Customer Reviews

Porter-Cable BSI550-W 5,500 Watt Generator with 10 HP Engine

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As an engineer, I'm obsessed with numbers and choosing a generator presents the perfect opportunity to play with them. I won't bother you with a lot of technical details, but this is the generator I chose after 4 months of deep, deep researching.

First criteria: my needs. I wanted to power a 3 bedroom home with a finished basement through the harsh winters in Maine. Here are the devices I setup as an absolute necessity to power up during an emergency:
1) Water well pump, 2) Furnace blower, 3) Basement Sump Pump, and 4) Refrigerator. Here are the "good-to-haves": 5) lights in the kitchen and main living room, 6) pellet stove, 7) oven range. And, finally, just the "nice-to-haves": 8) TV, 9) microwave oven, 10) computer. And here's what gets excluded: all the 2nd floor in the house, garage door opener, bedroom lights, everything else not listed above.

By adding the must-haves and nice-to-haves, a 5500 W generator takes care of business. One of my concerns: since I have a lot of electric motors to start (well & sump pumps, refrigerator, furnace blower) this requires a good surge capacity from the generator. In case you don't know, a motor takes a lot of electricity to start up, between 3 to 5 times (!) over their normal running wattage. Here's the caveat: not all motors should start at the same time, so then determining what your surge wattage is becomes an "art". Consumer Reports simply tells you to ignore the surge wattage, since all the generators they tested started their appliances with no problem. Well, the thing is, they don't mention what appliances they tested and how they started them (manual selective start or just regular use?). So, their point is taken, but surge wattage can't be simply ignored (it shouldn't be the only criteria to buy a bigger generator, though).

Well, this generator, with a 9000 W surge, is the biggest I've seen in all 5500 models -- it beats them all. So, this model is perfect for me, as it meets the criteria I've selected above. It even powers my computer and TV (with surge protector) if the oven range is turned off.

This is very important: if you turn your generator on, you're in "emergency mode". This means, you lose some comfort, some conveniences. You just try to keep the inconveniences at a minimum. Well, if you don't agree with my assessment above, you're looking for the wrong type of generator. If you want to power your entire house and live as if power wasn't lost, you need a stand-by generator, not a portable one. Of course, they cost a lot more money (good and powerful ones start at over 10,000 bucks). That's a lot of money to pay not to be inconvenienced. Now, since you're looking for portable ones (I assume so since you read this review so far), you'll have to give up something. Basically, you can't throw a pot roast party for 20 guests if you lose power; like I've said, you're in emergency mode. Cooking a gourmet meal shouldn't be a priority, order out, get pizzas. You get my point. So, decide what you want to power in an emergency situation.

Second criteria: fuel consumption. I was just about to purchase a 7500 W model with 13000 W surge, for about $1,400 bucks! Have you seen the fuel consumption for these generators? Only 8 hours, tops, at half load. This ones rates at 13.5 hours. Well, with gasoline prices hovering at around 2 bucks a gallon, do the math if you run a larger generator for 2 weeks (a possibility over hurricanes and severe winter storms): it may cost you over $500 dollars in gas! Of course, with this generator the cost drops significantly and you don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to refuel it. This is very important to me, especially during cold winter nights.

Third criteria: quality of parts and components. I wanted a good engine and a good quality brand name generator. This one meets my criteria. It's not a Honda, but they're overpriced anyway and most home-owners and occasional users won't benefit as much from them. Construction workers, electricians and contractors may benefit some from their cleaner electrical output and "quietness", but no generator is really quiet. I ran a Honda once at my house and, sincerely, they're loud too. You just have to work around their noise, it's one of the inconveniences of being in emergency mode. Compare the noise of a generator to 5 kids screaming at the top of their lungs. With a Honda, you have 4 kids screaming at the top of their lungs. My point: 4 or 5, it doesn't matter, they're still loud.

Finally, here's what I mean for "less is better". If all you want is to power your house during an emergency, there's a good chance you'll be wasting your money if you buy a 10,000 W generator or bigger. First, 10,000 Watts is a lot of juice to deliver and you'll need 50 Amp plugs, cables, and a big transfer switch box if you want to use all that juice. They're ALL more expensive when you talk 50 Amps. The regular 30 Amp already costs money, about $100 for cable (depends on the length you want), $300 bucks for the transfer switch with 8 to 10 breakers (a bit less with <6 breakers, but then you can't power as many appliances), and then installation labor. With my generator, I paid less than $1,500 for everything: generator, transfer switch box (required by law or you're liable, the risk is all yours if you chose to back feed to your house), cable, and labor. With a bigger unit (50 amps), good luck, you're talking a lot more money (I stopped adding up when it approached $3,000, including generator).

