Question for the Generator gurus here

[Nicholas440]

Hey guys, Im shopping for a generator at a good price, and I came across this one. Its 4400 watt surge, with 3500 continuous and features electric starter and an auto idle control to adjust speed to the load which they say saves on gas.

It's a DuroMax Elite, 7.hp, large muffler with spark arrestor, has a wheel kit, and the reviews I've seen seem pretty good. I was wondering if any of you guys have any experience with this brand, good or bad, or know something about it. I dont need a ton of watts, but I'd like clean power for my pellet stove and tv and a few lights etc.

What do you guys think? Here the link for it .

http://www.generatorfactoryoutlet.com/gfo/products/MX4500E.asp?rt=2

Also is it necessary to put a ground rod in to run these? I've never heard of that on portable unit, I thought you wheel it over to where you need it and start it up and plug in... ?

I searched through the Generator posts here and dont see a lot about grounding and operation, plus I have never owned one but would like to have a decent one at a good price.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

My manual says to properly ground the unit, and goes on to add that grounding requirements vary by location and to consult a local electrician on what is required in your area.

 

[warmncozy]

Just curious....how are you planning to hook it into your house?

 

[Nicholas440]

Thanks Smokey, some of the reviews I read on it talked about grounding the unit and using a ground rod as well, I just wasnt aware that you had to ground a portable unit but it does make sense, and seems it might help the generator function better if its grounded properly too.

 

[FordMastertech]

Personally I would not get a emergency generator with a electric start unless you have problems pulling a engine over with a rope. I don't see a pull start cord on that unit and if you don't use it regularly the battery will be dead when you need it the most. The electric start and battery is just one more thing to maintain or fail depending how you look at it.
All portable generators should be hooked up to a ground rod for your protection.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

There's a recoil starter on it.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Good deal with the Free Shipping!

My friend just added a 100 Amp breaker to his panel and wired in the generator's cord to it.

Doin that there really saved him some big dough from having a professional Electric Man connect a Big expensive transfer Panel and generator outlet!

Just got to remember to turn the main breaker off before starting the dang thing! Otherwise when the grid comes back #@#$# !!

 

[BrotherBart]

Just got to remember to turn the main breaker off before starting the dang thing!

And keep looking at the neighbor's house to know when the power is back on.

 

[Don2222]

Just got to remember to turn the main breaker off before starting the dang thing!

And keep looking at the neighbor's house to know when the power is back on.

He cannot see his neighbor's house! LOL

(I think he just hopes the power is back by the next night!)

 

[seige101]

Hello

Good deal with the Free Shipping!

My friend just added a 100 Amp breaker to his panel and wired in the generator's cord to it.

Doin that there really saved him some big dough from having a professional Electric Man connect a Big expensive transfer Panel and generator outlet!

Just got to remember to turn the main breaker off before starting the dang thing! Otherwise when the grid comes back #@#$# !!

This topic has been beaten to death but since it's a matter of life and death and extremely hazardous and illegal. A proper transfer switch or approved lockout device must be installed to prevent the generator from back feeding the grid, possible killing a lineman, or creating a large boom if both are connected at the same time.

Do a quick search here an interlock kit is available for about 100 bucks, it bolts onto most panels and is sufficient protection. Another option is a small transfer panel $200 bucks at a local big box store and you can DIY if you are handy and not afraid to work in your panel.

Extremely cheap protection against death or massive property damage.

 

[btuser]

I agree on the interlock/transfer.

I'm sure the generator will be fine, but don't use the idle control when you're running it for the house. That's really more of a jobsite feature. Electric start is great as long as it has recoil as well. I like the fact that my wife/father can start it when I'm gone without a fuss. It sounds like its got some good features for such a low price. I found it hard to justify $2000-$3000 for an occasional power outage.

 

[velvetfoot]

The pellet stove people keep talking about how their units require pure sine wave power, so the pellet stove may or may not work perfect.

I thought the ad says it keeps speed constant, not adjusts speed to load: "Idle control holds RPM at a constant level even under heavy loads for fuel savings and noise reduction. "
You're thinking it's an inverter gen, but it would say that.

