HF treated me good

[Arkansas COB]

Storms Wednesday evening killed my power. Was a long hot sticky night with very little sleep. Entergy Arkansas would not give us a time for reconnect due to the 80,000 + customers that got knocked out. Finally got an estimated time yesterday afternoon of 2-3 more days before power fixed. OH Hell no !! 90+ heat with this Arkansas humidity you can wear.

Off to HF for a generator. Started looking at a Predator 6500/5500 for 489.99 but that little man on my shoulder kept saying bigger is better so I settled on the Predator 8750/7000 at 599.99. Well that maxed me out as far as extra spending money. Also had to but at least 2 more heavy duty extension cords. Got 2 50' 12 ga at 38 bucks a piece. Guy at register ask if i want a wheel kit. Thats 30 more bucks plus i need a battery for the electric start. Thats another 40 bucks. Dang dude the generator tapped me smooth out. Ill just have to deal with pull start and no wheels. Mentioned about no power due to storms and how the wifey was really hot and very bitchy and the dogs are all hot and miserable and I was well on my way to being the same way.

He smiles and says I understand. Let me see what I can do. Gets the manager and by the time the 2 of them got done playing I had the generator , a wheel kit , the 2 extension cords and a years membership to the inside track club for a total including tax of 568.47. I thought that was pretty good of them. they didnt have to do none of it. Im sure they still made money but they saved me damn near 200 bucks and I appreciate it.


Got oil and gas on way home. Put it in generator and install wheel kit. Run all extension cords and put the 110 window AC in living room window. Im freaking hot and drenched in sweat and 30 mn after Im done at about 8:20 the damn power comes on. WTH ? Fastest 2-3 days I've ever seen.

Generator did good though. I had the 110 window unit plus the fridge a deep freezer and the tv satellite and 2 box fans and it never labored one bit. My rough guesstimate on wattage was around 2500 to 3000 running watts and start up watts around 2500 so I was well below the specs on generator.

Money well spend i guess for the future.


COB

 

[FJ 432]

A great story about HF. I'm glad your story ended well.

 

[captain14]

But if you had not got the generator and supplies then, the power would still be out. The recording on their report outage line would say
“expected time to restore power to your area is November 7”.

 

[rjn2649]

Glad to hear that the local stores can help.
A long while back power went out in the summer in my (then) girlfriends house from storms. No power for 2 days, I kept bringing her ice for the fridge. finally one day I get a generator, could only find one small one locally, big enough for the fridge and a radio or tv. Get it home put gas and oil in it, fire it up to test it, and you know that minute every damn light in the house comes on!! She comes running out "that's the best thing ever!!"
We since got like maybe 8500 w peak, and have used it twice in the last few years for a couple of hours. So hopefully you'll have the same results. It's much better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

 

[CoogarXR]

On a side note, I finally got my "garage sale generator" tuned up and ready to use. You know what that means... The power will never go out again.

 

[James-W]

Glad it all worked out well for you.

I know several people around here who have generators, not ones that will power the whole house, but ones that will run the essential equipment until the main power grid is back up. The power around here rarely ever goes goes out, which is a good thing, but then again, maybe it isn't such a good thing.

What I mean is, I don't have a generator because the power so seldom goes out. I figure why should I go out and buy a generator that I probably will never have a need for. So if the power does go out for an extended period of time, I MAY be screwed. We have two freezers filled with food that would potentially spoil depending on the time of year when the power went off. On the other hand, if the power around here failed more frequently, I would buy a generator capable of running essential equipment for those times when the power out.

 

[Motorman55]

I've owned the big HF generator for almost four years now. Used it a few times so far. Paid for itself many times over in food savings and pure creature comfort keeping the A/C and heater going.

Been meaning to get a battery, but so far I haven't really needed it because the generator starts right up every time with one or tugs on the pull cord.

 

[EOC_Jason]

But if you had not got the generator and supplies then, the power would still be out. The recording on their report outage line would say “expected time to restore power to your area is November 7”.

On a side note, I finally got my "garage sale generator" tuned up and ready to use. You know what that means... The power will never go out again.

^^^ So true, so true...

Reminds me, I need to go fire up my generator and let it run a bit one of these days...

What part of Arkansas do you live in?

 

[Hillyard]

The exact same thing happened to my parents after they bought a generator. A huge ice-storm hit the midwest and knocked the majority of people's electricity. My parents were heating their house using the fireplace and by the fifth day my dad was over it. Went out and bought a generator, got home, unpacked it and hooked everything up, and the power was own within 3 hours...

The power hasn't been off longer than an hour since that instance. He has a brand new generator just in case though...

