Harbor Freight has a 1.6 KW inverter generator on sale for $429 and a favorable comparison to the $2000 Honda
They are just too cute and lightweight at 48 lb to pass up
I have only put about 1/2 hr on it so far but it starts easy and is very quiet
Hooked it up to the 3/4 hp bandsaw and after several seconds of chugging as it came up to speed the saw ran fine and I cut up a bucket of wood chunks
I have occasionally used the 2000 watt inverter on my wood burner but except for very short chores wind up running the 460 engine to relieve worries about the battery
Now with this little guy i have a portable and efficient power source
Right-O MichealG.
Charcoalman Gary Gillmore proved the earlier, larger engined (125cc) Harbor Freight inverter-generators COULD be char and woodgas operated with enough output to be usable.
I’ve seen these now discontinued units going for as low as $333. each new-old-stock.
Ha! A fellow could buy THREE for the price of an excellent Honda/Yamaha “2000” unit. Run one into failure. Learn, upgrade, weakness sort, that system. Then have at least TWO running with the third as spare parts.
At any rate whole hella’va lot more useful pull start/fueling making some usable daily available clean, safe power than all of the Climate debating, Left/Right political worry&doubt spinning in circles; woo-woo future tech battery yabbing: Angels-cramming-on-the-head-of-a-pin that last iddy-biddy % of efficiency mania’ating.
Only those doing real power making for themselves, and thier’s (family and friends) can truly call themselves DIY’s.
Only by actually FIRST fuel burning . . . then learning to use the least fuels . . . for the greatest good is anything in the real world ever accomplished.
The old 1970’s mantra was, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”
Wood-For-Power this means reduce your needs for power. Reuse meaningfully woods easy-heats energies. The recycle part is actually growing your own fuel woods “recycled” out of atmospheric CO2 and moisture’s. And these fuel-wood trees (unlike any other “power” sources DIY or Top-Down-Grid) make atmospheric O2, and soils enriching.
1800+ 3 year old replanted Doug Fir trees here all in alive, plumped, waiting bud tip swell.
Good Morning all. Glory-be!! We have finally had enough no-rain drying out day for me to have done a first gardens walk-behind rototilling last week.
This was my longest term setting, starting up of my Sea-Foam treated gasoline engines.
I had intentionally this past year left all “wet” with treated gasoline in the carburetors, lines and fuel tanks.
Yesterday I finally had to fire up the rider lawn mower after sitting since last late September. Only a narrow two day window to get all now too tall mowed before it goes TOO HOT 90-95F inter-continental to coast air-flow reversal compression heated here next Monday/Tuesday.
It immediately fired up on the retained in-cylinders fuel/air. Then 20 seconds cranking to get new fuel and air from the carb into the cylinders for continuous running. This is excellent.
The 7.5 four stroke B&S on the rototiller had fired up on the second pull.
Two weeks earlier the 10.5 hp four stroke B&S fired up on the first pull over. Haven’t used it since late last Spring. Long, cool-cold raining Spring and I was down to really tough cross grained stump wood and fir large knot chunks in the far corners of the wood shed. 34 tons on the hydraulic wood splinter will shear what does not grain separate.
My favorite small 260Pro Stihl 2-stroke chain saw had started up on one pull to length re-cut the too long woodshed set-asides chunks on just one pull. The mix gasoline I made up last late summer was SeaFoam treated. This saw has sat unused since last late August.
Early March the one walk behind mower I use had started up on only one pull. Older now small Honda OHC four stoke engine WITH a manual choke.
Sigh. The other all wheeled drive powered walk behind mower did give me winter sitting starting up fits. Pull, pull, pull - no start. Spark plug inspected - clean and dry - NO Fuel. Squirt of oil into the spark plug hole to rings boost the compression. Pull, pull, pull - still no starting. O.K. Now I am pissed.
Starting ether boosted it finally did pull start up. Oil smoking running initially from my in-cylinder added oil.
This one is a later lower hours used Honda OHC four stroke. But has a no-touch California-mandated cold starting enrichment system. “Choke”.
It has started up many times now on one girl/easy pull in the last two months of first done early Springs mowing’s.
