Westinghouse 18000 Peak Watt Home Backup Portable Generator, Remote Electric Start, Transfer Switch Ready 30A & 50 Outlets, Gas Powered, CO Sensor

This generator is a beast in all the right ways! It was well packaged on a custom sized pallet and came with everything (except fuel) needed to get it ready to generate. Assembly was very easy. It is recommended you have two people to get it off the pallet. However, one person can do it if careful. All I needed to do was install the wheels, fill the oil (provided), connect the battery ground wire and bolt on the top lift bracket. The Quick Start Guide is easy to follow. After adding fuel it started very easily and runs smoothly. I tested the outlets with a Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor and a Generator Adapter 4 Prong Locking Cord, 30 Amp to 15 Amp Adapter, NEMA L14-30P/Four 5-20R Household Outlet Splitter, and both 120 volt legs were at the correct voltage and hertz. For running the house I have cord for connecting to a Generator Power Inlet Box, NEMA 3R Generator Receptacle 50 Amp, NEMA SS 2-50P PB50 Weatherproof Inlet Box, 125/250 Volt,12500 Watts Generator Transfer Switch. The push button start/stop is nice. The remote fob works well too. I have only tested it with gasoline. Even though it comes with the hose for connecting to propane cylinders, I have not tried to run it on LPG. The ability to use either fuel is great, especially during prolonged outages when the local gas stations may be without power as well. Being able to grab a LPG cylinder is a fantastic option. It will run my entire house which is a 3 story, 5 bedroom with an unfinished basement. I have a forced hot air oil furnace in the winter, two window air conditioners along with some oscillating fans in the summer, a water well pump all year round, the refrigerator/freezer, stand alone freezer, washer/dryer (LPG) and the assorted small appliances, entertainment electronics and lights (mostly LED and a couple florescent). My hot water heater and stove are propane and only the oven controls and clock require power. I estimated my load to be somewhere in the 8KW range with an occasional peak to 9-10KW. This generator should give me ample power while operating below its ratings. There are times when the fridge compressor, air conditioner(s)/heat, washing machine and the well pump are running that put a demand on the system that a lesser generator struggles with. I anticipate the efficiency will be within the estimated fuel consumption ratings. During testing, while being what some might consider loud, I found it to be quieter than my old 10KW generator and quieter than my portable 5KW generator. Being as heavy as it is, I found the wheel size and folding handles allow for nice leverage and it is fairly easy to move around on flat and mild inclines. I spent a lot of time researching and comparing various brands and models and feel this one provides me what I need and is the best value for the money of them all. Follow-up: I just spent 6-1/2 hours (6am-12:30pm) on this generator due to a power outage. It looks like it used about 1/3 of a tank of gas and it ran the whole house fine. It never sounded like it was under load and hummed along beautifully. I am happily impressed with the initial performance in a real world situation. I did do the 6 hours break-in using two space heaters and a window a/c unit to give it an approximate 4kw load during break-in. I had them setup outside on extension cords. Break-in was completed before I needed to use it to power the house. I also chose the first Saturday of every month to run it under the same 4kw break-in load to exercise it and keep me familiar with start/stop procedures and turning on/off breaker/switch for powering different outlets.

Suggestions to shipper: manufacturer and Westinghouse: We just went through a Category 5 Hurricane in SW Florida (9/27/22) and I had a smaller generator that got us through that crisis. But, I decided to upgrade with a Westinghouse Product and a much larger unit for preventaive maintenance and future storms. Some other owner (of the same unit) named it "the beast" and this WGen12000DFc unit is truly a beast. It arrived at my home undamaged; strapped to a pallet with adequate blockage and it was sitting on top of another pallet ---merely for handling puroposes. The shipper moved it into my garage (as directed) and left it sitting on both pallets. I rebuild cars, so I'm savy about mechanics and how to move things---but this is 400+++ #; I'm 89 and the instructions say: install the lifting handle and get two men to move it. Stupid rule #1 in the instructions. The unit was high enough off the floor, that I could remove some of the blockage and install the wheels without tilting (as directed) . I checked for loose wires, and there were none visable (more on that later). So I installed the wheels; removed all the blockage on that end; built a ramp and rolled it off of the two pallets into position. Added the oil and installed the trickle charger. Meanwhile, I built another ramp to level the unit on my sloping driveway, and also built a fixture to hold two tanks of propane . I also made a fixture to use for breaking in the unit just using one tank of propane. So all was set. I moved it outside, positioned it to be level on my ramp for a break-in-run; followed the start up instruction; pressed the button and nothing happend. Checked for loose wires and found the "black lead" to the battery was wrapped around another wire and jammed into the battery terminal area. It gave every appearance (and feeling) of being insatalled when I initially inspected the unit upon arrival. So now, I had to jack up the unit off my outside ramp; remove the wheel; remove the battery to get at the battery leads ( the battery is a shoe-horn fit and is torqued beyone belief with metric nuts and bolts.) Now I had power, but the battery was low on volts and had to be recharged. My use of the trickle charger (mentioned previously) was ineffective because of the unconnected battery lead. I put everything back together and after a few hits and misses it started to run. My recommendations are listed below to Westinghouse; the manufacturers (that they use elsewhere) and future owners that purchase a new unit: Westinghouse and your manufacturing team (overseas): 1) Clean up your Owners manual to flag the things that I mentioned in this message: Any loose wires (when the unit is shipped) should be flagged with visable tape so the owner does not go through what I went through;. Also, there is no pull chord to use as described in the manual 2) Stupid Rule #2: There is no way in hell, that the average ( two men) can do a deadlift of this beast at 400 #+++ at the height that it is blocked sitting on one pallet let alone two pallets. But, if the blockage ( on the pallet that is used to ship this thing ) were several inches higher, the wheels could be installed without tilting anything (as described in the manual) and with a few 2"X 4" it could easily roll off the shipping pallet {or others) into position once all the blockage is removed and clear. I do not have any immediate help (or an engine puller) anymore, so I look for simple ways to do things alone. 3) I'm still running it in a "breaking in mode", and the house has already been wired with a transfer switch. I have yet to see how much it will power everything, but it is a remarkable unit once assembled and running. Owners: check check and double check. Many things mentioned (in the owner's manual) can be simplified with a little common sense D.E. Penrod P.E.

Running really find, have nothing bad to say about. I switched my champion 11kw for this one. I now have remote controller and run on propane. Its really useful for my offgrid house. Update: Do NOT get it if temps gets under -15°C in your area. It will hardly start when it's freezing and needs to be heated below -20. Bad bad move as we live offgrid and really needs it to charge our batteries. No manual choke. January 2024 the speed regulator have failed, costed 100$ to replace it. Had to wait 6 months because the part was backorder and had to use a redirect US postal service because they cant ship the part to Canada and theirs service point in Canada dont sell that part.

Dead on arrival. Doesn't start. Stater motor grinds against flywheel and Doesn't turn over the motor. don't buy from Amazon they have been no help and looks like they won't let me return this $4000, 400 pound, boat anchor. Poor showing Amazon. Will not be making big purchases with Amazon in the future.