Generator thoughts?

[bdosborn]

Well, just to muddy the water. You can parallel generators that are made to parallel, like most of the inverter types.You can parallel unequal sized generators, like a 1000W Honda with a 2000W Honda but since the load is shared equally, you only get 2000 watts of total capacity (so why bother). You can't parallel a synchronous (non-inverter) generator ever.

While manufacturers don't recommend paralleling different brands, I've seen it done in a few blogs. Generators are expensive though, I personally wouldn't do it. It certainly wouldn't be covered by either generator warranty if you let the smoke out.

Bruce

[lrrowe]

Thanks Bruce and I for sure do not want a smoking generator.
Bob

[Wolffarmer]

That magic smoke is dear.

Randy

[wincrasher]

I'll share with you guys some generator experience with you guys that I had this week.

Bought a Lifan 3600 inverter generator last week from a big online retailer. On the site, it had glowing reviews and it was as quiet as the Honda equivalent. Chinese generator, American front company/distributor. It arrived in a big box and seemed OK. Unpacked it, filled with oil and gas, connected the battery and fired it up. It was as loud as a race car! Roared and roared and would not settle into eco mode. Would not make power. Leaked oil all over the floor of my shop and sprayed oil out the rear vents. Shut it down and it smoked and smoked. Had to push it outside for fear it was going to burn the house down. Now I was worried I just wasted $1100. Expected that I'd get the run-around and have to send it to some service center and pay to ship it there.

To my surprise, the online retailer said just throw it out and we will refund your money including shipping! I was floored. Turns out that DOT regs prohibit sending anything that contains fuels. So it pays to be careful where you buy things. I won't name them, as they said this solution was an exception due to my history of being a good, repeat customer. I surely appreciate my treatment.

Anyways, after that fiasco, I bit the bullet and went down to my local John Deere dealer (same guy I bought my lawn tractor from) and bought a Honda 3000 for $1999. They made sure it was prepped and run before I could take it home. And if anything goes wrong with it, I return it to them for fix or replacement. The Honda is eerily quiet - 49db at eco idle. I would have bought from the online place again, but they don't carry Honda.

So it pays to be cautious where you buy as well as what you buy.

[lrrowe]

Boy these good stories on Honda products make it difficult to really consider the current Champion Inverters.
Guess I need to play the lottery more so money will not be an obstacle.
Bob

[Wanna Be]

I'll share with you guys some generator experience with you guys that I had this week.

Bought a Lifan 3600 inverter generator last week from a big online retailer. On the site, it had glowing reviews and it was as quiet as the Honda equivalent. Chinese generator, American front company/distributor. It arrived in a big box and seemed OK. Unpacked it, filled with oil and gas, connected the battery and fired it up. It was as loud as a race car! Roared and roared and would not settle into eco mode. Would not make power. Leaked oil all over the floor of my shop and sprayed oil out the rear vents. Shut it down and it smoked and smoked. Had to push it outside for fear it was going to burn the house down. Now I was worried I just wasted $1100. Expected that I'd get the run-around and have to send it to some service center and pay to ship it there.

To my surprise, the online retailer said just throw it out and we will refund your money including shipping! I was floored. Turns out that DOT regs prohibit sending anything that contains fuels. So it pays to be careful where you buy things. I won't name them, as they said this solution was an exception due to my history of being a good, repeat customer. I surely appreciate my treatment.

Anyways, after that fiasco, I bit the bullet and went down to my local John Deere dealer (same guy I bought my lawn tractor from) and bought a Honda 3000 for $1999. They made sure it was prepped and run before I could take it home. And if anything goes wrong with it, I return it to them for fix or replacement. The Honda is eerily quiet - 49db at eco idle. I would have bought from the online place again, but they don't carry Honda.

So it pays to be cautious where you buy as well as what you buy.

Now you could give it to a local school as a project for the shop class !!

After they fix it, Then it could be sold as a fundraiser for the shop class !!
Open bids, And you could have a brand new rebuilt generator


Wanna Be

[GerryS]

Oh, ethics! While I agree donating it to a shop class sounds great, is that really the right thing to do? Personally, I'd do the same thing only I'd seed permission AFTER I had the money in hand.

The seller asked to have it discarded. Ethically, once they refunded it, weren't they the owner again and you are acting as a proxy, doing what the asked as a condition of the rerun? So giving it away (even to a good cause) or doing something else with it besides what you were told to do could be argued was akin to theft...

Oh, the questions that so few seem to ask any more

I'm glad you got your money back, That's why I argue to stick to brands with networks of support. Chinbang and kwahboom brand sound like a deal...but you know what they say. The sweatshop labor isn't as good as it used to be, They expect to be fed now! That's just crazy talk.

