Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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92 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent value, October 22, 2007
First off, it's really 2800-3000 watts continuous. Jaingdong model JD3000. It uses a Jaingdong JF200 6.5 hp motor which is an excellent clone of the Honda OHV engine (licensed from Honda). It is smooth, quiet, and best of all pretty fuel efficient for a gasoline powered generator. The generator is brushless and therefore really has nothing to wear out other than bearings.
That's the good stuff...
Unfortunately, the Chinese pedigree does show in a few places. The fuel gauge never worked on mine. The electrical components (circuit breaker, meter, etc) seem kind of crude, but have held up OK in use so far.
I've owned this generator for almost two years now and it probably has about 40 hours of runtime. It had no trouble keeping us going during several power outages, the longest of which was about 30 hours. It ran an oil furnace, refrigerator, TV/DVD Player, and a few lights with no problem. The output voltage and frequency does not sag under load. I feel it is sized just about right for the load we place on it. A bigger generator would simply use more fuel.
One tip that makes the generator much easier to start. Always turn off the fuel petcock and remove the drain plug from the carburetor to drain out the old fuel. Replace plug and turn fuel petcock back on. Wait 30 seconds, flip on the choke, and it will start easily, even when it's quite cold outside. Fresh gas does help a lot too.
Overall, I think this is the best emergency generator value on the market. I paid $299 from Homier, and thought that was an outstanding price. I see they have it on sale for $219 right now. It's an outright steal for that price!
No matter what brand of generator you buy, if you have it shipped via UPS, or whatever, there is a chance it will have been handled very poorly. Shipping companies folks don't like handling heavy boxes and they tend to slam them around, roll them off the end of loading docks, etc. The bottom of the support frame was bent on mine, but was easily straightened. I would suggest planning to be at home when the generator is delivered, and if at all possible open the box before the driver leaves to document any possible damage.
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77 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't beat it for the price, February 17, 2007
It is a very solid generator, as long as UPS doesn't drop it off a 10 FT dock. It starts quick and has plenty of power. There is actually what looks like a regular car muffler on this generator, so it is surprisingly quiet for this size engine. Similar generators are about $599 plus shipping, I believe, so you can go through 2 of these and you'll still be ahead. But from my experience so far (I've owned this generator for 4 months, and used it about a dozen times, I think it will last many many years to come.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm happy, few problems, September 29, 2007
After much thought and research, I opted for this generator for limited use. I wouldn't use it much, mostly for emergencies, but also for an annual outdoor event. Since I'd use it rarely, it had to be affordable and in fact, I was looking for: 1. Affordable 2. Quiet 3. Output capacity. In that order. While output capacity may normally be the most important, this was an "emergency" generator and in an emergency I would expect to have to make sacrifices. Additionally, it had enough capacity to power what I wanted it to at special events. This fit the bill, in that it was the cheapest generator I had found. It wasn't supposed to be as quiet as the higher end quiet generators, but at the reduced price, that wasn't surprising. But it was supposed to be a little more quiet than many of the older generation generators and some of the newer ones. And it had all the capacity I needed for my project.
First, the generator arrived well ahead of the expected delivery date. The cardboard shipping box was damaged in one corner and the unit itself was damaged (more on that later). Despite the damage in all, I was happy with the shipping although it was a bit expensive to ship. I assume this is because it weighs 100+ lbs.
The generator looks great. My son commented more than once, that it looked good and it does. Once out of the box, I reviewed the directions (very minimal documentation) and filled it with oil, which was a bit of a challenge. The oil fill is located in a difficult spot to reach. Perhaps if you had a flexible funnel, you'd have no trouble, but I found it impossible to fill, without tipping the generator somewhat on it's side. Made it difficult to judge when the crankcase was full and I did in fact, over fill. Also put a little gas in.
It started on the second pull and I was impressed with the way it started. Not only did it fire right off, but it took very little effort to turn it over enough to start.
It ran very smooth and sounded very solid. While I wouldn't call the generator "super quiet", I might call it "quiet". I would say that it is more quiet than a push lawn mower, but not too much less quiet than that. I've heard much louder generators in this size. It has a over sized muffler and I'm guessing that has something to do with it's ability to be fairly quiet. I guess, I'd say it's "pretty quiet" but just a few more decibels down would really make a difference. Not bad though.
I hooked up a 500 and 250 watt light with no problem. I ran my circular saw (along with the lights) and the noise from the saw drowned out the generator, but I think it bogged down momentarily but quickly resumed speed (as it should). I also ran my small Porter Cable pancake compressor by itself, with no problems. It had plenty of power for my needs. It always ran smooth.
I've only had it a few days and used it less than an hour. I'll try to update this post, if I'm able.
The one disappointment is, that it came damaged. Two of the engine mounting bolts were very loose. One was missing a nut. Also, the air cleaner cover was missing a chunk, about the size of a half dollar. Obviously broken, possibly during shipping. I was able to replace the bolts myself and I've emailed the company about the air cleaner cover...I'll see what happens.
All in all, so far, I'm pleased with the purchase and would recommend it to others.
UPDATE: Had a chance to use this 4 nights in a row. Ran it for 5-6 hours for each of four nights. Worked flawlessly. I was really pleased and impressed. There were other gensets around and this one was one of the quietest...although again, not whisper quiet, it was very quiet and others commented on what a nice genset it was. The company did replace the air cleaner and I was pleased with their service. I remain impressed and barring any short term problems, would very likely purchase the same generator again. I will continue to recommend it to others as well.
Update II: Used it again for our annual event. It ran 3 nights 6-8 hours each night. Flawless. I remain a happy customer. I run the unit periodically through the year (at least once a month) and I changed the oil after the event.
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