Generator backup

[skylord]

Originally Posted by fishface

hey Mark, so those generator's from princess auto really aren't that loud huh? this may be a silly question but how's the build quality on those?

My biggest concern with those....do they start ok after the first time? They all seem to start and run great the first time but when you need them 6 months later the power is back on before you can get them to fire.

Scott

[mark]

They're really not that loud. Would say quieter than my Honda lawnmower and been awhile since I've used the Honda generators fr work but probably not a whole lot louder than those. Either way can't see it being loud enough that the neighbours would complain or even think twice, but if they didn't like me running it in the middle of winter with the power out in the neighbourhood, well what can I say about them.

Build quality, seems okay to me. Maybe not as shiny as the Hondas and Yamahas I was looking at this spring but then they were $1200.

Reliability; remember it started after only a couple of pulls out of the box and figure for that was first time fuel in the tank. Might have run it for 1/2 hour playing around with it when first got it in Feb. Most of my camping was at powered sites or just figured run on batteries where there wasn't so unit sat until mid Aug. In August run it for the first time in about 6 months and then probably around a hour in total but no problem starting.

Yesterday it fired up for the test on the tank (having sat unused for ~ 2 months) and then it was only a few pulls and that was probably more me as had the choke lever the wrong way.

Yes the unit is cheap, but then maybe so am I. I justified it to myself as something to use to maybe charge batteries on the travel trailer and a standby for the house in the very rare time I might lose power in the city.

If I was buying a unit for a backup of a heart/lung machine or lived in a area with frequent outages or actually could see myself using it for more than a few hours a year I might consider the Honda or Yamahas but for my usage, my little Princess Auto unit is perfectly fine.

[fishface]

nice review and a good perspective...thanks

[Diana]

Last winter we picked up a coleman gas powered generator to run the tanks. We ran heaters and pumps, and for a bit ran the lights. We actually used it 2 or 3 times last year. It was about 700 bucks but well worth it, as it saved all our tanks.


-Diana

[Raf]

only thing is...it is LOUD, crap *** loud... but saved our tanks.

[eddtango]

I saw some inverters at Canadian Tire but don't know if this is appropriate for pumps and powerheads.

[mark]

Originally Posted by eddtango

I saw some inverters at Canadian Tire but don't know if this is appropriate for pumps and powerheads.

One caution about using the larger invertors from Canadian Tire (I've got the 1000W one here) from a battery only, is the low voltage protection. The one I've got shuts itself off at 10.8 vdc which really isn't that low for a deep cycle RV battery. Believe they are more designed to operate attached to a vehicle, where the vehicle is running (converting the alternators output to 120vac).