Who's going first? New HF Inverter Generator!

[Radio Ron w4ron]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

What would keep you from driving a modern car alternator with
the tractor engine. Most modern ones have built voltage regulators.
You'd likely have to add a bigger battery, but it would make an easy
emergency generator.
I have a friend that built a 12VDC generator using a 5HP engine
and a chevy alternator, works great charging 12v batteries used in
our emergency communications setups.



.

 

[Fast Orange]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

FWIW,Amazon has the Generac 2000W for $499- I think that's the way i'd go...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NKMG66/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[fivespdcat]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

FWIW,Amazon has the Generac 2000W for $499- I think that's the way i'd go...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NKMG66/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Talk about bad reviews, there are not many products on amazon that are that poorly received with more than 100 reviews.

 

[Trey T]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

Funny guy

Why? Every one of these sales is one less for Honda.

Sort of like their cars - Americans are waking up to the fact that Honda is no different than Ford and GM. Their cars are not of better quality than everyone else and their poop stinks just like the others.

 

[Danglerb]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

Typical alternator in a car is good for maybe 130 amps at 14.5v, which is maybe 1200 watts out the inverter in 120vac.

In an emergency, sure cobble something like that together and have power, but short duration, use the battery in the car, expected need, buy a real generator even if its just the HF $89 on sale 800 watt. Guessing it will run continuous on much smaller amount of gas and much less likely to have issues.

 

[Skin]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

For the folks saying its one less sale for Honda....

If you are buying a $500 generator to start with, you aren't looking at the top of the class to begin with.

Basically. Honda power equipment is overbuilt, essentially all of it is commercially rated, and will last decades and be serviceable 20 years later. In the event of a major failure the HF unit is completely disposable.

 

[gte718p]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

"...64dB is not too bad IF the measurements are not exaggerated (doubtful). The Honda is 59dB, and IS that quiet..." If not "exaggerated", that's about a 30% increase in SPL.

Six dB is twice as loud. They are at 5dB so almost twice as loud.

 

[rlitman]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

Six dB is twice as loud. They are at 5dB so almost twice as loud.

3dB is twice as loud.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

FWIW,Amazon has the Generac 2000W for $499- I think that's the way i'd go...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NKMG66/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Why ? It is clearly the same machine in a different color ?

The Amazon 1 and 2 star ratings out number the 4 and 5 star ratings 60 to 47. Many claim it failed within a few months. Most said Generac could not get parts in a reasonable amount of time.



What I don't understand is why a company with a good reputation like Generac would risk it on some poor quality Chinese designed and built equipment with no support network. This type of sales will drive customers away !

 

[theoldwizard1]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

... buy a real generator even if its just the HF $89 on sale 800 watt. Guessing it will run continuous on much smaller amount of gas and much less likely to have issues.

"Continuous" is a very strong word in this context ! Clearly, the HF $89 generator is not designed to run 24/7/365. I would be shocked if it ran after 24/7/30 !

 

[Skin]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

Why ? It is clearly the same machine in a different color ?

The Amazon 1 and 2 star ratings out number the 4 and 5 star ratings 60 to 47. Many claim it failed within a few months. Most said Generac could not get parts in a reasonable amount of time.



What I don't understand is why a company with a good reputation like Generac would risk it on some poor quality Chinese designed and built equipment with no support network. This type of sales will drive customers away !

Generac might make good commercial units but their consumer grade line has been terrible for many years.

 

[GSteg]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

Six dB is twice as loud. They are at 5dB so almost twice as loud.

3dB is twice as loud.

3db is twice the sound intensity, but it takes roughly 10db for the human ear to perceive as 'twice as loud'.

 

[gte718p]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

3dB is twice as loud.

Yep, had a brain fart. So almost 8x louder then the Honda. I think I'll buy a Honda when the time comes.

 

[andywander]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

Default Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!
Quote:
Originally Posted by gte718p View Post
Six dB is twice as loud. They are at 5dB so almost twice as loud.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rlitman View Post
3dB is twice as loud.