 

[Toothaker]

We had a big ice storm here, more than 10 years ago. Just about everybody I knew was without power for days. My home, my rental home, my dad, sister and in-laws were all without power. I bought a Generac portable generator at Home Depot, and sure enough, by the time it got shipped into town and I got it home we had power. But my dad was still without power and used it for almost a week, powering his house and an elderly neighbor's house. Haven't had a chance to use it since, but I run it a couple of times a year just to make sure it still runs.

I have a suspicion that if I ever get rid of it...

 

[theoldwizard1]

Started looking at a Predator 6500/5500 for 489.99 but that little man on my shoulder kept saying bigger is better so I settled on the Predator 8750/7000 at 599.99.

IMHO, WAY OVERKILL !

If all you are going to run is 1 window A/C, a refrigerator, TV and a couple of lights, you only need about 2500W.

Hint, buy a spare "brand name" spark plugs. The original ones are not very good.

 

[EOC_Jason]

You can never have too large of a generator... If you have power to spare then run an extension cord over to a neighbor's house for their fridge and some lights...

 

[Notgrownup]

I got a 8500 this past year, I don’t think of it as overkill, I can run just about everything in the house except the heat pump...I have a PTAC in the sunroom that can cool us down.

 

[silver6933]

I live in South Africa, JHB specifically.

We have power outages all the time. The longest was for 7 days straight. The sub station burnt down. We use 220v 50Hz in RSA.

I have a chinese made Ryobi 5500kw gennie (petrol with AVR). She really gets a work-out. It is winter her atm. 2 degree C. Key start with wheels. About a 8hour run time on a very full tank of gas.

I can run all my fridges, cook and run a heater (2000w), some lights and the TV. It keeps the wife and kid happy.

I can also run my pool pump(2.2kw). It cannot run my hot water heaters. I have 3 in the house.

It needs to be serviced often, due to run-time. But it is well worth it to have them. Approx cost USD 500.

We need to run the gennie atleast once a month, and I use fuel saver. ( It is a hot climate here).

 

[Old Man Roger]

Didn't read the whole thread, so I apologize if I'm repeating advice.
Drain all the gas out of the generator for storage. You don't want the crappy *** gas we have clogging the carb up with ethanol trash.It happens faster than you might think.
Hook up a battery tender to keep the battery alive. HF has one for like 5 bucks.
Some people like to pull the plug and squirt a little oil in the cylinder for storage.
No such thing as too big if you ask me, microwaves, dryers, toasters, water heaters ac, etc ect. Imagine a few of them starting at the same time.

 

[silver6933]

The predator gennie looks very similar to my Ryobi unit. My unit is gasoline powered(petrol). It is a chonda engine.

Under sizing a generator is a problem as it will over heat and then usually either provide bad voltage or fail.

Over sizing is also a problem. Most gennies are rated to run at a minimal load of 30-65%.

The first problem is the AVR cannot regulate the engine to the mechanical load and this stresses the AVR components and the engine.

Diesel gennies.

These are quieter. And more fuel efficient. fuel can be stored in them for longer periods.

Undersizing these leads to wet stacking and can result in engine damage. Prior to permanent damage, there is a reduction in output Wattage. There are many failure due to this problem here. We are also at altitude (1753m).

Altitude affects both output and you may need to chaneg the carb nozzle to ensure correct A/F.

Petrol/Gasoline Gennies.

These are also affected when over sizing.


Some POSSIBLE issues.(for both petrol and diesel gennies)

Increase of exhaust smoke.
The presence of traces of fuel in the engine oil.
Excessive wear of the turbocharger.
Oil leaks in the body of the turbocharger.
Increased pressure in the gearbox and the crankcase (Blowby).
Excessive deposit of carbon residue on the surfaces of the valves, valve seats, pistons and the exhaust manifold.
Hardening of the surfaces of the cylinder liners.
If such a system exists, lower efficiency of the exhaust gas treatment system (ATS) which may activate the forced regeneration cycle of the DPF.

Failure of the low oil sensor due to contamination. This causes a no start situation.


Maintenance items.

You want to keep the following on hand. Spare spark plug and wrench to fit spark plug.
Extra oil
air filter.

The Carb fuel lines are usually not a common failure item. But once the gennie gets over 2 years old, these become more failure prone.

Keep a paper log of hours run and service accordingly.

Old fuel is a big problem. Run the gennie once a month. And remember to load it during the run.

 

[Arkansas COB]

For those that said over kill--na I dont think so. Been doing some checking on appliances in the house and I dont see any reason this generator wont run damn near the whole house in the summer and the whole house in the winter.

Looking now at installing generator transfer switch kit so I can just plug in and start when needed. Probably never need it once I do this but better to have and not need than to need and not have.

For the electricians here that always give much needed advice and I mean that with respect and appreciation I do have a neighbor thats a licensed electrician that is going to help me with this project.

COB

 

[silver6933]

Itmay not run the hot water heater tank(geyser).