New toy!

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Chris142

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Jun 5, 2003
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Location
Apple Valley, California
Harbor Freight has the 900w generators on sale again so I picked one up. Pulled it out of the box and went to town on it.

Oiled the foam air filter with filter oil.

Added a fuel filter.

Replaced the troubleprone Chinese spark plug with an Autolite #64.

Put a few drops of oil down the spark plug hole. Sure did look dry down in there.

Mixed up some gas and oil. I used Stihl oil. I did add a little extra oil for break in. Prolly not needed but since I'm an oil nerd why not?

It started on the 2nd pull. I ran it an hr with a 200w load. Owners manual says it needs to run 25 hrs to fully break in.

This is my 2nd one of these. I noticed with my first one that after it breaks in it was running @ 140Volts.

This is adjustable but the owners manual doesn't tell you that.
grin2.gif
I will check the output voltage after a few more hrs and adjust as needed.
 
I may go by there and see if they have one during lunch!
There is a Harbor Freight about 5 minutes away from my office.

Every time I go to look they are sold out of these. Should would be nice to have one.
 
They are great for little stuff. Don't expect it to run a large refrigerator or AC unit. I use mine for powering a heater, tv and a couple of lights in my camping trailer.

I've also been known to use it to run my moms oxygen generator when the power goes out. It's cheaper than the bottles of oxygen but we keep those on hand incase the Genny broke.

http://www.blackfriday.fm/ad/harborfreig...generator/31558
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
I noticed with my first one that after it breaks in it was running @ 140Volts.

This is adjustable but the owners manual doesn't tell you that.
grin2.gif
I will check the output voltage after a few more hrs and adjust as needed.


I bet it drops to or below ~120VDC with a full load on it though. These little babies aren't the cleanest power, but anything 'sensitive' these days will have it's own power supply to filter out the ugliness anyway.

Great buy for under $90! I'd grab one too.

Joel
 
Last edited:
Mine runs an honest steady 59.9 Hz even with the fridge, its only load, kicking on and off.
01.gif


My mechanical empathy cries though, as a well muffled two stroke chuggling along at 3600 RPM just sounds like it needs an italian tuneup.
 
I'm running mine on a mix of 100LL Avgas and Mobil 1 MX2t at 32 to 1. Zero smoke, no smell and very little "4 stroking".

So far, it's been a great little genset.
 
Just went and picked one up at full price. Asked if I could come back next week with the coupon I had and them refund the difference.

Going to go get a new plug and install a fuel filter before I start breaking it in.

If I have one that is trash I have a week to find out. If I have a good one I still have the coupon.

Playing with mechanical devices is fun!
 
Man I've had some fun.

Got a small (next to their smallest) fuel filter from the local auto parts store, using new fuel line I attached it and have a new spark plug in it. I also got a set of the smallest spring loaded line clamps just in case.

I did the same as the OP in that I put about a table spoon of 2cycle oil in the spark plug hole with a touch of LC20.
I gapped my Autolite plug at .030, seems like the Chinese one was about gapped at that also.

I only had about 1/2 a gallon of my 50/1 2 cycle mix already mixed up in the garage. I just poured the whole 1/2 gallon in, turned the fuel cut off, let it sit for 10 minutes. I use the orange bottled Stihl brand that comes in a 6 pack of bottles you just pour in a gallon of gas. I also put about a teaspoon of MMO in the gas tank. I figure it won't hurt anything and it might help speed up the break in process.

I let it run for 10 minutes in my back yard, walked around my house to see how loud it was. Not too bad. Not sure how long I could run it tonight before my neighbors would ask questions, but then again it is rather nice and they probably have their windows open.

For the price and the work involved it sure does beat a night in a Hotel if the lights go out. It will give us the ability to have some light, and I'm thinking I need to go check the wattage on my wife's electric griddle. Sure my grill works, but this little generator might just be the ticket for that kind of thing.

They are closing down 2 power plants here in Texas come January 1 2012. This makes me a little bit more comfortable when any ice storms come round in Feb. I should have it well broken in by then.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Harbor Freight has the 900w generators on sale again so I picked one up. Pulled it out of the box and went to town on it.

Oiled the foam air filter with filter oil.

Added a fuel filter.

Replaced the troubleprone Chinese spark plug with an Autolite #64.

Put a few drops of oil down the spark plug hole. Sure did look dry down in there.

Mixed up some gas and oil. I used Stihl oil. I did add a little extra oil for break in. Prolly not needed but since I'm an oil nerd why not?

It started on the 2nd pull. I ran it an hr with a 200w load. Owners manual says it needs to run 25 hrs to fully break in.

This is my 2nd one of these. I noticed with my first one that after it breaks in it was running @ 140Volts.

This is adjustable but the owners manual doesn't tell you that.
grin2.gif
I will check the output voltage after a few more hrs and adjust as needed.


Check for 60 Hz in addition to 120V. You have have to set it so neither is exact, but one is not way off.

It might be good to buy one, cover it with cosmoline, buy 1 gallon of the expensive premix gas in a sealed can and save it as a backup to the backup.
 
I'm still breaking this one in. It sure does run a long time on a gallon of gas!

I have noticed that it's much noisier than my other one. Not engine noise but exhaust I think. The mufflers look the same.

It starts easier than my other one does too.
 
I only have 4 hours on mine. I run it for an hour, turn it off, check it, run it for an hour...

Although it is fairly quiet, I'm trying my best not to drive my neighbors insane.

I will agree that it lasts a crazy long time for just 1 gallon of gas. I have a significant amount of gas left over after just 2 hours of running it.
 
These little generators are certainly impressive for the price. I have a Honda EU200i inverter but I just couldn't resist one of these at 89 bucks! Now I have a backup for my backup generator.
lol.gif

I am going to test my voltage, how is it adjusted if it's way off?

Here's mine getting its monthly workout with a 500 watt load.
006-L.jpg
 
I have mine running a couple of lights, tv and cable box to get it broken in. I've noticed some fluctuation in the lights....I haven't changed out the Chinese spark plug yet. Will a change to an Autolite of NGK take care of the minor surging?
 
Originally Posted By: Slick17601
I have mine running a couple of lights, tv and cable box to get it broken in. I've noticed some fluctuation in the lights...

Are you using a UPS or some other voltage regulator in front of the TV/cable box? The fluctuation can't be good for the electronics...
 
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