[wincrasher]

Here is the communication I had with the vendor - it's an email to me - it's not acknowledged by me as any kind of agreement, but I do accept it:

"Hello,

I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused to you in this regard. This is definitely not what we want our customers to experience.

On priority, I've forwarded your message to our shipping team to make sure they're aware of this incident. We'd certainly not want this to happen.

Due to safety reasons, we cannot accept the return of any hazardous materials at any of our fulfillment centers; this includes but is not limited to items that are flammable, gas-powered or use propane or natural gas, have rechargeable batteries or contain powerful magnets. The risk of accident is simply too great and we cannot accept the return of products that have special shipping restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

If you no longer want the item, we advise you try to sell or dispose of it locally. To safely dispose of this item, please visit the following link:

http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/

However, as an exception, I've requested a refund for the full amount of this shipment, including shipping costs. You'll see the refund in the next 2-3 business days.

Once processed, you'll be able to see the refund here: XXXXXX

You can check the "Shipping Restrictions" section of a product page to ensure that there are no shipping or returns-related restrictions for future purchases. For more information on these restrictions, visit our Help Pages: XXXXXXX

Further; I also want to confirm that we don't expect you to return the original shipment; for safety reasons we ask that you dispose of it.

I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Best regards,
Satish A"


Well I don't think the retailer really cares much what is done with it, as long as it's not their problem anymore. Considering they've probably made the ethical decision to just shove it up their supplier's butt. Not sure there is such a thing as ethics in business these days.

Actually I hadn't thought to donate it to a school. Not even sure how that would be done. I am sure that there are no high school shop classes anymore - I guess either there is no interest in craft jobs anymore, or the liability is too great, I don't know. The community college has a mechanics program, which may be interested in getting it. But if the end result is they fix it and sell it, I do draw the line there that is not right.

My first thoughts were to just give the thing to one of my neighbors that likes to tinker with things, and that's probably what I'll do with it.

The ethics of not adding to the landfill I think trumps other considerations.

[eamarquardt]

But if the end result is they fix it and sell it, I do draw the line there that is not right.

I don't see why giving the unit to a school, who may fix it and sell it and get a return on their investment (labor and parts), "is not right".

The "owner", the place that you bought it from, has asked you to "sell it" or "dispose of it" and they asked for no remuneration. Pretty clear to me that they've washed their hands of the unit and it's yours to do with as you please.

Actually, one could argue that they're taking the "easy way out" and just dumping the problem in your lap (for understandable reasons though).

I suggest you "dispose" of it in the way that the "world" will benefit the most from (whatever that is, ha).

Just my two scents.

Cheers,

Gus

[Socal Tom]

While it was very good of the vendor to refund the money with no questions asked, the truth is that the OP is now stuck with a broken generator that takes up space, and will have a cost associated with disposal. I think its completely ethical to donate to someone else who could repair and sell or reuse the item. Its certainly a more fair outcome than requiring the OP to pay a disposal fee to get rid of it.
In addition, I think its perfectly ethical for the OP to pay for repairs and use the generator, or sell it. I can't see anyone having an issue with the OP selling it for the cost of repairs, since that would make him "whole", and get rid of the lump of useless metal from his garage. But making a small profit wouldn't bother me either since there would be costs and risks associated with getting the repairs, making the sale and again, getting rid of the generator.

Tom

[91kuhndog]

Guys, I've been reading a following about this thread. I do a lot of NASCAR racing and for the past 10 years, owned a 5th wheel. I had a pair of Honda EU2000's I used. One failed at Daytona during the July race, when the heat was 110*... rendering the other useless by itself. I currently have a pair of the Champion inverters and the adapter to connect them. My teardrop has a 3000btu window unit inside the cabin, a small fridge, and of course the converter , which sucks down a whopping 300W. I can run the AC, fridge, and all the lights and my inverter revs to about 2/3 speed. I stacked the inverters and plugged into the adapter and with everything running, they stayed at idle.... that equates to about 2 gallons of gas every 13.5 hours. By running one at 2/3 speed, I was burning a gallon of gas every 6.5 hours... 6 or one, half dozen of the other! I ran two because of noise... even though their pretty quiet, one of these running at full speed can be loud if it's close to the camper. Just my $.02

[Wolffarmer]

I stumbled across this tonight. I know nothing about them, am not endorsing them or the outfit selling them. Just another choice for those that need to pump a lot of electrons about.

Hyndia Gens

Who know where they are actually made, Korea, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan or combination of these and others.

Randy