@@richardpeterson9449 Thanks for saying so. I don't make many videos because I usually only share things I wish I'd have found myself. Glad you enjoy them.
@@NoelBarlau I just bought the 56360i and I'm following your break in process as we speak! Seems like a great unit... hope it holds up for the long term. We'll see how she goes! Thanks Again!
Hi I just bought one brand new. Do I need to break in the engine? What kind of oil should I use. What brand and type of oil? Also, should I use regular gas or premium gas? Thank you
How's yours still running? I just ran mine for an hour and had no visible metal flakes in the first oil change and only very minimal fine black on the magnetic dipstick. Just checking because it seems like yours had way to much metal flakes in the oil even after oil change #2.
Not sure I'm a big believer in the magnetic dipstick, especially after the 1st oil change. I'm sure it can't hurt, just not sure how much it does to extend the life of the engine. If there's sparkly dust in the oil, that thing isn't gonna catch more than 5% of it.
I think I see where you were trying the A/C with it in ECO mode. The manual says that eco should only be used for like up to 75% of the load rating. Just fyi
We tend to treat cheap stuff like cheap stuff,... If we treat our cheap Chinese Generators & other gear like we paid triple for a Honda it would serve us well.
Appreciate the detailed review. I also like your "OCD" oil change method. I happen to be that way myself 😉Just getting ready to get one of these. I was initially looking at the 2000, but I think I'll spend a little more and get the 56225i 2250 watter. It's going for $399 right now. Hard to beat! 👍Or do you think it's worth another $50 to bump up to the 2350? I'll only use it to run my air conditioner with Easystart. My solar will do the rest.
I'd get the 2350 and sleep easy. It pulls one A/C with EasyStart no problem, whereas the Honda 2000w was faulting out after it loaded up. Buy once, cry once.
Thanks for the video. I ordered one of these with a magnetic oil dipstick last night. Between this and a few other reviews I have seen, I am confident that I made a wise choice. After seeing yours, I ordered an hour meter that both keeps a running total hours plus has a resettable timer and rpm gauge. Last year following hurricane Ida, we had no power for over two weeks. My mom had a 6500 watt generator but that thing used so much gas. We were having to drive over 2 hours each way to find gas to keep it running. With this, we could have run the fridge and a 5000btu window unit on a fraction of the fuel and money it took to keep the other one going. I can't wait to get it in and try it out. It is currently $429 on Amazon, btw. What exactly is the "easy start" that was installed at the end? And what does it do to make it able to handle the trailer's a/c?
This generator is a steal at $429. Buy two! I just started mine a couple of days ago after many months - probably about 5 or 6 months, actually, and it popped right off. The EasyStart units are "soft starters" for the air conditioning compressor motors, which normally have an enormous inrush current every time they start. These soft start units somehow magically time the start of the motor to the AC line frequency to minimize the inrush current, and that allows you to use a smaller inverter generator than you otherwise would need to to prevent damaging the inverter portion of the generator. I recommend the EasyStart brand because they have remote diagnostics, and just a month ago or so they saved me from buying an entirely new air conditioning unit by remotely diagnosing a bad capacitor. That one diagnosis alone easily paid for both my EasyStart units, one on each air conditioning unit. Also it allows me to run both air conditioners on this one generator, at least for a while. I wouldn't plan on running two units continuously on it, though, as you're dipping into the "intermittent load" phase by doing so.
@@NoelBarlau Thanks for the reply. I don't have an r/v or large a/c unit to worry about here. Just looking for something economical to run in emergency situations.
What size was that mason jar Is that? I have the 2000w... Mine will shut off like oils low when I fill It up on the dip stick.. After 5 minutes... But if it's in the middle of the stick it starts lol I only have the plastic dip stick it says 15 oz of oil in the book
Still running great, starts on the first pull every time. Granted, it doesn't get used very much, but it has been on a few camping trips and was used to charge a battery bank to power an inverter overnight. I have zero complaints regardless of how cheap it was when I bought it. I'd honestly take it over a Honda EU2000i, but not the EU2200i. But for the price, it's amazing.
