DIYbanter - View Single Post - Questions about buying a standby electrical generator

George

On 8/18/2012 12:46 PM, wrote:
On Aug 17, 6:27 pm, George wrote:
On 8/17/2012 5:38 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:

On 8/17/12 10:51 AM, wrote:
This being a 'rural' group, I figured many in here are familiar with
this subject.

I'm seriously thinking of getting a 20kw standby generator installed.
We have regular outages in this area. One outage lasted for a week.
Our 5500 watt portable Generac has been getting us through these just
fine for the last dozen or so years. However, I'm two years shy of
eighty, and I'm getting tired of getting up at 2:00 A.M and
hightailing it to the garage through rain blowing sideways while
pulling 75 feet of heavy duty cord to connect to the switch box on the
side of the house. Arguing with the pull cord and the choke on the
Generac ain't fun either while half asleep and soaked to the skin.
Now, a natural gas operated standby does all the work itself, plus
knows exactly when the power comes back on.

Anyway, has anyone in here have any opinions as to the merits of
Generac vs. Kohler or some other brands of generators? How are these
companies when it comes to standing behind their products? I never
knew it would be so hard getting this done. It's been one problem
after another with outfits that supply these things - and then sub
contract the work out to lord-know-who. It also seems everyone does
their damndest to hide the price of the generator itself inside the
installation charges. I'm on my third outfit now trying to get this
done. I wasn't thrilled this morning to get a copy of the contract
from the latest seller disclaiming all warranties of any kind. The
contract states "Buyer acknowledges that no express or implied
warranties (including warranties of merchantability or fitness) have
been made by the seller and seller hereby disclaims all such
warranties."

Huh?

And I should pay about eight grand for this?

??

I'll add another group to your post. The misc.rural group is
pretty quiet.

All that disclaimer means is that the contractor isn't making any claims
above and beyond those of the manufacturer nor are they providing any
warranty beyond that of the manufacturer.

But that isn't what that section of the contract actually
says.

So what does it mean? It certainly is standard verbage used in contracts.

If that is what they meant, then they should have
said there are no warranties beyond that provided by
manufacturer. I'd cross them off my list immediately,
as they are obviously too stupid to write a contract.
Plus it;s not unreasonable to expect some warranty
on their work too.

If 5500 watt does everything you need why would you want to almost
quadruple the capacity? You will be burning more fuel and the initial
cost is obviously more

As far as generac there is a world of difference between the big box
versions and the ones that come from distributors.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have a neighbor that had a Generac that came from
a dealer. About 6 years old, it went out during the
hurricane a year ago. Dealer inspected it and found
it to be a total loss because the generator is shot.
Neighbore bought a whole new one. Another
neighbor got the old, "shot" one. He's investigating
if it really is shot. So far, all the windings appear to
have reasonable readings, and they look fine. N o
burned smell, etc. There is a burned smell though
coming from a component in the control circuitry.
My bet is that's what's really shot and it can be
fixed.