All in all, this generator is a winner; it powers my house (what I want), it has good fuel consumption, it's also "lighter" (160 lbs, compared to 250+ lbs for 7500W ones), and the price is good. I hit literally dozens of generator sellers on the Internet and locally for many weeks, and this one at Amazon.com beats them all. This may change, of course, but I'd still pick this model.

Some drawbacks: 1) no electric start. Well, they're notorious for not working anyway, especially in cold winters. I borrowed a generator from my brother-in-law and the electric start rarely works, we always end up pulling the cord to get it started anyway (both his and my generator start at most on the second pull, 100% of the time). 2) No Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR). This means the voltage output can vary quite a bit and may damage sensitive equipments. The manufacturers' manual requires that you use UL listed surge protectors for TV's, stereos and computers. I do that and so far, no problem. Only more expensive generators have AVR's and I didn't feel it was justifiable to pay hundreds of dollars more for one (then you have the fuel consumption issue if you buy bigger! Remember, in this case: less is better!).

Like insurance, you hope you don't have to use a generator, but when you need it, you will be glad you have it.
I hope you have good luck choosing and buying your generator. This one works really well for me. If your needs are similar to mine, picking this one is a no-brainer.

The shipping of this generator was good. The shipper was ABF Trucking. Their local agent coordinated with me before delivery, which took place two days early.
The generator was shipped with the portability kit in the same box. The instructions for assembly were clear and understandable, but did not help me attach the foot brackets to the generator frame. The frame was drilled but not tapped, so I could not get the screws that were provided started. I used a 1/4-20 tap to thread the holes. Assembly time was about two hours.
After following the preparation instructions, putting fuel in the tank and oil in the engine, and reading the starting instructions on the top of the fuel tank, I pulled the starting cord once, and the engine started. This generator provides enough electricity to run my water pump (1 HP), start my oil burner and run the circulating pumps, run the refrigerator, TV, and provide 1500 watts of lighting. It still had capacity left over, since it handled the startup load of the water pump very well. At $679 this generator is a great backup power source for the average size household. A voltmeter and loadmeter on the control panel would be nice, but at this price I think that is too much to ask.

I received this generator on 12-03-02. I purchased it to supply electricity to my home during power outages. I installed a transfer switch beside my main electrical panel and tried it out. It worked better than I had anticipated, running my 220 volt artesian well pump, my oil fired furnace, my refrigerator freezer, TV and many lights. I made sure the refrigerator's compressor was on, the furnace was running and the well pump was cycling so that I would be sure it would work during a real power outage. This generator started on the first pull and ran great. On the same day I received it, I saw the same generator at Lowes for eighty two dollars less, but customer service would not give me back one red cent.

I bought this generator after we had a bad ice storm here and our power was out for 4 days. After I received it I had an electrician come to my house and install a cutover box. The electrician wound up putting most of my house on it. We tested it, started on the first pull, and it ran everything I needed fine (fridge, freezer, furnace, sump pump, bedrooms, bathrooms, big screen, entertainment center, kitchen, etc.)

Along comes the "Blackout of 2003". THIS THING PERFORMED FLAWLESSLY!!! Except for my not having gas on hand to run it (Borrowed some from the neighbors to get it going) it did great!!! It ran what I needed in my house, plus I ran extension cords to TWO of my neighbor's to run their refridgerators and freezers. On average it was getting 13 hours of runtime on a tank of gas.

Nothing like fans on hi and smoothies to keep you cool while the power is out!

If you are not sure about getting this thing, stop and buy it right now, it is worth every penny!!! (I see it has gone up...) But like everyone else, I didn't really like the ABF shipping, not as 'user friendly' as UPS.

We just went through a power outage and ended up having water in the basement! Our battery back up sump pump was working hard, but the battery went dead. The solution and savior is this portable generator. We bought a Porter-Cable BSI550-W 5,500 Watt Generator with 10 HP Briggs and Stratton Engine. This generator is easy to move with the wheel kit included! Also the OHV engine and electronic ignition make it a breeze to start up! Every time it has started on the first pull! My wife can move the unit and start it up just as easy as me! Never again will we be caught off guard without power! This unit has enough power to run the sump pump, space heater and other small household appliances. Be prepared and get yourself one of these! It is one of the best priced units with good power ratings, engine and a wheel kit! Thank you to Porter Cable and Briggs and Stratton!

