which portable generators do people have

[ultrarunner]

I've come across some vintage Hoyt Gas Water Heaters... all copper tank... true craftsmanship and with the Hoyt factory in Oakland we had a lot of them...

I bought a lot of the $88 30 gallon generic Home Base Water Heaters after Hoyt was no more... guess their heaters were just too good?

18-20 years if the thermostat isn't set on max... like some tenants like to do.

Only have electric in Washington... everything else is propane or natural.

What steps are people taking to secure/protect their generators from theft?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I'll go along with that.................

SO, you don't care how long the unit will last??

OR if you will be able to get parts for it years down the road??

Those are important considerations for me... Honda has proven to be excellent in those categories too, along with "quality" power out put.

SR

 

[300UGUY]

I've come across some vintage Hoyt Gas Water Heaters... all copper tank... true craftsmanship and with the Hoyt factory in Oakland we had a lot of them...

I bought a lot of the $88 30 gallon generic Home Base Water Heaters after Hoyt was no more... guess their heaters were just too good?

18-20 years if the thermostat isn't set on max... like some tenants like to do.

Only have electric in Washington... everything else is propane or natural.

What steps are people taking to secure/protect their generators from theft?

Not to create thread drift, but I installed a Marathon electric water heater a few years ago. A plastic tank, lifetime warranty.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

You have to replace the sacrificial anode every once in a while to keep the water heater tank from corroding. A typical interval is about every 5 years, though water quality and electrical ground make a big difference in how long an anode lasts. Replace it the first time after a couple years. If it still looks good, let it go 4 years next time. If it looks pretty ratty, stick with the 2 year interval. It's an easy service, just unscrew the old one with a large socket or end wrench and screw the new one in.

 

[Garandman]

Are you trying to say "Honda generators" aren't of known quality??

Seems being of known quality negates where it was made... but, like YOU posted, they are the "common benchmark" for all others...

I took your post to imply that Briggs & Stratton is not known quality when in fact they are major manufacturers of generators, both portable and standby. Honda doesnt seem to be in the standby market. B&S is over 100 years old and has great parts support. They even have a live hotline with Applications Engineers to provide product

You made one purchase decision years ago. We’ve purchased eight generators in the last three years. For this purchase, I decided to give B&S a shot. We have a Kohler whole house and three Hondas (as well as two mowers, a snow thrower and a car), so we have nothing against Honda but do not ascribe magical powers, either.

For the $4,000 instead of one fuel injected EU7000 I can have the Q6500 inverter and two EU2000’s. This gives me more options, like loaning out one to a relative that has nothing.

The show stopper for the EU7000 for us was the weight, not the cost. It weighs just under 300 lbs with fuel (261 dry). The Q6500 weighs 160 lbs with fuel (128 dry) so it is far more portable: I was able to load and unload it from my wagon by myself. We store it in the basement so the wheels and weight worked for us. Our second choice was going to be the Yamaha 6300, which comes with wheels and is 200lbs dry. Not sure if anyone else makes inverters with 240V output.

My brother just ran his Generac 7500e four days straight. First time it has run more than a few hours and he is very pleased with it.

Honda makes a good generator. So do lots of others. Yamaha is more popular with the RV set because their 2400 will run the AC. The Champion inverters seem to be holding up well and are bargain prices: $1,000 for a 3,400W inverter.

 

[goeduck]

The show stopper for the EU7000 for us was the weight, not the cost. It weighs just under 300 lbs with fuel (261 dry). The Q6500 weighs 160 lbs with fuel (128 dry) so it is far more portable:
.

In some things heavier is better and an indication of quality components, anyone know if this is true with inverter gensets?

 

[Oldpath05]

SO, you don't care how long the unit will last??

OR if you will be able to get parts for it years down the road??

Those are important considerations for me... Honda has proven to be excellent in those categories too, along with "quality" power out put.

SR

SO, you don't care how much a unit will cost??

OR you think Honda is the only generator that can supply parts like Gee, what parts, Oil Filter, spark plug, motor oil, boy those are hard parts to get...........

Cost is the important considerations for me, Briggs&Stratton has proven to be excellent in the categories of not needing constant repair parts, and they to have "Quality" output power in everything they power......think outside the Honda box for a change.

 

[Oldpath05]

In some things heavier is better and an indication of quality components, anyone know if this is true with inverter gensets?

Good ? In welding machines, Miller like others have cut the weight in half on the new inverter welding machine category over the last 10-15 years. Also I was told that kabota is one of the lightest tractors on the market in the same tractor category, maybe even lighter than the new high quality Chinese tractors, ouch.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

You made one purchase decision years ago.

How would you know that I made "one purchase decision" years ago?? lol

You have no idea how many Honda "purchases" I've made, or for that matter, how many B&S... purchases I've made...

There's NO shortages of "purchases" around here...

As for more Yamaha's than Honda's in the RV crowd: This summer we traveled to numerous out door "shows" where almost EVERYTHING was/is run with generators, also all of these shows have RV parks for folks to camp in for the show. (including us)

I saw literally hundreds of Honda generators, and I bet you there wasn't 5 Yamaha's total, used for all those shows/RV's... I see this year after year, hundreds of Hondas, mostly 2000's every place we go...

