Generac Standby Generators

[CSanders]

Could someone explain to a novice like me but these soft starts for the A/c is? We had a 24kw Generac installed in March and have used it twice already. It’s worked great so far but I have noticed when the a/c kicks on the lights will dim for just 1-2 seconds then go back to normal. Does this soft start have something to do to prevent that?

Yes the load your AC unit takes to start is what is dimming the lights. Noticed mine did the same this week so ill be getting one of these soft starts put on soon.

EasyStart™ Flex Home AC Soft Starter – Micro-Air, LLC (microair.net)

[DedDuk]

I have a 24kw that I had put in last year when we built our house. I contracted everything out myself and did the same with the Generac. I had an oil leak first time it ran for a couple hours and had trouble finding support from a dealer since I didn't have one install it. Finally found a Generac rep willing to help me out and he has been great. Also had a pressure sensor fail right after the oil leak and he fixed that too all under warranty. I would buy the extended warranty and find someone willing to come out and give you an estimate and answer all your questions. Mine ran for 32 hours straight after Beryl and no issues.

Not what I'm looking for on a brand new unit. Im seeing a lot of similar stories. I believe I will stay away from Generac.

[Bucknaked]

I dont but....I have a coworker who had one put in his new house. The first night of the no power their Co2 alarm went off on the house alarm and called the fire department and woke them up. Turns out the exhaust from the gen entered the house thru the garage and ended up in the home. They have 3 kids up stairs.....

FD went thru the house with C02 detectors and found stupid high levels so they didnt run the gen anymore. Went with the ol standby portable. Being the unit was new and under warranty they called the generac who sent a tech. The tech tests the exhaust from the gen who claimed their units are not supposed to expel any carbon monoxide. Sure enough its not good BUT he knows immediately what the issue is. Bad air filter. He explains that generac ships the things off with bad filters that can cause this issue. Swapped the filter and the reading went from 19 or something to zero and they went back to using it.

Just what he told me and food for thought...........

Good info! I would never trust it again and I would Never install one In an attached garage I don’t care How many manufacturers said they were Safe! It only takes once but that family was definitely blessed and absolutely being watched over .

[CSanders]

Not what I'm looking for on a brand new unit. Im seeing a lot of similar stories. I believe I will stay away from Generac.

Of all the people I know that have a recently installed a Generac it seems like 50/50 on problems vs no problems. I guess if I had to do it again, I might go with the Kohler.

[Hoggslayer]

I'm looking into putting one on my mother's house. My step Dad is 83 and can't remember to turn the gas on or the kill switch. I've had to go over there twice a day to start it the portable one they have. Thank God they finally got power back.

I've heard alot of Gererac problems in the last few days. I have a lot of research to do.

[Quackerbox]

Since folks are serious about these things I think it's important to keep yall updated. I hadn't seen the set up my buddy had but I literally drew this exact scenario when I heard what happened. Personally I would have NEVER been OK with this install. It's just plain stupid

Anyway, the superstore in tomball is going to move the unit and install a new motor. I think I would argued for an entire new unit. I mean the whole family almost died due to the Ja ke leg install.

They have shifted it and advised him to redneck this junk in an attempt to keep from filling the home with cO2 again

[BayouCat]

Whoever put that in must've skipped install training day at the generator superstore. That is asinine.

[andre3k]

I don't have natural gas and my propane tank is only 250 gallons. I'm getting a trailer mounted diesel genny with a 150 gallon tank. I'll tow it tow the nearest truck stop for fill-ups or use the transfer tank on my truck. Either way is easier than hunting down gasoline in an emergency.

[mavrick]

Since folks are serious about these things I think it's important to keep yall updated. I hadn't seen the set up my buddy had but I literally drew this exact scenario when I heard what happened. Personally I would have NEVER been OK with this install. It's just plain stupid

Anyway, the superstore in tomball is going to move the unit and install a new motor. I think I would argued for an entire new unit. I mean the whole family almost died due to the Ja ke leg install.

They have shifted it and advised him to redneck this junk in an attempt to keep from filling the home with cO2 again

They are putting fresh air intakes in the garage for the A/C. Not sure why you would want hot air but it’s the new way.

[Huntingfool]

I have a whole home Generac. It works like a charm. No issues and it made me feel bulletproof with Beryl coming into town this week.

This is what we did - 26kw Generac - transfer switch, propane tank, labor all total $17K - worth every penny - during the big freeze several years back we were down 5 days - not going through that again -

[Slew]

It’s on our short list of home improvements. My only worry is folks that had them during the snowmageddon told me they burned $1k in propane in 3 days and the ones with natural gas said the compressor stations were down and they didn’t have enough pressure to run theirs! I would be ****** I spend that kind of coin and I’m still in the dark! I know a couple people with issues with the Generacs but they’re also sold probably 20/1 compared to the others.

[Russ81]

Folks have had one since Ike, and after Harvey and now Beryl here's my observations on generators. For reference the original plan for their house (1500sq ft+/-) was a plug in the garage and hook the Miller bobcat welding machine in and run everything.