I purchased the Porter-Cable BSI550-W 5,500 Watt Generator with 10 HP Engine because I had to have portable power for residential construction. I bought it so I could run 13 - 15 amp circular saws and a 15 amp, 5 h.p. electric air compressor. It would not kick the compressor on when the air was at 100 lbs. so a serviceman set the rpm at 3700 rpm instead of the factory set 3600 rpm, which generates at 140 volts, no load. It runs great and runs super good. The negative side is having to idle it above the recommeded rpm and the extremely loud noise it makes even with the quiet muffler that it came with. There is also a loud rattling sound in the lower part of the 10 hp B and S engine. I don't know if that's a defect that can be fixed or something that you have to live with. It seems to come from the engine connecting rod to the piston. Other than that it is a great generator for the price. A person who uses it occasionally might not even be bothered by the rattling noise.

The Porter Cable 5500 watt generator is an excellent buy. Comparable models sell for much more. The generator came assembled except for the wheels and handles which were easy to assemble in 30 minutes. After filling the engine with motor oil and the gas tank with gasoline I was able to start the engine with one pull of the starter rope. The motor and generator operated flawless. The only problem I experienced was with the shipping of the generator. The generator was shipped on March 3, 2003 and did not arrive at its destination until March 17, 2003. Thats 11 working days to travel from North Dakota to Louisiana! The initial shipper was ABF freight. When contacted ABF was not sure where the generator was. It took a couple of days for them to find it. It was in Nebraska.

I bought this model in September 2003 as a back up generator to run through a generator transfer station. After repeated failures, a replacement generator and exceptionally bad warranty service, I think I finally have a generator that works. My first generator would not power anything from half of the outlets and the large outlet used for a generator transfer station (a station equipped with wattage meters and was tested with a neighbor's less powerful generator- his generator was able handle regular and full surge test needs). Unable to get a real person on the Porter-Cable customer service number, I took my generator to the closest listed warranty service shop...after several months of excuses, including no one at Porter-Cable would call the mechanic to tell them how to fix it, and very poor customer service, I attempted to contact a real person at Porter-Cable...next to impossible. I then contacted Amazon by email to see if they could contact Porter-Cable. Instead, Amazon arranged to ship me a new unit and take the old one back, with no charge to me....incredible! Kudos to Amazon! The second generator operated for three hours (during a power outage) and started to die. Two different warranty service shops, another few months and several pick-ups/drop offs later (during the work day, naturally), I am told it will finally run properly. I hope so, as it is now out of warranty. So, in over two years, my generator has been able to run properly for a total of four hours and I was unable to get the attention of Porter-Cable to help fix either of these two poorly-made products. I even took the time to write a letter to the president of Porter-Cable detailing every issue and problem...no answer in two months. I hesitate to write a bad review for any products (and have not done so up to this point), but in this case, I feel I need to share "after sale" issues for anyone who receives a poorly-made generator that they are going to trust to provide power in an emergency situation...with all the service trips and time spent, it would have been cheaper to pay twice as much (I paid $700) and have a generator I could trust (I don't trust this one anymore, not a great feeling to have about an emergency back-up generator). The only shining star in this tale is Amazon, who went well beyond the call of duty to help me.

This is certainly a step UP from the usual 4,500 watt "budget" generators! Very easy to assemble and a wonderful heavy duty unit that will power MOST of my house in case of electrical problems. Be aware.. you will still need to probably purchase a transfer switch (around $400) and cable (another $50) plus a couple hundred more for installation if you want to do it the "RIGHT" way, however, I figured that in the event of a power outage, it is MORE than worth the cost. I purchased this item when there was free delivery, which was great, because the shipping company said that it would probably have been an additional $200 for shipping this item! I also got a $50 rebate and the price was quite a bit lower than it is now, but I still don't think you can go wrong with this unit. The large fuel tank is certainly a plus! Of course, the delivery company met me and delivered it to the "street" (I had to drag it UP my driveway), but it was well worth it for the price (free!). Porter Cable has a great reputation for this equipment, and I'm looking foward to giving it a full test as soon as my power drops out this winter.

As an engineer, I'm obsessed with numbers and choosing a generator presents the perfect opportunity to play with them. I won't bother you with a lot of technical details, but this is the generator I chose after 4 months of deep, deep researching.

First criteria: my needs. I wanted to power a 3 bedroom home with a finished basement through the harsh winters in Maine. Here are the devices I setup as an absolute necessity to power up during an emergency:
1) Water well pump, 2) Furnace blower, 3) Basement Sump Pump, and 4) Refrigerator. Here are the "good-to-haves": 5) lights in the kitchen and main living room, 6) pellet stove, 7) oven range. And, finally, just the "nice-to-haves": 8) TV, 9) microwave oven, 10) computer. And here's what gets excluded: all the 2nd floor in the house, garage door opener, bedroom lights, everything else not listed above.

