Portable generators

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

This came up on list of today's Groupon offerings
Sportsman Portable Gas Generators and Inverters

Electrical is way outside of my pay grade, so I don't know whether it's anything that should even be considered for use on a boat, but at those prices thought it worth letting y'all check it out.

Note that the photo only shows 1000 W, but also in 3k and 4k models.

 

[Ken Cross]

Thanks, Peggie. If it's rarely used, they may be a great buy.
The low price would make me nervous about their longevity.
For a sailboat, I'd certainly try to protect them from salt spray.

Ken

 

[Gunni]

I have a 6000W Sportsman LP fuel generator that I use to power my well at the Hillbilly Hideaway. I got it at a ridiculous price that included delivery to Bug Tussle. It has served well, has an electric start and does the job. HOWEVER, these are Chinese gensets, so good luck finding parts if you need something OEM. In fact I consider this a disposable generator, which is not my style. I like things that are built to be rebuilt. Like my pickup.

 

[Benny17441]

They seem to only have a 1000 watt generator that could be useful for a boat. Their larger generators are not portable, they seem heavy and bulky and have no weather protection. I'm not talking brands here, we once had a Honda 3000 failing to start after getting wet in a thunderstorm. Not until we drained the fuel did we realize water had gotten into the tank. On the other hand we have had a Honda 2000eu run all night under a torrential rainstorm without skipping a beat. A portable generator needs to run in the open to ventilate the exhaust gases so it must be weather protected.