2 cycle Inverter Generator

[Dingfelder]

Yup.

Next time, I buy the anti-gravity attachment.

 

[wasanah2]

The Predator 3500 at Harbor Freight.  

It's big and about 100 pounds.  Moving it around is a major thing.  I sure hope I like other things about it, because something this heavy and bulky is a major commitment.  But it does get tremendous reviews and was on sale.

Have you fired it up yet?  That model is 57dB...how far away is that measurement?  They bill this as super quiet, but 57 dB sounds a bit noisy to me.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

 . . . 57 dB sounds a bit noisy to me.

57 dB is about as loud as conversation in a restaurant or a vacuum cleaner.  53 dB (Sportsman 1000) is about as loud as conversation in a living room.

 

[wasanah2]

57 dB is about as loud as conversation in a restaurant or a vacuum cleaner.  53 dB (Sportsman 1000) is about as loud as conversation in a living room.

So Spiff, the Sportsman is still quieter.  I think it will drive me batty to keep hearing it.  I think I need to charge up batteries and only run a generator when I'm charging and then use off the bank.  Seriously, noises that are long like that will make me want to kill it.  Also, if I get the Sportsman and then build a muffle box for it, maybe I will be able to stand it while it charges.

 

[wasanah2]

I thought Dingy might be exaggerating that his particular generator was 100 lbs.  Holy moly, it's 99.22 lbs. dry.  Once he puts gas to it, it'll be more.  I really thought that thing would be less than that because of the style of it.  He needs an anti-gravity attachment.  To get it in or out of a rig, one needs a ramp or something akin to that.  Wow.  It looks like it'll run all night without filling with gas though if he doesn't want to tend to it.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Bigger generators are always noisier (and consume more gas).  My Sportsman is used when I camp under forest canopy or have a string of heavy overcast days.  Run it for an hour in the AM and let solar do the absorption stage.  On a 25 ft extension cord, exhaust pointing away from me, I hardly hear it (very dependent on how much ambient noise there is).

 

[Dingfelder]

I thought Dingy might be exaggerating that his particular generator was 100 lbs.  Holy moly, it's 99.22 lbs. dry.  Once he puts gas to it, it'll be more.  I really thought that thing would be less than that because of the style of it.  He needs an anti-gravity attachment.  To get it in or out of a rig, one needs a ramp or something akin to that.  Wow.  It looks like it'll run all night without filling with gas though if he doesn't want to tend to it.

That's why I was thinking, both for the ability to lift it and the ability to pack the same level of power away less awkwardly, running two of the 2k ones in parallel would probably be much more manageable for most people.

 

[Trebor English]

My dog groomer friend keeps the generator in the back of her van.  She has a ratchet tie down strap to lift it.  With the strap hooked above the door opening she can slowly raise and lower it.  Once it is almost high enough she pushes it in with a little bit of wrestling.  

She upgraded from a similar weight Honda eu3000 to get the electric start feature because her right elbow is failing.  Picking it up unassisted isn't going to happen.

 

[Dingfelder]

I'm impressed she can lift it at all, especially with a bad elbow and even more if it has fuel in it.

I guess her clients and their neighbors don't mind the noise, then? That's a good thing. I can see people not used to generators getting cranky about hearing one, at least if the homes are close together.

 

[Trebor English]

I'm impressed she can lift it at all, especially with a bad elbow and even more if it has fuel in it.

I guess her clients and their neighbors don't mind the noise, then?  That's a good thing.  I can see people not used to generators getting cranky about hearing one, at least if the homes are close together.

Lifting with the strap makes it so that she never supports the 100 pound weight by herself.  If the ratchet strap gets too hard the plan B is to get the cheap $70 winch.  

She parks as close as she can to the street, as far from the client's home as possible to minimize the noise.  The van blocks most of the noise.  

The Harbor Freight 3500 is quieter than the prior Honda eu3000.  At low speed when the ac cycles off it is quite a bit quieter.