PREP Harbor Freight's Predator 5000 Duel Fuel Inverter Generator

Anti-Liberal

Anti-Liberal

Veteran Member
I did a lot of research and a lot of going back and forth on different brands but Predator 5000 won out. Yes, it's chinese made (most are) but the Predator brand generally has a good record. My brother has experience with the motor since it's used in cart racing and he's built a quite a few. The 5000 out the gate had an issue with the usage of propane and they took it off the market but now it's reintroduced. The price is $1100 and the 2 year extended warranty (mandatory for me) is $315. I bought it with the warranty for 30% off. Youtube impressions are good with the occasional brick but it comes with a 90 day warranty. I've been trying for months to save for a genny but something always comes up but after watching that damn movie it kinda motivated me. The purchase hurt like shit but we'll recover. Anyone have something similar?

Run time 12:19
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2hm9qtZSqI
 
dstraito

dstraito

TB Fanatic
I bought a Generac back when I had some discretionary funds. It was good from a technical point of view. From a practical point of view, my health declined and now it is too big for me to wheel around. I kept 10 gallons of gas around in gas containers and did not think about it so the gas went bad. I learn from experience and sometimes it can be costly.
 
Jackpine Savage

Jackpine Savage

Veteran Member
I bought a Costco Firman 9500 Dual fuel three years ago for $600. It has 12 hours on it. I start it the first of every month (mostly) and let it run for 10 minutes or so and put a load on it for a few minutes. We ran it for several hours during one power outage. It also gets used for working on deer stands.

Last month I went to start it and after a couple minutes of sputtering and a backfire, I noticed there was gas dripping out of the carburetor. I pulled the carb and found a little string of rubber stuck in the needle valve. Put it back together, changed the oil, and it's back running again. I've been meaning to start a thread on adding a three way fuel valve and fuel filter, ha.
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
Neighbor found a MQ 6KW for $3k, almost no hours.

An 1800rpm, Kubota powered diesel.

I'm looking for a small x-fer switch/sub panel.

It's only 25amp rated output, but it's a solid 25amp. Not the inflated numbers on the portable screamers.

DCA6SPX4F_rdax_300x246.jpg


It will still be running when there are only cockroaches and twinkies on the earth.
 
M

marsofold

Veteran Member
Repairman-Jack

Repairman-Jack

Veteran Member
Anti-Liberal said:
I did a lot of research and a lot of going back and forth on different brands but Predator 5000 won out. Yes, it's chinese made (most are) but the Predator brand generally has a good record. My brother has experience with the motor since it's used in cart racing and he's built a quite a few. The 5000 out the gate had an issue with the usage of propane and they took it off the market but now it's reintroduced. The price is $1100 and the 2 year extended warranty (mandatory for me) is $315. I bought it with the warranty for 30% off. Youtube impressions are good with the occasional brick but it comes with a 90 day warranty. I've been trying for months to save for a genny but something always comes up but after watching that damn movie it kinda motivated me. The purchase hurt like shit but we'll recover. Anyone have something similar?

Run time 12:19
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2hm9qtZSqI
Click to expand...
Had this generator been an option 10+ years ago when I bought my Honda EU2000, I probably would have gone that route as well.

I bought an after market tri-fuel kit, best think I did for it, I'd much rather store propane vs gasoline. Multi fuel would be a requirement for any portable genset I'd buy in the future, ethanol in gas is a b!tch on small engines.
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
Yes, LP if you can do it.

I've got some ancient (late 70s, early 80s) Onan, air cooled, LP/NG burners that I service. In the 10-15KW range.

They were set up as dual fuel from the get-go, but never had liquid fuel in them.

Still fire right up and gen right along like they are supposed to.
 
R

rs657

Veteran Member
There is nothing wrong with Harbor Freight generators.
We have an old blue Harbor Freight 6500 watt generator purchased new around 2010 and converted it to run on gas or propane. We normally use propane in it. It has never let us down. It is a great generator but is heavy and loud. We have several old blue Harbor Freight 800 watt 2 cycle generators and they run great too. Picked up a new dual fuel Champion 2400 watt inverter generator in 2023 which is quiet and portable for lighter loads. It works great too.
 
