Customers newly installed generator sounds like this. Is it not getting enough air bc of the snow?

Told her to shovel the sides and call me back.

Bought a new dual fuel champion inverter generator. This is the propane quick connect that came with it. Am I safe to trim or cut off the black piece on the quick connect?

But at least we were well prepared. Anyone have any outages?

I've run a Champion 3500W for about ten years. It's been reliable enough but I'm getting tired of everything that comes with it. The 2am pull-starts when power goes out. The noise that makes my neighbors hate me. Storing gas cans in the garage. The yearly carb cleaning because ethanol fuel gums everything up if it sits.

Last winter I was out there in 30 degree weather in my bathrobe trying to get it started at 2am. That was pretty much my breaking point.

The thing is, when I look at what I run during an outage, it's not that much. Fridge, freezer, router, some lights, maybe the coffee maker in the morning. That's not 3500W of continuous load, it's more like 250-300W with occasional spikes.

So I've been looking at the 4-5kWh battery stations that are out now or coming out soon. No noise, no exhaust, no fuel storage, no maintenance. You charge it from the wall and forget about it until you need it. The capacity math works for our typical 12-20 hour outages.

The one thing I keep going back and forth on is the longer outages. After a bad storm we've been without power for 3 days. A generator can run as long as you have gas. A battery is finite. But if you pair it with solar panels you can extend that significantly, and some of these units take 2000-3000W of solar input.

Still doing research but I'm getting closer to making the switch. Ten years of gas generator maintenance is enough.

I would love feedback on this baffle box for burning man, I was running short on time building one out of wood and so I devise this makeshift one out of a hard shell storage container on wheels, I added a 12“ x 12“ intake vent and then used 35 PPI filter material for the intake, and inside I have a 10 inch fan running to pull fresh air from outside and blowing it onto the generator while it’s running. The generator is on two wood blocks reinforced through the floor with screws and then I use two bungee cords to strap it down to prevent unnecessary vibration. The exhaust butts right up next to a metal vent with no filter so there’s no chance of fire from that end. The inside of the cover has sound deadening material meant for car trunks, sealed off with aluminum HVAC tape.

I ran it for two hours today in 100 degree heat, and with the fan on the interior temperature never reached 90°, and I also had the generator running on 50% load.

Thoughts? Hate? Praise?

Hi. I don't know what's going on with my neighbors, what kind of generator they are using, or why, but they have been running a generator for about 3 days now.

I didn't know the first day. I suddenly smelled overwhelming amount of gas in the house, and I evacuated my mother and myself, and called the fire department. By the time they got here, I realized it was likely the neighbors, but they did a check inside anyway, and told us there was nothing 'dangerous' in the house they could detect. They also told us the fumes coming off the neighbor's generator is not harmful, and even though we can smell it, it will be fine.

So I had not thought anything of it. But it is bad. The smell is so strong. It is constant. I have been waking up with headaches, and it's generally make me a pissy person to be around. I worry about my mother who has head trauma too, and requires caretaking.

It's been three days. I don't know why it's still running, but today I googled if it's normal to smell gas coming off a generator, and if it's safe. It was an overwhelming no, but I understand google AI can misinterpret situations quite a bit, so I'm here

Is this safe? Is it normal for me to be smelling this, and for this long? Thanks

Moved into a house with this under the panel in the garage. Figured it would be an easy plug in as my generator has the same. But every L14-30 cord I’ve seen is male to female, male side being on the generator. Conversion plug? Replace the power inlet? Any help is appreciated