You’re not supposed to put a load on that motor until after you do the break in for your generator. Do not start plug-in things into it until you’ve done your three heat cycles.
Actually prefer these smaller one. Stepped down from a larger generator to the Wen 4000. It meets the advertised 7 hours on 2 gallons. Not so much saving money, just don't like to store that much fuel.
That's funny, it looks just like a champion 2000/2500 ? Just the control panel is slightly different. Even the inside looks the same. Putting oil down the spark plug is a good way to carbon the Piston. Wow, that oil is dirty, my Champion didn't look like that after my 5 hour break in period!
There are only a handful of Chinese manufacturers who send generators to the U.S. and many tens if not hundreds of resellers. This is known as "badge engineering". I know some of the A-iPower brand use real Yamaha engines which won't have the same amount of break in contamination, but if yours looks exactly the same as mine, you likely had the same contamination. Be sure to warm up the engine fully and then immediately drain the oil to keep the particles in suspension.
@@CitizenOfBabylon I had a 25% off coupon from Harbor Freight and a 5000w inverter generator somehow ended up in the back of my truck. I still have no idea how that happened... ;)
Love your video's man... thanks for doing this!
@@richardpeterson9449 Thanks for saying so. I don't make many videos because I usually only share things I wish I'd have found myself. Glad you enjoy them.
@@NoelBarlau I just bought the 56360i and I'm following your break in process as we speak! Seems like a great unit... hope it holds up for the long term. We'll see how she goes! Thanks Again!
@@richardpeterson9449 Good luck with it. I'm still enjoying mine.
Hi I just bought one brand new. Do I need to break in the engine? What kind of oil should I use. What brand and type of oil? Also, should I use regular gas or premium gas? Thank you
I have another video which covers all this. It's called OCD break in procedure. And you should try to use non-ethanol gas if possible.
Got it. I'll check out your other video. Thank you
How's yours still running? I just ran mine for an hour and had no visible metal flakes in the first oil change and only very minimal fine black on the magnetic dipstick. Just checking because it seems like yours had way to much metal flakes in the oil even after oil change #2.
Not sure I'm a big believer in the magnetic dipstick, especially after the 1st oil change. I'm sure it can't hurt, just not sure how much it does to extend the life of the engine. If there's sparkly dust in the oil, that thing isn't gonna catch more than 5% of it.
I think I see where you were trying the A/C with it in ECO mode. The manual says that eco should only be used for like up to 75% of the load rating. Just fyi
Agreed. It was done more as a comparison of the performance of this unit to the Honda EU2000i. The WEN outperforms admirably, even in ECO mode.
We tend to treat cheap stuff like cheap stuff,... If we treat our cheap Chinese Generators & other gear like we paid triple for a Honda it would serve us well.
Where did you get that cool hour meter.
amzn.to/3FOxoV8
Appreciate the detailed review. I also like your "OCD" oil change method. I happen to be that way myself 😉Just getting ready to get one of these. I was initially looking at the 2000, but I think I'll spend a little more and get the 56225i 2250 watter. It's going for $399 right now. Hard to beat! 👍Or do you think it's worth another $50 to bump up to the 2350? I'll only use it to run my air conditioner with Easystart. My solar will do the rest.
I'd get the 2350 and sleep easy. It pulls one A/C with EasyStart no problem, whereas the Honda 2000w was faulting out after it loaded up. Buy once, cry once.
@@NoelBarlau Sounds good! I have the 2350 sitting in my "Save for Later" spot on Amazon. I'll be picking it up soon. Thanks again!
Thanks for the video. I ordered one of these with a magnetic oil dipstick last night. Between this and a few other reviews I have seen, I am confident that I made a wise choice. After seeing yours, I ordered an hour meter that both keeps a running total hours plus has a resettable timer and rpm gauge.
Last year following hurricane Ida, we had no power for over two weeks. My mom had a 6500 watt generator but that thing used so much gas. We were having to drive over 2 hours each way to find gas to keep it running. With this, we could have run the fridge and a 5000btu window unit on a fraction of the fuel and money it took to keep the other one going. I can't wait to get it in and try it out.
