Purchased In September and just installed yesterday. Installation was easy, Instructions, so-so. I was missing a bolt to the u-ring for the wheels. My 2.5 year old was in the garage with me an loves to put together stuff with me. Wouldn’t be surprised if she hid it somewhere. Anyways, I found a bolt close enough and made it work. Foam filled Wheels attached easily. All tools needed came in nice pouch. Battery came disconnected.

My Father-in-law put the handles on and i realized that it looked impractical, and figured out we put the handles on wrong, it needs to face and close down, duh on us.

Used 10-30w oil, wasn’t sure about synthetic, so didn’t try. Nowhere in manual does it tell you how much oil, so i poured slowly and realized it took 1 quart. Would have been nice for that to be written in. Poured in 1 gallon of gas to test ( thinking about adding Stabile), open fuel line, set choke, breaker on generator to OFF position, cranked and nothing happend. 4 tries and finally running. It did come with the battery, but wanted to try without first. Let Run for 5 minutes and couldn’t choke down, without stalling. So kept on High. Im sure that attributed to the loudness of the machine, and i will call customer support to see if i just need to break it in more, or have to change the screw setting on the carb to run a little richer, as others have posted that most Chinese made engines run lean out of the box, so turn a 1/4 turn on the Carb. I have not tried this yet, and will report if this helps with the choke and throttle issue.

Attached 30 amp 20 ft generator cable (menards 64.99 on sale for 49.99) to 240/120 V to outlet on generator. Put in a Interlok device for Seimens 200amp box. Interlok cost me 149.99 Amazon had some knockoffs for only 49.99 but they where out of stock, and required more cutting and fitting for my type of box, plus they were out of stock). Both these are all UL certified so will get you up to code. Yes, you could do it cheaper by just turning off the Main, and turning on the generator breaker, then slowly adding your needed circuits, but it only takes one mistake to kill a utility worker by back-feeding like that if you forget to turn off the Main. By doing the Interlok, there is no possible way to get power from the generator without killing the main. Remember, we can all forget the steps when it’s Dark and Cold, so this provides an added safety measure, especially for others who are doing it when you might not be home, like my wife.

30 amp two pole double breaker for generator (12.00 at interlok site, actually was cheaper than Amazon) . Reliance 30 amp inlet box ( Amazon 49.99). I think 10/3 wire from inlet box to Breaker that we fished through. If you use the interlok device, you will need the first two breaker spots to be open. Luckily, we had two open on the same side of the panel, and just had to move two breakers to the open area, without having to move all the breakers down.

To make a long story short, turned off all breakers, turned off Main,, pushed Interlok up to close off Main for good, flipped generator breaker ON, slowly flipped on need items one by one, and got full power. Awesome!!

I will post further comments about the throttle and choke issue. Maybe I did something wrong, in my haste since I was putting up a wooden fence the same day. Two projects at once is not advised. LOL

Overall, the generator works, but thought i was getting something better and quieter. Will talk to Costco about this. They have excellent customer service and will make it right if you are unhappy. If anyone have suggestions on the choke and idle issue, please post. Thanks everyone for posting.

I cut opened the box at the seams and used it to place the unit on it side to install the wheels , footings, and handle so it would not get damaged. It comes complete with tools needed to put it all together. You also have to remove two red metal shipping brackets before starting the engine. Do all of this first before filling with oil and gasoline. I had read in a previous review that the pull start handle was in a awkward position to use and I can verify that. I simply removed the three screws that held the pull start plate in place and rotated it to the left one screw hole over and re-tightened the screws . That made the pull start readily accessible. I filled it with one quart of oil and one gallon of gasoline for testing purposes.

My generator from Costo came complete with the battery already installed except for the negative wire which was tied to the frame. I connected the negative wire to the negative post on the battery. I decided to try the pull start first . It started up before the pull cord had even retracted fully, waited two minutes and adjusted the choke settings and this generator was humming nicely. After 15 minutes I turned it off and decided to try the electric start. The model I was sent did not have a rocker switch for the electric start . What it had in its placed was a key start much like your average automobile. I turn the key to the start position the generator turned on with no problems what so ever.

I am delighted and relieved that after waiting so long that this process turned out so easy. I got the very good Costco price and the free shipping included. My neighbor tried to purchase one as well , but got shut out because Costco sold out almost immediately after they posted the ETQ 8250 online. I also have purchased a Reliant Transfer Unit which I will install this weekend so I will be ready in case we have another Winter like the last one. This seems to be a painless purchase that I hope I won’t have to use but will have available if I have to and not suffer without Electric or Heat this Winter for long durations. Seems to be well made with quality construction. I would not hesitate to purchase it again.

Tested a few appliances, turned off the fuel valve and ran it out of fuel. I put it away and 2 weeks later, here comes the “Historic Storm” of the northeast! Put the generator on my deck, 10 feet away from the house with the exhaust facing away from the structure, connected extension cords, rewired the furnace to bypass the main power feed, turned off the breaker for the heating system and then turned off the main power to the street. Filled the tank with gas, turned on the fuel valve, checked the oil, turned off the main on the generator, put on the choke and hit that start button! Yes! It fired right up, turned the choke off after it started and let it warm up.

Move the generator’s main to power and We Had Power. The furnace started, heat was now coming through the registers. Refrigerator and freezer hummed to perfection and we had lights throughout the house. As I write this, there are still homes in the dark! I have power, heat, lights, cooking appliances and a generator that performed as advertised. We got power back after 2 days and I want to thank CL&P and their crews for working so hard under adverse conditions. I give the generator ***** and CL&P another *****!

Thanks.