3 day power outage, Westinghouse generator experience

[92saturnsl2]

Had a strong thunderstorm followed by a freak windstorm on Friday. Guess that's the price to pay for several days of 70+ degree temps in late Feb/early March. I think the jury is still out on max recorded wind speed (I heard 70mph+), but it was enough to split healthy trees apart that lined my driveway.

Power went out around 2:30pm Friday, didn't get it back until early Monday morning.

Hooked my Westinghouse 2500W inverter generator up with extension cords for the first night. Lots of strung cords, not ideal, but not unsafe either. With the kitchen fridge and two chest freezers running, I didn't see over 800W sustained load at any time. Plugged my computer, internet router, stuff to get Wi-Fi working, and also the entertainment center in the living room (TV, sound system, etc.) Saw about 1000W sustained loan with all those things, of course higher momentary peak load when the fridge or a freezer kicked on. Didn't miss a beat and ran through a little less than two gallons of gas with that unit in about 24 hours.

After making a trip through the neighborhood the following morning it was clear we'd be without power for a while and house was getting cold. I hooked my Westinghouse 9500DF to the manual transfer switch and ran the whole house and shop off that. Was good for a single 30A 240V appliance (water heater, heat pump, clothes dryer, etc.) while leaving all 120V circuits on. Ate through two 20# BBQ grill sized propane tanks and about 15 gallons of gas the last two days using the bigger generator. But all in all I'm pretty pleased with the performance and glad I have these things around, even though they don't get used much. Saved me several hundred dollars in food at the very least.

 

[dishdude]

Westinghouse?

 

[92saturnsl2]

Westinghouse?

Yes. Relabeled Chinese and/or Vietnamese stuff. If you go buy a Generac inverter generator, you get the same model as mine but with a fancy orange color that adds $200 to the price.

 

[AZjeff]

Westinghouse?

Someone bought rights to the name. I have a 2600W Westinghouse inverter we use with the travel trailer. There are quite a few other brands exactly like it just different colored case and minor details.

 

[dishdude]

Yes. Relabeled Chinese and/or Vietnamese stuff. If you go buy a Generac inverter generator, you get the same model as mine but with a fancy orange color that adds $200 to the price.

I had no idea they sold Westinghouse branded generators. My grandfather worked for the company and retired long before the business was broken up and sold.

 

[TheLastWord]

Had a strong thunderstorm followed by a freak windstorm on Friday. Guess that's the price to pay for several days of 70+ degree temps in late Feb/early March. I think the jury is still out on max recorded wind speed (I heard 70mph+), but it was enough to split healthy trees apart that lined my driveway.

Power went out around 2:30pm Friday, didn't get it back until early Monday morning.

Hooked my Westinghouse 2500W inverter generator up with extension cords for the first night. Lots of strung cords, not ideal, but not unsafe either. With the kitchen fridge and two chest freezers running, I didn't see over 800W sustained load at any time. Plugged my computer, internet router, stuff to get Wi-Fi working, and also the entertainment center in the living room (TV, sound system, etc.) Saw about 1000W sustained loan with all those things, of course higher momentary peak load when the fridge or a freezer kicked on. Didn't miss a beat and ran through a little less than two gallons of gas with that unit in about 24 hours.

After making a trip through the neighborhood the following morning it was clear we'd be without power for a while and house was getting cold. I hooked my Westinghouse 9500DF to the manual transfer switch and ran the whole house and shop off that. Was good for a single 30A 240V appliance (water heater, heat pump, clothes dryer, etc.) while leaving all 120V circuits on. Ate through two 20# BBQ grill sized propane tanks and about 15 gallons of gas the last two days using the bigger generator. But all in all I'm pretty pleased with the performance and glad I have these things around, even though they don't get used much. Saved me several hundred dollars in food at the very least.

Nice post. Contrast with this thread:

Tired of people that refuse to prepare ....

I'm talking rich people - people that can afford to prepare and just dont? I'm getting bail out fatigue. I'm all for helping poeple but after some number of rescues its time to man up and take care of your own. "Well my power is out for the next three days" can you loan me a generator? But you...

bobistheoilguy.com

Might sound old fashioned, or too much Norman Rockwell, but the demise of both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts as they used to be, has contributed greatly to what we see now: Lack of basic repair and maintenance skills, live for the moment, let the other guy (or gov't) handle it, no self reliance, etc.

 

[billt460]

........ After making a trip through the neighborhood the following morning it was clear we'd be without power for a while and house was getting cold. I hooked my Westinghouse 9500DF to the manual transfer switch and ran the whole house and shop off that. Was good for a single 30A 240V appliance (water heater, heat pump, clothes dryer, etc.) while leaving all 120V circuits on. Ate through two 20# BBQ grill sized propane tanks and about 15 gallons of gas the last two days using the bigger generator. But all in all I'm pretty pleased with the performance and glad I have these things around, even though they don't get used much. Saved me several hundred dollars in food at the very least.

That's excellent to hear. I'm currently running 2 Westinghouse 9500 DF models. And it's also good to hear that you achieved such performance on propane. Which lowers the wattage output over gasoline.

 

[k1xv]

Poor Nikolai Tesla. The original Westinghouse Corporation was saved when he gave up his royalties on all of his technologies he licensed to them. He wound up as an impoverished man and died while in residence in a New York hotel. At least Westinghouse paid his rent.

And now Elon Musk has appropriated his name as a business name.

 

[billt460]

I had no idea they sold Westinghouse branded generators. My grandfather worked for the company and retired long before the business was broken up and sold.

This trend started, and really got its legs after NAFTA was passed back in the early 90's. A lot of American companies thought they were going to set up shop in Mexico, and manufacture product for pennies on the dollar, resulting in massive profits.

