Customer Reviews

ETQ TG32P12 4,000 Watt 7 HP 207cc 4-Cycle OHV Gas Powered Portable Generator

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I am a Power Quality Technician for the local power company and I have much experience with electric power. This is one fine generator. I was worried the voltage would be all over the place. I placed a 2400 watt load using a Mega Beast on this and it varied by 1 volt! Nominal 120 volts. I was very happy. This will work in an emergency to keep the heat on and the beer cold as long the total watts is not exceeded. Recommended!

Received this generator in good condition 3 days after ordering! Some assembly required, which created my first concern- the nuts & bolts supplied had very poor threads- I had to screw them together with two wrenches to loosen them up enough to use. Not a good first impression. On my unit, the 240v outlet is installed at an angle with only part of it coming through the mounting hole. Either the outlet was a little too big or the hole in the mounting plate too small, but the fact that they shipped it without correcting this is troubling. The practical result is the insulating cover that should protect the back of the 240v and the 2 120v outlets does not fit properly and bare terminals are exposed behind the panel. Finally, on my unit, starting was hard initially. Upon inspection, I found the plug wire was loose. Snapped it on and it started easily.

This unit is fairly loud, but I started my 6.5 hp Craftsman lawnmower next to it for comparison and the mower was noticeably louder. I do recommend getting a funnel with a flexible neck for filling with oil.

It seems capable as rated; I connected a 1500 watt heater to the right hand 120v outlet and the voltage dropped only 1 volt. On the left, however, it sustained the load, but the voltage dropped to 114v. From studying the schematic, it appears on this generator that the load is voltage compensated on the right outlet only, which is connected to one of the two field coils on the alternator. The left outlet is not regulated, so you want to try and balance your load between the two outlets as much as possible, and connect any sensitive devices to the righthand one.

All in all, I'm satisfied with this generator for my purpose, which is emergency power for my refrigerator, gas fireplace fan and some lights.

UPDATE 9/21/08: Used it in the aftermath of hurricane ike. Fortunately my power was restored after only 4 days. So I was able to use the generator for a while about 40 hours continuously. It ran flawlessly, powering my 50" plasma TV, DVD player, receiver, refrigerator, and window A/C, plus countless cell phone chargers, several lights and other items. The generator ran continuously (except for a refuel and oil changes changed oil @ 20hrs) and quietly without any problems. This made what could have been a miserable ordeal into merely inconvenient. The generator was also extremely fuel efficient burning about 6 gallons a day running all of the above items (only the fridge continuously). I highly recommend this generator and am very satisfied with my purchase. Refueling was easy, and the gas gauge worked fine. BTW fuel efficiency is nice post disaster as getting gas is hard (I stockpiled 30 gallons)

Original:
I purchased this generator (280) before its recent price increase, and thought it was an exceptional value for a backup generator I live in Houston and wanted it for emergency power. It had the most important features I felt for a crisis in the south. Enough power to run a window a/c and fridge + entertainment devices. Plus its fuel efficient as gasoline is hard to come by in a crisis (storing 20 gallons for 72 hours). What really sold me on the generator is the GFCI outlets. A must have safety feature, that you have to add to the cost of other generators (27.50 for an extension cord with it) Also keep in mind that if you need this for emergency power figure how many gallons you'll need + extension cords. For me I spent another $100 for oil funnel, oil, gas tanks, extension cords.

1st the real specs... This generator has a 6.5HP 196cc and it claims to have a 13hr run time at half load for a full tank. The engine is manufactured by Chongqing AM Pride Power & Machines Co LTD. Mine was model #8CPPS 2071GA. It is also rated at 75db at 21ft. I have a sound level meeter, that I used to verify the sound level. I found that at 21 ft the generator with no load is about 70db. Also the sound level varies greatly depending on what side your facing. The exhaust side being the loudest. Bottom line its quiet enough that I can't hear it from inside my house.

Power output... I load tested the generator, but I did note that out of the box the generator was pumping 122V which is fine, but a little hot at 62.5hz frequency. Should be 60hz, but should be acceptable for any item you want to run and as you load the generater the frequency drops to 60hz, and volts stay good and steady (perfect). I also notice the engine tone changes with load. Also the engine seems well isolated with rubber mounts. I hooked it up to my APC XS 1500LCD to measure its output, and it ran my plasma tv and hometheater just fine. In fact I was able to run an 8000BTU airconditioner, Refrigerator, hometheater (50" plasma with surround sound) all at the same time without issue. In fact the generator would only bog slightly when the A/C would kick on.

