Firman Power Dual Fuel Generator 7500 Running Watts

While I really like everything about this generator, there is one exception that would keep me from ever buying another one again. Its incredibly hard to start. Doesnt matter if its 80 or 10 degrees out. Choke on, choke off, choke in the middle, doesnt matter. Keep in mind, that the person writing this is a Master Mechanic for over 20 years. I called Firman, and while the guy was very nice and well intentioned, he had no idea how to help or answer my question. I can say one thing for sure, DO NOT use full choke. It will flood every time. Best way to start with only moderate success is to place choke in halfway position, crank for 2 to 3 seconds and stop. Wait 5 seconds, crank again and keep your fingers crossed. Usually starts this way. Once it does start, immediately begin to slowly move choke to full run position. Even after its completely warmed up, this thing is a crap shoot whether or not it will start if you shut it off. I have no doubt that the fact this thing is a dual fuel has something to do with it. Its not your standard carb and trying to do two things instead of one seems to be a problem for this carb.

We bought this mainly to keep a walk-in freezer up and running during emergencies and it DOES maintain our freezer(s) plus a couple other circuits. It is not Quiet, but acceptable for what it is doing.You need to know the current draw, or wattage you intend to have. On propane, the unit stalled due to the starting demand of a freezer coming out of defrost. Gasoline handled it fine.Someone stated it would have been nice to have a current load value displayed on the little multifunction panel display and I AGREE!The REAL issue is not a dirty waveform, as others have eluded, it’s the frequency. Power is supposed to be 60htz period. Units like this rely directly on engine RPM to produce that, but ours runs at 64htz with no load and under load it’s still more than 61.5Htz.This means many electronics will NOT work well, or at all. As a generator advertised to be used for RVs and other trailer applications, this will NOT do. Microwaves, TVs etc can be damaged. APCs won’t help either since they won’t charge while being powered by this generator.Sadly - while it works well with heavy brainless loads ( little to no electronics ) it can’t do much else.

Like several others, I purchased this generator at Costco, for less than half the cost of what Amazon is quoting.We live on a small farm, and this generator's job was to primarily run the pump house (multiple pumps, but the largest one is 3.5hp) , and provide some aux power to the house and garage to keep the fridge and deep freeze running.The unit performed this core mission perfectly. In addition it was able to charge MOST of our small devices (laptops/phones) with no problem.Wrt sound levels..., this one was actually towards the quieter end of the spectrum for generators of this class..., though admittedly, I wouldn't exactly call it "quiet".The unit always started easily with both electric and pull start, though some finesse is required during the first start of the day during very cold weather, and when the unit is hot. Cold weather hint: with fuel/ignition in the off position, pull the engine through a few times slowly with the pull start..., switch on, choke on, start, wait a couple of seconds, choke off. Also..., when hot, it actually seemed to prefer application of the choke per the normal start procedure.This generator is not meant for 24/7 operation, but used judiciously, the tank capacity and engine efficiency are fine..., 1 tank (8 ga) probably gets us through two days of power outage.Oil change is easy.Per other comments, the high THD does seem to preclude the use of some devices..., some UPSes being among them..., though over time (FWIW, it was able to charge mine, but very slowly), a little experimentation on our part expanded the envelope quite a bit.I do wish that the little "info panel" included some indication of current load, but I appreciate the total run-time counter. Wrt the choke lever..., it isn't positioned super conveniently, but it's not bad..., though I do wonder how robust/durable the little plastic lever and its rigging will be over time.It's hard to predict what the service life is gonna be, though I plan to buy a set of brushes, since I've read it's common for those to wear fairly quickly on generators of this class.That is all!

I purchased this in March 2019 when it was "remaindered" at Costco for $500. During the PG&E "PSPS" shutdown in October 2019, we ran it for three days straight on Propane. It ran fine, powered the house without difficulty, our (country plumbing) water pumps seem to like it OK.It is LOUD. If you live in an urban area you will very much annoy the neighbors. We're out in the country, and the generator is located by our detached garage about 125' away from our home, so the noise was not an issue for us or our nearest neighbors who are another 600' away.The unit weighs over 200 pounds. There is some minor assembly required, specifically putting the wheels on when first unpacking the unit. This was a modest challenge since I was working alone to put the wheels on but not all that difficult. The wheels are quite sturdy, but you need to be strong to move the beast. My wife could not, while I can with some care and effort (I'm 73 years old). But once in place you shouldn't need to move it again.Only problem was that our gas stove/oven has fancy electronic controls that didn't like the slightly high line frequency, 61Hz instead of utility 60Hz. So we couldn't run the electronically controlled oven. (The range burners work fine, just use a match to light them, same as you would in any power outage.) All in all a minor difficulty.We have a solar PV system, which on the advice of the inverter manufacturer (Solar Edge) we turned OFF while operating the generator. If we could have kept the PV system running, that would have reduced our fuel consumption somewhat. But that's a solar PV issue, not a generator issue.