By adding the must-haves and nice-to-haves, a 5500 W generator takes care of business. One of my concerns: since I have a lot of electric motors to start (well & sump pumps, refrigerator, furnace blower) this requires a good surge capacity from the generator. In case you don't know, a motor takes a lot of electricity to start up, between 3 to 5 times (!) over their normal running wattage. Here's the caveat: not all motors should start at the same time, so then determining what your surge wattage is becomes an "art". Consumer Reports simply tells you to ignore the surge wattage, since all the generators they tested started their appliances with no problem. Well, the thing is, they don't mention what appliances they tested and how they started them (manual selective start or just regular use?). So, their point is taken, but surge wattage can't be simply ignored (it shouldn't be the only criteria to buy a bigger generator, though).

Well, this generator, with a 9000 W surge, is the biggest I've seen in all 5500 models -- it beats them all. So, this model is perfect for me, as it meets the criteria I've selected above. It even powers my computer and TV (with surge protector) if the oven range is turned off.

This is very important: if you turn your generator on, you're in "emergency mode". This means, you lose some comfort, some conveniences. You just try to keep the inconveniences at a minimum. Well, if you don't agree with my assessment above, you're looking for the wrong type of generator. If you want to power your entire house and live as if power wasn't lost, you need a stand-by generator, not a portable one. Of course, they cost a lot more money (good and powerful ones start at over 10,000 bucks). That's a lot of money to pay not to be inconvenienced. Now, since you're looking for portable ones (I assume so since you read this review so far), you'll have to give up something. Basically, you can't throw a pot roast party for 20 guests if you lose power; like I've said, you're in emergency mode. Cooking a gourmet meal shouldn't be a priority, order out, get pizzas. You get my point. So, decide what you want to power in an emergency situation.

Second criteria: fuel consumption. I was just about to purchase a 7500 W model with 13000 W surge, for about $1,400 bucks! Have you seen the fuel consumption for these generators? Only 8 hours, tops, at half load. This ones rates at 13.5 hours. Well, with gasoline prices hovering at around 2 bucks a gallon, do the math if you run a larger generator for 2 weeks (a possibility over hurricanes and severe winter storms): it may cost you over $500 dollars in gas! Of course, with this generator the cost drops significantly and you don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to refuel it. This is very important to me, especially during cold winter nights.

Third criteria: quality of parts and components. I wanted a good engine and a good quality brand name generator. This one meets my criteria. It's not a Honda, but they're overpriced anyway and most home-owners and occasional users won't benefit as much from them. Construction workers, electricians and contractors may benefit some from their cleaner electrical output and "quietness", but no generator is really quiet. I ran a Honda once at my house and, sincerely, they're loud too. You just have to work around their noise, it's one of the inconveniences of being in emergency mode. Compare the noise of a generator to 5 kids screaming at the top of their lungs. With a Honda, you have 4 kids screaming at the top of their lungs. My point: 4 or 5, it doesn't matter, they're still loud.

Finally, here's what I mean for "less is better". If all you want is to power your house during an emergency, there's a good chance you'll be wasting your money if you buy a 10,000 W generator or bigger. First, 10,000 Watts is a lot of juice to deliver and you'll need 50 Amp plugs, cables, and a big transfer switch box if you want to use all that juice. They're ALL more expensive when you talk 50 Amps. The regular 30 Amp already costs money, about $100 for cable (depends on the length you want), $300 bucks for the transfer switch with 8 to 10 breakers (a bit less with <6 breakers, but then you can't power as many appliances), and then installation labor. With my generator, I paid less than $1,500 for everything: generator, transfer switch box (required by law or you're liable, the risk is all yours if you chose to back feed to your house), cable, and labor. With a bigger unit (50 amps), good luck, you're talking a lot more money (I stopped adding up when it approached $3,000, including generator).

All in all, this generator is a winner; it powers my house (what I want), it has good fuel consumption, it's also "lighter" (160 lbs, compared to 250+ lbs for 7500W ones), and the price is good. I hit literally dozens of generator sellers on the Internet and locally for many weeks, and this one at Amazon.com beats them all. This may change, of course, but I'd still pick this model.

Some drawbacks: 1) no electric start. Well, they're notorious for not working anyway, especially in cold winters. I borrowed a generator from my brother-in-law and the electric start rarely works, we always end up pulling the cord to get it started anyway (both his and my generator start at most on the second pull, 100% of the time). 2) No Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR). This means the voltage output can vary quite a bit and may damage sensitive equipments. The manufacturers' manual requires that you use UL listed surge protectors for TV's, stereos and computers. I do that and so far, no problem. Only more expensive generators have AVR's and I didn't feel it was justifiable to pay hundreds of dollars more for one (then you have the fuel consumption issue if you buy bigger! Remember, in this case: less is better!).

Like insurance, you hope you don't have to use a generator, but when you need it, you will be glad you have it.
I hope you have good luck choosing and buying your generator. This one works really well for me. If your needs are similar to mine, picking this one is a no-brainer.