For many the exact opposite happened. They went belly up. They found it impossible to maintain any type of quality. And they could not produce any amount of steady quantity, because the absentee rate at some of these Mexican factories was as high as 70% on a daily basis.

After going broke, about all they had left they could sell for a few bucks was their name, (and some manufacturing equipment they had zero use for).

I worked for McCulloch back then, and they were a classic example. They went belly up around 2000, and the McCulloch name was sold to a Chinese businessman for paltry sum of $55,000.00.

Today you can still purchase McCulloch lawn and garden equipment. It's painted the same bright yellow color. And has that familiar slanted M, McCulloch logo on it.

But much like Westinghouse, Bell & Howell, Lionel Trains, and many others, it in no way represents the original. It is what it is.... A corporate misrepresentation.

Much like a cubic Zirconia does not represent an actual diamond in the case at Tiffany's. But it's cheaper and looks about the same.

 

[92saturnsl2]

That's excellent to hear. I'm currently running 2 Westinghouse 9500 DF models. And it's also good to hear that you achieved such performance on propane. Which lowers the wattage output over gasoline.

The only problem I encountered with propane (and small regular size tanks) is they freeze up before you can empty them all the way. I noticed putting them in direct sun helps. Probably not an issue for larger, say 40+ lb. tanks.

Otherwise I didn't see much of a performance difference.

 

[k1xv]

There should be legal limitations on such sale of trademarks.

Some Joe Sixpack would buy this generator, thinking it was designed and made by the original Westinghouse corporation in Pittsburgh. There was a time when General Electric and Westinghouse, combined, manufactured the vast majority of generation sets and large electrical distribution equipment in this country.

Selling the name to some Chinese operation, allowing it to masquerade as the original Westinghouse is gross misrepresentation, if not outright fraud.

 

[Kruse]

FYI, without consulting me, my wife recently bought a Westinghouse iGen300s backup indoor power backup for her computer. I guess I can't even tell you who she purchased it from. The decision was made on all the "positive comments". It's got some nice features, such as two 120V plug-ins, 12V out, a couple of usb slots and one usb-c slot. I can't give any comments on it because we haven't had to use it yet. But, yea, the Westinghouse name still lives on.

 

[K.Aoi]

There should be legal limitations on such sale of trademarks.

Some Joe Sixpack would buy this generator, thinking it was designed and made by the original Westinghouse corporation in Pittsburgh. There was a time when General Electric and Westinghouse, combined, manufactured the vast majority of generation sets and large electrical distribution equipment in this country.

Selling the name to some Chinese operation, allowing it to masquerade as the original Westinghouse is gross misrepresentation, if not outright fraud.

That is not how it currently, has ever, or should work. For all intents and purposes, Westinghouse (the generator brand) is now owned (or leased) and legally allowed to be used by the company that purchased it. This has happened with thousands of companies. I'm not quite sure who you are even blaming here. You also need to explain how exactly it's fraud- it's on the consumer to do research on products before they purchase something. And do you think most people today have any clue who or what Westinghouse used to be? Only a vanishingly small percentage of people would be aware they were ver based in Pittsburgh.

What sort of sale restrictions are you proposing imposing, who would be responsible for making the determination, and what factors and metrics should they use in making said determination? You can be upset as you want about a Chinese company buying and using the name of an old American company (who had long since stopped using it on appliances). GE appliances are now also owned by a Chinese company. There are hundreds of examples of similar things, that's just how the world works.

 

[billt460]

The only problem I encountered with propane (and small regular size tanks) is they freeze up before you can empty them all the way. I noticed putting them in direct sun helps. Probably not an issue for larger, say 40+ lb. tanks.

Otherwise I didn't see much of a performance difference.

I read on one of the power equipment forums, that a quick remedy for that, is to set the tank in one of those galvanized animal watering containers filled with hot tap water. Or a bucket if you can find one large enough.

If you keep the bottom third of the 20 lb. propane tank immersed in hot water, it will continue to flow until the supply is exhausted. I have not tried this myself. So I cannot vouch for its effectiveness. But it seems plausible in a pinch.

 

[PWMDMD]

I have the non-DF model of the 9500 and besides the carb's tendency to gum up, it has been a champ. For the price and for what it is I think it's a good deal.

 

[thastinger]

The only problem I encountered with propane (and small regular size tanks) is they freeze up before you can empty them all the way. I noticed putting them in direct sun helps. Probably not an issue for larger, say 40+ lb. tanks.

Otherwise I didn't see much of a performance difference.

I was about to comment on this. Although you were never pulling more than 6500W from the gen, it will freeze a small bottle. The 100Lb bottle will run it fine but you'll have to buy one, the 40s will work up to about a 5K constant load.

 

[Cujet]

As always, it is good to be prepared. Here in hurricane central, having 2 generators is a must.

 

[JavierH19]

Those Chinese power generators aren't bad. Got a free generator with a good china engine but it wouldn't generate power. A small engine mechanic figured it out and fixed it though it doesn't output close to the 6kw it claims but it still generates enough. Has a huge tank which i like. Used it during the 2021 winter storm in.

 

[AZjeff]

There should be legal limitations on such sale of trademarks.

Selling the name to some Chinese operation, allowing it to masquerade as the original Westinghouse is gross misrepresentation, if not outright fraud.

So whoever owned the Westinghouse name should have been limited to who it could be sold to. Right.

And if poor old Joe Schmoe didn't do his homework it's not his fault?

There's probably fraud involved in American car brands made in Mexico and Japanese brands made in Tennessee then.

 

[nomas]

Most Power tools and appliances are still sporting those old brand names we all came to know and love . Now they are made in China and Mexico , etc.