Customer Reviews

Briggs & Stratton 10,000-Watt Bi-Fuel Automatic Standby Generator with 50 Amp Transfer Switch 40200

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The new style EM10 automatic 10 kW (a.k.a. 40243) is my second Briggs compact generator (upgrading from a 7kW). I am very disappointed with this model. First off, I was expecting a battery to be included. According to the Briggs website, it should have been included. They are advertising "no hidden costs" (turnkey extras). After a few phone calls, I found out that Briggs is not including batteries anymore. Their reasoning was that no other manufacturers include batteries so why should they? They even went as far as to change the owner's manuals indicating it is the installers responsibility -All this to save a few bucks. It ended up costing me about an additional hundred dollars to purchase a battery and have it shipped (25 lbs). I purchased a Power-Sonic PS12350-NB. I choose Power-Sonic because of their good reputation and warranty. There are other brands out there too. The battery needs to be a sealed lead acid, at least 33 Amp-hours, with nut and bolt terminals. For the price I paid for the generator, I would expect it to be included! Did I mention there was no battery bracket either? They are sending me one at no charge. FYI: part number 194250GS.

Second, the plastic roof of the unit does not fit properly. It is the same design as the 7 kW. You have to really press down hard to get it to stay on and screw it in. The reason is the inside ventilation hole is approximately 6" in diameter. The flywheel on the top of the engine is about 7" in diameter. Briggs placed a sticky foam gasket around the hole. This is the only thing preventing the flywheel from grinding a larger hole in the roof. I called Briggs about this and they are aware of the problem. They said it was okay and the flywheel grinding a larger hole in the top will not hurt anything (if the gasket failed). At 3600 RPM, it would cut through it like Swiss cheese. The gasket may break down and fail over time- Especially from the hot and cold temperature changes over the years. That doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling when I am away!

As of today, it is still sitting in my garage waiting for parts (battery bracket). I will update this after the install. I could have it installed without the bracket but, since I am upgrading from a 7kW, I am not in any rush. I am not going to scavenge parts from the old one. It is still good and I have another use for it.