Harbor Freight Genny

[RVGuy1966]

anyone have or have used the 500 dollar 2200 or 2000 watt genmy by HB?

looking to see how it stacks up to the name brands

[1bigmess]

If that is all you can afford, go for it.If you will have any neighbors near you, get a quieter gennie: Honda, Yamaha, one of the quieter Champions, etc.

Many things at Harbor Freight can be hit or miss for reliability, but the very first gennie I had was the little HF 900 watt gennie. It was a little 2-stroke thing, and using it with amateur radio gear it did well and there was no noise on the audio or RF signal. It was reliable, in that it was reliably hard to start, but once running was just fine. I gave it to a friend when I bought my Hondas.

[halfwright]

You can get a 3000 watt Champion for about the same price. Quieter and reliable.

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by halfwright

You can get a 3000 watt Champion for about the same price. Quieter and reliable.

Agree. I have the Champion 3200 (I think) and paid $599 (I think) delivered via Costco.com. Inverter, quiet, nicely made.

[dagmandt]

If you don't want to get chased out of the campground pony up for a higher quality, quiet generator. There is nothing more annoying than going camping expecting peace and quiet and ending up camping next to or near someone with a cheap noise maker. For the home, go for it, for camping... spend the cash and research db levels.

Keep in mind, 2db is a big difference.

[RVGuy1966]

its not a matter of affording it more a question of quality and if those who answered actually used the 2500 and can provide feedback on it, great and thanks. I am sure I could troll the internet looking for bargains on name brand small invertor generators but to this point have yet to purchase anything from HB that was less than more worth what I paid for it. As for running any generator in a campground, Every good camper knows that so I hope there was no inference towards me. If you have an RV and no means of power for emergency or when parked in a powerless location your ill prepared to camp as there are times you may need to charge up your battery or assist the solar on a rainy day, etc.

[1bigmess]

Emergency power == use the loudest box of rocks you can find to get the electricity you need to protect life and property if nothing else is available.

Lawnmowers and things that sound like them don't belong in a campground around other campers trying to enjoy a little camping. It's just plain rude. A Champion can be had for just a little more money and is noticeably quieter. Two Yamahas can be had for a pretty good price if one just does a simple Google search. Honda has a proven track record of reliability, quiet, and dealer network that is second to none as far as I can tell so far.

If that is something you don't need to hear because you already know this stuff, than thank you for taking your neighbors enjoyment of their camping into consideration. Really, I appreciate the thoughtfulness. I don't expect everyone to have the same concern for others in this regard that I do, but it is nice when it seems they do.

[halfwright]

Sorry, I have not used a Harbor Freight generator.

Sorry if you took answers personally.

Sorry I even replied.

[RVGuy1966]

I do recall just asking about a generator. I am still unsure why some people have to chime in concerning rudeness in a campground? I would imagine there may be a forum for that. If people are looking to pick arguments I suggest you find someone else, I am not going to continue this as your answers are of no use to me on the actual question. Your assumptions of what I may or may not use it for and where is purely your demented thoughts not mine. I actually thought I would get an answer from someone stating their experience and if they thought it was a quality product or not.

Happy New Year and thanks for nothing but an awful experience in this forum.

[1bigmess]

My assumptions are that you are not the only one that will see this stuff. Welcome to the internet. This is pretty normal. You can get used to it, get over it, or be forever frustrated by it. It's up to you.

If what folks say doesn't apply to you, don't worry about it. Also, remember that you aren't the only one that reads these threads for research, advice, and education. No internet post is an island.

As to the gennie, the HF site has reviews for their products by people that have used them. If you can't get a good idea of the quality and usefulness of the product from what you can rad there, I don't know what else you might be looking for.

http://www.harborfreight.com/engines...tor-61169.html

This is the one I used to own. Like I said, aside from the noise and difficulty starting, it was a fine gennie.
http://www.harborfreight.com/engines...arb-60338.html

[Larry Geese]

Harbor Freight "Predator Generator" Unbelievably LOUD!!! No sound panels to enclose the contraption. Folks who use these have no concern about anyone else but what they want.
I you are set on making enemies and looking like an idiot who could care less about anyone else....fire up one of these box of rocks on a vibrator and see what happens...won't be long and you will see....No acceptable to campers, only to you because you saved a lot of money...to heck with the other campers..ear plugs work for them.

[seaeagle2]

For what it's worth the power stroke inverter that costco is selling doesn't have a spark arrestor and so says right in the manual not for use on forest service land

[ancient11]

After spending the past 6 weeks researching generators, finally decided on the Honda eu2000i. It is fairly quiet and sips fuel...also only weighs 45 lbs.
A close second was the Champion 3100 inverter generator but weighed 84 lbs. and that was a bit much.
I had a Black Max 3500 and it was as loud as a leaf blower and wasn't reliable.

[t55watson]

I had their 1000 watt genny and it ran and produced power. The recoil starter assembly was junk. It had all plastic internal parts and fell apart after about 25 uses. I got rid of the unit shortly there after.