Customer Reviews

All Power America APG3202 6,500 Watt 10 HP Silent Diesel Powered Generator with Electric Start & Wheel Kit

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1 star:		(5)

 

 

Quite Diesel Unit, smooth operation. I use this as a back up for our home when the rural power fails. Runs my 220 pump and provides lights and power for small appliances. We have an all electric home. Of course it won't handle a 20kw furnace or Central A/C, but runs a whole house fans and small fans for the wood stove. Electric start and fuel economy make this unit great for the price.

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One year after owning this generator it only had 10 hours service and we needed it to keep us going after a major storm took out our power. 10 hours into service, the rocker arm bolts broke and the engine shut down. The engine is made in China and the company has been contacted many many times for repair parts. I was willing to pay for the parts but they have not provided any opportunity to get them. I have been trying for 4 months and have not been contacted to order the needed parts. The quality of workmanship is terrible! The customer service is non-existant.

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I am now the proud owner of a $1200.00, 300 lb. Door stop..

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I even tried to contact the engine manufacturer in China, but they have little or no presence in the US. Guess I'm just out of ruck!

Just after the 20 hour break in period the generator failed to start. I immediately contacted All Power America and was promised a warranty repair. But after several follow up calls and faxes, I am still waiting for instructions on where to send it for repair. This has been going on for over two months.

When we first started Allpower America 6500 Watt Silent Diesel the first thing we noticed is that the lights flickered badly. The service department sent a new regulator module, but that didn't resolve the problem. While installing the new voltage regulator a damaged wire and several loose terminations were noted. The new regulator did not stop lights from flickering. After 28 hours the oil-level dropped suddenly and two engine crankcase bolts backed out against the alternator housing. One bolt could actually be loosened by hand. This product typifies "legendary Chinese quality" in spades. Save your money.

I've had this unit since July 2006. I did engine break-in for 10 hours at light loads using rotella 15w40. I change oil at 100 hours and clean the oil filter/screen. It has been used for power in remote locations on some timber acreage, storm back up and as a power unit on my truck and my garage (which has no utility service. It currently has 1030 hours on it with a few failures along the way. I had to replace the voltage regulator. I relocated it outside the alternator so it would be cooler. The low oil shut down circuit board burned up and stopped the unit. The board is not available where I could find one, so I bypassed the oil pressure switch. The ignition switch broke and was replaced with a universal one from the auto part store. I've cleaned the injector at the local diesel pump shop every 500 hours. In three years i've used 3 lawn and garden batteries.

With 1030 hours it doesn't smoke or use oil. It does leak a very little bit from the valve cover. Overall the genset has been good. The cabinet is very well made and sturdy; a real surprise. The wheels stink, but they work. The engine and generator head have performed well. The biggest glitch is the cheap electrical components like the sockets, switches, indicator lamp/led. Tie up all the wires with nylon zip ties and replace the cheap parts as they fail and you'll be fine.Most stuff can be found at home depot or an auto store. Great item if you need reliable power and fuel efficiency. It burns 1/3 gallon per hour at half load. I'd buy another one if I did n't have this one.

Update May 2011: I have about 1300 hours on my unit and I'm told this is near the service life of a good unit. I recently replaced the voltage meter on the front panel (I got a combined voltage/ Hz meter so I can monitor the 60cycle current from the generator. I also had to replace the engine magneto charging regulator. That's the thing that charges the starter battery. The regulatyor died and it ran until the battery was dead and shut off the fuel. Once replaced it ran great again. I'm still changing oil every 100 hours and cleaning the filter screen. No metal particles in it yet. i know some folks have gotten a bad unit, but mine has been very good except for the cheap electrical components. I'va about replaced them all with better stuff. I'd buy it again if mine quit.

Before 20 hours the starter switch went out and it took over a month to get the part through a Chinese man that I had to call several times who has broken English. Before 100 hours ALL the diesel fuel lines began leaking. They are very hard to replace. I took me 6 hours to replace them. The original fuel lines were cracked and porous, very low quality. I got diesel tubing from a marine supply outlet. Then it would not crank. Northern Tool, where I bought it, gave me the number of the Chinese man who could not help me. The warranty is only a month. A local repair shop refused to take it saying another All Power generator has been in their shop for 4 months. The parts department is often inaccessible and told them the parts come by a slow boat from China every 3 months and that there were 164 others waiting on the same part and if only 100 came he might have to wait another few months for the next boat. Northern Tool service department is not helpful and would only give me the Chinese number to call. They do not officially service All Power equipment. Northern tool service department would not even give me the number for one of their own service centers. When I asked for the supervisor she would not help me find a Northern Tool service center either. I got her name and threatened to call the president of the company and she then gave me the number of a Northern Tool service center about 100 miles away. To my surprise I was told to bring the machine in and they would try to fix it. I am headed that way next week but plan on buying a reliable and serviceable generator to replace this junk pile.

after only 50 hours of operation, we have had six failures that each took the genny off line until repair

1) bad / undersized battery

2) stuck open AC breaker

3) stuck closed fuel solenoid

4) leaking fuel filter / shutoff & poor quality unsafe fuel lines

5) failed AVR - voltage regulator

6) blown silencer & leaking muffler..oddly the silencer packing caught fire

add to that a 20 hour break-in initial run period, mandatory valve adjustments, and extremely poor fitting air filter housing.

Make sure you run it far from your house as ours caught fire. Only good things are price & efficient running at about 1/2 gallon per hour