Out of the box my generator came shipped fine, no damage. The finish was in perfect shape. It was easy to assemble the wheel kit by setting the generator on top of the packing foam to raise it off the ground to attach the wheels. Like the solid never flat tires, and its easy to maneuver.

Adding oil is tricky, I ended up purchasing a funnel from walmart with a silicone tube hose connected to it to pour oil into the generator. You need one trust me, its not possible to add oil without a funnel. This funnel also had a nice feature of measuring oil ounces. BTW the manual isn't clear but you need to fill the oil level just to the point where it begins to run out the oil port when on level ground.

Starting was fairly easy. The engine started on my third try, not too unusual for a new item. The manual is poorly written but even considering its bad English readable enough for the average person to figure out. the manual seems complete with parts lists, and wiring diagrams. However it does not contain adjustment specs so its not good for a maintenance manual. Generator comes with 1 year warranty from eastern tools.

In terms of maintaining the generator through a power outage, this particular model needs frequent oil changes about every 10-50 hours depending on conditions. The spark plug is readily available at any auto parts place (walmart, nappa, homedepot). The air filter is a cleanable element so you don't have to worry about buying replacements. Overall it should be easy to maintain. Any engine work such as valve adjustment who knows....

Overall I think this is a great purchase for a small fuel efficient emergency generator. I should be ready for the next power outage!

I bought this generator for my parents, to keep their fridge and freezer going and allow them run small appliances during a power outage. This unit seems perfect. I like that wheels and a fold away handle are included, and the unit starts easily and is fairly quiet. The only negative comments I have are that the pull start handle is blocked by the front panel, making it necessary to pull the rope partway out and then pull it at about a 30 degree angle to the motor to start it. This isn't a big problem, but over time it might cause the rope to wear faster than if you could pull it straight out. As other other reviewers pointed out, the oil reservoir is nearly impossible to fill without a long, very narrow funnel, but since you may only do this once every few years, again, no big deal.

The generator seems to be a good value although there might be some reliability issues down the road. The generator started up without too much effort and ran steadily. The engine seems to be solid although the fuel shutoff valve on my generator doesn't work properly-the engine with the valve in the off position continued to run. The front control panel is made of very thin sheet metal and had already been damaged in shipping. The electrical plug outlets are attached directly to the thin metal and could over time come loose. There are lots of loose wires hanging in vulnerable areas and might be easily damaged. To fill the engine with oil is nearly impossible without using a very thin long funnel and without a low oil warning indicator checking the level manually could be a hassle. I guess as long as the unit is stored indoors and is treated with care it looks like a really good value overall and I would recommend it.

Yes it is less expensive and yes it may have free shipping, but you get what you pay for. I went through the instructions to prepare it (note: some of the insturctions did not apply and were for another model). The unit started-up right away but ran very rough. I looked for the choke and could not locate it. Pictures and diagrams did not help. Upon further inspection, I discovered the air cleaner assembly was broken in several places (including the choke). There were no parts in the box, so it looks like it was put together this way. I know the world is not perfect so I called customer service looking for replacement parts. Their customer service is poor. They did not apologize for the problem, they kept asking me if it is under warranty. I emailed them pictures of the damaged part and all they sent was a foam filter. This took two weeks. I called back again to complain about this, and was told it will take another two weeks to get the correct part. It was pointless to send them pictures of the damaged part. They do not respond to queries about when the parts will be received. Having this experience, I would move on to another manufacturer.

Length:: 0:16 Mins

This is just a short video of the generator running less than a minute after its first startup to give people an idea of the sound and frequency of the motor. It started on the first pull and settled into a steady run quickly as the choke was opened over the course of about 20 seconds.

PROS: Easy set-up, Easy startups, 90% on first (light) pull. Large muffler. Two GFCI outlets. The engine governor adjusts quickly to load changes. Noise is typical for a generator this size. Voltage and frequency are stable, though the frequency was high by a smidgen, but acceptable (62 Hz). No noticeable EFI/RFI noise on my TV set. The unit isn't excessively heavy, which is a plus for putting it on blocks to drain the oil.

CONS: The starter rope is poorly located (fortunately it starts easily). The user manual isn't very technical and doesn't cover the outlet electrical specifications in much detail. The oil fill hole not very accessible (no filler tube). I recommend a small-diameter, flexible hose funnel to fill the unit with oil. The generator has no built-in hour meter. The oil drain plug on my unit was excessively tightened and required a 10mm 6-point socket, 3/8" extension, a ratchet, and a lot of muscle to break the plug loose. The fuel cut-off switch is located directly off of the tank, not near the carburetor, so the unit will run a minute or two after fuel cut-off, as it burns the fuel in the long fuel line path to the carb.

