In this video I tell you my experience with these generators and give you my opinion after almost 400 hours of use. I also share with you things I have learned about them.
I would like to say that a commenter pointed out these generators have a yamaha clone engine and not a honda clone. It is a yamaha mz80 clone engine which is in this generator as well as the harbor freight generator.
Thanks for this video, I needed a straight answer on how the paralleling works on these AIPower generators. I bought one at Sam's here in Houston after the derecho in May. Too late to help then, but I was very glad to have it for Beryl. It saw over 100 hours total with shutdowns in between. Now I can get another and parallel them for double power or just get more time at half load. I'll be changing out the oil and spark plug this weekend so the info is much appreciated.
I'm glad you are happy with your purchase. I use mine to run rv air conditioners etc. With only 80 cc engines, I don't have much faith in them for hundreds of hours. Considering many people don't ever get close to a few thousand hours, under the right circumstances, I'm sure they'd be fine for a lot of users.
If you look on my channel I am up to 700 hours now and I did a review. I don't see why they couldn't last a few thousand hours with good maintenance. Thats why I keep making these videos. I want to see how long they do last.
I ordered this in Dec 2018 from Sam’s Club for $249.98 with free shipping. When I got it, it was dead out of the box. Luckily the local store took it back and they shipped me a replacement and that one has worked fine, but the handle ended up breaking after a few years. I was able to order a replacement from the manufacturer, but had to make a slight notch in the metal tubing because they slightly changed the handle design to make it stronger. Overall, the generator has worked well, and is slightly louder than a Honda EU2200i, but not bad at all for the price.
I agree that they are not bad for the price and they seem to come with more features than other brands that are almost 2x the price! Thanks for the comment!
Slick Review!!!😁👍🏻 I'd be curious if you could operate a mini box stick welder from just one of these???🤔 Is that diesel oil you're using Pure Synthetic Oil???🤔
I am running diesel oil. I don't know if it would run a stick welder. I think the feedback and electrical noise freaks out the electronics. I tried running a flux core welder and they did not like it one bit. The throttles would start going wonky.
@Bbernhardsr What brand/make/model of flux core MIG welder did you use???🤔 Is it one with a transformer (HEAVY WEIGHT!) or is it one of the lighter weight MIG welders that use inverter circuitry (Light Weight!)???🤔 Regarding your "diesel" oil, I bet it is pure synthetic!!! Diesel oil is an excellent choice as it has to sequester the heavy carbon that diesel puts out and still maintain its lubricity!!! Which reminds me!!! I used to own a diesel VW Jetta and I have several gallons of Shell Rotella T in my basement shop knocking around...I wonder if they would work?🤔 They had this generator on sale at Sam's Club...seriously thinking about it as it's definitely a better value than the comparable HFT gen...and I was wanting to try out a generator that uses the inverter technology!!!😳
@@fookingsog my flux core is one of the harbor freight units. I believe it has a transformer because it is pretty heavy. It is possible that one of the lighter ones that is electrinics driven may work but I am not sure. The diesel oil I am running is straight 30 weight oil. I run this because I use my generators in the heat of the summer at almost max capacity for long hours without shutting them down for a break. I want to make sure that the oil does not thin out too much from the heat. Yes rotella is great stuff and I like the diesel oils for the reasons you mentioned but also diesel oil has more protective additives in it than standard gas engine oil does. I think these extra additives are keeping the wear down to a minimum.
@@fookingsog Even if the generator isn't on sale I still think it is the best generator. The company I work for has all the different brands you can think of. We have used them all and this one I like the best. We have the honda at this size and yes it is nice but also expensive. We have the harbor freight predator, the wen, the kipkor, wacker, generac, and even some ryobi small generators. The ryobi is the absolute worst! But out of all of these units I like my Ipower the best and it is the best price.
I own a A I2300 powered by Yamaha. There is sticker by the parallel connection that reads. “Notice Disconnect parallel cords Prior to shut down. Failure to do so may damage inverter. “ Does yours not have that sticker?
Yes my unit has a sticker but I have run these for their lives this way and they have been fine. If you look at page 23 in your manual it says specifically to only mess with the cables with both generators off. It says to only plug them in with the units completely powered down. In my mind it seems safer and more logical to have everything off before plugging or unplugging those cables.
@@Bbernhardsr that makes more sense to me as well. Page 23 in mine only references starting procedure, fuel cap etc.. Page 26 references parallel connection and only states to have generators powered off when connecting. Then it goes into where to place wires and connecting ground. No mention on disconnect etc on the front label. Even the stickers on the unit for what plugs to use is different from the manual. At one point I thought I was given the wrong manual but it’s model marked correctly. It seems like a huge shock risk disconnecting while running as well. I’ve sent them an email asking for clarification and sequence. I’ll let you know what I learn. Thanks for responding!
So I haven’t heard back from them but it doesn’t matter. I bought mine at Costco and after 4 hours of use in parallel one no longer will run. Oh it’ll fart and piss for 2-5 minutes and then die again. Glad I bought them at Costco. Returning both tomorrow.
@@Bbernhardsr it was the first time it was run! 91 octane fuel, no it was not ethanol free. That’s not available and if the damn thing won’t run on what’s available I have no use for it. Also I was surprised under load I didn’t find it noticeably quieter than my motorhomes Onan 4000. I guess I got a bad one. It happens.
I would like to say that a commenter pointed out these generators have a yamaha clone engine and not a honda clone. It is a yamaha mz80 clone engine which is in this generator as well as the harbor freight generator.
