Predator 3500 inverter generator
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- #rv #camping #generator #invertergenerator #boondocking #review
In this video, we'll walk through 2 years of use and review of the Predator 3500 inverter generator, sold by Harbor Freight. Watch this before you buy, as we will try to convey useful information and real experience to help you make an informed decision!
I own this Predator 3500 and it runs great. It all starts with the break in of the motor. Use conventional oil 05-30, run without a load on it at first and vary the RPMs by switching from eco to full power. After an hour of this I drained the oil. Then I broke it in more with a high watt hair dryer at 1650 watts about half load for this generator on and off for a few hours. Drained the oil again and put Mobil 1 full synthetic oil. Changed the plug to an NGK, I run Stabil Marine 360 and super unleaded in it all the time. Clean the spark arrestor as needed with a parts cleaner. Have no issues with it at all and its a beast for $800.00....
I have over 1800 hours on mine. 0 issues. I run Rec fuel, change the oil lots. Clean the spark arrester. I would recommend this to anyone!!!
Have had mine 3 years, I've got 1425 hours on it which is the equivalent to running it for 60 whole days and haven't had a single issue, haven't had to modify or anything.
I just followed the instructions for the break-in period and folliw the instructions for preventative maintenance.
I'm normally not the best at following maintenance schedules but with small engine stuff you've got to or you'll end up with the problem that this gentleman has.
I did end up putting a propane kit on mine after about 500 hours but not for any issue that I had , I just wanted to run it off of my 1000 lb propane tank on my land, just in case we have some national energy issue.
So just like anything else, some are going to be happy with a particular product and some will be unhappy, If would rather have 5 predator generators than ONE Honda generator for the same price.
Thanks for watching MP. All good points and good advice.
Would be nice if you included how many hours you had on this unit. How often you changed the oil. What problems did you have with the pull start? What plug did you use? Did you clean the spark arrestor out? More details help us understand the background of your issues.
You probably have gotten a bunch of people that say they love this generator. I can tell you kind of the same. I have 3 of them currently. I have a mobile dog grooming biz. 2 grooming vans and use 1 3500 on one of them and 2 on another. The generators are used differently between the grooming vans. One uses the generator at each appointment for an hour and then it's turned off until the next appt. The grooming van that has 2 3500s on it starts the generators both of them first thing in the am powering the lights and roof ac non-stop all day never being shut off until that last appt of the day. Now I will say I have had a few that failed on me and planning for the worst, I've purchased the 100% replacement warranty on all of them. So having said, I have had over the 2 years of using and running them, I did have 3 failures on me. So I brought it(them as they failed) back to HF for a brand new one(s) each time. No problems. So for $125.00 and 1 year, I can replace it(them) no questions asked. I change the oil on them all, every 4 weeks, and that's it. I'm pretty happy with them overall and they are super easy to set up out of the box, I know, I've done it now a bunch times. :)
I live in Puerto Rico and after hurricane María I had some issues with this predator 3500 like sometimes problems trying to start...weird noises ,exhaustion breakdown until I removed the spark arrestor...problem solved...after that I used this inverter on daily basis for 18 hours everyday for 4 months.During that period I made 6 oil changes and also changed the spark plug 4 times...
Excellent honest review. I'm surprised you bought another economy generator. There is a reason why the Honda cost more. The materials used, plastics, vinyls, rubber, steel, paint, primer, etc are all premium ..the engineering and parts availability are also top notch with the Honda. I use all my tools hard as I'm a tradesman and pride of ownership knowing i bought good tools gives me peace of mind like a good insurance policy. I've owned my Honda EU3000is for 10 years and I bought it used from a guy that mostly used it for camping and it still runs like a clock.
I hope your new Champion generator works well for you.
Great video. It actually did have a fuel shutoff. ⛽️A lot of people don't know that. Just turn the knob in the position right before the dial turns the generator off, stop and leave it and it will run the fuel out. There is a CZcams video on that. I had the predator 2000 and did the fuel shutoff method and worked like a charm. Not that it matters now lol
I’ve has mine for about 2.5 yrs now and mine is mounted to my semi frame. So it takes a pounding see all kinds of weather and the only issue I had was the black box you spoke of in the beginning for the fuel, all I did was pull the hoses off and no more problems. Hell it’s about due for an oil change been about 150 hrs since last one
Maintain it and do the intake mods, clean the exhaust screen & go with better plug, change oil & your good to go! Luckily I got mine used with a few hours for $450 off Craigslist.. I used it for 30hrs over weekend, it ran 9hrs on a tank, running a/c, fridge, water heater, converter, tv, etc...
Man, that’s awesome! You got the best of both worlds, good use and a great deal. Based on the comments from this video, it’s clear I had one that may have had issues.
I did the mods, cleaned screen, changed plugs, rebuilt carb a ton of times.
If I come across a deal on one, I’ll try again and give an update to this video for my second go around, maybe.
Thanks for watching.
Bite the bullet and buy the Honda. I just found my receipt and I bought my Honda generator 2/3/2005 and it runs like new. I use it and lend it to friends. It will last forever.