Miller Bobcat or any other Gas/Diesel machines-
PROS:

• Mobile and can be moved to another house if needed once power is back on, can be secured in a safer place till needed out of the elements
• Runs on readily available fuel (We learned during this last storm that Non-ethanol seems to make it run quieter than Reg gas)

CONS:

• Louder then your snoring, and yes your wife says greenpeace has you on a watchlist for clear cutting the rainforest every night
• Oil Changes needed more frequently.
• Has to be manhandled into place to use
• Depending on Kw may only run certain appliances. The Miller could run AC and 3 freezers and 1 fridge but drank more gas

Generac-
PROS:

• QUIET compared to a gas/diesel generator. Folks had to have theirs setup outside their bedroom window and claim it's no worse then a fourwheeler idling there.
• The automatic transfer switch is nice when your out of town and power goes out, which is often because we're in the boonies of Brazoria County and the end of the transmission line.
• The weekly auto test is nice to make sure it turns over and keeps everything lubed and ready incase of a outage.
• Will run everything in the house, it's like the power never went off. Theirs is the 22Kw on Propane.
• Runs forever on a propane tank. We fill our yard tank (250-325gal) up before a storm and have yet to run out after a week or more of outage.
• Maintenance is easy, 24hr oil check and change the oil every 125hrs if continuously running it. (Read the owners manual but that's the basics on that)

CONS:

• Well... here's where the gremlins show up. Folks had first one installed after Ike and the Bobcat being super loud all day. 7 years later 45 minutes into Harvey it shuts down. Had quarterly maintenance done the whole nines. Tech comes out and apparently after all those years and Harv's side ways wall of rain the fan shattered and overheated the engine and it seized up. Back to the bobcat for the duration of Harvey till they could get a replacement. Bad news is due to CO2 Generac doesn't recommend you place it in a very protected place. For Beryl we placed a couple of T-posts with a panel and a sheet of plywood up to block some wind and keep it ventilated. Gonna try and make a nicer windbreak off the porch for in the future or just keep marshbillyin' it.

It has some very sensitive electronics that if are not protected from lightning surge (And that's not even a fool proof guarantee per several electricians) will get zapped and shut it completely down like it did Tuesday after Beryl hit. Plus the original switch box took some damage but is only about $350 in parts to fix plus $500 extra if they decide to install a surge protector thats no questions asked replaced if it does its job and takes the hit. Again, we're end of the line so per the lineman that came out to restore power that's our norm. I heard of several people having generac motherboards cooked by lightning this storm and its about $500-$700 to replace.


Conclusion-

Even with all that if I have to start from scratch on my Barndominium and build a new one I will budget a Generac into the cost and I'll be keeping a look out on military surplus auctions and try to get my hands on one of their single axle diesel generator rigs for a backup to my power back up

[Huntergirl723]

Folks have had one since Ike, and after Harvey and now Beryl here's my observations on generators. For reference the original plan for their house (1500sq ft+/-) was a plug in the garage and hook the Miller bobcat welding machine in and run everything.

Miller Bobcat or any other Gas/Diesel machines-
PROS:

• Mobile and can be moved to another house if needed once power is back on, can be secured in a safer place till needed out of the elements
• Runs on readily available fuel (We learned during this last storm that Non-ethanol seems to make it run quieter than Reg gas)

CONS:

• Louder then your snoring, and yes your wife says greenpeace has you on a watchlist for clear cutting the rainforest every night
• Oil Changes needed more frequently.
• Has to be manhandled into place to use
• Depending on Kw may only run certain appliances. The Miller could run AC and 3 freezers and 1 fridge but drank more gas

Generac-
PROS:

• QUIET compared to a gas/diesel generator. Folks had to have theirs setup outside their bedroom window and claim it's no worse then a fourwheeler idling there.
• The automatic transfer switch is nice when your out of town and power goes out, which is often because we're in the boonies of Brazoria County and the end of the transmission line.
• The weekly auto test is nice to make sure it turns over and keeps everything lubed and ready incase of a outage.
• Will run everything in the house, it's like the power never went off. Theirs is the 22Kw on Propane.
• Runs forever on a propane tank. We fill our yard tank (250-325gal) up before a storm and have yet to run out after a week or more of outage.
• Maintenance is easy, 24hr oil check and change the oil every 125hrs if continuously running it. (Read the owners manual but that's the basics on that)

CONS:

• Well... here's where the gremlins show up. Folks had first one installed after Ike and the Bobcat being super loud all day. 7 years later 45 minutes into Harvey it shuts down. Had quarterly maintenance done the whole nines. Tech comes out and apparently after all those years and Harv's side ways wall of rain the fan shattered and overheated the engine and it seized up. Back to the bobcat for the duration of Harvey till they could get a replacement. Bad news is due to CO2 Generac doesn't recommend you place it in a very protected place. For Beryl we placed a couple of T-posts with a panel and a sheet of plywood up to block some wind and keep it ventilated. Gonna try and make a nicer windbreak off the porch for in the future or just keep marshbillyin' it.

It has some very sensitive electronics that if are not protected from lightning surge (And that's not even a fool proof guarantee per several electricians) will get zapped and shut it completely down like it did Tuesday after Beryl hit. Plus the original switch box took some damage but is only about $350 in parts to fix plus $500 extra if they decide to install a surge protector thats no questions asked replaced if it does its job and takes the hit. Again, we're end of the line so per the lineman that came out to restore power that's our norm. I heard of several people having generac motherboards cooked by lightning this storm and its about $500-$700 to replace.


Conclusion-

Even with all that if I have to start from scratch on my Barndominium and build a new one I will budget a Generac into the cost and I'll be keeping a look out on military surplus auctions and try to get my hands on one of their single axle diesel generator rigs for a backup to my power back up

Russ, that is an awesome run down on different options. Overall, I am glad I decided on my Jackery 3000 solar generator. I know that I won't be able to run my big AC but it is big enough to run my freezers, refrig, lights and a small AC. Thank you.

[Txhunter3000]

Russ, that is an awesome run down on different options. Overall, I am glad I decided on my Jackery 3000 solar generator. I know that I won't be able to run my big AC but it is big enough to run my freezers, refrig, lights and a small AC. Thank you.

Have you done a test run for a full day to see if this Jackery will do what you think it will. How many solar panels will you be running and what size. What's the total watt hours you'll need for a full 24 hours running everything you stated.

[Sasqy]

18 kw here on 1,500 sq ft.
Been the best thing, since sliced bread.