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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Sportsman GEN154 2,000 Watt 80cc 4-Stroke Portable Generator



Amazon Sales Rank: #10832 in Lawn & Patio Brand: Buffalo Model: GEN154 Dimensions: 15.50" h x 14.60" w x 18.10" l, 54.65 pounds Powerful and reliable 4-stroke 80cc portable generator 2,000 peak watts/1,500 running watts 1.32-gallon fuel tank 9-hour runtime Non-CARB Compliant/Not For Sale In California

Ideal for camping trips or as a backup power source at home, the Buffalo Tools 2,000-watt portable gas generator features a 4-stroke, 80 cc engine for easy starts. It has an automatic low-oil shutoff mode to prevent engine damage, and with a 1.32-gallon fuel tank, the unit will run 9-hours at a 50-percent load. The generator is EPA approved, and comes backed with a 90-day warranty. 1500 Running Watts. Runs Up To 9 Hours @ 50 Percent Load. Ideal Size For Hunters And Campers Running TV's, Radios, And Small Stoves.

Most helpful customer reviews 180 of 189 people found the following review helpful. The good, the bad, and the ugly! By P. Wright I purchased one of these about five months ago from a popular online seller for $199.99 with free S&H. If you already own, or you are considering buying this gen set, you should read this. If you have experienced some of the same problems, maybe this info will be helpful. I am a retired Plant Engineer from a major world class manufacturer in the US and have 40+ years of experience with machinery and equipment so I know a lot about equipment manufacturing and repair. I really like the concept and idea of this gen set because its small, light, and it really does run about 9 hours (50% load) on a tank (1.3 gal.) of fuel but it does have its problems. I can sum up the problems I've had in two words, Quality Control! I can't speak for all the units out there, only mine. From what I have been able to gather from my research, there are several generations of this generator manufactured to date. I believe mine is somewhere in the middle with a manufacture date of Oct. 2007, so some, or all, of these issues may have been addressed with the newer ones. I will give you the good, the bad, and the ugly, as I experienced it. I have two other generators that I use for emergency power but I needed something small, light, and more fuel efficient to use at the fish camp and hunting lease. I needed only about 1100 watts for lights, and to keep the RV batteries charged, so this one seemed the perfect match. Most people buy the largest generator they can get not realizing that they have to move, store, and feed the hungry beast. When I purchased this one, gas was over $4.00 a gallon so it was senseless to use a larger one for my needs and waste precious fuel. When I took it out of the box I liked what I saw. I filled it with oil and gas and started it as per the manual. I was disappointed that it took 7 or 8 healthy pulls to finally start it. Even though it was new it should start easier and quicker when you use the choke. After letting it run for 5 minutes or so I put it under a 1000 watt resistive load. It worked fine but I noticed a substantial amount of oil under the engine. Very disappointed, I shut it down and checked for any loose nuts, screws, oil plug, etc., but could not determine from where the oil was leaking. It continued to leak even though it wasn't running so I knew it was a below oil level leak. I drained the oil/gas and called the seller expecting to exchange it. Of course they recommended that I follow the manual and call the mfg. which I had already done. On the third day of calling the seller and demanding to talk to a supervisor, and demanding an exchange for one that functioned properly without leaking oil, he finally told me they were out of stock and didn't know when they would be restocked and offered a refund of the full purchase price. I took his offer and ask him how he wanted me to handle the return S&H. His reply surprised me. They didn't want it back and he asked me if I would dispose of it. Sure I would! I think he had an idea what the problem was and it wasn't worth it for them to pay return S&H, repair cost, and then having to sell it as refurbished for a reduced price. I was sure that with a little time I could determine the cause of the leak and possibly fix the problem. I was unable to see from where the oil was leaking without removing the generator from the frame so that's what I did. It appeared that the oil was coming from under the front motor mount so I removed both motor mounts. I still couldn't tell exactly where the oil was coming from. I cleaned the bottom of the motor and then filled it with transmission fluid (do not run it like this) knowing the red color would be easier to detect. It worked! The oil was coming from a "casted in hole" that could be used for an oil drain in other applications. Manufacturers generally do this a lot so they can use their product for

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