Chicago Electric (Harbor Freight) 800/900W generator

[ozzy the nuke]

A few weeks ago I stopped at a Harbor Freight store. They had a 800/900W generator on the sidewalk for $80 that a customer had returned. I asked the manager if it was defective. She said no and offered to throw in free 2yr replacement warranty for free. I figured why not? I already have a nice big generator on a trailer and have been looking for a suitcase generator. This thing is small enough to pick up with one hand and put in a trunk.

The little rascal actually works (unlike a lot of HF crap). I ran it all day one day, using it to power tools and lights, including a Milwaukee Super Saws-all and Milwaukee a 1/2in hammer drill. No sweat. Hooked it up to a 1000W electric heater. It groaned for a few seconds, as if summoning courage, and then came back up to speed. I measured the load to be 900W actual. I let it carry it for about 15 minutes, no problem.

One thing that almost scared me off was that the box said it was 90db or some such ear splitting level. I thought it might sound like a chain saw. But it isn’t loud at all, even at full load. You can hold a conversation while standing next to it.

There are some downsides. It is a two stroke, so it stinks, and requires gas/oil mix. And it wont quite start my deepfreeze.

Today I was catching up on my reading and noticed a coupon in National Rifleman for $79, so I bought another. Been running it for the last couple of hours. It surged for the first hour. But after that, it settled down and purred like a contented kitten.