All I have recently received a Generac IX 2000 inverter generator. It was received as a replacement for my honeywell 2000i which was very hard starting (20-40 pulls).
First impressions:
The Generac was much lighter than the honeywell (about 10lbs lighter) It also looks a little better in my opinion. The build quality is also nicer, the plastic is definitely a bit thicker.
I have done some initial break in runs at no load or very light load. My thoughts on these were, its spectacular! It starts right away and is definitely quieter than the honeywell. I have a dB meter.
Sound level:
These readings were taken in my back yard, both generators at the same location and orientation. Ambient noise level is about 50 dB. Readings were taken 1m away from the generator at level with it while they were unloaded. These comparisons are IRRELEVANT to other measurements as the surroundings and measurement distances are likely different.
Honeywell HW2000i
non-efficiency
front - 77
left - 81
back - 83
right - 81
efficiency mode
front - 76
left - 78
back - 80
right - 78
Generac IX 2000
non-efficiency
front - 75
left - 80
back - 82
right - 81
efficiency mode
front - 73
left - 77
back - 79
right - 77
So the generac is much quieter! its very noticeably quieter!
BUT THERE IS TERRIBLE PERFORMANCE
Load testing:
So I now went to load testing. I used 2 different electric heaters, so there were no startup surge loads. One was a ceramic heater that pulled 750 watts and a oil filled electric radiator that had 3 settings, I used the settings for 790 watts and 1490 watts (approx).
The honeywell HW2000i was able to handle all of these loads. Even quick loading it from nothing to 1490watts it had no trouble. It was able to do this at both high and efficient settings. I was able to load it up to 1920 watts with no problem at all!
The Generac IX2000 was another story entirely. On high (not efficient) it should be able to work best. It handled 750 watts, the engine bogged down but was able to recover. Turning it on to 1490 the generator would surge all over the place. The generator would power it for a few second then the overload light would click on and it would lose power, then power would come back. It flickered on and off. It was terrible, voltage dropped down to about 90 volts at times, the HZ was solid at 60 the whole time. power didnt just go on and off, but would fade in and out. This is only 75% of the load and a resistance load at that! Even nursing the load on, slowly going from 750 to 1490 would not help at all. I let it sit for about 5 min as it surged back and forth never being able to power the heater for more than 20 or 30 seconds at a time.
Troubleshooting:
All internals of the generator that I can see are good. I removed the air filter to see if that restricted the engine, no effect. The gas is fresh 89 octane and is stabilized (I bought it last weekend). Tomorrow I will go and buy 93 octane to see if that helps, even though i didnt notice any knocking. I will also spray carb cleaner in the carb to see if that cleans out anything.
Generac Support:
My honeywell takes a very long time to start, at least 20-30 pulls, sometimes way longer. It is very hard to start. I called honeywell to get that looked at under warranty (honeywell has been bought by generac). I have the details of that generator posted in another thread. In short, it was very hard to start, generac said that was a problem and sent me this one as a replacement for the faulty honeywell.
I called generac to resolve this issue and the lady tried to troubleshoot it over the phone, "is the spark plug gap correct?" "I have had it running for 3 hours, I have no idea what spark plug you put in it" She was no help and said to take it into the service center. the service center is an hour and a half (or so) away, so to drop it off and pick it up, I am in the car 6 hours. Based on previous experience, the $100 service fee will not be reimbursed by generac. Also, looking at reviews of the generator on Lowes's website, it seems like this is pretty common. I don't know if I will bother taking it to a service center... its a lot of money and effort with questionable payoff.
Conclusions:
Bother generators are junk and I would not recommend either.
The honeywell is miserably hard and very unreliable to start. However, once running, it runs great! Just dont be in a hurry to get it going, like I was when my basement was flooding and power was out...
The Generac starts super! its also pretty quiet. But it cant produce enough power to run even 75% load. If you consider it to be a 800w generator, its great, except its huge, heavy, and overpriced.
Honestly I dont know what i will be doing at this point. I hope the carb cleaner cleans out some residue from construction, but thats unlikely. the honeywell will likely be sold as it is still an honest 2000w generator, just very hard to start. I cant sell the generac in good conscience though. I also will not spend the money on a honda, thats just overpriced....
Videos:
I have videos on youtube of it, but can only post one here. so you have the video of it not performing at ECO....
I will keep you updated.
Rick
Update:
I ran the generator some more and really looked around inside it.
1) Inside the generator is very compact. I really clamped down on the nuts that hold the black air box (thing between the air filter and carb). I hope that there was an airleak around the carb, no such luck. Also of interest, these nuts hold the airbox and carb on, they both just slide around if you go to take it off. There are a lot of other tubes connecting the carb and black box so i didnt try to remove them. I got a couple shots of carb cleaner right into the carb this way though, but couldnt see anything past the choke.
2) I let the generator warm up for a few min and then let it sit with a 750 watt load on it for about 20 min. (on high power) Then I went and tried to power the sump pump. It was able to power it. Of note, on "high" when it gets a load the power flickers off as soon as the load is applied then comes back about a half second later. This probably isnt good for anything.... but i guess it cant be too terrible... maybe...
3) Then i went and tried the chest freezer (on high). it was able to do this as well. The chest freezer has a very high startup amp draw, I am not sure what, but it really bogs down this and other generators but running is only about 130 watts.
4) ECO mode is dead. if I switch to eco, with NO load, the overload light blinks on and off cutting power on and off. if you give it a load with eco engaged (up to about 750 watts) it will power it for a few seconds, then shut off for a few more and repeat, flickering on and off. Above about 750 watts it only flights on for maybe a second at a time. This would probably kill anything more than an electric heater.
5) I ran some seafoam through it to see if that helps anything, not at all (the gas is about 48 hours old at this point).
On "high" it does the bare minimum that I need it to do. I dont like how it flickers on high, and eco is worthless (so its more noisy and less efficient). Previous experience with "service" centers shows they are a ripoff and get me no where.
I will file my generac incident report on monday. maybe that will get me somewhere. If not, at least I have the pleasure of knowing that this review will help people.
the generator does seem to be really nice.... if only it worked.... The build quality does indicate a good design, some thought was put into it. I dont know if I just have a bad generator, or if the same attention that was given to the exterior wasnt given to the electronics and the engine.... Its a shame, they got close...