Rule #1 Dirt and engines don’t mix
Rule #2 put something clean under your generator if it pulls air in close to the ground or put it up on something that is off the ground.
Rule #3 maintenance 👨🏻🔧
NGK and synthetic oil is all I have done to mine. Not one issue
3 years old
It has a drain screw to drain the fuel out of the carb. Did u try to change the jet? I’m sure u r at or above 4000ft, the jet that comes from the factory is to big for higher altitude. If ur plug is all black u need to change the jet.
Alot of great reviews on this generator...? Actually outstanding reviews
Very true. The comments thread here has been really insightful. So much so, I’m really thinking I got a dud, or something happened along the way very different from what most experienced. I’m almost there to try #2 predator. When I do, I’ll do an update based on the second go around.
This one was based on my individual experience. I really hate I didn’t get the type of experience most did. I spent several hundred dollars and used this generator HEAVILY.
Thanks for watching
It doesn’t sound like this is your problem, but some advice I can give if you use fuel stabilizer is to make sure you mix it according to the directions and NOT too strong. A lot of those fuel additives will eat through gas lines causing fuel supply or vacuum issues.
I’ve had mine for two years. Got it started twice. It sits there unused and getting dusty because I don’t have the time to mess with it.
I bought one for $750 with a two-year warranty in 2021 went through two of these last year with excessive use living off the grid I have problems with the carburetor fuel issues and switch on all three of these generators went ahead and renewed the warranty for a new one this one has some some upgrades so we will see how long this one lasts in 2022
How's it working?
Once again it seems like every 6 months I have to replace this generator re up on another warranty
It sounds like it’s way down on compression wonder if the valves are out of adjustment
They have a 2 year warranty. Hopefully you returned it for another one.
I’ve had mine for 3 years and have put several hundreds of hours on it and have only cleaned the spark arrestor and changed he oil very often. We camp almost every weekend during the spring and summer and run it around 25 hrs per weekend with zero issues. It’s too bad you must’ve got a lemon.
It appears that I did. Maybe I’ll try my luck again one day. Thanks for watching!
Unfortunately that is the problem.
Predator generators have low quality control. The only way to know if you got a good one of a bad one is to run them hard.
Iv had one for a few years and I only run ethanol free gas in my unit and have not seen any problems yet. Are you using regular pump gas ? The ethanol will deteriorate the hoses and mess up the carb.
This is exactly what I am experiencing right now 😢 I just bought it a few weeks ago
Can it be transported in the trunk of a car?
Just say no to ethanol. Ethanol free gasoline or better yet. Convert to propane.
All small engine equipment no matter the make or model requires excessive maintenance.
If you slow down and look at the carburetor when you rebuild it every other week like you say you would notice there's a drain screw on the bottom of the bowl with a tube at the bottom of the generator to drain the fuel
Yes, you’re correct. I noticed that the first time I took the side cover off. If the engineers that built this generator made it easier to drain, it would be easier to maintain as well. Pretty sure I said that in the video also.
Thanks for watching
Sounds like this is the common " I run the piss out of my tools but do zero maintenance" and by all means there's nothing wrong with that however if you know ur going to run the piss out of it you should have opted at minimum for the 1 year warranty. Could have easily swapped it out at 11 months and gotten a new one.
May try changing the spark plug
I have one and I love it... I guess it depends on what you get...
I wanted to! Mine was great when it was new. I have seen the really big predator inverters, maybe I’ll try my luck again one day. Thanks for watching!
Have you cleaned out the spark arrester?
Yes, did that twice. It helped somewhat for a while, issues persisted
Crap I just ordered my Preditor. I'm wondering if they fixed any of these issues on the new ones... 🤔
It definitely sounds like you got a lemon. I noticed in the video you kept moving the knob all over the place between run and start and then up above run. Is there a particular reason you were trying to crank it like that? It sounded to me like it was out of gas, but you did mention the carb issue. Thankfully I broke mine in as recommended in the manual and changed the oil 4 times before 20 hours - overkill I know, but I made sure I removed as many shavings from the engine as I could when it was new.
It got to a point where the choke function did not work well and I had to move the knob to get it to crank. Towards the end, it would not crank unless using the pull rope. I broke it in using the recommended procedures, and got a good deal of use out of it for the first 6 months. I cleaned and rebuilt the carburetor many times, and probably should’ve ordered a new one to install. It got to a point that I just wanted to get something else. I hate it, I really enjoyed the convenience and design of mine when it was new, just really sucked when I needed to use it and had to work on it with a headlamp on in the dark.
I’m interested in the big predator inverters. I’ll do some research on those and save my pennies. Maybe try again in a year or so.
Thanks for watching , Joel
I do the same thing trying to start mine. I’ve tried so many different settings and you can tell what’s going work. Sometimes it will start. Hard to know after so many cranks if it has too much gas or too little or what. So you end up trying everything…
I went with a Westinghouse 4500 dual fuel.
Bummer you got one of the few bad experiences. Mine after 5200+ hrs/2+ yrs is still going strong! These are no where close to junk! Have friends who bought more expensive name Honda/Yamaha brands died after 1500 - 2000 hrs. We live off-grid and use it weekly, daily during summer for window unit. Have have found engine needs more air, so just leave "check oil" door off when running.
