Generac Standby Generators

[Johnny Dangerr]

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.

We went with a Kohler and are very happy 3 years later. Ran for 3 days after the recent storm...

[bowhntrmatt]

My company sells generators. We have found far better reliability, parts availability, and support from Kohler than from Generac.

The main thing with any of them is to not set them and forget them. Keep up with maintenance, make sure propane is kept full if applicable. If running constantly, I would shut down daily to inspect, check the oil, etc.
I'm considering one but I'm really torn between propane and diesel, as NG is not an option. I saw way too many people run out of propane in the freeze a couple years ago, but diesel also seems like more maintenance.

[JhuntsAlot]

I have two neighbors and a buddy who have Generac brand generators and all three of them have not been able to use their generators during the outages from Beryl.

I have heard nothing good about Generac's lately, but I know they sell a ton of them.



J

[BrianL]

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

This is almost the same as my setup. I have two Honda 2000i and a Bobcat welding machine. What I did was arrange the poles in my breaker box so all the essentials are on one pole, and all the non essentials are on the other pole. I can run one of the 2000i which runs the lights both refrigerator, Tv. I can hook both 2000i and add a window AC. I can hook up the Welder and run most everything, but still need to think about the load and not overload it. I can run each of the Honda 2Ki for 3.5 gallons of gas per day. Welder uses 18+ gallons gas per day.

Still would be nice to have another one that switched automatically, since 98% of the time power is off for a few hours, and not worth hooking up everything. Longest I have been out was almost 3 weeks because of an ice storm.

[Quackerbox]

My company sells generators. We have found far better reliability, parts availability, and support from Kohler than from Generac.

The main thing with any of them is to not set them and forget them. Keep up with maintenance, make sure propane is kept full if applicable. If running constantly, I would shut down daily to inspect, check the oil, etc.
I'm considering one but I'm really torn between propane and diesel, as NG is not an option. I saw way too many people run out of propane in the freeze a couple years ago, but diesel also seems like more maintenance.

very solid advice from someone whos in the business. I have a duel fuel now but prolly wont look that way for the next based on stories just like you mentioned.

Thanks

[PondPopper]

The first thing I'd consider is changing brands.
I just bought a whole home generator and I "thought" I knew exactly what I wanted for our home... I'm a marine engineer and I've worked on Onan equipment extensively and I know them to be good units. I also know Cummins is the Cadillac of automotive diesel engines... I had run the numbers and had decided to purchase a Cummins-Onan 24KW unit... At the time I did my evaluation, they had a liquid cooled unit that was 24KW... Unfortunately they've since discontinued that unit. I had a guy (very experienced) come out to the house and just discuss possibilities... I shared with him the specs I'd done and he agreed that was a pretty good way to go, but the unit was no longer in manufacture... These guys are a top line distributor for Generac, and they also sell Cummins-Onan, Briggs&Stratton as well as Koehler... I would never get a Generac... For several years, Generator Supercenter in tomball was my business neighbor and I got to know some of their sales guys and service guys... None of them thought the Generac units were quality units, and told me flat out that Generac was so big because they spend a fortune on marketing, not on building quality units. Service guys said they stayed busy working on them and they had several very common issues. Also many of their parts are Generac specific and must be purchased from Generac only...
After much discussion, we agreed he'd do a proposal for me based on a liquid cooled Cummins-Onan unit and an air cooled Koehler unit... He did NOT recommend going with the Generac unit. He only recommended the Generac switch gear and load center controls using an air cooled unit.
He told me he'd be happy to sell me a Cummins-Onan unit if I was dead-set on it, but the parts distribution system for Cummins-Onan is just not responsive... IF I had a problem down the road, it is likely I'd have delays due to lack of spare parts... He currently had at the time 3 customers whose generators were down waiting on parts from Cummins... That nixed the deal for me on that.
After further evaluation and cussin' n discussin', wife and I decided to go with a Koehler unit. A 500 gallon propane tank 80% full will run the 26KW unit for almost 8 days at 50% load and 5-6 days with 80% load.
I've had my first 500 gallon tank installed and filled. Once the genny gets installed, I left a spot for a second 500 gallon tank to expand capacity... Likely will have it installed too... Sort of want to use it a time or two to see how it ACTUALLY performs... might not need it.
We're still about 3-4 weeks out before we are scheduled to get it installed. Unit was $14,500 TTL installed, tested and service contract for maintenance... 5 year extendable warranty.

If you're anywhere within a 50 mile radius (maybe further) of SE Conroe and are interested in a guy that I feel like you can trust to recommend a unit that will best suit your needs, PM me and I will give you his contact information.

I have a personal friend that was once a Generac dealer and installer.
He was having so many issues with brand new units that he told Generac to come get his remaining inventory. He was done.

That made my mind up about that brand.

Im still researching and learning about the others.

[Huntergirl723]

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.

I haven't run a test. Prolly won't either. I have two 200w panels to recharge. From my research, this is all I will need. I like the no-maintenance part of solar.

[Huntergirl723]

I have a personal friend that was once a Generac dealer and installer.
He was having so many issues with brand new units that he told Generac to come get his remaining inventory. He was done.

That made my mind up about that brand.

Im still researching and learning about the others.

A year or so ago when I was in the process of deciding on a back-up, I came up with this same type of info and came up with the same conclussion you have regarding Generac.

[60 Deluxe]

https://www.smokstak.com/forum/forums/generators-electric-motors-general-discussion.6/#google_vignette

I learned a lot from browsing this forum.

[TxBowHntr]

Get the BIGGEST air cooled generator that you can. You will never wish you had less power.

[porkrind]

I put in a 24kw Generac 2 years ago with a 500gal propane tank. Ran from last Monday morning from 230am to Saturday at 5pm the power came back on. Shut it off every other day to check the oil. Used about 175 gallons in that time. 3000sq ft house. Best money I've ever spent. Hate that y'all had some problems with them.