So. Weak auto-choke system? Stevie-boy (or wifie) put in ethanol gasoline on last seasons usage? I do keep a can or two around for vehicle loaned gasoline. Donno. Ask me next Spring.
By then I can report on the overwintering of the Briggs & Stratton long term fuel storage additive.
Practice. Patience. Persistence.
J-I-C Steve Unruh
Thanks for the report
You indeed have patience to collect one data point per year
I have never used “stabilizers” but have found that a shot of starting fluid will get them going usually by the 2nd pull
I have not clearly understood how the chokeless wonders with the primer button work.
Does it just fill the carb float or does it dribble some into the Venturi?
Good Morning MichealG,
“Cold Starting (over)Erichment” means temporarily gasoline liquid fuel droplet overfueling to compensate for the fuel made unavailable for combustion by condensing, falling out and clinging to the cold metals surfaces. Once the metals warm up then the liquid fuel droplets stay in air suspension.
The primer plunger/rubber bulb systems use you finger to pump an exta shot of gasoline fuel through an automizing nozzle into the intake tract.
A “choke” system used an air restictor flapper to create a partial lowered air pressure to increase fuel flow “sucked” out the idle and main carburetor jets. Much less air allowed - overfueling induced.
The choked off air is primarily why you MUST de-choke as soon as possible to get power and prevent over-rich spark plug fouling.
This no-choke Cal/cert Honda has worked fine untill this spring so “not-broken” I’ve never pulled it apart to see how it does it’s cold enrichment.
That first day was cloudy overcast, cool. So could not set it outside in the sun to warm up. No enclosed heated garage here. Wifie objects seriously if I bring a stinky gasoline monster into the house.
Those not knowing. Most gaseous propane mixers have a cold-start enrichment lifter pin on their undersides. Hold up while cranking to cold start easier.
Practice. Patience. Persistence.
J-I-C Steve Unruh
Hi All,
I have a new engine generator system acquired, I will be using now, and later converting to woodgas.
A Harbor Freight 9500 inverter generator unit. Needed for our retirements house 300 feet deep water well. And 200 vertical feet and 600 feet away down to the creek. Wildfires 10-15 miles away to the east and south of us now. We could get Grid power cut anytime now with no way to run house saving safety sprinklers.
CodyT and MattR are using these same/similar units but on charcoal fueled.
You can see youtubes they have put up. Lots of on youtube information too on Gavins Garage and others users channels. Hint! Read the comments Q&A’s on these.
Only 5 hours so far on gasoline but I wanted to point out system discoveries.
It has a 1st quality made-in-Japan spark plug in it. It WAS by the spark plug coloring factory proof engine ran and generator loaded tested.
It’s 459cc engine sadly does not have a pressure oil pump like the Harbor Freight open stock 459cc engines.
But this generator engine unlike the open stock engines angled hemi-heads valves has inline straighter on to the piston valves. Much better for tars stuck down. just bend the pushrod.
On Gavin’s Garage channel he shows a lot of caparisons of these sized unit from different brands. Very obviously these Harbor Freight unit are the same manufacture as at least 2-3 other sold brands. And some of these do have LPG propane conversions with power produced de-rating at this engine 8.5/1 compression ratio.
I did not buy the hundreds of dollars optional one-year and two-year warranty. After the 90 days standard I want to be able to modify this system much. Spend that money on a 459cc open stock engine Some parts. Gaskets. Spare starter and such.
System use low RPM in Eco is ~2500 (manual says 2560) high RPM sound to be less than 3600 RPM (manual says 3410). Now my use experiences is showing me in low RPM Eco mode with an added electrical loading it ramps up first to a midrange sounding 2800 RPM first. I’ll tach that later.
Nobody has commented on this. Not in the manual.
Manual says 30 hours NOT fully loaded to fully engine broken in. Do the 30 hours Before fully loading down.
Well read back some of the actually few negative user comments to not doing that. Other negative comment on the DC output not able to battery charge. They were trying in low RPM Eco. In two places the manual says must be ran in high RPM for 12 volt “unregulated” charging.
I find on all small generators with a small DC charger just use a full capability plug-in battery charger.
