Generator for RCBS casting furnace.

[GARD72977]

I need to buy a generator for my casting. What size do I need to run the pot, fan and a light.

Im needing a generator anyway just in case.

[Winger Ed.]

You won't need a real big one if its just for that.

I'd have to double check, but I think my old RCBS pro melt only draws 800 watts when the element is on.
A light and fan won't be very much extra draw-- maybe 100 watts or so on top of that.

If the decal is still on the front of yours, it should tell the watts it draws.
Honda makes one that's 2,200 watts for about $100. It would do a good job for ya,
and not be bogged down much trying to keep up with the draw.
And, they're fairly quiet.

[Budzilla 19]

If you are going to run your house during power outages, then buy as much as your wallet will allow!! Personally, I made it ok during Hurricane Laura last year with a 9.7 kw gas or propane dual fuel generator! But.... no central ac, no dryer and no microwave. So.... this year, after pricing local generator companies, you know, standby permanent style generator, I gave up on waiting on the dealer, ( Let’s Go Brandon, for the delay in manufacturing), and shipping delays, and ordered, from all places, Amazon, a 26.7kw portable. Now, I can run the whole house, all the time! So, the reason for this long story, buy what you think you need, and be prepared. Just for casting? 5500 watts oughta do it fine! Just my opinion. Good luck.

[Boogieman]

The RCBS pot pulls 850 w your lights and fan shouldn't pull more than 1500w. For a back up genset I would go with a 4500/5000w unit they don't cost much more than a smaller one and will be much more useful when the power goes off.

[Stewbaby]

As stated, a 2000w (with a 850 plus a fee hundred amp misc load plus starting amps) should work but if you want it for storm and other, go at least 4000 to 5500 and ideally dual fuel so you can run on gas and propane. You probably already have three or four propane bottles so they offer a easy fall back should gas be hard to come by at any point. It won’t handle the starting in rush on a central AC, but it’ll cover a window unit or a camper AC.

What I use:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211125/da8ed18b79e2430aa4825d83b34c1394.jpg

[pcolapaddler]

We have a few generators around here.

We have a 6250 watt that we purchased after Ivan in 2004, a really cheap unit that is supposed to carry 2000 watts, but I have some doubts about that and a Harbor Freight Honda clone that is treated at 2200 watts.

The big one is a workhorse and can run fridge/freezer, small a/c and a few lights. It's loud and burns about 5 gallons of fuel in around 8 or so hours.

The cheapo can run a fridge and a few lights and fan(s) - you just have to be more careful with loads. It isn't too loud and 5 gallons will last several days. I haven't used it that much, but have loaned it to my mom to keep a fridge cold after a hurricane.

The Honda clone can run a small a/c, fans and some lights or a fridge and upright freezer and a fan or two. It is quiet and specs say it will run 12 hours on its 1 gallon tank at 25% load. My experience is probably 8 hours running a 500 or so btu window a/c and a few lights/fans.

The small inverter generators like the Honda and Harbor Freight are very quiet and fuel efficient. Some of them can be daisy chained to combine two generators capacity. This usually requires a special cable. They are not terribly heavy to move or transport.



Sent from a handheld tracking device on a remote body of water in SE Alabama.

[georgerkahn]

I need to buy a generator for my casting. What size do I need to run the pot, fan and a light.

Im needing a generator anyway just in case.

My very first generator -- maybe 40 years back? -- was/is a McCulloch 2,000 watt unit. Primarily "just to use it" I plugged in a Lyman Mould Master pot, and not surprisingly the rpms of motor changed as the internal pot thermostat switch closed and opened -- this well before I "graduated" to inline PID controllers. One of my present generators is a Honda 2000-watt Inverter unit which is most quiet in operation; reliable; economical vis petrol use, and quite light in weight/portable. IF you do not need to run a 220V water well pump; run an electric range &/or clothes dryer; and/or have electric heat -- one of these might do you nicely. The current model adds 200 watts :) -- it is now 2,200 watt -- a photo is inserted.292172
geo

[Winger Ed.]

The big generators are great if ya need one.
However; they are thirsty. Plan on one using around a gallon an hour or more of fuel.

The little ones will run 6-8 hours or so on a gallon of gas.

[Finster101]

How long are you going to want to hear it running while casting? I have a Honda like the one pictured above and it has been super reliable and very, very quiet. Well worth the higher price in my opinion.

[GARD72977]

The smaller generator is more appealing right now. I would like it to be portable. I may buy a larger one later.....

[Winger Ed.]

ideally dual fuel so you can run on gas and propane.

I've got a decent size dual fuel for our fairly frequent storms and power outages.
I'd only run it on gasoline as a last resort if I run out of propane.

The gasoline lets it put out more power, but as I get older-
the less and less I want to mess with the storage issues of a gas engine and preventing stale fuel.

With the propane, you can use it, then shut it down and store the thing almost as easy and maint. free as a electric motor.

[Stewbaby]

Feel the same way. With the camper, grill, griddle, fish cooker, and spares, I typically have ~50 gallons of propane on hand. About 100 hours at least of run time just on propane.

[Scrounge]

You won't need a real big one if its just for that.

I'd have to double check, but I think my old RCBS pro melt only draws 800 watts when the element is on.
A light and fan won't be very much extra draw-- maybe 100 watts or so on top of that.

If the decal is still on the front of yours, it should tell the watts it draws.
Honda makes one that's 2,200 watts for about $100. It would do a good job for ya,
and not be bogged down much trying to keep up with the draw.
And, they're fairly quiet.

Did you drop a zero there somewheres? I've never seen a Honda generator for $100. Maybe $1000? If you can tell me where to get one new for $100 I need a couple of them. ;) Geo posted a photo of the Honda 2200W generator, and I did a quicky search, and found them listing for about $1200. The Harbor Freight Predator 2000W generator that's a copy of the Honda is $559 and in short supply at my local HF. Seems to be the way things go for me these days. ;)

Bill

[dverna]

Last I checked, Honda does not make a dual fuel unit.

The smaller gen sets (under 3500 watts or so) will NOT run 220V but you do not need that voltage for your use.

The little Honda pictured above will run you $1200 so not cheap and it will put out 1800 watts which will be plenty. But seems overkill to cast bullets IMO.

If you have 220V needs then buy something that will handle it for your "just in case" emergency needs and get a dual fuel model. It will be bigger than you need for casting but a better investment in the long run. If you do not have 220V needs, many of the smaller 2000 watt units come with kits that allow you to tether them together for more power when you need it. That is a nice feature as you can use one most of time and save fuel but add the second unit during an emergency.

[Winger Ed.]

Did you drop a zero there somewheres?

Yeah, my bad. I glanced at a page after a quick search without wearing my glasses.
It seemed rather cheap, but I didn't think much about it.[smilie=b:

[georgerkahn]

Did you drop a zero there somewheres? I've never seen a Honda generator for $100. Maybe $1000? If you can tell me where to get one new for $100 I need a couple of them. ;) Geo posted a photo of the Honda 2200W generator, and I did a quicky search, and found them listing for about $1200. The Harbor Freight Predator 2000W generator that's a copy of the Honda is $559 and in short supply at my local HF. Seems to be the way things go for me these days. ;)

Bill

Scrounge (and others) -- I bought my Honda 2000 primarily for portability and to take/use at camp. I bought it online about eight years ago from a place called "the Generator Shop" or something similar -- and I paid $899.00 for mine. A "plus" for the vendor I selected was the free shipping and NO sales tax exacted. I believe mine is now kind of obsolete -- been updated to the 2,200 watt model. Mine runs and runs like the proverbial Energizer rabbit. My only complain is in their design you shut motor-electric and fuel valve simultaneously. Hence, you cannot readily run it out of petrol (my ideal) for storage. Three things I ALWAYS do is 1/ Use nothing but Ethanol-free petrol; mix 1 ounce of Sta-bil to 2 1/2 gallons of petrol; and, I add one ounce to each gallon of petrol, SeaFoam. These OCD's ;) surely help -- but, after a few-month hiatus -- starting has been on occasion -- a challenge. However, I generally need just remove the spark plug, squirt in a bit of petrol from an oil can I use just for this purpose -- and it (knock wood) has always started and run quite well. An unbelievably quiet unit, too... If this one broke -- I'd not hesitate a millisecond before replacing it with a similar unit!

[GARD72977]

I bought a PowerSmart 2500w generater on a black friday deal. Its an inverter so I should get plenty of time from a gallon of gas. I n3d to run my convection toaster oven also. The unit weighs 43 pounds so it just might make some trips to the range this winter with the coffee maker!

Thanks for the advice. The smaller unit is what I wanted for what im doing. I may buy a bigger generater this summer. Not sure if im going to wire my Shop (shipping container) or not. A bigger generator may run the shop and back up for the house. I dont get much time in the shop so cost is not a big factor.

[megasupermagnum]

The big generators are great if ya need one.
However; they are thirsty. Plan on one using around a gallon an hour or more of fuel.

The little ones will run 6-8 hours or so on a gallon of gas.

I can't speak for big ones, but 6 hours a gallon is pretty good on any generator. Dad's Honda 2200 might get that, but I think 4 hours per gallon is more realistic. The tanks on them aren't very big, but they won't run more than about 4-5 hours on their tank. Dad now only runs his off of a 6 gallon boat tank with a special cap. With that tank it will last more than a day, but not a weekend.

I have a cheap 2000w unit, I think called the Sportsman. Bought it for $120 on sale, it's been great. Mine has a slightly bigger tank than the Honda, but still won't last a whole night. Maybe 6-8 hours on the tank, which must be about 1 1/2 gallons. It's pretty similar to the Honda on gas. Where the cheap ones come up short is frequency. The Honda will run very consistently even under a full load, and still maintain 50+ Hertz. It will run a fridge and a furnace indefinitely without issue. By comparison my Sportsman slows down under full load. It would run 2000w worth of lights and casting furnaces just fine. Anything with a motor or otherwise needs consistent frequency it will not. It will run a chest freezer well enough, but a fridge, the Hertz drops into the 40's, and a fridge just won't run right on that. I'm guessing I could mess with the governor to get the engine to run at the speed it is supposed to, but I just don't run fridges off of mine anymore. Mine will run an AC unit, TV, and lights at the same time without missing a beat, and that's more than I need from it. Mine will cause a little more light flicker with certain bulbs, regular incandescent bulbs are best with generators. It doesn't seem like LED's work well with any generator. Noise is definitely louder with mine, but I was surprised how loud the Honda's are after all the big talk about them. The Honda is quiet, but you aren't going to have a conversation with one by you.

To answer your question Gard, a cheap generator of at least 1200W will do you just fine. HF used to have a sweet little 1000W 2 stroke generator that started even at -20 F that I loved. Unfortunately their new green units are worse than garbage. I can fully recommend the Sportsman though, it's possibly from Runnings, if you can get it for cheap like I did. The only problem I ever had was the low oil sensor quit (kills ignition), and all I had to do was unplug it. I do run 0w-20 in mine in the winter though, as like all 4 stroke generators, you will not be able to pull start them once it gets below about 10 degrees if you run the recommended 10w-30 or SAE 30, or whatever it was. I wouldn't dare do that to a $1000 Honda. Winger Ed. You missed a 0, at least. Dad bought his 1 year old used for $600, and that's a steal of a friends price for what people ask for those.

[Jim22]

My very first generator -- maybe 40 years back? -- was/is a McCulloch 2,000 watt unit. Primarily "just to use it" I plugged in a Lyman Mould Master pot, and not surprisingly the rpms of motor changed as the internal pot thermostat switch closed and opened -- this well before I "graduated" to inline PID controllers. One of my present generators is a Honda 2000-watt Inverter unit which is most quiet in operation; reliable; economical vis petrol use, and quite light in weight/portable. IF you do not need to run a 220V water well pump; run an electric range &/or clothes dryer; and/or have electric heat -- one of these might do you nicely. The current model adds 200 watts :) -- it is now 2,200 watt -- a photo is inserted.292172
geo

Don't ignore the quietness of the runnung generator. Both the Honda and the Yamaha generators are quiet. The Yamahas tend to cost a bit less than the Hondas. YMMV.

Jim

[W.R.Buchanan]

You need at least 8KW to run your house 12KW would be better . I have an 8KW Generac that came with my house. We actually need a standby gen where we live as here is a lot of power outages. Sometimes they last all day in the summer time!

I wouldn't recommend the Generac Line as our has had problems. go with Kohler or Onan. Most permanently installed units run on Natural Gas.

I also have a Onan 6.5 KW RV Gas Generator I paid $100 for it and it will run forever I have it mounted on a wagon for portability. It will output either 110 or 220V. These are available lots of places and are some of the best gensets ever made. If you are going bigger than about 15 KW you need Diesel!

Also those Honda E2200's can be stacked in parallel to increase output. They are excellent small gen sets probably the best out there.

Randy

[tazman]

Also those Honda E2200's can be stacked in parallel to increase output. They are excellent small gen sets probably the best out there.

Randy

I wasn't aware of that. Good thing to know. Thanks for posting.

[AZ Pete]

Scrounge (and others) -- I bought my Honda 2000 primarily for portability and to take/use at camp. I bought it online about eight years ago from a place called "the Generator Shop" or something similar -- and I paid $899.00 for mine. A "plus" for the vendor I selected was the free shipping and NO sales tax exacted. I believe mine is now kind of obsolete -- been updated to the 2,200 watt model. Mine runs and runs like the proverbial Energizer rabbit. My only complain is in their design you shut motor-electric and fuel valve simultaneously. Hence, you cannot readily run it out of petrol (my ideal) for storage. Three things I ALWAYS do is 1/ Use nothing but Ethanol-free petrol; mix 1 ounce of Sta-bil to 2 1/2 gallons of petrol; and, I add one ounce to each gallon of petrol, SeaFoam. These OCD's ;) surely help -- but, after a few-month hiatus -- starting has been on occasion -- a challenge. However, I generally need just remove the spark plug, squirt in a bit of petrol from an oil can I use just for this purpose -- and it (knock wood) has always started and run quite well. An unbelievably quiet unit, too... If this one broke -- I'd not hesitate a millisecond before replacing it with a similar unit!

there is a screw on the bottom of the carb for draining the fuel for storage. My EU2000i is about 15 years old and has been a reliable camping generator, easy start, quiet and has required no more maintenance than annual winterizing, air cleaner rinse, oil change and cleaning the spark arrestor screen and replace the spark plug every ten or so years.

[W.R.Buchanan]

The key to keeping any small engine alive over time is to ALWAYS make sure you either drain the fuel out of it or run it dry!!! The garbage they put in gas nowadays is toxic to engines, it will kill a carburetor in as little as one month. Two months it is junk.

Most of the really nice Onan RV Generators (6.5KW) have suffered with this problem. The one I have, I bought for $100 and it has a dead carb. You can't really rebuild them either as the benzine and that red stuff in the fuel etches all the little fuel passages in the carb body and you can't get them clean no matter what. So the engines speed will hunt and the governor won't smooth it out. I've been told this by every Onan Tech I've talked to. Luckily replacement carbs are readily available on Ebay for about $100 so it is fixable. These generators will literally run forever if you take care of them. Since they all get fuel from a remote tank you just set them up with a fuel shut off and then run them dry after each time you use it. Unless you are going to use it frequently. Still eventually you will forget about it and ruin another carb so best to run it dry every time you use it.

If you are going to use it as a Stand By Generator for your house then it needs to be ran for 30 minutes at least once a month. Most in place Stand By Generators have an exercise program built into them that automatically starts the generator every week or so and runs it for a few minutes. This keeps everything juiced up so it will run when you need it to.

One thing you need to know is that if you hook a Aux Generator up to your house you need to shut off the Main Disconnect to the house, Failure to do this will result in frying your generator as it will be trying to power your whole neighborhood, and it just can't do that!

hope this helps someone .

Randy

[HATCH]

I purchased a Powerhouse.
I want to say its 7500 surge and 6500 continuous or something like that.
I run ethanol free premium fuel in it.
I also put stabil in the tank.

When I first got it I ran my shop off of it minus that Master Caster and air compressor.
I ran it for two hours the first day. Topped it back off.
It sat for 6 months unused. Fired it off due to a downed tree that kept the power off for 12 hrs.
I back feed from the shop to the main house.
In my shop my Hatch Automated casting panel plugs into a 4 prong outlet. The Master Caster plugs into the panel as it has a PID.

When the power is out I turn off the house main breaker and all the 240 double pole breakers except the shop 100 amp
I go out to the shop and I unplug the casting panel. Then I plug the generator into the outlet.
I turn off all the breakers in the shop panel except the Caster outlet and the main.

Fire off the generator and then I am set.

The generator is large enough that I can run all my 120v items in my house that I typically use on a daily basis. It isn't big enough to run everything at the same time but we never have every light on in the house.
I have a tankless natural gas water heater and I can use it.
I have a gas furnace downstairs and I can also use it because I am only powering the blower motor and controls.
In power outages I don't use the microwave but I can use the stove because its natural gas.

To get back to your question, most little pots like a Lee 4-20 pot only pulls around 8 amps.
8 amps at 120v = 960 watts

If all you want to do is run your casting pot then a small inverter generator like the Powerhouse 2300 surge/1800 continous will work just fine.
It will cost you a 1.5 gallons of fuel to cast for 8 hrs

[HATCH]

Forgot to mention, you need to start it up at least once a year or every 6 months would be good.

Cheaper generators retain power in the generator coils. Over time it dissipates and will no longer produce electricity even though technically nothing is wrong with it.
I didn’t start a generator for two years and when I needed it, it ran perfectly but produce no power. This was a unit with three run hours on it.

You can re-energize the coils (you can google it).
But unfortunately I couldn’t bring this unit back to life.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Yes, the Sta-Bil will keep your gas from going sour for a while, but it will eventually go south, still a better idea to run it dry. Letting it sit for a year is not good.

Some machines absorb neglect better than others. The Onan Gensets I spoke of above have little tolerance for non use. Used frequently they will run forever. I have actually seen an Onan 2 Cylinder Generator that had 100,000+ hours on it and it was still running perfectly. I also had a friend who had a MBZ 240D that he personally had for 30+ years and it had 950,000+ miles on the original engine. He drove it full throttle everywhere it went (you kind of had to with those) and drove it 60 miles to and from work every day for close to 30 years. It got the Oil changed religiously every 5K and it was kept in the garage when he wasn't driving it. The original paint still looked as good as mine, which only had 290 K on it when I sold it for $3K more than I paid for it. It never sat outside in it's 35 year history.. See Pic.

Rule #1 for machines,,, They like to be used, and not using them usually results in premature death. This is especially true of certain types of machines. Nothing kills a car faster than letting it sit. They just rust rot or mildew. With German Cars if you use them hard they tend to last longer and give better service. That's assuming you actually take care of them in the first place?

I have little respect for people who don't take care of their stuff. They usually smell bad too!

Randy

[1hole]

Applicable to nothing, I chuckle at gas station signs carefully stipulating the price of "unleaded" fuel. Thing is, Congress forbid "lead" in all highway fuels in the mid 1990s so for about 25 years it hasn't been legal to buy anything else. ????

Let's go Brandon! ;)

[rockrat]

Just bought a used Honda 2000 ($600 out the door)to replace my old Kawasaki 1000. The K1000 is loud and I needed a bit more wattage. One time I hadn't started the K1000 for 10 years or so, but had run the gas out of it. Put fresh gas in it, squirted a bit of chemtool down the carb throat and it started on the third pull!!

Plan on mixing avgas and non alcohol gas. IIRC, avgas has a 5 year shelf life

[megasupermagnum]

Applicable to nothing, I chuckle at gas station signs carefully stipulating the price of "unleaded" fuel. Thing is, Congress forbid "lead" in all highway fuels in the mid 1990s so for about 25 years it hasn't been legal to buy anything else. ????

Let's go Brandon! ;)

Sure, you can find leaded gas at a few stations. Anything close to a race track is sure to have leaded gas.

@rockrat, it seems to me that Avgas doesn't smell funny after a winter, like typical gasoline, but I think you are very optimistic on a 5 year shelf life. There are not a lot of fuels that will last that long, and almost certainly nothing for a modern engine. Maybe kerosene?

Edit: I thought of one, propane. A quick search shows a 20 pound propane tank, which shores pretty much forever, would run a generator about 8 hours. Maybe acceptable for an emergency backup generator for minimal maintenance, not really practical for anything else.

[Mal Paso]

Edit: I thought of one, propane. A quick search shows a 20 pound propane tank, which shores pretty much forever, would run a generator about 8 hours. Maybe acceptable for an emergency backup generator for minimal maintenance, not really practical for anything else.

The problem with 20 pound or even 100 pound tanks is freezing the tank. Running water over the tank works in an emergency. If you are going to pull much power a large horizontal tank is better. For me emergencies are cold and wet and propane needs to pull heat from the environment as it converts from liquid. Pull vapor too fast and it will freeze the liquid propane and recovery stops.

Not a criticism. Propane is safer to store, doesn't degrade but has different needs.

Oh Ya. Another vote for Honda generators. I have the 3000IS inverter. They only run as fast as they need to supply power so they are economical and quiet.