You don't mention you have a well: that can take a lot of oooomph.

The voltmeter is nice.

Is the RV switch and electric start for remote starting?

 

[Badfish740]

I'll jump in. I ran my Englander furnace fan, sump pumps, refrigerator and chest freezer with my cheapo (free to me actually) Craftsman/Generac 4.7KW generator for the first time last night. I just ran a 12 gauge extension cord into the basement from the genset to a three way splitter. One cord went to the furnace and the other to one of the sumps (the drains are all connected so it still pumps everything out, just slower. After the sumps were empty and house was warm I plugged the freezer and refrigerator in until the compressors kicked off-then back to the sump and furnace. Not an ideal setup, but it did the job for the 8 hours or so we were in the dark. This summer I'm finally going to install an input plug and interlock switch so that I can feed the essentials through the main panel safely. One question though-since I'll be feeding power through the whole house and will be able to use outlets, how do I know its safe for things like computers and TVs? Is there some kind of filter or surge protector I could put between these devices and the wall that would help? This is the generator BTW:

 

[begreen]

Durability, reliability and availability of parts would be my main concerns here. Secondary concern would be the stability + cleanliness of the power, and noise. We have a Coleman 4800w generator powered by a Briggs & Stratton engine that is just too noisy to use near the house for hours on end. I am replacing it soon with a multi-fuel, inverter generator. Going multi-fuel because often our gas stations have no power too and it is a pain to store a lot of gasoline and keep rotating it before it goes stale. Propane has a much longer shelf-life. Easier to store for emergencies.

 

[richg]

Hello

Good deal with the Free Shipping!

My friend just added a 100 Amp breaker to his panel and wired in the generator's cord to it.

Doin that there really saved him some big dough from having a professional Electric Man connect a Big expensive transfer Panel and generator outlet!

Just got to remember to turn the main breaker off before starting the dang thing! Otherwise when the grid comes back #@#$# !!

This topic has been beaten to death but since it's a matter of life and death and extremely hazardous and illegal. A proper transfer switch or approved lockout device must be installed to prevent the generator from back feeding the grid, possible killing a lineman, or creating a large boom if both are connected at the same time.

Do a quick search here an interlock kit is available for about 100 bucks, it bolts onto most panels and is sufficient protection. Another option is a small transfer panel $200 bucks at a local big box store and you can DIY if you are handy and not afraid to work in your panel.

Extremely cheap protection against death or massive property damage.

X 2,000,000,000 Very irresponsible to wire a generator directly to a panel. I've even heard of some people buying a male plug and back-powering the panel through an electric dryer plug.

Spend the money, do it right and get a transfer switch installed.

 

[Badfish740]

Durability, reliability and availability of parts would be my main concerns here. Secondary concern would be the stability + cleanliness of the power, and noise. We have a Coleman 4800w generator powered by a Briggs & Stratton engine that is just too noisy to use near the house for hours on end. I am replacing it soon with a multi-fuel, inverter generator. Going multi-fuel because often our gas stations have no power too and it is a pain to store a lot of gasoline and keep rotating it before it goes stale. Propane has a much longer shelf-life. Easier to store for emergencies.

Amen-our new house will be getting a propane generator installed during construction. Basically once you have a propane unit that tests itself once a month and kicks in automatically you can pretty much forget about it except for changing the oil every so often. For now I'm stuck with my jobsite rattletrap...

 

[btuser]

Propane is great if you have it. Natural gas is even better but areas with ng rarely lose power for days and days. I would have needed to buy my own tanks so that put it out for me. When I did the numbers on what it would take for a standby setup it wasn't the initial cost that turned me off so much but the idea of spending 1.5-2.0 gph x24 during a power outage. Propane is as expensive as gasoline for me. That's at least $100/day on top of some big money. Instead I went for a portable 7k that will run everything I need, and I won't be tempted to leave it running.

 

[EJL923]

im not an electrician, but i understand it fairly well. Completely idiotic to wire the generator directly into his panel like that.