Dave in Australia using these larger generator-inverter units on charcoal gas says forget about the Eco spec fuels RPM. On lower power producer gases you will be loaded running at the higher RPM anyways.
And higher RPM is the only way these starting battery on-board electric starting systems ever get their battery recharged.
My Miller-Kohler welder-generator was only electric starting capable. only way safe would have been long jumper cables and a spare starter, tools and capabilties to sawp out.
This one has a hand pull starting. I can. and have now.
My Wife? Never be able to pull this beast over fast enough.
Unit is a bit noisier that I expected. Closer neighbors and camping grounds you’d want a quieter unit. Gavin’s Garage says the 7000 watt (420cc) Northern Tools as the most quiet.
I wanted the larger cc’s engine. Deeper for sure electric motors starting capability.
More later as I get more experiences.
Regards
Steve Unruh
I love our 9500’s we have. They are very efficient in eco mode, they sip gas like our little 4375 watt 212cc generator. When we need to run our air compressor we just flip out of eco mode and it will handle the abrupt loading much better. Then of coarse you can simply plug another one into the mix and double your power.
The Duromax and the Predator are identical with exception to specification’s of these resellers. The controls panels are different are about the only difference.
Yeah. And today fine variable loading today I am finding four different engine speeds.
For four years I have been trying set aside accumulate the $4,000-5,000 USD for a Honda 7000 inverter-generators unit. Always Life gets in the way. MattR it was you, and two others here on the DOW now using these bigger Harbor Freight units that was the final nail convincing me.
Did it now with the Wife seeing the immediate needs and us dollars splitting this. And that don’t ever happen on my keep-a-hubby-happy “hobbies”.
Mine was manufactures by CHONGQING AM PRIDE & MACHINERY CO LTD, Dec 2012.
Technical services by Senci Power USA Inc at DBA ; A-Ipower Corp.
I have a phone number and website.
Smoke is getting really bad here now. Back home in Yacolt they just went to Stage 2 Evacuations alert because of near local spot pop-up fires.
Most folks just do not get it. NO FIRES at all. NO charcoal braziers. NO sparks making activities of any kind. Driving winds and tanked low humidity’s.
I’d had planned steel wedging some cotton wood butt cuts down to manageable. No way. Steel maul striking sparks.
Plus bad breathing air.
S.U.
Oh I get it, I lived in Montana. But yeah you have to live in those areas to really get it or have a fun encounter with the park rangers, those dudes are no joke.
Steve, Matt , and the other owner user’s of these Predator units i am really jealous of you being able to have a great choice in these cheap home store branded inverter generators , looked and looked to see if anyone here imports any LARGE open framed inverter generators with no joy , the only inverter generators available are the fully sound proofed ones like mine the Robocar 8 KW they are now fuel injected and run out at $1800 new way outta my price range , so i am like a vulture sitting on the fence waiting for someone online to put up there second hand units , i have plenty of spare smaller inverter generators but i like to have at least 2 spare for just in case .
I bet i could import them from the USA cheaper than i can get them from China right now !
Dave
We dont have open framed versions either other than the 8750. The 9500 is fully enclosed and they are not cheap they are considered the higher end. They cost between $2400 and $3000 usd and go much higher once brands like Honda, Briggs, Kohler grace the side panels somewhere.
Ive talked directly with the manufactures to become my own distributor. The issue you may have is they are not yet fully certified and if you have tuff regulation it will take longer for them to be available if ever. There is a lot of stuff we cant get iether due to UL and EPA regulations. At some point for a global distro they may not even not get the cert as its not worth the gobbs of money they have to pay.
Sorry Matt i do apologise for some reason i thought the 9500 was open framed and then i opened my eyes and took a closer look and realised yes its similar to mins in that you cannot get to any of the workings , i think maybe i didn’t look close enough before due to generator envy .
The 8750 is what i would of course refer to as a open frame , what is the output of that model ?
I did a little digging and looked at the one Steve has and noticed on there company video they also sell units under the Kohler name .
Yes its a pmg type by the link that you sent , maybe you could take it back and exchange for a inverter type telling them its no good for your sensitive electronics .
