97 dollar generator?

[maritimecamper]

A couple winters ago, I was in a Canadiantire store and I saw a little generator for sale,97.00. It burns gas/oil mix. I read the instructions, then asked a clerk about the warranty, 1 month bring it back ,replacement or your money back.
She showed me where it was written. Also the makers of it have a 1 year warranty. Sooo I thought more, went for a coffee, decided to buy it...
The best 100 bucks I ever spent ! They only put out 850 watts so I only charge batteries with it. It is smoky but VERY light. A month later, I bought a second one, for a spare, incase I never see them again. It goes 5 or 6 hrs on 1 gallon. I hook up 2 battery chargers to it. It is so small I put them under the cab, making sure fumes don't enter inside. They only have 400 hrs on them but they run good. This winter I'm not using them much as I'm on shore power. My 2 cents...

 

[maritimecamper]

I mentioned they are smoky but they are not too bad. You can smell it thats all. We have strick laws in Canada.

 

[Wild_E]

I bought a Chicago model this year, sounds similar. $100, 800 watts, starts on the 2nd or 3rd easy pull, fairly quiet and lasts 5hrs or so.

 

[maritimecamper]

I forgot to mention, after not using it for a few months, I did have to pull the cord 15 or 20 times, I took the spark plug out, poured gas into the plug hole, then replaced plug. It fired right up...I also cleaned the plug a few times.

 

[ped]

If&nbsp;it's smoking too much and you're fouling plugs use a little less oil in the gas. But otherwise those things come with the territory of a 2 stroke.<br><br>They sometimes have deals/coupons on them for $79.00 around here.<br>

 

[maritimecamper]

Thanks ill use less next time, I wont be using them for a few months. So I poured oil into the sparkplug hole, I figured those cheap engines might rust easily. ???

 

[Guest]

You don't want to use less oil if you are using the correct ratio now.You will damage the the engine if it does not have enough lubrication. You need to study up on 2 cycle oils and buy a high quality oil that wont smoke and create deposits. This is the most important aspect of a 2&nbsp; cycle engine as all the moving parts are lubricated by the fuel/oil mixture. The other problem that will occur when using too much oil or poor quality oil will be excessive carbon deposits in the exhaust port. As the exhaust port becomes restricted the engine will lose power. Its not a tough job to clean the exhaust port. The other thing to keep in mind for long generator life is to not overload it at any time. High loads can burn winds or other components. Dont plug something in to see if the generator will power it, check the ratings first.You said its 850 watts but many of them will actually be a&nbsp; lower running wattage than that. Look at the plate on the generator or owners manual and it probably says 850 watts SURGE. So the actual maximum running load is something less than 850. You would need to determine the start up draw of the device you are using to know if you exceed 850.<br>If you are going to store it for more than a month or two it is best to drain/run/remove all the fuel from it. If you are going to&nbsp; run it until its out of fuel pay attention to how much fuel is in the tank. As it starts to sputter and die out apply the choke lever and shake or tip it at several angles. You want to try to get every bit of fuel sucked out of the carburetor. The alcohol and other additives will many times destroy the fuel system components when left for long periods of time. When the power goes out we would have 40 generators show up at the shop and 35 of them would be for old fuel problems. Don't use gasoline that's more than a month or so old.<br>

 

[Guest]

&nbsp;A couple good oils to check out are Stihl hp premium 2 cycle oil or Redmax 2 cycle. They come in small bottles for easy mixing. Both available at outdoor power equipment dealers. No I don't work for or profit from&nbsp; Stihl or Redmax.<br>

 

[maritimecamper]

Thanks, lots of info. Another rv,er mentioned to run the generator dry,before storing it . Putting oil in the cylinder is ok?

 

[Guest]

Yes when they say run it dry they mean get all the fuel out of the tank and the carburetor. Yes its also a good idea to put oil in the cylinder and pull the starter handle a few times to spread the oil around and coat the piston and cylinder. Another somewhat more complicated approach is to "fog" the engine. It would require you to pay close attention as the engine runs out of fuel and spray a very rich oil/fuel mixture into in carb intake as the engine dies out. When you put oil in the cylinder you are mainly coating the piston, cylinder and piston rings. When you fog the engine you are also introducing the rich oil mixture or fogging product to the reciprocating components at the bottom of the engine. Fogging coats the crankshaft and bearings, rod bearings and crankshaft seals. Do you power your computer with this generator?<br>

 

[Guest]

Oh and by the way I do love 2 strokes. Can you tell. <img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br>

 

[maritimecamper]

Thanks again, I just charge batteries with these little guys. I had a bigger generator before, 2850 watts. I wore it out after 6 years, but it took 2 hands to carry it. I use a cane now, I couldn't carry it any how.

