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I've looked long and hard to find a generator that will fit into my budject and project size. A stroke of luck landed me this. I was so happy that I saw the price go down I could barely believe it and was on pins and needles the day that it arrived. The waiting for the freight to arrive was an experience. A semi truck rolls down the street stops at my house pulls out a portable fork truck rolls it to my garage and pulls out again. something to see in a quiet neighborhood. the Assembly was easy enough, my only complaint is that the bracket that holds the rubber feet did not have a hole to bolt into and I had to (per instructions) loosen a vibration mount that attaches to the generator motor to install the rubber hoot bracket. that and the bolts that came with it had to be changed out & replaced with stainless ones for the rubber feet to attach to the bracket. The originals were all wrong for this application, easy enough fix. so after all my boo hoo'ing........wait one more that I forgot...even though on the instruction it says that there is a oil dipstick on the engine......don't believe them and just dump the whole bottle of oil that's included into the motor! after the oil, gas and the minor hook-ups it started with no problems and ran like a dream! I had a pull generator before and that's the last time for that!
I would recommend this for women that don't want to be left in the dark and without means. It has all of the features and is easy to operate. you do not need any special knowledge of mechanics to get the job done. the only thing that might hold you back is the weight....it is darn close to 300 pounds. every bit of it! but once you have the wheels and front bracket with rubber pads on you've only got maintenance to worry about once and a while and then when you have to fire it up.
Edit of review One year Later September 13, 2008
The machine still looks like brand new. Runs like it did out of the crate. I've done the required maintenance to it and keep it in my garage most of the time. But when I needed it, it came through like a champ.
We had a 3 day power outage and that generator ran for about 22 hours at a time and alot of gas. But it kept the power going to about 1/2 of the house. Great generator!!!!
Update August 30, 2011
Still looks like new. I've kind of let the maintenance go. :-( But this bad boy still is running good. No issues what so ever. Aside from the weight this generator is the best for the wattage.
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I found the assembly and starting of this model very straightforward. Have only tried to run small appliances thus far but power output seems adequate.This is a noisy product It is so noisy I thought something was wrong with the machine! I would estimate the noise output in excess of 100 Decibels. If you live in a built up residential area I doubt you will be able to run this model without receiving noise complaints. Contacted Briggs and Stratton who referd us to Generac who told us their is nothing can be done for the noise. They even state that changing the Muffler will void the warranty. I now find I am going to have to build an enclosure to reduce the noise. This is going to take a lot of time and probably cost me a couple of hundred dollars.
The selling feature that really sold this product was the electric start which I didn't even use as it started so easily.
I am sorry I didn't go with a smaller power output Honda, which allegedly run around 55 Decibels.
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It's actually almost a year and a half since I purchased the Briggs & Stratton 6200-Watt Generator at Amazon. And just as I figured, after making the purchase, we've not lost power for any great length of time that really required powering this baby up...that is until this past weekend. And, man, am I glad I had the generator.First of all, I have well-water where I live. No power = no water because the pump won't work without power (duh). We had guests this weekend, and with no power for 24 hours, the toilets would have gotten...okay, you get the idea.
Plus it was the weekend, and without the generator the beer would have gotten warm (nooooo!). We have the generator set up to run not only our main refrigerator, but also a mini.
Also on the generator are heat/hot water (oil burner), kitchen lights, living room lights and the wall sockets in the kitchen and living room that include a TV/DVD player. The central air conditioning in my house would be a bit too much for the B & S 6200, so thank goodness it wasn't one of those 95 degree weekends. The 6200 gives you just enough power for the essentials (and a TV!).
The 6200 has an electric starter that's super convenient, but in between uses you might consider completely disconnecting the battery, or charging it every now and then by running the machine or plugging in the float charger that comes with the machine for a day once a month. I did not follow my own advice and had to use the pull start this past weekend, which was simple and effortless...the 6200 started on the first pull.