O

one4freedom

Senior Member
What are some opinions on percent of power used on a steady state basis? I feed a pair of inverter chargers (240 volt input) hooked to a 42 KWH lead acid battery bank. It seems like if I load a generator more the about half of rated output (4000 watt out of 8000 on LPG for example) it seems like the generator's governor seem to hunt more. Also since these cheap generators are air cooled I don't think they really like a much heavier load. Darn cloudy weather anyways. The latest one Ford I didn't run it on gasoline so it shouldn't get gummed up. Originally I had a small Honda gasoline generator but I found you shouldn't buy the GC version of honda instead look for GX. Over the years I bought a couple of other generators, Should have a spare you know. The Honda drips gas, someday I will replace the carb. The Pulsar won't start but I suspect that since I used gas in it some of the time it may need carb cleaning.
 
T

Thinwater

Firearms Manufacturer
My main generator is a 10.5 KW diesel. My back up generators are a Harbor freight 2KW and a Yamaha 2KW, gas powered.


My back up to the above is a dozen 250 watt solar panels and several 1500 - 2000 watt sine wave inverters with numerous charge controllers including an 80 amp Outback beast of a charge controller.

My last resort electric back up is a no battery required system that I made that regulates several p[anels down to 13.8 volts to power several USB, 12V cigarette plugs and a small inverter that plugs into that.

I have two solar evacuated tube cookers, a 60" reflective dish cooker, a dozen or so rocket stoves (Made on my CNC plasma cutter and or water jet)
 
Lorraine in GA

Lorraine in GA

Senior Member
BH said:
I bought the Preditor 3500 to provide alt charging power for days when "The sun don't shine". I need about 2800 watts for this alt charging, so this was a good fit. This thing has electric start and is very, very quiet.
Click to expand...
This is the same one that I bought. The electric start doesn't work anymore, but I'm guessing that the battery is dead. A while back I tried to search for a replacement battery, but had a really hard time finding one. The pull start works, and that's all that matters. lol I agree, it is a very quiet generator and very similar to the Honda EU 3000IS for less than half the price.
 
BornFree

BornFree

Came This Far
The 5000 does not have a 220 volt outlet in case that matters to someone. So even though it has enough power to run a submersible well pump, it does not output the proper voltage for it. I would be curious to know what the relationship between each of the hots on the 120 volt outlets are. If they are just connected together. If someone has one then use a voltmeter to measure between the shorter slots on the outlets. If there is 220 volts between them then that opens up possibilities.
 
hiwall

hiwall

Has No Life - Lives on TB
The 8750 I have (really a 7000 watt continuous) will run our whole house. We have done laundry using our deep well (220 volt) and washer and electric dryer all being used at once plus a few lights and such.
Our freezer and our refrigerator are always on solar.
 
S

Squid

Veteran Member
I bought a Kawasaki 7500 for y2k with an electrician installed load transfer switch.

After many years of springs storms and 2 multiple day power outages one 6 days in the middle of a very cold winter the single best purchase I ever made. Even if the world didn’t end in 2000.
 
Anti-Liberal

Anti-Liberal

Veteran Member
tech said:
Picked up a Predator 9000 inverter genset a couple years ago. Lots quieter and economical than the one that we were using...no issues yet.
Click to expand...
If that was duel fuel and a little cheaper I would of held out for that. I hear it was originally $1700 but now is $2399-$200 for the holidays.
 
W

Weft and Warp

Senior Member
Anti-Liberal said:
I did a lot of research and a lot of going back and forth on different brands but Predator 5000 won out. Yes, it's chinese made (most are) but the Predator brand generally has a good record. My brother has experience with the motor since it's used in cart racing and he's built a quite a few. The 5000 out the gate had an issue with the usage of propane and they took it off the market but now it's reintroduced. The price is $1100 and the 2 year extended warranty (mandatory for me) is $315. I bought it with the warranty for 30% off. Youtube impressions are good with the occasional brick but it comes with a 90 day warranty. I've been trying for months to save for a genny but something always comes up but after watching that damn movie it kinda motivated me. The purchase hurt like shit but we'll recover. Anyone have something similar?

Run time 12:19
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2hm9qtZSqI
Click to expand...
Do they make a tri-fuel version? That's what I need. We have NG from our own well. Perfect source of fuel when everything else goes out.
 
S

Switchback

Veteran Member
With generators, during an extended grid outage, folks will burn through their fuel stocks quickly with the decision of relying only on large whole home systems. Especially running them long duration to maintain a feeling of normalcy. Big engines and generators have BIG appetites for fuel consumption. Any fuel. I think many ignore that, thinking an outage will be only short duration before restoration. Generally it's always been that way. But what if that changes in the future.

