DuroMax XP10000E 10,000 Watt 16 HP OHV 4-Cycle Gas Powered Portable Generator With Wheel Kit And Electric Start
by Power Max
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List Price: Our Price: $983.74 Availability: Usually ships in 4-5 business days Category: Lawn & Patio See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of DuroMax XP10000E 10,000 Watt 16 HP OHV 4-Cycle Gas Powered Portable Generator With Wheel Kit And Electric Start
Customer Review: excellent so far
Summary: 5 Stars
I was apprehensive about buying this generator because they don't have a network of service centers... they tell you to take it to any small engine shop near you and contact them about charges under warranty. I called their cust svc and talked with them about the need for third party verification regarding parts needed and they assured me none was required.. I could fix it myself if I wanted.. just call them and tell them what I needed and they'd send it out. That seemed fair enough. It took a little over a week to get mine and it was delivered by USF Holland freight and arrived in pristine condition.. hats off to Holland. I got the liftgate delivery and he backed that big semi right up to my garage door...took his hand truck and set the small skid it was banded to in the center of my garage.. he required no help.. I never touched it until he was gone. These come packed in a cardboard carton and the packaging is well engineered.. thick foam all sides.. top and bottom.. all loose parts.. wheel kit.. etc.. in their own little nook in the foam. It is very heavy but you can get it assembled and off the skid working alone.. I did and I'm 62 yrs old. I pulled the front until it overhung the skid about 10" and assembled the wheel kit then pivoted one side of the rear until it overhung and assembled that strut then blocked the rear strut up with a 4x4 and pulled the skid out of the way and assembled the other strut. I filled it with good synthetic blend oil and put about a gallon of gas in it. I turned the fuel valve on.. it's located a few inches to the right of the choke handle. I pulled the choke handle all the way out and tried to start it with the key... the battery was totally dead. I pulled it out and put it on the charger and stuck the battery outa my lawn tractor in it and tried to start it. It was running almost before I could let go of the key. These Powermax units all have an idle control on them so there's no speed adjustments of any kind possible and none needed. It idles very fast.. all generators do.. they have to to produce current. It ran smooth with no fluctuating noticeable in engine speed. Next I took my voltmeter and checked the output on all the current-carrying poles on all the receptacles. I got a steady 119 volts everywhere. With a target of 120 I considered this to be excellent.. my house current won't hold that. The reason I bought this big unit in the first place was I had hoped it would start and run my big window air conditioner... it is huge.. 30k btu's. I plugged the extension cord I had bought into the L14-30 240v receptacle on the generator and ran it inside the house and plugged up the conversion cord I'd made going to the 6-30 plug on the air conditioner and turned it on. It fired right up with no bogging down and I never noticed the engine on the genny pick up at all. I let it run about a half hour... let the compressor on the air conditioner cycle off and on many times and watched the voltmeter on the genny. It never moved.. engine really never picked up speed either so this generator runs that big air conditioner without any strain on it at all.. I was VERY relieved. The other things I plan to run during an outage won't even approach the surge requirements of that big air conditioner so that issue was put to rest. It turned out that the battery in mine was no good.. wouldn't hold a charge even a half hour. I called MaxTool and told them and true to their word there was no hassle.. they sent me a brand new battery and shipped it FexEx at no charge. I wondered if maybe I had been sent a generator that had been sitting in inventory a year or so but no.. the data tag on it shows a MFG date of May 2007.. I bought it in late August so I got a brand new one.. just had a bad battery. I tried the pull start several times and it always starts on one pull. I go out about once every two weeks and start it and let it run awhile to get oil thru it good.. keep a maintenance trickle charger on it all the time. I can't speak to what it will do over time but outa the box it's everything it was promised to be.. I love it so far. I almost bought a Coleman but those units got horrible reviews.. rampant with quality issues.. leaking gas all over.. horrible vibration issues.. etc.. also they have no idle control and most no electric start and are overpriced terribly. I'm glad I bought this Powermax... couldn't be happier at this point.. good luck to you.Customer Review: Horrible Customer Service
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this item from another retailer for $150 less than Amazon. Great price for a 8,000 watt generator. This unit has a 50 amp plug, which is great. Electric start worked perfect. My only complaints are 1) the legs and battery connection are located in a very hard to reach spot. It took me perhaps 1 hour just to attach the legs and the negative battery terminal. Maybe it's just me. And 2) the handles look like they may bend or fail after a while of usage. But aside from those, the generator was packed nicely, no damage whatsoever. All parts intact and no leaks. Started instantly with the electric starter. Runs reasonably quiet, only a bit louder than my 4000 ETQ generator, which is 1/2 the size. I am looking forward to connecting this to the house via a transfer switch. I should be able to run a bit less than 1/2 the house, which will be plenty in the event of an outage.