Thanks for this video, I needed a straight answer on how the paralleling works on these AIPower generators. I bought one at Sam's here in Houston after the derecho in May. Too late to help then, but I was very glad to have it for Beryl. It saw over 100 hours total with shutdowns in between. Now I can get another and parallel them for double power or just get more time at half load. I'll be changing out the oil and spark plug this weekend so the info is much appreciated.
By more time at half load, I mean dividing what would've been half load for one across two, making it 25% load on each.
@@apileofrocks5142 glad it helped
I'm glad you are happy with your purchase. I use mine to run rv air conditioners etc. With only 80 cc engines, I don't have much faith in them for hundreds of hours. Considering many people don't ever get close to a few thousand hours, under the right circumstances, I'm sure they'd be fine for a lot of users.
If you look on my channel I am up to 700 hours now and I did a review. I don't see why they couldn't last a few thousand hours with good maintenance. Thats why I keep making these videos. I want to see how long they do last.
Now this is a great review. 400 hours is fantastic. Thanks
I have made a 700 hour review since this video. I go over how to do a valve adjustment. Thanks for the comment.
I ordered this in Dec 2018 from Sam’s Club for $249.98 with free shipping. When I got it, it was dead out of the box. Luckily the local store took it back and they shipped me a replacement and that one has worked fine, but the handle ended up breaking after a few years. I was able to order a replacement from the manufacturer, but had to make a slight notch in the metal tubing because they slightly changed the handle design to make it stronger. Overall, the generator has worked well, and is slightly louder than a Honda EU2200i, but not bad at all for the price.
I agree that they are not bad for the price and they seem to come with more features than other brands that are almost 2x the price! Thanks for the comment!
I would recommend at least 3 of these and a gas can full of avgas for all EV owners to make them "self sufficient" IE cordless....goodbye trunk space!
Slick Review!!!😁👍🏻
I'd be curious if you could operate a mini box stick welder from just one of these???🤔
Is that diesel oil you're using Pure Synthetic Oil???🤔
I am running diesel oil. I don't know if it would run a stick welder. I think the feedback and electrical noise freaks out the electronics. I tried running a flux core welder and they did not like it one bit. The throttles would start going wonky.
@Bbernhardsr What brand/make/model of flux core MIG welder did you use???🤔 Is it one with a transformer (HEAVY WEIGHT!) or is it one of the lighter weight MIG welders that use inverter circuitry (Light Weight!)???🤔 Regarding your "diesel" oil, I bet it is pure synthetic!!! Diesel oil is an excellent choice as it has to sequester the heavy carbon that diesel puts out and still maintain its lubricity!!! Which reminds me!!! I used to own a diesel VW Jetta and I have several gallons of Shell Rotella T in my basement shop knocking around...I wonder if they would work?🤔 They had this generator on sale at Sam's Club...seriously thinking about it as it's definitely a better value than the comparable HFT gen...and I was wanting to try out a generator that uses the inverter technology!!!😳
@@fookingsog my flux core is one of the harbor freight units. I believe it has a transformer because it is pretty heavy. It is possible that one of the lighter ones that is electrinics driven may work but I am not sure.
The diesel oil I am running is straight 30 weight oil. I run this because I use my generators in the heat of the summer at almost max capacity for long hours without shutting them down for a break. I want to make sure that the oil does not thin out too much from the heat.
Yes rotella is great stuff and I like the diesel oils for the reasons you mentioned but also diesel oil has more protective additives in it than standard gas engine oil does. I think these extra additives are keeping the wear down to a minimum.
@@fookingsog Even if the generator isn't on sale I still think it is the best generator. The company I work for has all the different brands you can think of. We have used them all and this one I like the best. We have the honda at this size and yes it is nice but also expensive. We have the harbor freight predator, the wen, the kipkor, wacker, generac, and even some ryobi small generators. The ryobi is the absolute worst! But out of all of these units I like my Ipower the best and it is the best price.
I own a A I2300 powered by Yamaha. There is sticker by the parallel connection that reads.
“Notice
Disconnect parallel cords Prior to shut down. Failure to do so may damage inverter. “
Does yours not have that sticker?
Yes my unit has a sticker but I have run these for their lives this way and they have been fine. If you look at page 23 in your manual it says specifically to only mess with the cables with both generators off. It says to only plug them in with the units completely powered down. In my mind it seems safer and more logical to have everything off before plugging or unplugging those cables.
@@Bbernhardsr that makes more sense to me as well. Page 23 in mine only references starting procedure, fuel cap etc.. Page 26 references parallel connection and only states to have generators powered off when connecting. Then it goes into where to place wires and connecting ground. No mention on disconnect etc on the front label. Even the stickers on the unit for what plugs to use is different from the manual. At one point I thought I was given the wrong manual but it’s model marked correctly.
It seems like a huge shock risk disconnecting while running as well. I’ve sent them an email asking for clarification and sequence. I’ll let you know what I learn.
Thanks for responding!
So I haven’t heard back from them but it doesn’t matter. I bought mine at Costco and after 4 hours of use in parallel one no longer will run. Oh it’ll fart and piss for 2-5 minutes and then die again. Glad I bought them at Costco. Returning both tomorrow.
@@josephls55 did you use ethanol free fuel? Drain the fuel from the carb using the bowl drain screw. 95% of the time water is in the bowl.
@@Bbernhardsr it was the first time it was run! 91 octane fuel, no it was not ethanol free. That’s not available and if the damn thing won’t run on what’s available I have no use for it. Also I was surprised under load I didn’t find it noticeably quieter than my motorhomes Onan 4000. I guess I got a bad one. It happens.
These engines are a clone of the Yamaha engine
Yes I have a pinned comment stating that. Thankyou