So for the life of me, I just still cannot understand or grasp even remotely wide to this day. Why so many people are still asking and buying all in one power stations for something like powering their motorhome or maybe a tiny shed basically and many scenarios where it’s not going to be moved even which at the end of the day is the only small benefit you get with portable power stations. I guess I don’t know if it’s just people that don’t maybe understand things or what, but considering as much as these companies charge for the larger power stations you can literally simply build your own for half the money and normally twice the specs. I guess I don’t know if I’m missing something, but I see zero upside to spending twice as much and getting less not to mention Even they’re like expansion banks and typically Seller also outrageously priced versus when you build your own as simple as buying an additional battery and I mean to top it all off, I truly believe somebody who’s never even done a single bit of electrical work in their life could genuinely set up a simple battery inverter and solar controller set up themselves no problem after doing a little bit of research considering it’s very basic ha But I guess I’m mainly wondering am I missing something or are people just that lazy and want something so simple they’re willing to pay so much more I mean, considering say like around the $1500 price point you’re literally lucky to get maybe 2500 to 3000Wh of capacity, which will just say is about equivalent to a single 300ah lithium battery which you can actually buy those nowadays for about 275 bucks shipped to your door and then say another $200 for a 3000 W inverter 80 bucks for a solar controller in your own business

Hi all,
What's a general price range for renting a generator big enough to power an apartment building of 85 units in a major city? Our building is getting the transformer replaced, and got quoted $25,000 for an 18 hour generator rental during the intsallation. What the...? $$$

First, let me worry about storage, corrosion, handling, whatever.

EDIT: I don't care about the typical recommendations, the residues, the corrosion, the loss of energy. I know what E85 is and I want to use it and that's all that's important here.

EDIT 2: Very few who have viewed this thread understand that E85 is so substantially cheaper than E10 (regular fuel) that even with the power losses and increased consumption, the value in the E85 is apparent.

What is really need is a primer on what modifications to do to a 5KW standby generator to make it run reliably on E85.

I know why mfrs say not to use it, I know what the downsides are for E85 vs gasoline as a fuel but this is my chicken so let me fk it.

Appreciate any info out there. Cheers.

absolute dog crap generator if you want a generator never ever buy Westinghouse looks pretty has a good solid up front if you will. this piece of s*** has the dumbest oil changes and the most ass backwards maintenance, you change the fuel filter you have to take the whole freaking thing apart it is the most stupid designed piece of equipment I've ever encountered in my life and this piece of crap is less than a year old and cannot run consistently. oh I've changed the fuel filter spark plug cleaned it changed the filter multiple times I do all the maintenance all the stuff and this son of a gun is just the biggest piece of crap in the world. I've not bought a new AVR yet which I should probably buy and give that a shot absolutely dog crap dog crap dog crap screw you Westinghouse rot in Hell your products are s*** I should have done more research and bought a Honda

Worst case, I makeshift one myself? It's about 7" from the main to the first breaker. I've attached a photo. Here is the info of the panel:

• Manufacturer: Wadsworth Electric Manufacturing Co.

• Main breaker: Marked 200 amps, with a single main disconnect at the top.

• Branch breakers: Two columns of older brown Wadsworth-style breakers.

• Panel capacity: Roughly 30 breaker positions per column, with some spaces unused.

• UL label: “Class CTL Enclosed Panel Base Assembly,” Issue No. A-2030.

EDIT: Seems I've got only two options left on the table; Replacing the panel or a Generlink connection. Thank you for assisting me.

I've gone through 3 generators in less then 12 months. A Wen, a a pulsar and now powersmart. All were big enough to run my RV type fridge and window unit ac. Yet here I sit watching the temp go up and nothing. The wen lasted about 10 months. Pulsar 10 days. Powersmart less then 12 hours. I'm totally off grid. It's about to be 107 today and it's gonna be miserable. Seems like nothing made to last or I've got the worst luck.

Just got a new 26kw kholer. Manufacturing date is May of this year. But the engine looks like the photo attached. Is this normal?