 

[Guest]

ok, just wondered because of electrical issues with inexpensive generators. $97.00 is a fantastic value for your usage. Your generator has the potential of many years of use if maintained correctly but at that price you can just throw them in the lake when they break.AFTER the fuel is drained of course.<img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br>

 

[Wild_E]

damn it ate my answer.. just like school and the teacher did not believe me, until I brought in the paper that was chewed up by the dog, and said, see, here it is.<div><br></div><div>Do not throw it in the lake and I am sure that was joking, I hope.</div><div><br></div><div>Excellent advice and I will keep it for reference for myself as well. I might add in to use some Stabile in the tank after it has run dry. I do this myself if I know that there will be no use for over a few weeks with the genset.</div><div><br></div><div>When the motor is pooched, take the electrical component off, that is the hard part to make. It can now be attached to any old motor including an old lawnmotor to give you electricity.</div>

 

[judycmomx6]

Do you have to do all that to the generator if it is stored inside the house when not in use? I just bought one of the harbor freight 800 gen.'s yesterday and I want to make sure it last's me a while. Do you use just the reg. gas or would it run longer if you use a higher octane gas? If you can't tell, I'm clueless when it comes to thing's like this. Also, which battery can I use with this gen.? I am just going to use the gen. to charge a battery with and use the battery to run thing's with a little 300 inverter, and I will not let the battery run all the way down before re-charging.

 

[Guest]

Yes Judy especially if its stored indoors. You&nbsp; don't want it to have fuel in it as it could leak. If you store it in a bedroom or living room closet for example you can probably get by without oiling the cylinder. <br>&nbsp;Dont store it in the basement. I have seen motorcycle engines destroyed after being stored in basements. Its usually too damp, especially in the summer. Use a deep cycle battery. You will read different opinions about what&nbsp; battery to buy, but it has to be a deep cycle type not a car type battery. You should use 89 octane fuel.&nbsp; I need to know if its a 2 cycle or 4 cycle engine. Does it say to mix oil with the fuel? Is this the generator? If so you need to add oil to the fuel<br><br>http://www.harborfreight.com/800-rated-watts-900-max-watts-portable-generator-66619.html<br><br><br><br><br><br>

 

[Wild_E]

You need to read the instructions on which fuel to use. The new ones that Canadian Tire is selling, run best on the high end stuff, mine says use regular fuel.<div><br></div><div>The fuel should be drained if kept in the house incase of fires, explosions etc.&nbsp;</div><div>Deep cycle batteries, try going to the closest golf course and ask them for One or Two of their best no use batteries. Pay maybe 30-50 bucks instead of 300 plus for a golf cart battery.</div>

 

[maritimecamper]

A lot of readers on this forum know more then me , so i'll watch for their reply&lt;img src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"&gt;Sorry, w R I Didnt get your message till I replied, I'm still new to this tablet ...

 

[judycmomx6]

Thanks guy's, yes that is the gen., it does say on the gen. to use 50 to 1 mix. I was looking at those battery charger power boxes from sears and I think I'll get one of those instead of batteries. I am assuming you can charge them with a gen. The box that I want to get has plugs on it to plug things in and also has an air compressor in it, which would be nice if I ever woke up with a low tire. I think it will also be alot lighter than batteries. I want to have a type of metal cage like box built on the tong of my teardrop trailer for the gen. and I will put the power pack in the trunk of my trike, (can be laid on it's side), so if I get the power box I can use it when I take my sm. trailer instead of those heavy batteries. What do ya'll think about that? Think it will work?

 

[Wild_E]

Judy,<div>all I can say is from my experience. The power pack with the aircompressor was a mistake for me to buy. Mine is a 500 amp instant starting and does not work well. You can not charge it and use it, so if you need to pump up your tire, the charge must be full, you can not plug it in and pump it up. The battery lasts only as long as my little 300 amp battery pack, so the laptop works only for 2 hrs on either power pack before it discharges them completely.</div><div><br></div><div>My thoughts are, I bought myself a small air pump that plugs into the cigarrete lighter for only $15 it just hmmms away until the tire is inflated. My deep cycle electric scooter batteries that I bought used for $40 each, keep the laptop running for 4 hrs.&nbsp;</div>