HF Predator inverter generators

[les burt]

Harbour Freight has a sale on their Predator inverter generators. Has anyone had the opportunity to evaluate/use them?

I’m curious as to people’s impressions on reliability/quality.

I’d also like to know if the 3500w unit, or a pair of the 2000w units using the HF parallel kit can run the AC in our coaches?

Like most of the HF stuff, I don’t expect much, but occasionally some items are surprisingly decent for the money.

Les Burt
Montreal
'75 Eleganza 26'

 

[Carl Stouffer]

Les,

I am a small building contractor and my son is my lead man in the field. a year + ago, he wanted to try out one of the HF Predator generators (the
2000 watt). It is small enough to haul around in one of the bins in the utility bed of his truck, and portable and quiet enough to make it very
convenient for use on the job.

In the year that he has been using it, it has had zero issues. I think, for the money, it would be hard to beat. Consumer report recently did a
feature called "does Predator really beat Honda?" Their conclusion was that it is very comparable in every way except for the ability to take a heavy
surge. They couldn't speak to longevity, due to the relative newness of the predator.
--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member

 

[les burt]

Carl,
I did a little test of a friend’s Honda 2000i and it is impressive in all aspects except a heavy surge power demand. They just can’t handle the current surge that a conventional genset can. I believe this to be the case for all the inverter type generators.

I’m not surprised with your son’s experience with the 2000w Predator. I’m now wondering how 2 of them, or the 3500w would do with starting an AC unit. I have a cheap Chinese 2300w conventional genset, and it just barely starts my rooftop AC Unit. I would expect an inverter type unit to need better than 3000w to accomplish the same.

Les Burt
Montreal
'75 Eleganza 26'

>
> Les,
>
> I am a small building contractor and my son is my lead man in the field. a year + ago, he wanted to try out one of the HF Predator generators (the
> 2000 watt). It is small enough to haul around in one of the bins in the utility bed of his truck, and portable and quiet enough to make it very
> convenient for use on the job.
>
> In the year that he has been using it, it has had zero issues. I think, for the money, it would be hard to beat. Consumer report recently did a
> feature called "does Predator really beat Honda?" Their conclusion was that it is very comparable in every way except for the ability to take a heavy
> surge. They couldn't speak to longevity, due to the relative newness of the predator.
> --
> Carl Stouffer
> '75 ex Palm Beach
> Tucson, AZ.
> Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
> Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

 

[Carl Stouffer]

Les,

I think you're right. I would guess a 3500 watt would do the trick, but a pair of 2000s should certainly do it.
--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member

 

[les burt]

Someone on Facebook just stated that the predator 3500 will the rooftop AC in a Winnebago, so I’m going to assume that a pair of 2000w sets would do the same.

Les Burt
Montreal
'75 Eleganza 26'

>
> Les,
>
> I think you're right. I would guess a 3500 watt would do the trick, but a pair of 2000s should certainly do it.
> --
> Carl Stouffer
> '75 ex Palm Beach
> Tucson, AZ.
> Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
> Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

 

[johnny]

I put the 7500 Watt fixed speed one in my last 23', mostly because it was the smallest they had with an electric self-commencer. Not as quiet as an
Onan but not terribly intrusive. Fit inn, worked fine = which is more than I can say for the Junkerac it replaced. Mike Briere has the coach now,
dunno if he took the Predator out or not. It ran the a/c, water heater, coffee pot, and microwave all to once without complaint.
It's my opinion, Honda, like many manufacturers, is selling a name. They haven't got worse but everyone else has caught up to them. I bought one of
the little 2KW fixed ones at work (Ours sawe constant load). It was made in Tjhailand, and looked a LOT like the Ryobi 20 KW it replaced after many
years service.

--johnny
--
76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
"I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased

 

[d c *mac* macdonald]

Was the 7.5 kW genset to which you are referring a Predator and from what source? Was it 120V only or split 240?

D C "Mac" Macdonald​
Amateur Radio K2GKK​
Since 30 November '53​
USAF and FAA, Retired​
Member GMCMI & Classics​
Oklahoma City, OK​
"The Money Pit"​
TZE166V101966​
'76 ex-Palm Beach​
k2gkk + hotmail dot com​

________________________________
From: Gmclist on behalf of Johnny Bridges via Gmclist
Sent: Sunday, September 2, 2018 15:02
To: gmclist
Cc: Johnny Bridges
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] HF Predator inverter generators

I put the 7500 Watt fixed speed one in my last 23', mostly because it was the smallest they had with an electric self-commencer. Not as quiet as an
Onan but not terribly intrusive. Fit inn, worked fine = which is more than I can say for the Junkerac it replaced. Mike Briere has the coach now,
dunno if he took the Predator out or not. It ran the a/c, water heater, coffee pot, and microwave all to once without complaint.
It's my opinion, Honda, like many manufacturers, is selling a name. They haven't got worse but everyone else has caught up to them. I bought one of
the little 2KW fixed ones at work (Ours sawe constant load). It was made in Tjhailand, and looked a LOT like the Ryobi 20 KW it replaced after many
years service.

--johnny
--
76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
"I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased