GM6000iED: Works well for RV. I like it.
The media could not be loaded. Update: Bottom line, I'm still happy with this purchase. After about 225 hours of use, the battery and electric starter both died. The pull starter had broken previously, but I wasn't concerned with that at the time since I always use the electric starter. However, with both starters and the battery dead, I was left with an unusable generator. I contacted Genmax support initially by phone, and was pleasantly surprised to get a live human almost instantly. I explained the problems I was having and was told the parts I needed would be shipped to me free of charge under warranty. There was some follow-up by email after that and it turned out one of my parts was backordered which delayed things a bit. I did eventually get my parts as promised and my generator is back up and running. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with their warranty support. It's good to know they stand behind their products. Original review: I bought this Genmax GM6000iED generator and a boeemi L14-30P to 14-50R adapter to power my RV for occasional off-grid use and as a backup power source during outages. I have a power-hungry 40-ft fifth wheel, so one of those dinky generators just wasn't going to cut it. This one is powerful enough to keep us comfortable, but not powerful enough to run all the high-power devices simultaneously. It does allow us to easily run two 15,000 BTU roof AC units, an 18 cu ft Norcold refrigerator, 50" TV, and a few small items (lights, 12V vent fans, etc.) with plenty of power to spare. I'm impressed by the overall design and quality for the price. This generator is far from silent (as any producing this much power) but certainly acceptable. It's not much louder than a typical AC unit. Placed about 25 feet away from my RV, I can barely hear it from inside. This unit may be a little heavy for some. It weighs just under 120 lbs empty, which puts you somewhere around 145 lbs with a full gas tank. No problem if you are able to wheel it everywhere but a little tougher when it comes to lifting it, especially from the ground into the bed of a truck for example. Lifting it into the storage compartment of my RV is a little easier since it's much closer to the ground. If this sounds like too much, I'd recommend two smaller units and a parallel kit. I prefer a single unit and this is manageable for me. I've put about 17 hours on it so far, 2 hours at idle without load and about 15 hours at about half-load or less. It starts easily using the pull start, electric push button start on the unit or the remote start. The display is very nice giving a readout of time since last start in hours and minutes alternating with total runtime in hours, gas gauge, voltage, frequency, and load in kW. The low idle mode works well for saving fuel when the load is lower. Low idle runs a bit quieter as well and then will ramp up when more power is needed. Access to the oil fill and drain is pretty nice. The included funnel isn't great quality but I appreciate them including it to at least get you going if you don't already have an appropriate funnel. The following accessories are included: propane hose with regulator, spark plug wrench, screwdriver, oil funnel, a L14-30P plug head and a 5-20P plug head. The inclusion of the plug heads to make your own cords was quite unexpected for me, but they may come in handy in the future. Not included, but necessary to get you running: gasoline or propane, and 10w-30 oil. Note that you can only use gasoline containing 10% or less ethanol. I point this out only because E15, which contains up to 15% ethanol, has recently become popular in some areas. Using E15 could cause problems. I haven't run it on propane yet, as it's considerably more expensive than running on gas. I chose this dual fuel model for emergency situations when I need power but don't have gas. I always have propane available because my RV has two 30 lb tanks. Regarding oil, 10w30 is recommended and in one location the manual states .21 gal oil capacity and in another location .12 gal oil capacity. In my experience, neither is right but .12 gal (15.36 ounces) is close as 16 ounces gets onto the cross-hatched area of the dipstick a little less than half-way up. I've changed the oil twice so far even though Genmax says you can wait 20 hours for the first change and then switch to every 100 hours. I'll probably change it at least one more time at a short interval before switching. Even using a full synthetic oil, the changes are cheap since you only use half a quart. I'm currently using Super Tech 10w30 full synthetic (a little over $5 per quart at this time). I'd rather spend a bit more on oil doing the changes more frequently than recommended, especially during the break-in period. It's cheap insurance to keep the engine healthy in my opinion. Only time will tell how durable this generator really is, but so far I'm impressed and I'd recommend it. If you made it all the way to the end, hopefully my long, rambling review was full of useful information to you. Read more
