Generator

[352]

If you have owned a Predator (Harbor Freight) generator and have several hours on it I would like to know what you think. Thanks

[SidecarFlip]

I have one (3500 watt) and a Champion 2000 watt., Both have been issue free for 3 years now.

[dangerbird]

I have 3 or 4 hours on a 3500W inverter style. It runs at 124V unloaded and falls to about 119V at around 3000W. I checked the waveform with an oscilloscope at full load. It's a perfect sine wave and was dead steady at 60.02 Hz at all loads. A small nitpick is that the ignition and the fuel shutoff are on the same control so you can't shut off the fuel with the engine running and let the carburetor run dry. There is a carb float bowl drain screw with a hose coming out underneath so you can drain the carb. You have to remove the side cover to do that. Almost as good. I took it all apart to inspect things and found it to be well constructed and assembled. I bought it for my house and it will run my LP forced air furnace, my water systems pressure pump, a portable air compressor, and all my power tools such as grinders, hedge trimmers, heat guns, etc. I put Mobil 1 5W-30 in it and will run it until 8 hours on the clock, then change the oil. It's the same engine that's in my pressure washer. Several years on that without issue. It's also quiet enough that my neighbor doesn't hear it.

Carl

[DFord]

I bought their 2200 watt model. Used it for two weeks at Quartzsite and took it back. They charged me 20% restocking fee but I was happy to get most of my money back. The 2000-2200 market has several other models available now and I'd look else where. Having been burned by many of the things I've purchased at HF, I'm buying less and less from them.

[Home_Skillet]

I have a few friends that have them and love them.
One of my friends has a buddy that is a manager at Harbor Freight, he said they have had zero warranty claims on them. (3,500watt) So, he bought one.