I added a Hardline hour meter (available on Amazon.com) to make maintenance tracking much easier. (Installation is simple: wrap a wire around the spark plug wire 5 times, zip-tie it and insert the other end of the wire into the meter body.)

Fuel consumption was 0.175 Gallons / kWh at 1,800 Watts load. (Ethanol-free 87 Octane gasoline was used).

ENGINE BREAK-IN: the engine on my unit is a 207cc 7HP OHV Chongqing AmPride aluminum engine. I used Mobil Clean 5000 10w30 oil for the break-in oil change intervals and Mobil 1 synthetic oil after the break in changes. For my break-in, I used a load of 1,800 Watts (15 Amps), consisting of a small ceramic heater and a halogen work light. Removal of the initial engine-wear filings via short-interval oil changes is very important, as this generator does not have an oil filter. The manual sets the first scheduled oil change at 20 hours or first month, however I strongly recommend several intermediate break-in oil changes much earlier.

* Changed oil at 5 unit hours (highly recommended by me, but not warranty required): the oil had several large metallic specks and a lot of fine, sparkly filings from the break-in wear.
* Changed oil at 10 unit hours (recommended by me, but not warranty required): no large specks, just fine sparkly filings, though much less than was present at 5 hours.
* Changed oil at 20 unit hours (Scheduled Maintenance): Oil looked good, engine appears to have broken-in properly. Filled with Mobil 1 synthetic oil.

Eastern Tools and Equipment 3250-Watt Portable Generator #TG4000E Generator received one day earlier than expected; no damage. Great buy for the price at the $250 price with no shipping costs! Starts easily. Another review indicated faceplate was flimsy and would not hold up. Output receptacles, load protectors, and on/off switch are mounted to frame--therefore sturdy. Faceplate is decorative with descriptions. Exposed wires are as expected; similar to a car engine; should NOT be a problem as they are routed properly. Fuel shut-off valve works fine; generator will continue to run for a while because of residual fuel in the carburetor. Correct shut-down is turning On/Off switch to "Off". Have no clue if robust for commercial applications, but this generator appears great for residential use. Long term use is unknown at this time. So far I am delighted. I looked for several years and finally plunged with this deal.

I live in Houston, Texas and purchased this product last September before Hurricane Ike hit. I can't tell you what a life saver this piece of equipment has been. It was easy to assemble and start. The oil nozzle is in an awkward location but really isn't a problem, just use one of those long funnels. Also I didn't think the pull cord's location was too bad and since it always started on the first pull it wasn't an issue. What I do care about is that it ran for 14 days straight without a break and without a single problem. I ran it for that long because that was how long we went without power after Ike hit Houston. It did shut off once because after I filled it with oil the first time, I let it run for four days without checking the oil again and the built in oil sensor shut the generator off. I just had to refill the oil and then it turned right back on. After that I was careful to change the oil every two to three days. It is loud but both of my neighbors had generators and theirs were a lot louder than mine. Also one side is a lot louder than the other (the side with the exhaust) and we positioned that away from the house and with the doors closed it was more of a hum in the background that wasn't too bad. DON'T use this generator inside your house. We never would have done that with the fumes but you wouldn't believe how many people died in Houston during the Ike aftermath because they ran their generator in their house or too close to the door. I think most people did it because there was a generator shortage after the hurricane so the black market for generators was pretty hot and people had generators stolen off their front porch. We put ours in the back.

So what did this little guy do for me? All at the same time I was able to run:

1- My refrigerator with built-in ice maker
2- A 5200 BTU window air conditioner unit
3- My 52" LCD TV
4- My DishNetwork Satellite
5- Several lamps

I would also unplug the TV and Satellite and could use it to vacuum the carpets or run the washing machine. I tried to use it to run our electric dryer but it couldn't put out the juice so we had to hang our cloths up to dry.

As for gasoline consumption, running our window unit and refrigerator 24 hours a day and the others as needed, I calculated that we ran through 7 gallons of gas a day. We had four 5-gallon gas containers and could go three days straight before we needed to start worrying about refilling them.

Finally, after we got power back I went and followed the instructions to drain the gasoline out and change the oil. I then went and stored the generator in my garage through the winter. Just this past weekend, with the start-up of Hurricane season, I got out the generator and filled it with gas. Once again it started up without a problem. I put some anti-gumming stuff in the gas and now I feel confident that if we lose power again, we will be prepared.