Even when the house is pulling little current, the big engines are pulling fuel out of gas or propane tanks.

I chose a tiered system of several efficient Hondas of various output ratings. Why run a big unit when a smaller more efficient one will get the job done for way less fuel.
At times I may just want lighting for a couple hours. I'll use a fuel sipping 1KW unit. It will run my pellet stove (I will start the stove without the igniter hooked up and manual fire it up) as well as lights, radios.
If I choose to power up my freezer and fridge with some lighting, I'll go with something bigger for a couple hours and power down to conserve fuel. I'll utilize the bigger set(s) to power freezers until perishable food is consumed. I won't be using the electric stove.
I'll use an appropriate sized set to build water pressure and shut it down.

That will really stretch my fuel consumption. I have a manual pump to pull water out of my well and true multi fuel Petromax lantern and cook stove. A modest solar setup to provide power for radios... for entertainment and comms.

One of the things I learned from going without electricity for 6 months in the USVI was that loud gen noise pisses people off bigtime and attracts thieves. You better have that thing chained well. Also people tried to run their units constantly for many hours on end (maintain normalcy at night) and the cheaper units died from valve train problems and worn cylinders. They also smoked them by overloading and burned the windings. The generators became boat good anchors.

From my experience, people who had the Hondas had power the longest and never had starting problems. Period.
I know this because people flocked to my shop in Cruz Bay with cheap, inexpensive gen sets that died on them and were torn down for inspection. Worn out and burned.
Many will get to see how long fuel stocks last with a larger KW whole house generator.
 
Shadow

Shadow

Swift, Silent,...Sleepy
I find the inverter unit (Honda) to be quite robust. I was very suspect of the durability of inverters mounted on a hot vibrating engine in the past. Now I recommend them, especially for the quiet and fuel savings. I put 1100 hours on an EU2200 from May to Oct in the heat of Texas. I have no experience with the Predator units but the knowledge of how to build durable inverters has been out there for a while.

I would change the oil at 50-75 hours rather than the 100 hours recommended. The small engines do not have filters.

Switchback's post has much to offer!

Shadow
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
Another thing to extend the life of small screamers.

Change the oil to a full synthetic after break in. (I use Royal Purple on all my small engines)

After you run it a bit with new oil, check the frequency.

There is some chance that the RPM will bump up just a smidgee bit, that will be seen in frequency, but not voltage.

Generators with an active governor controller will automatically adjust.
 
BH

BH

. . . .
I have a 7000w generator also that will run most of the house (except HVAC), but it uses right at 1 gallon of gas per hour and is loud enough to hear a long ways away.

The Predator 3500, in addition to being quiet, will only use about a quart of gas per hour at a 25% load.
 
Anti-Liberal

Anti-Liberal

Veteran Member
Before a rat destroyed my expensive Yamaha quiet inverter $2800 genny I used it during a hurricane outage, I couldn't hear it (standing next to it) over a neighbor two houses down using his regular open air genny. The Yamaha was that quiet.

ETA....They don't have a tri-fuel Predator as of yet (that I know of).
 
Last edited:
Macgyver

Macgyver

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I was looking at that 9500 watt inverter one they have. Originally reviews seemed positive.
I started following some facebook groups on them and well......

And what really got be thinking about them is seeing their smaller inverter units all over the place on little food carts.
These guys are running the balls off them and probably doing little maintenance.
I don't think they upscaled the reliability of them as they got bigger.

I currently run a 5500 watt generac. I can do everything in the house except the AC.
But having more capacity would be nice but I don't want another 3600 rpm screamer.

@Millwright You got the deal of a century on the MQ unit.

I'm still on the hunt.

What I would love to find is one of these bad boys.
271 Detroit diesel they are usually 10-12 kw. They were primarily used in rail cars for refrigeration.
Naturally aspirated and will pretty much burn anything remotely resembling diesel. Even used motor oil.
Only run 1200 rpm's. Add with all Detroit engines service intervals are pretty much measured in decades not hours.


1703088683835.gif
 
WFK

WFK

Senior Something
I second the Honda choices. Bridged a hurricane outage, 84 hrs, with a Honda EU2000 (camping) gen. There was no heat or AC possible or needed. (A wood stove insert with fans could have served during winter time.) We had lights, entertainment, no hot water. Freezer and refrigerator were energized, one OR the other. The unit ran overnight, very quietly. Then, after 3 1/2 days came the need to pump water (1HP 240V above ground pump/motor.) I can manage a 50-lb EU2000.
So I bought its companion, the EU2200i (?) These can be run in parallel (synchronized) but still only provide 120V out. The 240-V motor issue was solved with a 120/240V transformer, weighing almost as much as one of the generators. That was certainly not a cheap solution, but the water issue had to be solved for extended outages. Lots of money spent on cabling/ extension cords, as this is a farm type home with outbuildings.
 
