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).
--

 

[Michael Aos]

The pair still won't start my little Dewalt air compressor, but I still think they'll be handy.

Several of the reviews for this compressor suggest it requires a dedicated 20A circuit. I haven't tried to measure inrush / startup current on it.

Figure around ~1422W / ~11.9A running capacity each at my altitude.

I'm still kind of debating whether I want to try and run my Graco 395 paint sprayer off the generator pair or a 100' 10ga extension cord.

 

[Michael Aos]

I also have an 1800W Dewalt Portable Power Station w/4x 6Ah FLEXVOLT batteries, but I've read the modified sine wave is tough on electric motors and I really don't have a good feel for how long it would run the sprayer.
--

 

[LittleBill21]

surprised it can't run that compressor, i have a HF that looks similar and can run it off my WEN inverter.

Inverter generators are safe, they don't allow brown out, they can either do it or go into instant overload.

i have a HF electric wood splitter. 15 amp plug, won't start with my dual WEN's either. got annoyed and checked inrush, 60A on a 15a breaker 200 feet from the house. I don't even remotely understand why it doesn't trip. i also don't understand why my 7k genny can run it either, as its not remotely rated for that surge amperage either.

 

[Threepoint]

OP, with the 5/8 hp motor, I think all you'll need is 100' of 12awg extension cord from a 20A receptacle at your house. 10awg should definitely be enough. Until I was able to run utilities to my barn, I ran a 20-ft Hayrite hay elevator with a 3/4 hp motor on 300' of 12awg extension cords (three 100') from a 20A receptacle in my tractor garage.

 

[MossRoad]

For less than $200 (usually way less) you can find these old Coleman 4000W generators used on e-bay and craig's list all day long. This one is $125.

33 amps @ 110V
16 amps @ 220V
I've had one since 1995 and it works fine to this day.
Cheap, affordable portable power to get some work done.

COLEMAN GASOLINE GENERATOR - 4000 WATT | eBay

 

[Sawyer Rob]

For less than $200 (usually way less) you can find these old Coleman 4000W generators used on e-bay and craig's list all day long. This one is $125.

A friend of mine bought one of those Colman generators NEW... One day he got it out, started it and it ran great, so he plugged it into the transfer switch on his 80 something year old mothers house and hit the switch!

He heard something happen in the house, so he ran in and his mother nearly had a heart attack when the light right next to her, the bulb let out a BANG and blew out! lol

Turning off the generator, he found EVERY light bulb in the house, that was on, had blown!! He wasn't too impressed with his new Colman generator, his mom, even less so!! lol

SR

 

[ArlyA]

:thumbsup: You got that right. We used a Hondu 2000something on a job site and loved it so much, we bought one. Quiet, light weight and easy to operate. Run all day on a tank of fuel. This could run a 115volt cement mixer, run battery chargers all day without ever missing a beat. Quality built machine and quiet to work around.

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.

 

[Threepoint]

A friend of mine bought one of those Colman generators NEW... One day he got it out, started it and it ran great, so he plugged it into the transfer switch on his 80 something year old mothers house and hit the switch!

He heard something happen in the house, so he ran in and his mother nearly had a heart attack when the light right next to her, the bulb let out a BANG and blew out! lol

Turning off the generator, he found EVERY light bulb in the house, that was on, had blown!! He wasn't too impressed with his new Colman generator, his mom, even less so!! lol

SR

YMMV I bought a 5500K Coleman Powermate with a 10 hp Tecumseh engine new for a house construction project. Then used it for 17yrs with no problems at all. Very reliable. Put it on an 8K transfer switch, and could run multiple circuits selectively, including a 2 hp well pump. Gave it to a buddy when I bought an electric-start 8250K ETQ "Chinese" import for more capacity and easier start for others when I was away. It, too, has been very reliable for eight years.

 

[TractorGuy]

I am surprised by the emphasis on needing an inverter type generator. I run an old 10KW diesel generator on my house and see no problems at all with my computers or television.

When my compressor comes on it even loads the regular utility supplied line current and causes the lights to flicker as it runs.

I bought one of the cheap 10KW start, 8KW run Chinese generators for my daughter and they ran their whole house less the AC during a week long outage. All their computers, TV, and electronics survived fine. Bought it on sale for $500 delivered to my door.

I will take an adequate sized inexpensive generator over an under sized inverter any day of the week.

 

[LittleBill21]

I am surprised by the emphasis on needing an inverter type generator. I run an old 10KW diesel generator on my house and see no problems at all with my computers or television.

When my compressor comes on it even loads the regular utility supplied line current and causes the lights to flicker as it runs.

I bought one of the cheap 10KW start, 8KW run Chinese generators for my daughter and they ran their whole house less the AC during a week long outage. All their computers, TV, and electronics survived fine. Bought it on sale for $500 delivered to my door.

I will take an adequate sized inexpensive generator over an under sized inverter any day of the week.

some ups's, heating pads, heating blankets don't work on non inverter generators i also believe my motion sensor doesn't like my large non inverter generator. i can also get into a brownout condition with my large unit, where my inverter cleanly shuts off power

switching power supplies have no issue with dirty power,which is most electronics. i primarily own my inverters for noise and portability and fuel use, my large generator is run only for a short time.