This review is from LarryF - thank you Larry!
Mine is the 5708 XP8000E bought at Lowes. In spite of what is mentioned above, it does have both battery and recoil starters. As a generator, it seems ok so far, but I haven't really had to use it during a utility power outage. However, there are some little things I had not realized before I purchased it that are bothersome and I think they are worth mentioning.
1) The XP8000E generator won't charge its own battery while running which means it has to be kept charged with the provided cheap (made-in-China) plug-in charger and house current. But the small 10 amp-hour battery would probably not provide many starts if there were a long power outage that would require stopping the engine for refueling multiple times or if one were to use it at a construction site where there is no other electric power. There's a 1.5 amp fuse somewhere in the guts of the machine that might blow if one does try to charge the battery while running using that cheap charger, but the owner's manual doesn't identify where it is located. So far I haven't been able to find it even though I removed the side panels to look. A service manual might have that info, but although I asked Generac for one, it doesn't seem to be available to customers who have purchased this generator.
2) The "non-flat" tires that were provided developed flat spots after the generator sat in my garage for only one week. So it did a thump, thump, thump when I pulled it out of the garage the next time I wanted to start it up just to check it out some more. Well, after pushing it back into the garage, I jacked up the generator and now have it resting on a block of wood to keep the tires off the floor and thereby prevent the flat spots from getting any bigger.
3) This next shortfall of the Generac 5606 XP Series XP8000E is almost pathetic. The plastic fuel shut-off knob fell off the shut-off valve's shaft while I was testing the engine for about 5 or 10 minutes, and although I tried to put it back, it keeps falling off. Looks like the hole in the knob is a little bigger than the the width of the shut-off valve's shaft it fits over. I've written to Generac regarding this, but so far I haven't heard from them.
Well, I guess these are minor gripes, but it does not appear the Generac is overly concerned about quality control or customer satisfaction. Mine is still almost new, but by the time I get through a few power failures, I hope I won't end up regretting having bought this so-called "professional" grade generator. Because of hurricane Irene and having been without utility-provided power for 8 days, I was tempted to spend big bucks for a Generac standby unit. After having experienced the shoddy workmanship of Generac's portable one, even though I picked their professional grade, I'm sort of glad I didn't go for the standby.
Hi Larry,
My XP8000E has been running non-stop for 88 hours during the aftermath of this October snowfall here in the Nor’east. Couple of items … Although the generator won’t charge the battery directly, you can plug the AC adapter into the generator while it’s running, and it will crave the battery. I verified this with a rep from Generac.
First thing I did with that plastic fuel cut-off switch was to WD40 the shaft behind it and work it in. Now moves smoothly.
Note that this model is design to provide clean power for computers and other sensitive electronics. However, from the factory, the line frequency is 63 hz. Most UPS devices have a 5 percent tolerance, so unless you are running a high load on the generator, I suggest turning down the line freq to about 62 hz on the generator so it doesn’t cause your UPS devices to constantly switch to battery.
Other than that, I have been getting a min of 10 hrs per tankful during this storm aftermath.
Paul
1) From the Generac web site: just plug the charger into one of the XP’s 110 outlets.
They also say the Lowe’s XP8000 was an inferior model that didn’t have the idle control (saves gas) nor TruPower (“cleaner” power puts less wear & tear on motors). Looks like the tires are common, though.
@ugh: I’m not sure where you are getting your information. I just purchased an XP8000e from lowes and it DOES have TruPower for a THD of less than 5%.
Mine also came with a nice 30 amp power cord to power 4 recepticals in addition to the CGFI duplex recepticals on the side (for a total of 60AMPs from that one cord, if properly balanced of course!). Of course the plug can still be used to power a 240 Volt load at 30Amps.
You are correct abou the idle control, the older XP8000 do not have that, but for backup power purposes for a house, I doubt you will encounter many times when the demand for power is absolutely 0 watts. Both models vary the amount of gas depending upon load to maintain the proper engine RPM.
The runflat tires are a nice addition. I think I can stand for a little flat spot when the alternative might be a completly flat tire. Thump thump is a minor thing.
The fuse is behind the pannel, I had to change it when some idiot tried to start the generator while it was still charging. To access it pop off the 4 torx bolts, then pull it out enough to access the little nuts behind (there are 8) You may have to remove or disconnect a few items like the fuel shutoff knob. Once you get back there you will see a small fuse container behind the charging jack. I think it’s nice they protect the fuse so well, but it is a little inconvenient if you errantly blow it.
While it does seem odd that they keep the charging circuit completley seperate, I’m glad that they did to ensure that the charging circuit does not interfere with the generator operation if it were to fail. Usually these units are used intermittantly, so pluggin in the charger probably wouldn’t be enough to fully charge the battery, and a more powerful charger would shorten the lifespan of the battery. All in all I think Generac thought it out well.
John, like I said, I was simply repeating info from the Generac web site (I think it was the Q&A for the XP8000E). The same info had been on Lowe’s web site before they removed the XP-series generators. The information was specific to the 5708 model that this page is reviewing.
What model number is yours? (I think I’ve seen close to a dozen variants of the XP8000E including models specific to California and Canada regulations)
Do you know if yours has the “full-panel” (240V) GFCI? If it does, please read the “Standby Generators – Best” review on this site. I hope your experience means Lowe’s is selling the XP again…