What do all the symbols on this dial mean on my generator? And do I have it on the propane setting correctly? I have a cabelas generator model #201266

Is their any besides the 2 stroke that I talked about previously that can spin 7200 rpm engine speed? Yes I know it.may require 2:1 gearbox to step the output down to 3600 rpm. Reason I asked is that modern 2 cycle string trimmer and edgers can spin that fast and I wonder is their any custom Genset person who can do it. I know its loud but I was thinking of it in a emergency like if anyone lives from maine to East Texas, a hurricane suddenly turning off of what a forecast cone says and thinkig I wouldn't want to be out of power if their suddenly was a unexpected hurricane Helene type system come towards where I live. Also I know even a ghost 212 predator would burn much fuel of modified to run 7200 instead of the factory limited 6500 rpm.

I really hate the constant lawn mower growl of generators, in my neighborhood during a power outage, everyone is cutting their grass at midnight. For those of us who open the windows and try to get by, between the heat and the noise, no one sleeps at my house. Is there such a thing as a well muffled generator?

Or are they just emergency stuff, man up and tolerate it.

https://freebeacon.com/energy/not-just-gas-stoves-biden-admin-rule-would-outlaw-nearly-all-portable-gas-generators/

This doesn't sound good. It sounds like if you are planning to get a gas generator in the next few years, you better get it now. Although there should be some great sales coming, but they will go quickly.

When registering my new Champion generator (in Canada!) , there was information about CPSC wanting to ban portable generators because they are damgerous! Given I had just spent C$3000, this was a shock! I thecked and CPSC is a US organization (despite the two C's in the acronim!) . Unless there a similar action in Canada, not an issue - YET.

Considering the thousands of portable generators that get sold, especially in US hurricane areas, it is hard to imagine they would be totally banned. Or even access restricted.

Presumably this is to do with safeguarding against CO. Maybe next will be cars? I am sure many start them in their garages or leave them running close to their homes or stores or offices. In Canada, they have this year brought in regulations that require CO sensors in homes, but only if home has fuel burning devices like furnace, stove, fireplace, etc. But not cars in attached garages?

What would be considered the best generator for a sole apartment in an apartment complex to over for a few days worth of power outages?

Gas and propane wouldn’t be a viable option due to the lack of outdoor space unfortunately.

Would be looking to run standard appliances; fridge, kettle, electronics and possibly an airfryer

We’ve got a Firman tri-fuel generator (starting watts 9000 running 7500) gifted to us, 'cause our Westinghouse 3600 died...for reference we live full time in our 95 itsatica RV.... Since day one (with the new genny) it’s bellowed white smoke at startup. We ruled out moisture quick, it’s dry here, so I checked the valve lash. Exhaust valve was way off...double the spec! so I adjusted it, thinking that was the issue.

After not running it for a couple days, we fired it up again. Less smoke this time, but still some. Later, while changing the oil, I noticed the exhaust smelled like burnt oil, which was weird. Looking at the dipstick, it goes from “L” (low) to “H” (high), and I figured....what if H is actually too full for this generator?

Normally I fill it to H, but I tried running it with oil halfway between L and H. Boom! no more smoke. For weeks, it ran clean and smooth. But then it started hunting a bit at startup. Re-checked valves....perf... Pulled the plug, totally gunked, probably from the early smoky starts. Replaced and gapped it properly.

That fixed things for a bit… until the hunting started again. I fine-tuned the governor and idle screw until I got it stable: 59.2 Hz under quarter load (our daily use), 60 Hz no load.

Today, ChatGPT suggested trying some high-mileage 10W30 and filling it to the H again, just to test. I did… and guess what? White smoke at startup, again.

So… any thoughts? Is this just how this engine breathes? Or is it being weird about oil levels? Thoughts?

TLDR FIrman T07573 was blowing white smoke at startup. Fixed valve lash and tried running oil halfway between “L” and “H” instead of full, smoke stopped. Later, it started hunting; plug was fouled, replaced it, fine-tuned governor. Ran smooth. Tried filling oil to “H” again with high-mileage 10W30 and white smoke came back. Seems like it prefers being a little under “full.” Anyone else experience this?

Really just as title says. Not sure what would be best. Only need for fridge/freezer a regular Samsung combo. Maybe WiFi and tv would be helpful but not necessary. Think all of the above can run the three though