Any one using one of the new Harbor Freight generators ?

DennisVR wrote:
I bought the 3500 Predator last summer to try out for $649.00. I have over 500 hrs on it and its doing fine. Very happy with it.

Wow, I don't have even half that many hours on my 15 year old eu2000i.

"hope you're not subjecting your campground neighbors to that racket maker!"

I happen to be a considerate-camper. I run the exhaust hose through one of their open windows

Son of Norway wrote:
Yes, which one? I have a Tailgator that I have used for almost a year. Does a great job of charging the batteries.

I would definitely run that on a rich oil mixture AND carry a couple of spare spark plugs.

I have never heard of one of those little generator lasting more than a couple hundred hours !

I apologize for not being clear !

When I said new, I was referring to any of the Predator "super quiet" INVERTER generators.

I've heard good things about the Predator 3500 from HF, glad somebody has chimed in with over 500 hours of usage. Hopefully they will add a remote start feature for those who want to give their Onans a break.

Since the OP is asking about "one of the new Harbor Freight generators", most likely it's about an inverter type. The little 2 cycle generator has been around for years.

accsys wrote:
Finally, after many snarky posts, we got an answer to the OP's question!!!

Maybe. OP has not responded as to which one he's talking about.

Finally, after many snarky posts, we got an answer to the OP's question!!!

I bought the 3500 Predator last summer to try out for $649.00. I have over 500 hrs on it and its doing fine. Very happy with it.

I researched and researched and ended up with a WestinghouseWH2200iXLT Super Quiet Portable Inverter Generator - 1800 Rated Watts and 2200 Peak Watts - Gas Powered - CARB Compliant. Oh, I realized, I have the unit prior to this with the only difference being it won't run in parallel.

It has 277 reviews on Amazon with a 4.5 out of 5 rating. And costs 479 bucks. When Westinghouse brought this out a few years ago, they went right at Honda. It WILL run an air conditioner due to how it is engineered for start up and is extremely quiet like in the Honda range or better, yes better or at least equal.

Essentially, Westinghouse has an arsenal of patents and decided to use a few of them to create this unit. One has some counter-rotating fans that reduce noise and then something that addresses initial load that shuts down many other units.

Here is a thread on another site where an engineer tests the various units against normal RV type use. https://www.popupexplorer.com/forum/index.php?topic=119313.0

This is sort of a hidden gem of a generator. I live and camp above 4000 feet and it served me well when I was pop up camping including airco use for quite a few years now. Very quiet. I had a neighbor camper one time who took his dog out early and we had run it to make coffee and it was on eco and we were sitting right next to it talking and he walked by and finally heard the low thrum and came over and said, he really doesn't like generators but wrote down this one particularly when he heard I paid less than 500 for a quality unit.

OH, Costco has a Yamaha for a killer price right now in the stores. I was amazed at the price.