larry0071
02-27-10, 10:04
This past month we in Western PA have had record breaking snow fall and with that came the power being out for up to 7 days in some areas, and 2 days at my place. When it is 20° outside and you have no way to heat your home, your water, or cook food inside the home... you start to wish that you had a generator!
I always had a generator because I used to pull a race trailer (4x4 truck Sled pulling) and the trailer had a 8' wide x4' tallx 4' front to back sort of shed on the front of the 28' trailer deck and I kept a large air compressor, a 5000 watt generator, different tires and wheels and all my tools in this shed. When I stopped sled pulling in 2005 or so I of course still had the generator around and it got loaned out once in a while when there where power outages. One of those times it was run dry of oil. So I got rid of it.
With this years snow and weather I suffered needlessly without my generator, so I started looking around. Now remember that I am no longer needing a generator for every weekend to run my tools, this is specific to support the house during a time of need such as we have seen this winter.
My requirements were:
Cost effective.
Enough power to run my essentials.
Enough run time on the fuel to let me sleep through a night with heat.
Quality enough to last years with the minimal expected use.
What I cared not about:
Sound level
Size
Appearance
Name brand
So I did some shopping online and I started to notice right away that anything with the amperage I wanted (6,000-8,000) and a Honda engine is out of my tax bracket. If I were a contractor that planned to run this a couple hundred hours or more per year, maybe it would be worth it.... but not for my intended use.
I found what I consider an absolute gem for the combination of price and performance, plus after searching for customer reviews of the generator I found that there are a very high number of happy purchasers out there that simply love this generator!
I am a member of "Sportsmans Guide" and as a member I get to pay the reduced "Club Member Price", on top of that they offer a dock to dock shipping option that got me the generator for $90 shipping. So for $719 I got my 7250 Watt ETQ Portable generator setting on a dock 20 miles from home.
The shipping and ordering went something like this, go on the website and order on Monday evening and on Wednesday the shipping company calls the cell phone to ask me about pickup because the pallet is on the way into Pittsburgh. I ge tthe call again Friday saying it is there, and I schedule to pick up on Monday evening.
Tuesday I open the box and put the wheels/axle on the frame and put the pull handle on the frame for moving it around. I did not at this time install a battery (Not included in box). Total time to install the parts to finish it were 15-20 min and required a metric 3/8' drive socket set with deep well sockets and a metric wrench set.
The unit shipps dry, no oil is in the engine. I filled the crank case with 1 qt of Amsoil 15-40 Diesel/Marine (AME Series Amsoil ) lubricant. After doing this I smoothly pulled the recoil pull start rope about 30 times to try to distribute oil before adding fuel and putting any serious heat or impact loading to the connecting rod bearings.
Next I added about a half gallon of fuel and and pulled without the choke for 3 pulls and there was no attempt to start. I threw the choke lever and pulled again and it fired right up! Wow! This 14 HP engine is an easy pull starter! I don't think I'll need a battery, my wife can pull this thing started in 1 or two pulls.
The engine is not loud, but yet not quite. If you have ever been around a high end Honda generator, you know what a quiet generator is! Not this one! Again, if you have been around an old lawn mower that you had to scream at the top of your lungs to talk over.... this is not that loud. My father and I were in a closed garage and not screaming, but yes yelling as we discussed that it was not as loud as expected. Much quieter than the Mustang in the background!
Our next step is to creat a 4 extension cords that are double male ended. This will allow the generator to be placed outside in the driveway and the 4 cords run into the house and plugged into 4 wall outlets (each an isolated circuit/breaker) to provide power. If you do this you should be VERY CAREFULL to open the breaker coming in from the street, otherwise you will sending your power out to your next door neihbors! Isolate the home from the street and also open the circuits where your going to plug in, this will ensure that you will not back feed out of your place.
Run your generator on auto so that the machine can modulate RPM's based upon load and provide you with the best fuel economy.
Now, I am ready again. Easy to afford, easy to start and affordable to run, plenty of power for my Gas Furnace, Gas hot water heater, deep freeze, refridge, lights, charge cell phones, run security system. In a time of trouble, it will allow us to keep warm, take warm showers, have lights on and even use the electric range I decide to tap into the 30amp 220v line from the breaker box. Life will be easier.
I did notice that the frame/roll cage is very heavy built. I am extremely happy with the quality of build. It also comes with the bracket for use to lift by crane. I can see this being of great help should I need to get it into the truck alone and all I have is my engine lift crane handy. I can simply slide the bracket onto the generators roll cage and pick it up with the engine lift.
For the money, $719 shipped, I don't think there is a better OVERALL VALUE in portable generators right now. With the power output, great user reviews all over the web, reasonable sound output and plenty of run time on a tank of fuel to allow for a pleasing night of sleep with no refuels needed, I dare you to do better!
I'll try to do a walk around with my HD digital camera later and show me starting it so you can witness the eas of starting and the reasonable sound output.
Pictures taken with my Verizon Imagio Cell phone, sorry for low quality lighting!
