

When I found a practically new 5000W unit with a B&S engine for $275, I figured it was time to pull the trigger. The fact that I just sold

4 snow tires from a car that we donated and had $360 burning a hole in my pocket made it even easier. ;-)
Reply to
DerbyDad03

I changed the oil 3-4 times during that 2 week period. it ran fine running all the time. I would shut it for the night, I didn't need to keep the neighbors up. I did need to chain it though. People were stealing them from homes during that time.

When you are without, you will do whatever it takes to feel more comfortable. It was cold, and I have oil heat, so all I needed to do was fire the burner and blower... it felt a lot better than freezing. We also didn't lose our food in the freezer or refrig.

Reply to
woodchucker

I put a "motor snorkel" kit on mine - runs Propane or Natural gas -as wel las gasoline

Reply to
Clare Snyder

DerbyDad03 wrote in news:6a781a37-ab96-49f7-a681- snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

And you've got enough left over to buy us all a round of biscuits!

*munch, munch, munch* Hm? Tastes woody.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

The "Powered by B&S" label is false advertising ? :-) ... or is Subaru now the same thing .. ? John T.

Didn't even notice that label.... I looked up pricing and it stated Subaru engine on the newer models.

Bob S.

Reply to
Bob_S

That looks interesting, but first things first.

Gotta wire it into the panel. The panel is full, so I need to get a couple of tandem breakers to make room for the backfeed breaker. Then I have to rearrange some breakers so I can put the backfeed breaker below the main so I can install the interlock. Plus I need to install the inlet on the outsid e wall. Oh wait, first I have to buy all the parts. ;-)

Based on the circuits I'll want to power, I think I'm OK as far as load sharing across the 2 phases. Hopefully I'll never have to find out. ;-)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.