Edited 12/2010:
I had a transfer switch installed on the house. When I went to test out the generator with the transfer switch, I noticed that the 50 amp receptacle on the generator was broken, and the plug would not connect. I called Duromax customer service (MaxTool), and was told to call another number. This number would always go to voicemail. I left 3 messages, and spoke to another person, and they just told me to leave another message. I never heard back from MaxTool. My feeling is that they knew this would require a replacement of the generator, and just did not want to deal with it. Fortunately for me, the part was only $6.00 at the local home improvement retailer, and I am relatively mechanically/electrically inclined. I dis-assembled the generator and replaced the recpetacle myself (very difficult, and risky). However, if this was a more expensive part, or something I could not fix myself, I would have just wasted $1,000. I have also noticed that the 'recharge' indicator is always lit, which does not make sense. Another faulty component. After I have fixed the receptacle, it seems to be working fine (except for the 'recharge' lamp).
If I had to buy another generator, I would not by a DuroMax. I feel that there is greater than 50% chance of a part being broken upon delivery, and if it's something critical, I don't trust MaxTool customer service to stand behind this product.
Customer Review: Support almost non existent
Summary: 1 Stars
Buying Chinese products is a crap shoot. A few times you win and the rest of the time you loose. In my case it was the ill informed and sparse tech support for the main circuit breaker on this generator. The breaker became "soft" and tripped below the rated value after a couple of attempts to run a 240v welder at less than 30 amps input. The genrator should have been able to handle it minus the stuck rods that are simply momentary shorts and cause the amperage to spike. Once the breaker tripped a couple of times in a row, it became sensitized to any curent draw beyond just turning the welder on. Reviewing the schematic in the owners manual showed the amperage rating of the breaker wasn't even listed. First call to MAX Tools support for this product, caught a person who said the breaker was a very common style rated at 27 amps and could be replaced easily with a 32 amp. available at any big box hardware store.
After removing the panel to access the breaker, I discovered it was already a 32 amp. and I'd never seen a breaker like that before and neither did anyone at the 2 large hardware stores and the 2 large electrical contractor supply houses I visited, in vain, to replace this "very common" item. There were 3 unreturned phone calls to Max Tools support to get further information about the defective breaker and/or a replacement. I finally found a very specialized 30 amp panel breaker at Graingers that might work if I'm inclined to spend $50.00 to do my own repair on.
This generator will probaly wind up in the pile of other Chinese "doorstops" the are piling up around the place. Don't be surprised if you see a slightly used Max Tools generator on Ebay or Craigs List. Caveat emptor - Let the buyer beware
Customer Review: Incredible Value
Summary: 5 Stars
I received this generator today after completing the installation of a generator transfer switch and exterior 50amp inlet. The package arrived in perfect condition with no signs of damage. The trucker carted the small pallet with a jack to the rear of the truck, to a lift gate, and set the package down right inside my garage. This was a huge help because this is a big unit. Upon opening the box, I found the packaging to be very well made, and supported. So far so good.
The assembly instructions are idiot proof, wheels, supports, and handles were assembled in less than 20 minutes. I filled motor with gas, and oil (4 stroke 10w30), attached the neg battery cable, opened the fuel line, pulled the choke, turned the key and.........you guessed it, she purred like a kitten. I let it warm up for a while, and got ready for the blackout test. This unit has a 50 amp outlet one of the only ones in its price range to offer such a connection. I wheeled it over to my outdoor hookup point plugged it in and flipped the breaker. Fridge, Well pump, furnace, hot water tank, sump pump, a few lights, 60" TV, and PS3 worked flawlessly.
I plan on doing a few tests on the unit for an accurate power output reading, which I will post up in the future, but 10,000 surge, and 8,000 running watts, looks to fit my application perfectly. It's wide array of options, and features made this purchase a no brainer for me.
The Duromax XP10000e is a well made, quiet, and good looking genset. Your neighbors will be jealous! Especially when they find out your kids are playing Guitar Hero in the next blackout...!
Customer Review: Pleasantly surprised
Summary: 4 Stars
This generator, cheap at the price, is a cut or two above the usual Chinese no-brand product (I own two of those, so I can compare, this unit I set up for a neighbour's new house). The unit provides plenty of power for an entire home, provided you're not running any whole house heat pumps. Assembly, fit and finish are better than usual, screws have washers, all of the screws, connectors, plugs are supplied in the box, and the packaging is perfect, especially considering this unit is (expectedly) heavy - it needed two of us to get it onto a pickup truck, and from there into my garage.
Surprisingly, the control panel doesn't just have the usual controls, it has a master breaker, handy if you need to refill, and there is a very useful (and gas saving) idle control. This takes the unit down to idle speed when there is no load, useful if usage is intermittent, as when the unit is used to power tools, rather than near continuous, as it the case when it is used to power a home during a power cut. Noise level is a bit below average, the unit is well tuned, but then it is CARB compliant and California approved.
As your average 10KW portable generator costs at least $600 more than this unit does, I can only recommend it. Please note I have only run this generator for a couple of hours, next is the conversion to propane, using a DIY kit from US Carburetion in West Virginia.