3db is twice the sound intensity, but it takes roughly 10db for the human ear to perceive as 'twice as loud'.

3dB is twice as loud.

Yep, had a brain fart. So almost 8x louder then the Honda. I think I'll buy a Honda when the time comes.

Guys, come on, get it together.

+10dB sounds twice as loud.

+6dB is twice the sound intensity.

+3dB is twice the power.


so 5dB is not 8X louder......it is not even 2X louder(and not quite 2X as loud)

 

[Doug Ringold]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

I would disagree with Honda's quality, at least in the ridgeline, not to mention the fact that they are made in Alabama and over 73% of parts are manufactured in North america, higher than Chev, Ford, and Chrysler. Over 200,000 miles, replace rear struts, one set of brakes, I get over 120,000 miles off of a 50,000 mile tire, same tire gone at 30k on both my Ford and My chev truck, more room inside, more hp, way better handling and can pull my heavy wakeboard boat down the road at 90 without breaking a sweat, my avalanche felt like it was going to die and it only had 35k on it and I could not get over 75 mph with the gas pinned to the floor.

 

[chewy7]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

i bought one of those predator 2500 generators. it runs fine. it holds a rock solid 59.9 hertz and the voltage is pretty steady too . i have a couple hours on it already breaking the engine in. i would say it has at least 5 hours on it, already changed oil on it once.

 

[GSteg]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

3db is twice the sound intensity, but it takes roughly 10db for the human ear to perceive as 'twice as loud'.

Guys, come on, get it together.

+10dB sounds twice as loud.

+6dB is twice the sound intensity.

+3dB is twice the power.

Uh no, +6db is not twice the sound intensity, it's twice the sound pressure. +3db = 2x power = 2x intensity.

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/TableOfSoundPressureLevels.htm

 

[crucible]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

2200 watts running is pretty decent for the price; I wonder if that's a bit optimistic actually.

That said, it's on sale for $499 with a normal price of $699. At the normal price, I'd strongly lean towards spending a little more for the Honda or Yamaha equivilant if it can run what you need.

(I personally have a Yamaha 2400isHC that I love to death-fuel efficient, doggone quiet and reliable.)

 

[theoldwizard1]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

i bought one of those predator 2500 generators. it runs fine. it holds a rock solid 59.9 hertz and about 120.5 volts unloaded. loaded about 121. i have a couple hours on it already breaking the engine in. i would say it has at least 5 hours on it, already changed oil on it once.

Can you do a follow up in about 6 months when have put some use on it.

Based on other's experience with the 800 watt HF generator, get a couple of good, name brand, spark plugs !

 

[chewy7]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

2200 watts running is pretty decent for the price; I wonder if that's a bit optimistic actually.

ii had it loaded with 2100 watts , it can handle it

I'd rock it. We've got their 5500 watt one and it's fine - starts easily and handles loads fine.
And another reason to buy it is to F-Honda (they deserve it).

i have the 7000/8750 one and it runs fine with 4000-5000 watts on it so far

Can you do a follow up in about 6 months when have put some use on it.

Based on other's experience with the 800 watt HF generator, get a couple of good, name brand, spark plugs !

Sure i could report back in a couple of months. I had it loaded down to about 2100 watts and it still ran but worked really hard lol, the manual said not to load it past 75% for the first 25 hours. I have a killawatt ez and a amwatt to calculate how much watts. one thing i tried is that i hooked some 700-800 watts worth of halogen light and a presto griddle to test the throttle motor and stuff. i ran it a couple hours to cycle loads lol like that and the electric throttle motor got stuck for a couple seconds. it would overload and shut it self down. (it must of over heated lol i was beating it lol) just tapped it it it worked fine after that i really gave the generator a work out when i was breaking the engine in

 

[Dan Jacobs]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

FWIW,Amazon has the Generac 2000W for $499- I think that's the way i'd go...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NKMG66/?tag=atomicindus08-20

