lazuras_dc said:
With predator 3500 what could one expect to run with that ?
Can I have someone wire this to our break box and run AC/heat/ fridge?
How much gas does it hold and how long will it run ?
Lastly how do you store these guys? Likely don't want to keep gas in it all year around?
What you can run depends on the load of the appliances you intend to run. But, generally speaking, 3500 watts will run a fair amount of things. Several lights, fridge, fans, window unit AC, electric heater, electric blankets, etc.
When it comes to using it for emergency power at the house, you need to determine what your critical circuits are and do a load calc on those circuits - and when you do a a load calc on an appliance, use starting watts over running watts.
The tank holds about 2 gallons of fuel, maybe 3. I've never actually measured it. I use mine at my deer lease to run my FEMA trailer, and even with an electric wall heater and electric blanket running in the winter, I've never had to wake up in the middle of the night and refuel it. During summer when I run the AC, same thing - still plenty of run time left after I wake up in the morning.
I'd say you get at minimum 8 hours of run time on a 75% load. The electric start on them is hella nice. I run nothing but ethanol free fuel in mine and use it often enough that I don't worry about any fuel left in. I usually also run some seafoam stablizer/treatment just in case, and even after a 6 month break of not using it I didn't have any problems. Always a good practice to run it dry if you can between long periods of non-use though.
Last year I swapped the air filter out for a new one, changed the spark plug and oil. Easy to do, didn't take long. I generally change the oil once a year and use good oil (Royal Purple) and haven't had so much as a single issue outside of a dead battery that was user error - but pull started it up and it hummed along no problem and charged the batter back up.
Only things I don't like are not having a fuel gage on the tank, so it feels like every other time I fill up I end up spilling a little oil, wish the wheels were bigger and it is just heavy enough that I don't like moving it unless I have to (about 100lbs, give or take). But it is quiet, reliable and can run everything I need it to run at camp and I still have capacity left over, so it works.
