Just 1,000 hours for the life of the unit? Are you kidding me?!?! Say that is a typo!
3200-watt 7 HP 208cc Duracell OHV engine, proven to provide at least a 1000 plus hours of electricity throughout the life of the unit
Meek confidence level in their product. (2,200 watt 'Duracell" generator)
Clearly Duracell does not make gensets or engines. Don’t buy this genset as a result of your liking Duracell batteries. Duracell is simply lending their (good?) name in return for probably a $25-75 per genset sold fee.
1 year warranty from an unproven company.
“Engine: 4-1/2 HP ohv 135-cc Duracell engine tested for 500 plus hour life”
500 hour tested life of engine is only 20 days of usage!?! Are you kidding? Definitely not something to be proud of.
There’s no indication here this unit is any different from the multitude of cheap Chinese gensets out there.
In fact, if you hanker for a small cheap (also risky) inverter genset go for the cheaper 2,500 watt “Eastern” blue model in this woot sale. They’re probably made by the same company, that one has higher output, is quieter, has an enclosure around it like most inverter gensets, and is over $100 cheaper. At least the “eastern” name is true to the likely source of the genset.
Why would anyone buy a genset that’s not a Honda?
These aren’t the kinds of things you skimp on, folks.
@mykie, while I like Honda generators and have one, not everybody is willing to spend 50-100% more for that peace of mind.
But the skimp comment is valid - there are lots of middle of the road choices out there between the Hondas and the cheap Chinese stuff.
When the Duracells were sold in the past on woot, past discussions pretty well established that ETQ (the eastern name) has the contract and builds the Duracell generators. Sold elsewhere but if you look them up, you can especially tell when see the 1000 watt 2-stroke inverter ETQ versus the Duracell version.
When it’s a Yamaha.
Nothing wrong with Honda, they are still the standard to compare to, but most consider Yamaha the better machine now in the 2000 watt inverter class (better fuel savings, better metal parts, cast iron sleeve). I think the 1000 watt Yamaha inverter is also preferred. Go larger in the inverter class, after the 3000 watt inverter generators, I think Yamaha also offers electric start (not that you can’t add this to the Hondas), though the 3000 watt Honda is still considered tops (no doubling with 2 generators with the Yamaha).
Honda also still rules on the actual warranty being delivered on, getting service done, and their service/dealer network (may matter especially more to people who do some hard RVing). But they no longer build THE generators anymore.
The Hyundai inverter sets are very decently reviewed. Champion’s inverter offerings certainly aren’t as good but for the price and the stackable design, some prefer them. Even Ryobi’s is considered more than decent.
opps
Before Yamaha came out, I bought the eu2000i. I go to Burning Man and so has the Honda for 6 yrs. We also RV in the snow at a ski resort every weekend and for 15+ days during the Xmas break. I get 12-13 hrs over night in the snow because it’s just to keep the batteries going so the coach heaters run. Awesome. The other RVs can’t hear it run. I’ve gotten up in the morning with 12" on top. We now own 2 with the tie in kit. So I’d say well over 3000 hrs on the older unit. Yea I’m sure the Yamaha is also a good unit but were sold on the Honda…
Any thoughts on the 3000 watt Black Max at Sam’s Club with the Honda engine?
Honda is selling their name to who ever is making teh “BlackMax” Generators. They are not real Honda Generators, they might have a Honda motor but they are cheep junk motors compared to the upper end Honda motors.
Basically, you will go thru 3 “BlackMax” for every one Real Honda.
@arthuruscg, Honda is not “selling their name” to BlackMax - they are simply supplying engines like they do for a multitude of generator, power washer, mower, etc… companies.
The companies making that equipment hope you have the mistaken impression the product itself is by Honda but just because the clown reselling it on Craiglist says so does not hake the product a “Honda”.
A lot of folks think of Honda as a “car” or “motorcycle” company. Honda thinks of themselves as an engine company that happens to wrap products around their engines. They’re even designing their own jet engines for their forthcoming Honda Jet. All other airplane companies buy engines from third parties.
We choose Honda engines for pressure washers, mowers, generators, and even our car is a Honda.
I live in NE Florida & bought a Black Max 5 yrs ago from Sam’s. It’s loud, reliable and was the lowest priced Honda generator(back then). My husband wired a power cord that connects to the dryer electrical outlet. Turn off power to the circuit breaker first. There’s enough juice to power the lights, hot water heater, fridge and more. Fortunately storms haven’t been too bad here in the past few years so the ‘old’ Black Max sits in the garage on standby and starts & runs during periodic inspections.
You should really consider getting a proper generator interlock wired up… Lots of things can go wrong when you have it wired up the way you do.
I bought one of these a few months ago. Well needless to say, you get what you pay for. This so called generator wont even run a 1100 watt coffee maker amonge several other things. I have tried calling the customer service number and receive a message asking me to leave my name and number… well that was a week ago, still no response. Im about ready to call and file a complaint with the BBB, beware if you buy, you may end up in the same boat im in!!!
The other thing about Gensets is they lose watts power as you go higher in elevation. it’s something like 3% +/- per 1000 ’ )'(
i have an ETQ 5000 Watt gen, no problems so far but I haven’t had to go days on it. any thought on the 2500 Watt small guy ? lots of choke lever complaints on amazon reviews but I have been wanting a smaller portable one … price is right …
We live in NE US. After an October '87 snowstorm killed our power for a week, we bought our first generator. Back then no one had a generator, except perhaps contractors for their job sites. Generators have come a long way since then. Longer run-times, sine inverters, low oil shut down, etc. You do get what you pay for. Now we have the newest/largest Honda. It’s so quiet you could run it in your bedroom and still fall asleep (NOT RECOMMENDED). We now have reliability without POing the neighbors with a loud machine. Also, try not to turn on too many lights during a failure. The neighbors don’t like that either.
@lroller, funny you say that. Several years ago we were stuck in that huge East/Midwest/Canada power blackout that lasted a several days during a very hot August. Even getting gas was a challenge but we had a lot. We have a Honda, but not one of the super quiet models. We did feel just a bit guilty not only watching the also generator backed TV station coverage but also running a window A/C unit to take the edge off the heat.
Generac is a good brand, too. They use either B&S or Tecumseh engines.
Also have a very good chain and padlock. Gensets seem to grow legs and walk off without saying a word to you…