It is currently $429 on Amazon, btw.
What exactly is the "easy start" that was installed at the end? And what does it do to make it able to handle the trailer's a/c?
This generator is a steal at $429. Buy two! I just started mine a couple of days ago after many months - probably about 5 or 6 months, actually, and it popped right off. The EasyStart units are "soft starters" for the air conditioning compressor motors, which normally have an enormous inrush current every time they start. These soft start units somehow magically time the start of the motor to the AC line frequency to minimize the inrush current, and that allows you to use a smaller inverter generator than you otherwise would need to to prevent damaging the inverter portion of the generator. I recommend the EasyStart brand because they have remote diagnostics, and just a month ago or so they saved me from buying an entirely new air conditioning unit by remotely diagnosing a bad capacitor. That one diagnosis alone easily paid for both my EasyStart units, one on each air conditioning unit. Also it allows me to run both air conditioners on this one generator, at least for a while. I wouldn't plan on running two units continuously on it, though, as you're dipping into the "intermittent load" phase by doing so.
@@NoelBarlau Thanks for the reply. I don't have an r/v or large a/c unit to worry about here. Just looking for something economical to run in emergency situations.
Let's turn it up - wait you're not supposed to when it's new - ah, let's redline it and see what happens. Love it!
You've known me since third grade. I think you know it's how I roll! Hope you're doing well, my old friend!
What size was that mason jar Is that? I have the 2000w... Mine will shut off like oils low when I fill It up on the dip stick.. After 5 minutes... But if it's in the middle of the stick it starts lol I only have the plastic dip stick it says 15 oz of oil in the book
1 pint or 16 fluid ounces
how to do you know when gas is running low?
It generally surges a few times and then stops running.
how's the quality and performance of this generator after 2 years? Any issues?
Still running great, starts on the first pull every time. Granted, it doesn't get used very much, but it has been on a few camping trips and was used to charge a battery bank to power an inverter overnight. I have zero complaints regardless of how cheap it was when I bought it. I'd honestly take it over a Honda EU2000i, but not the EU2200i. But for the price, it's amazing.
You’re not supposed to put a load on that motor until after you do the break in for your generator. Do not start plug-in things into it until you’ve done your three heat cycles.
And I thought I was OCD. You win!
"Check before you drill" !... I learned that during my Sydney Clubbing days in the early 90's ;)
Actually prefer these smaller one. Stepped down from a larger generator to the Wen 4000. It meets the advertised 7 hours on 2 gallons. Not so much saving money, just don't like to store that much fuel.
You don’t have to do all that shit. Just run it.
What oil type and gas u guys running on this ?
Non-ethanol gasoline with Sta-Bil fuel stabilizer.
Same here. E0/90 with a shot of StaBil.
That's funny, it looks just like a champion 2000/2500 ? Just the control panel is slightly different. Even the inside looks the same. Putting oil down the spark plug is a good way to carbon the Piston. Wow, that oil is dirty, my Champion didn't look like that after my 5 hour break in period!
There are only a handful of Chinese manufacturers who send generators to the U.S. and many tens if not hundreds of resellers. This is known as "badge engineering". I know some of the A-iPower brand use real Yamaha engines which won't have the same amount of break in contamination, but if yours looks exactly the same as mine, you likely had the same contamination. Be sure to warm up the engine fully and then immediately drain the oil to keep the particles in suspension.
hahahahaha.... I've "impulsed" bought 6 different inverter gensets. Maybe I should speak to Dr.....? 🙄
@@CitizenOfBabylon I had a 25% off coupon from Harbor Freight and a 5000w inverter generator somehow ended up in the back of my truck. I still have no idea how that happened... ;)
Didn't catch how many BTU your A/C was in you camper
13,500 BTU
amzn.to/3KVToxp
Even volume on the phone
lasted 3 weeks, runs bad, now pull start broke pulled out.
Sounds like a warranty claim is in order.
LOUD!!!!
And you won't start a Coleman air conditioner with that generator I guarantee it