[414gates]

If you have basic metalworking tools, and a free weekend, you could make yourself a gas powered melter.

https://ysterhout.net/docs/melter/melter3.htm

[gnappi]

Hmmm... interesting question. I've become aware of power issues with my RCBS and Lee furnaces by using long / light gauge extension cords on my patio when casting. Both had issues one day coming up to temperature and when I changed over to a shorter heavy duty extension the problems went away. I've never run anything but the fridge, TV and some window shaker AC units from my 8Kw genset but I know for a fact they do not deliver power (freqs or voltage) as clean as the local power company.

That said, given my extension cord issue with my furnace, I'm now wondering if the AC from generators is "clean" enough for a pot.

[tazman]

Hmmm... interesting question. I've become aware of power issues with my RCBS and Lee furnaces by using long / light gauge extension cords on my patio when casting. Both had issues one day coming up to temperature and when I changed over to a shorter heavy duty extension the problems went away. I've never run anything but the fridge, TV and some window shaker AC units from my 8Kw genset but I know for a fact they do not deliver power (freqs or voltage) as clean as the local power company.

That said, given my extension cord issue with my furnace, I'm now wondering if the AC from generators is "clean" enough for a pot.

Given that lead pots are basically a heating coil with a temperature controlled thermostat(unless you are using a PID), I can't think there would be an issue since your fridge and AC work okay with it. Those are much more complex devices than a lead pot.

I also had to go with a heavier extension cord for my Lee 4-20 pot. I found the plug in at the end of the extension cord was heating up. Changed to a heavier cord and the issue went away.

[Mal Paso]

Hmmm... interesting question. I've become aware of power issues with my RCBS and Lee furnaces by using long / light gauge extension cords on my patio when casting. Both had issues one day coming up to temperature and when I changed over to a shorter heavy duty extension the problems went away. I've never run anything but the fridge, TV and some window shaker AC units from my 8Kw genset but I know for a fact they do not deliver power (freqs or voltage) as clean as the local power company.

That said, given my extension cord issue with my furnace, I'm now wondering if the AC from generators is "clean" enough for a pot.

There is a huge difference in power quality between generators. If you've ever run a saw on a cheap generator and wondered where the power went, you know. The AC waveform on a self excited unregulated generator isn't as good at transferring energy. As you go up in quality voltage is regulated and windings get better.

The "new" inverter generators do not have to run at a particular speed to produce 60 cycles like regular generators do. Instead they make polyphase AC which is rectified to make DC electricity, just like your car alternator, which is stored temporarily in a capacitor. An inverter takes the DC electricity and builds it into a digital AC waveform in real time. It constantly monitors power output and runs the motor just fast enough to produce the power needed. The power quality of the Honda Inverter generators is as good or better than the utility.

[BrassMagnet]

Scrounge (and others) -- I bought my Honda 2000 primarily for portability and to take/use at camp. I bought it online about eight years ago from a place called "the Generator Shop" or something similar -- and I paid $899.00 for mine. A "plus" for the vendor I selected was the free shipping and NO sales tax exacted. I believe mine is now kind of obsolete -- been updated to the 2,200 watt model. Mine runs and runs like the proverbial Energizer rabbit. My only complain is in their design you shut motor-electric and fuel valve simultaneously. Hence, you cannot readily run it out of petrol (my ideal) for storage. Three things I ALWAYS do is 1/ Use nothing but Ethanol-free petrol; mix 1 ounce of Sta-bil to 2 1/2 gallons of petrol; and, I add one ounce to each gallon of petrol, SeaFoam. These OCD's ;) surely help -- but, after a few-month hiatus -- starting has been on occasion -- a challenge. However, I generally need just remove the spark plug, squirt in a bit of petrol from an oil can I use just for this purpose -- and it (knock wood) has always started and run quite well. An unbelievably quiet unit, too... If this one broke -- I'd not hesitate a millisecond before replacing it with a similar unit!

You are working too hard!
There is a screw you can remove, pull the starting pull cord a few times, and when the bad gas has drained out of the carburetor it is fixed. Maybe three minuted and only one screw removed. Replace the screw, turn it to on, set the choke, and start it. Adjust choke and you are ready for business.
I got mine at the same place for the same price!

[pull the trigger]

If your well pump or A/C is 220vac, then you need one that at least has that, if you really want it for back up. Wasting money on a small one otherwise. Just my opinion, based on hard lessons.