New generator verdict: "is good"
Jul. 24th, 2008 12:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnridleyThe last power outage did in our original backup generator. I decided that it wasn't worth fixing (the engine is the cheapest thing around and would be almost worthless even if fixed) So we just picked up a new generator at Lowes.
We got a John Deere 6200 watt generator, with 9750 surge watts (3500 watts surge is rather larger than typical, and is desirable). It was only $100 more than the 5000/6500 watt generator, and since we proved empirically during the last power outage that a few more watts than our old 5000 would be desirable, I went for it.
One caveat is that this does NOT have electric start (thus the small difference in price from the 5000 watt unit, which did). However, that is pretty much irrelevant unless you're disabled. I just put gas in it and 2 minutes later (wait for gas to flow into engine) it started about 18 inches into the very first pull out of the box. My 11 year old son started it up a few minutes later without any trouble. I think if you remember to start it up and run it for 10 minutes or so every 6 months, it should stay very easy to start.
Honestly, I'd just as soon NOT have electric start; the battery would just be something to die and need replacing, and would probably be dead when I wanted to use it anyway, or I'd have to keep it on a trickle charger, which means BUYING a charger and then another $5 to $10 a year in electricity to run it. Most of the generators I looked at had electric start, which weighed in this one's favor, price-wise at least.
Noise level is very acceptable. It was not hard to hold a conversation 5 feet away from it (we had to raise our voices a bit, but not yell). The old one was like standing on a firing line for automatic weapons; it had a soup can with window screen for a "muffler" (really just a spark arrestor) and I put on hearing protection just to go out and check the fuel level.
I feel that manufacturer is hardly relevant; AFAICT these things are all made by the same place with minor differences; they all have Briggs OHC engines, and a generator head is a generator head. The JD came with an impressively fat extension cord, though we probably won't use it a lot; it's a 110v squid type and we hook up the whole house. The JD paint job is kind of pretty. Also it came with the "mobility kit" - foam (no flat) wheels and handles, which is a real bonus but fairly common these days.
I did have to buy about $60 in new connectors; the old ones were 20A flat and the new ones are 30A twist-lock. 30A connectors are rather expensive.
I got a new Lowes credit card which took 10% off the price (first purchase), which actually put the price of this thing below what I could find it for online. I checked a lot of places, but the generally $60 to $100 shipping kills it for online places. I prefer to buy locally if the price isn't much different. Lowes almost counts as "local". I checked in smaller locally owned places, but they sell stuff like Husky and Honda generators, which, while very nice indeed, cost $2000 and up for the same wattage that I got for $720 with the discount. The card will get cancelled within the year so I can use this trick again on the next purchase (last time was for some major project IIRC).
If anyone else looks for this model, Lowes' web site claims that NO store around here has these, but it lies.
We got a John Deere 6200 watt generator, with 9750 surge watts (3500 watts surge is rather larger than typical, and is desirable). It was only $100 more than the 5000/6500 watt generator, and since we proved empirically during the last power outage that a few more watts than our old 5000 would be desirable, I went for it.
One caveat is that this does NOT have electric start (thus the small difference in price from the 5000 watt unit, which did). However, that is pretty much irrelevant unless you're disabled. I just put gas in it and 2 minutes later (wait for gas to flow into engine) it started about 18 inches into the very first pull out of the box. My 11 year old son started it up a few minutes later without any trouble. I think if you remember to start it up and run it for 10 minutes or so every 6 months, it should stay very easy to start.
Honestly, I'd just as soon NOT have electric start; the battery would just be something to die and need replacing, and would probably be dead when I wanted to use it anyway, or I'd have to keep it on a trickle charger, which means BUYING a charger and then another $5 to $10 a year in electricity to run it. Most of the generators I looked at had electric start, which weighed in this one's favor, price-wise at least.
Noise level is very acceptable. It was not hard to hold a conversation 5 feet away from it (we had to raise our voices a bit, but not yell). The old one was like standing on a firing line for automatic weapons; it had a soup can with window screen for a "muffler" (really just a spark arrestor) and I put on hearing protection just to go out and check the fuel level.
I feel that manufacturer is hardly relevant; AFAICT these things are all made by the same place with minor differences; they all have Briggs OHC engines, and a generator head is a generator head. The JD came with an impressively fat extension cord, though we probably won't use it a lot; it's a 110v squid type and we hook up the whole house. The JD paint job is kind of pretty. Also it came with the "mobility kit" - foam (no flat) wheels and handles, which is a real bonus but fairly common these days.
I did have to buy about $60 in new connectors; the old ones were 20A flat and the new ones are 30A twist-lock. 30A connectors are rather expensive.
I got a new Lowes credit card which took 10% off the price (first purchase), which actually put the price of this thing below what I could find it for online. I checked a lot of places, but the generally $60 to $100 shipping kills it for online places. I prefer to buy locally if the price isn't much different. Lowes almost counts as "local". I checked in smaller locally owned places, but they sell stuff like Husky and Honda generators, which, while very nice indeed, cost $2000 and up for the same wattage that I got for $720 with the discount. The card will get cancelled within the year so I can use this trick again on the next purchase (last time was for some major project IIRC).
If anyone else looks for this model, Lowes' web site claims that NO store around here has these, but it lies.
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Date: 2008-07-24 07:19 pm (UTC)I put a Kill-A-Watt on it during the last outage, and even with everything running, it held at 59.7 hz and about 118 volts. Clearly the engine is still within its capability or the frequency would have bogged down. It was only when we tried to wash clothes and the washer wanted to start the agitation cycle that things clicked down. I just had to turn the freezer off while the washer ran and that was OK too. I think 6200 watts will be able to do everything.
Even the cheapest generators these days are about equivalent to the midrange ones I was looking at 10 years ago. The cheapest POS you can get is still an OHC Briggs engine and a generator with built in regulation.
Really what you need to run a house is a ton of surge capacity; fridges and water pumps draw more than twice their running watts when starting.
Mainly what I wanted was something that would run smooth without burning oil and be quieter. This one is rated something like 78DB, and that seems about right listening to it. The old one has essentially no muffler, just a spark arrester, so it's loud as hell.