Small generators

[Michael Aos]

I purchased the A-IPower 1600W / 2000W Peak generator on sale at Costco for $450 a couple years ago.

I don't use it a lot, but overall I've been really happy with it.

It won't start my little Dewalt D55153 from Home Depot, but a lot of the reviews suggest these are difficult to start even with a normal 15A circuit.

I need to paint my shed with a Sherwin Williams Graco Ultimate NOVA 395 PC. Rated 13A 5/8 HP motor.

I'm concerned this is too close to the max rating for the generator and may harm the paint sprayer motor. It might work, or might let the magic smoke out of of my nice expensive paint sprayer.

I can either run a 100' 10ga extension cord from the house, or buy another A-iPower generator for (currently) $550 from Costco to run in parallel (30A circuit, designed for RV AC), or purchase a larger generator such as the Harbor Freight Predator 3500W / 3000W for $699 or even the Firman 3200W / 2900W from Costco for the same $550.

I really like the form-factor of the SC2000i, so I'm kind of include to go that route.

Just as kind of an aside, Home Depot offers the sibling generator SUA2000i with a Chinese motor (instead of the Yamaha) for (currently) $360.49. (about $200 less with tax than the other)

 

[Jchonline]

Are you sure you cant use a 12GA extension cord? If you can, that would be the way I would go. That said, I ran a similar sprayer on the Ryobi 1800/2200 and it worked fine for 3 coats on my garage. Not my sprayer though. I will say the load swings wildly based on the amount you are actuating the sprayer. The generator goes from 10% to 80% and back down all the time.

 

[George2615]

The HF 3500W inverter generator would probably run your Graco Nova. I have one that runs my 30' camper with A/C when I'm boondocking. It does weigh just over 110 lb. full of fuel but is very quiet. I tested muni at 25' and read 52 decibels. The Firman would run it also. Lastly, the 10 ga. cord from the garage would probably work if plugged into a good 20A circuit.

 

[Garandman]

Our shed is 285’ away from the nearest plug. Rather than drag our EU2000i down to it, we run three 100’ extensions. Because it’s much cheaper and we can connect items left unattended.

Amazon Basics 100’ 10/3 is $100.

 

[rgr33]

I run my airless on a 12 ga cord about 80 feet and it was fine.

Worth a try anyway, if you already have a good extension cord.

 

[dalola]

With portable generators, especially inverter style units, you get what you pay for.

I would advise against the cheap chinese cr@p, and shop *value*, not just price.

 

[orezok]

I purchased the A-IPower 1600W / 2000W Peak generator on sale at Costco for $450 a couple years ago.

If you are using it in Colorado Springs at 6000MSL, your 1600 watt generator will only put out about 11 amps. Loss of 3% per thousand feet.

 

[Michael Aos]

Thanks, yeah, I was aware there would be some loss at altitude, but I hadn't actually done the math. Looks like between 18% and 21% loss.

That kind of reinforces why it won't start my little Dewalt air compressor.

I did rejet my Harbor Freight 6.5HP Chipper / Shredder for 6000'+. I would probably do the same with the 3500W (3000W) HF Inverter Generator.

I haven't rejetted the little A-iPower, and I haven't checked to see if it's running too rich. I have read that new small engines are jetted lean from the factory to meet emissions standards, so they wind up being about "right" once you're at altitude.

I think I'd be around ~21A with 2x of the A-iPower 1600W and ~20A with the HF Predator 3000W.

If you are using it in Colorado Springs at 6000MSL, your 1600 watt generator will only put out about 11 amps. Loss of 3% per thousand feet.

 

[PILOON]

When I built this house I ran 200 some odd feet of extension from my other house.
What I did was purchase a spool of 12 gauge (red) heater line as I'd be needing it anyway for the baseboard heaters).
Wired it thru the proper breakers and that served me well as it handled all my power tools that I needed.
At night I'd power up a small heater to keep the chill out as during the day I had installed an old pot belly that I had kicking around.
Day heat was via pot belly and cut off scraps of studding and furring strips.

With #12 gauge no power tools complained.

 

[Michael Aos]

FYI, I wound up ordering a pair of A-iPower SUA2300i w/mobility kit from Sam's Club. Free shipping.

The units have a 3yr manufacturers warranty and I went ahead and purchased the 3yr extended warranty for $20/each. I also used my Costco Citibank VISA, which extends the warranty by 2yrs, up to a maximum of 7yrs from the purchase date (so really only 1 year extension).
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