WOW those are some bad reviews!
I have a EU2000 that is 4-5 years old
It has lived the hardest life I can imagine, banging around a trailer on it side for
months, oil changes when we think of it, ran it for 2 weeks straight without shutdown (fueled it while running) used it to run a welder (the welds weren't great oh well you do what you got to) overloaded it til the breaker trips a thousand times
It still starts one pull dead cold, uses no oil and you can't hear it run
Go ahead and save money buying HF junk
For me life is to short to deal with junk

 

[chewy7]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

i believe i fried some of the circuits on my predator 2500. i was running a griddle on it for a couple of hours with some other lights at full load 2000-2200 watts and now either the stepper motor that controls the throttle or the other electronics went out lol. Back it goes. I did try using my 20 gallon campbell hausfeld air compressor on it too and it severly loaded it down trying to start. It uses 14.5 amps running so i probably needs at least double that to start. On the other hand my new predator 7000/8750 runs great and also runs the air compressor just fine. im thinking about exchanging it.

 

[chewy7]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

Well i just got back from harbor freight with the replacement inverter generator. This one seams t orun even better. I put gas in it and with 4 pulls i got it to fire . When i shut it down to see how good it would warm start I didnt have to choke it in a warm start. Before i had to choke it every time i started it warm or cold. I plan on breaking it in for a couple of hours on a 1400 watt load.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

I've got the luxury of a big 6.5kw Onan RV generator to run the house, so I don't have a need for this little suitcase genset, but I do love the weight and quiet operation of those little things. Perfect for camping or remote power situations. That's where they shine.

 

[sberry]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

Well i just got back from harbor freight with the replacement inverter generator. This one seams t orun even better. I put gas in it and with 4 pulls i got it to fire . When i shut it down to see how good it would warm start I didnt have to choke it in a warm start. Before i had to choke it every time i started it warm or cold. I plan on breaking it in for a couple of hours on a 1400 watt load.

Not sure I would run it extra just to break it in,,,

 

[chewy7]

Re: Who's going first? New HF Invertor Gennerator!

Originally Posted by chewy7
Well i just got back from harbor freight with the replacement inverter generator. This one seams t orun even better. I put gas in it and with 4 pulls i got it to fire . When i shut it down to see how good it would warm start I didnt have to choke it in a warm start. Before i had to choke it every time i started it warm or cold. I plan on breaking it in for a couple of hours on a 1400 watt load.

Not sure I would run it extra just to break it in,,,

This time i wont actually try to sabotage it lol . Before i was testing to see how mch **** that generator would take before quitting. it lasted longer than what i expected considering hoe i was treating it lol. I overloaded the first one more than once and ended up frying it. The oil and gas is free so it dont cost me anything to run it from where i work

 

[theoldwizard1]

The little 800/900W HF generators have notoriously bad spark plugs. The plug just dies shortly after the break in period. Name brand replacements seem to work fine. Most people keep a couple of spares on hand.

Any ideas whose engine they are copying ? The HF Predator engines are knock offs of Honda engines. I know one Chinese generator manufacturer is copying a small Yamaha 4 stroke engine.

How is the quality of things like the rewind starter and the fuel shutoff valve ? These things seem to break early and often.

 

[chewy7]

The little 800/900W HF generators have notoriously bad spark plugs. The plug just dies shortly after the break in period. Name brand replacements seem to work fine. Most people keep a couple of spares on hand.

Any ideas whose engine they are copying ? The HF Predator engines are knock offs of Honda engines. I know one Chinese generator manufacturer is copying a small Yamaha 4 stroke engine.

How is the quality of things like the rewind starter and the fuel shutoff valve ? These things seem to break early and often.

i have the blue version of the 800/900 and i cant seam to break it. I ditched the stock plug and currently have an ngk bpr4es installed in it. I have a spare Autolite 65 that's also a good plug to use in it. I use the same 50:1 arctic blue snowmobile oil/87 octane mix we use in our chainsaws on the farm in it. Used that oilmix for years and no problems with that mix.