Anti-Liberal

Anti-Liberal

Veteran Member
Honda is 'buy once/cry once' with a stunning price tag. If I were to buy an equivalent Honda it would be several thousand more. Predator is more aimed at a lower budget that is willing to gamble on a chinese made product.
 
BornFree

BornFree

Came This Far
Weft and Warp said:
Do they make a tri-fuel version? That's what I need. We have NG from our own well. Perfect source of fuel when everything else goes out.
Click to expand...
For almost $300.00 You can buy a kit that makes it tri fuel:

grenergy-us.com

PREDATOR 5000 Propane, Natural Gas & Gasoline Tri Fuel Conversion Kit

NO DRILL KIT – NO DRILLING, NO CUTTING, NO MODIFICATIONS, NO NEEDED FUEL ADJUSTMENTS. This kit will start and run right out of the box upon install. Use the existing fuel input located on the front panel to connect for NG/LP. Comes 100% complete with all hoses, gaskets and fittings. NO LOSS OF...
grenergy-us.com

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaoDG4g3A0A


Video Time 31:21
 
mechanic 217

mechanic 217

I was told there would be cookies!
Different size gensets for load variables is a good way to roll, also look for 1800 rpm units, one I have with a Wisconsin engine is very quiet even without a muffler, just loafs along easy to live with.
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
BornFree said:
For almost $300.00 You can buy a kit that makes it tri fuel:

grenergy-us.com

PREDATOR 5000 Propane, Natural Gas & Gasoline Tri Fuel Conversion Kit

NO DRILL KIT – NO DRILLING, NO CUTTING, NO MODIFICATIONS, NO NEEDED FUEL ADJUSTMENTS. This kit will start and run right out of the box upon install. Use the existing fuel input located on the front panel to connect for NG/LP. Comes 100% complete with all hoses, gaskets and fittings. NO LOSS OF...
grenergy-us.com

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaoDG4g3A0A


Video Time 31:21
Click to expand...

US Carburetion, IIRC, is the go to on LP conversions.

It's what they do.
 
Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
Macgyver said:
@Millwright You got the deal of a century on the MQ unit.
Click to expand...

Neighbor found it, I'm just doing the set-up for her.

Going to use a 100gal tank, this will give her reserves for tractor and trucks and stuff, will help rotate fuel.

Putting it under a lean-to shed, out of direct weather.

Will set up an emergency power sub-panel, since it's so small.

61BzZmaiCuL._AC_AA360_.jpg


Replace her house panel while I'm in there.



And she's beating me up to build a heater for her house, like I built for my shop.

12373674635_40ed6d96ef_z.jpg



Told her I needed some big pipe (18-24"), 1/4" plate, 3/16" or 1/8" plate...enough to build two or three heaters.

I figured that would put the quietus on that project.

OHHHHH HELLL NO!

"No problem, my ex can grab all that from the scraps at work." :rolleyes:

F*** me. :lkick:
 
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Millwright

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
I know where one of these is abandoned on an old longline tower.

It was branded as a Westinghouse generator.

All the bells & whistles, even a load bank set up in the radiator airflow.

Don't want it bad enough to actually move it.


index.php
 
mechanic 217

mechanic 217

I was told there would be cookies!
Millwright said:
Neighbor found it, I'm just doing the set-up for her.

Going to use a 100gal tank, this will give her reserves for tractor and trucks and stuff, will help rotate fuel.

Putting it under a lean-to shed, out of direct weather.

Will set up an emergency power sub-panel, since it's so small.

61BzZmaiCuL._AC_AA360_.jpg


Replace her house panel while I'm in there.



And she's beating me up to build a heater for her house, like I built for my shop.

12373674635_40ed6d96ef_z.jpg



Told her I needed some big pipe (18-24"), 1/4" plate, 3/16" or 1/8" plate...enough to build two or three heaters.

I figured that would put the quietus on that project.

OHHHHH HELLL NO!

"No problem, my ex can grab all that from the scraps at work." :rolleyes:

F*** me. :lkick:
Click to expand...
No good deed ever goes unpunished, living that dream myself!
 
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