BTW, of all the small engines I've owned over the years, I've wore out more B&S motors than any other brand!

SR

 

[ultrarunner]

I've been lucky in that all my small gas engines continue to provide good service... still have that Tecumseh mini-bike going strong.

My cheap Sears mowers from the 70's and 80's had zero engine problems... the decks eventually rusted out.

The one issue I have is rather new... and that is carburetor from the Gas we have in California which got me to thinking the fuel injected Honda might be onto something fuel wise?

The other things are fuel economy, quality of power generated and quiet and cannot emphasize quiet enough...

 

[Garandman]

In some things heavier is better and an indication of quality components, anyone know if this is true with inverter gensets?

In this case it is apples to oranges to pears.

Briggs and Stratford Q6500: carburetor, manual start.
Yamaha 6300: carburetor, electric start (which means a battery)
Honda EU 7000: fuel injected, electric start.

Taking the super popular 2000W class:
The Honda EU2000 weighs 46 lbs
The Yamaha EF2000 weighs 44 lbs
The B&S Powersmart P2200 weighs 54 lbs
And the Harbor Fright 2000 weighs 47.

 

[goeduck]

In this case it is apples to oranges to pears.

Briggs and Stratford Q6500: carburetor, manual start.
Yamaha 6300: carburetor, electric start (which means a battery)
Honda EU 7000: fuel injected, electric start.

Taking the super popular 2000W class:
The Honda EU2000 weighs 46 lbs
The Yamaha EF2000 weighs 44 lbs
The B&S Powersmart P2200 weighs 54 lbs
And the Harbor Fright 2000 weighs 47.

So I wonder if there is much difference in the electronics/power conversion weight. In lead acid batteries you look for weight as an indicator of lead. In old school generators more weight is usually more copper (I think). In this case it may just come down to quality of components and circuitry.

 

[DK35vince]

I've been lucky in that all my small gas engines continue to provide good service....

So have mine.
I probably have a half dozen Briggs and Stratton engines here for years on generators, pressure washers, Toro personal pace mower, push mower, tiller, water pumps, Etc. They work fine.
Kohler engine on my 1978 Wheel Horse garden tractor, nearly 40 years old, still starts right up and runs great.

 

[Garandman]

So I wonder if there is much difference in the electronics/power conversion weight. In lead acid batteries you look for weight as an indicator of lead. In old school generators more weight is usually more copper (I think). In this case it may just come down to quality of components and circuitry.

A lot of people who purchase inverters do so to run electronics. Think that’s more a function of the electronics than the hardware.

I was told “The Harbor Freight Inverters are not UL listed. “ is that a requirement?

Honda has there seasonal sale on. Bought a Honda EU2000i for my sister for $899.

 

[ultrarunner]

A lot of people who purchase inverters do so to run electronics. Think that’s more a function of the electronics than the hardware.

I was told “The Harbor Freight Inverters are not UL listed. “ is that a requirement?

Honda has there seasonal sale on. Bought a Honda EU2000i for my sister for $899.

That is a great price and nearly what I paid for my Honda 1000 25 years ago!

 

[Garandman]

There is now a lot of competition in the 2,000 watt Inverter market. Home Depot sells Ryobi 2200’s for $550 and the Champion 2000 is about $500.

Yamaha had a big chunk of the RV market because a 2,000 wouldn’t run most of their AC’s and Yamaha had a 2400. Now Honda has introduced a lower cost 2800 to compete in that market, Champion has a 2800, Briggs & Stratton a portable 3000, etc.

 

[KubotainNH]

What steps are people taking to secure/protect their generators from theft?

Mine is always cabled to something like a tree or my porch using a long extra thick bike type cable. Will it stop a guy that really wants it and is prepared with the right tools....no but it will make it take a bit longer. Maybe long enough for someone to look outside when the power goes out and scare the guy away.

That Honda 7000 is fuel injected? That's pretty cool, I hate carburetors or maybe it's that I hate the crappy gas we now have.

I would like to see a study on what the average household's power equipment puts out for pollution. How often do you hear a mower that you know is not running cleanly by the sounds of it or smoke coming out. FI would help some of that. I also like the idea of propane instead of gas.

 

[Old Red]

The Honda 7000 is a nice genset. Great that it is fuel injected. Wonder what the gas usage is per hour and what its surge capability is. Will it start a 3 ton air conditioner?

 

[Oldpath05]

A guy at work bought this Generac 6500 last week, he called HD and they was sold out, called a local hardware store and they had several of these @$900.00 ea. and other sizes and all selling fast. He said he got it home and it was all ready to go just add gas, than ran it for a good 60 hrs and used 25 gal of gas, said it ran great and wasn't that loud.

Generac 6,5-Watt Gasoline Powered Portable Generator-594 - The Home Depot

 

[ultrarunner]

I liken fuel injection needing a high psi pump... which in a car is typically electric.

Wonder what powers the Honda 7000 injector pump?