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0424.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0426.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0427.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0428.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0429.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0430.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0431.jpg
I always had a generator because I used to pull a race trailer (4x4 truck Sled pulling) and the trailer had a 8' wide x4' tallx 4' front to back sort of shed on the front of the 28' trailer deck and I kept a large air compressor, a 5000 watt generator, different tires and wheels and all my tools in this shed. When I stopped sled pulling in 2005 or so I of course still had the generator around and it got loaned out once in a while when there where power outages. One of those times it was run dry of oil. So I got rid of it.
With this years snow and weather I suffered needlessly without my generator, so I started looking around. Now remember that I am no longer needing a generator for every weekend to run my tools, this is specific to support the house during a time of need such as we have seen this winter.
My requirements were:
Cost effective.
Enough power to run my essentials.
Enough run time on the fuel to let me sleep through a night with heat.
Quality enough to last years with the minimal expected use.
What I cared not about:
Sound level
Size
Appearance
Name brand
So I did some shopping online and I started to notice right away that anything with the amperage I wanted (6,000-8,000) and a Honda engine is out of my tax bracket. If I were a contractor that planned to run this a couple hundred hours or more per year, maybe it would be worth it.... but not for my intended use.
I found what I consider an absolute gem for the combination of price and performance, plus after searching for customer reviews of the generator I found that there are a very high number of happy purchasers out there that simply love this generator!
I am a member of "Sportsmans Guide" and as a member I get to pay the reduced "Club Member Price", on top of that they offer a dock to dock shipping option that got me the generator for $90 shipping. So for $719 I got my 7250 Watt ETQ Portable generator setting on a dock 20 miles from home.
The shipping and ordering went something like this, go on the website and order on Monday evening and on Wednesday the shipping company calls the cell phone to ask me about pickup because the pallet is on the way into Pittsburgh. I ge tthe call again Friday saying it is there, and I schedule to pick up on Monday evening.
Tuesday I open the box and put the wheels/axle on the frame and put the pull handle on the frame for moving it around. I did not at this time install a battery (Not included in box). Total time to install the parts to finish it were 15-20 min and required a metric 3/8' drive socket set with deep well sockets and a metric wrench set.
The unit shipps dry, no oil is in the engine. I filled the crank case with 1 qt of Amsoil 15-40 Diesel/Marine (AME Series Amsoil ) lubricant. After doing this I smoothly pulled the recoil pull start rope about 30 times to try to distribute oil before adding fuel and putting any serious heat or impact loading to the connecting rod bearings.
Next I added about a half gallon of fuel and and pulled without the choke for 3 pulls and there was no attempt to start. I threw the choke lever and pulled again and it fired right up! Wow! This 14 HP engine is an easy pull starter! I don't think I'll need a battery, my wife can pull this thing started in 1 or two pulls.
The engine is not loud, but yet not quite. If you have ever been around a high end Honda generator, you know what a quiet generator is! Not this one! Again, if you have been around an old lawn mower that you had to scream at the top of your lungs to talk over.... this is not that loud. My father and I were in a closed garage and not screaming, but yes yelling as we discussed that it was not as loud as expected. Much quieter than the Mustang in the background!
Our next step is to creat a 4 extension cords that are double male ended. This will allow the generator to be placed outside in the driveway and the 4 cords run into the house and plugged into 4 wall outlets (each an isolated circuit/breaker) to provide power. If you do this you should be VERY CAREFULL to open the breaker coming in from the street, otherwise you will sending your power out to your next door neihbors! Isolate the home from the street and also open the circuits where your going to plug in, this will ensure that you will not back feed out of your place.
Run your generator on auto so that the machine can modulate RPM's based upon load and provide you with the best fuel economy.
Now, I am ready again. Easy to afford, easy to start and affordable to run, plenty of power for my Gas Furnace, Gas hot water heater, deep freeze, refridge, lights, charge cell phones, run security system. In a time of trouble, it will allow us to keep warm, take warm showers, have lights on and even use the electric range I decide to tap into the 30amp 220v line from the breaker box. Life will be easier.
I did notice that the frame/roll cage is very heavy built. I am extremely happy with the quality of build. It also comes with the bracket for use to lift by crane. I can see this being of great help should I need to get it into the truck alone and all I have is my engine lift crane handy. I can simply slide the bracket onto the generators roll cage and pick it up with the engine lift.
For the money, $719 shipped, I don't think there is a better OVERALL VALUE in portable generators right now. With the power output, great user reviews all over the web, reasonable sound output and plenty of run time on a tank of fuel to allow for a pleasing night of sleep with no refuels needed, I dare you to do better!
I'll try to do a walk around with my HD digital camera later and show me starting it so you can witness the eas of starting and the reasonable sound output.
Pictures taken with my Verizon Imagio Cell phone, sorry for low quality lighting!
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0424.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0426.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0427.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0428.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0429.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0430.jpg
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp174/larry0071/ETQ%207250%20Watt%20Portable%20Generator/IMAG0431.jpg