Update 11/2012: Turned out that the battery was completely dead, and I've used the pull start with no problem ever since I wrote this review 4 years ago. I finally decided to replace the battery which was a little difficult to find. However, as the first comment to my review I have provided a link to the correct replacement battery. ALSO...I have heard many stories from people (consumer and pro) that in order to avoid a problem where the carburetor shuts down due to unstable fuel gunk build-up, you should either run the generator at least once a month for 10 minutes. Or instead of just flipping the switch to OFF after use, turn the fuel line knob off and let the generator stop running on its own that way; this will consume all of the fuel in the lines and carburetor preventing clogs from unstable, old fuel.
I highly recommend this little 6200-Watt machine. All in all.....it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!
Honest reviews on Briggs & Stratton Elite Series Generator 6200 Watt 11 HP ES #30242
Review update 12/24/09:After writing to Briggs & Stratton corporate reps, I am receiving one half of the repair price for the carburetor problem described below--more than fair, considering the machine is 18 months out of warranty. My caution about starting the machine EVERY WEEK still applies, though. The rep told me that the manual warns that the generator must be started every week, and it does, but only if you don't add gasoline stabilizer, which I do. With stabilizer, the manual states explicitly (page 20 under "Storage"), the generator is supposed to be good to go, without starting it weekly, for 24 months.
I'm not disparaging the machine or the company. But I, and the repairman who has had a lot of experience with the Nikkei carburetor on the machine, agree that B&S could do more to either improve the carburetor or, at the least, get out the word that, even with gasoline stabilizer, the machine needs to be started... frequently. The alternative is to put the machine into deep storage, according to the manual: "Run the engine until it stops from lack of fuel." This may be the better option. I don't know.
I've had the generator for 3 1/2 years and, up until two weeks ago, it pull-started and ran well--but the battery was dead, despite the trickle / float charger. During our last storm, I wheeled it out of the garage and ran it 20 minutes. Two hours later, when we lost power, I couldn't get it started. Even with fresh fuel with stabilizer, the gas in the bowl of the carburetor will varnish. What happened to my generator, according to the rep, as well as the repairman I eventually got to come to the house,is this: varnish (looks like gummy oil) built up; the engine started and ran for 20 minutes, loosening the varnish; two hours later, the varnish particles clogged the tiny fuel jets in the carburetor's "needle") and it would no longer start. I got lucky in that I found a small engine repairmen who makes house calls. I have no way of getting this 200 lb. guy to a repair shop. The repairman has the same engine and same carburetor and has repaired several generators with the Nikkei carburetor. He said that, when he complained to Briggs and Stratton that a cleaned carburetor would clog up again and again, Briggs and Stratton told him to simply replace carburetors at $95 a pop. So, he actually had one on hand and he replaced it: $65 for the housecall and service; $95 for the carburetor.His advice is to run the generator every month for several minutes. He does this with his own and has not had problems. The trick is to burn the fuel lingering in the system, cleaning out the system (the fuel stabilizer helps do this, and you can use "Sea Foam" in your fuel, too--available at car parts stores).
Regarding the battery:
The battery will just get you out of warranty. They're good for less than 3 years. I'm 58 and got the electric start for a good reason (you know why) and, naively thought the battery would be fine as long as it stayed on trickle charge (which comes with the generator). After some research, I learned that the generator uses a 12 volt battery. I bought a car-sized 12 volt marine battery with deep cold cranking power (CCA 500 amps). It does a great job and should last. I picked up a serious battery trickle charger ($35), not the palm-sized one that comes with the generator. This isn't a perfect set up: The battery obviously cannot be mounted on the generator, but I just connect the battery, start the generator, disconnect the battery and wheel it out of the garage--from now on, once a week.
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Found generator to function perfectly. At 82 years of age,I reached a point where I could no longer depend on starting generator by pull string.I was also able to keep it out doors by building a house over it to keep
it dry and it starts right up with the electric starter.
It makes me feel very secure knowing that the next blackout will not effect the normal functions of my home.
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