Mine gets gas and fires butt want start just turns over it’s a year old
An Emergency on your part is not an emergency on mine. Be honest you over filled the gas tank at some point and clogged the charcoal canister and that was your first mistake. Your second was not doing anything but run it that way (very rich) clogging the spark arrestor making it run even worse. These generators are great if you do very little research. #1 delete canister/ modify air box #2 delete spark arrestor. #3 Change jet from 76 ( run rich from factory) to a 68 jet. #4 clean Jet (very small gets clogged from running rich) below low idle screw cleaning this jet will stop the surging problems.# 5 change spark plug. This stuff is all very easy and cheap to do. $750 and a $15 dollar jet and very little maintenance is better than a $3200 dollar Honda any day of the week.
Did this generator run your AC, or never at all, as you mentioned overloading. What did you use to overload?
Yes, it ran my travel trailer. When it started having carb issues, it did not run well, which put it into overload.
In general, I could run my air and lights. Could not run air and microwave, or air and a coffee pot at the same time. Too many amps.
Great review man! I’m in the market for a generator
I have one of generators and I use it everyday to stay alive and I love it if you break it in right it will last a long time and I would buy another one if this generator ever has any problems in a few years if it happens sooner then I will just take it back to harbor freight
man if you don't take care of these generator (baby it ) then Don't expect it to last. and the reason I'm saying this is because I own one of these had it since hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico and to this day it runs perfectly. so I'm sorry man this is your fault that yours did not give you good service. man look at it look like you toss it all over the place🤣🤣🤣
How's your maintenance history? Are you changing the oil often? Using the best oil and spark plug?
Trouble shooting what; a filter and a bunch of hoses? The doesn’t make sense. It runs everything on my 27 foot travel trailer. I don’t believe this, I call B.S.
Wish it had been as simple as a filter and a bunch of hoses. Also wish I didn’t have to buy a second generator because the first one didn’t work. Like I said in the other comments, and in the video, I may have gotten a bad one, or been part of a small percentage of folks who had this happen. I hope yours runs excellent. When mine didn’t , I turned to CZcams for troubleshooting. I’m not the only person in the world who had trouble with this model of generator.
Thank you for watching, and travel safe.
750 cash is not a lot of money compared to 2100 for Honda.
As much as you use it buy a Honda.
Hmm you have GOT to be doing something wrong! Did you clean the exhaust end of the motor off ? If it can not breath then it can not run! DURP!!!
Well I had 5 of em. Live off grid in a tiny home. Not 1 lasted 4500 hours or 6 months (constant use). Sitting at Harbor Frieght now picking up #6. Wish I had gotten a HONDA. Bitch hard to start. Not reliable. Chinese JUNK Usally starter takes a crap. That's what failed on 3 of em. Figure on replacing every 6 mths and 200 bucks for the warrantee. $400 a year is cost of ownership. You get what you pay for. Harbor Frieght is good about honering warantee and replacing but at the end of the day pretty big pain in the arse. When all said and done the Honda would have been less expensive.
How many hours do you expect to get out of a Honda?
Garbage in garbage out. That thing looked like hell.
It was definitely used. I ran it at least 20 hours a week 3 months out of the year during hunting season, and at least one weekend a month the rest of the time for trips when we traveled with our RV. It’s clear that my expectations are different. There’s been some interesting comments on here from others that had a better experience.
Thanks for watching.
YOUNG MAN ,
MOST LIKELY , U NEVER DID READ DIRECTION ?
BEFORE U EVEN CRANK YOUR , NEED PULL CORD ABOUT 4 TIMES BECAUSE MOST LIKELY GAS LINE ARE COMPLETE DRY AND THE CARB TOO /
CHECK TO SEE HAVE ANY OIL IN THE OIL TANK / SOME TIME THEY ARE DRY TOO !.
PLUS + NEED PUT IN FIRST TIME STA - BIL FUEL BEFORE FILL FUEL TANK UP ?
SOME TIME BATTERY ARE DEAD MIGHT NEED A LIGHT CHARGE / ANY THING SETTING UP SOMETIME MIGHT NEED CHARGE TOO ?
U SOUND LIKE TO ME , U DON'T MANITANCE YOUR EQUIPMENT VERY WELL ?.
Sound like more than a carb.
so neglected and abused!!!
You obviously don't know what you're doing I've got one I fixed it where i can turn it to the off position and the fuel will run out and we'll shut down clean spark arrester and and it should last forever
Not a generator mechanic, Jerry, never said I was. I buy stuff expecting it will work out of the box, and for a while. This one didn’t. Maybe it was built on a Friday afternoon at 4:30. If I ever feel like burning $700 again, I’ll consider giving it another go. The champion generator I bought to replace this POS came with a fuel shutoff switch already on it, and I haven’t had one issue with it. That works better for me, because it hasn’t broken down and I don’t have to fool with it every time I go to use. If you have some free time, scroll on over to that video and you’ll see the difference.
Thanks for watching, glad you got a good one.