Used Generators For Savings!
Purchasing used generators is often the only way that many people are able to be prepared for emergency situations. Even though it is possible to get new generators at fairly reasonable prices, most makes and models that are heavy duty work out to be quite expensive, and the diesel versions of these are even more so. If you make your choice from used generators wisely, you will find that you can get many more years of use out of them particularly when they are only required for stand by situations. Used generators can easily be five to 20 years old, but they may have only been used for as little as two hundred hours. When you are looking at used generators it is important to check for signs of wear on the motor as well as any sign of deterioration on the hoses and belts. Before you buy you should ask that the oil and the spark plugs as well as the coolant be replaced. It will be pretty obvious when looking at used generators if they have been properly maintained. Unfortunately buying used will not give you a warranty so you are going to have to rely on your intuition somewhat, but you will be saving anything up to 50% or even more on the cost of a new unit.
We have friends down in Alabama who bought a couple of old used generators for their kids. They were able to get a basic 90 day warranty, but for this, their generators were re-manufactured. They were a really good buy as they had been completely overhauled which included replacing any worn parts. The cost of these two used generators worked out to be about 40% of the cost of new ones, and considering they were only going to be on stand-by they were going to be well suited to their needs. Once a month it has been recommended that they run them for around 15 minutes or so, but that is the only maintenance required at this stage of their life. It is important to keep in mind when you're purchasing used generators that it may be difficult to find accessories that match the exact make and model such as enclosures. If you stay with well known brands you are less likely to have problems, particularly if you are looking for spare parts sometime in the future. This is perhaps more relevant to older generators. Gasoline portable used generators are generally in a worse condition as they are often not made as robust as their diesel counterparts. The same amount of thought needs to go into purchasing used generators, as you would any type of generator. Firstly you need to identify exactly what you will be needing it for: 1. Will it be going on camping trips? 2. What sort of appliances will it need to run? 3. Are you going to connect it to the house supply via a transfer switch? 4. Will you be running power tools from it? Once you have made these decisions the choice of which type of used generators is best suited to your needs is made much simpler. These are the determining features that dictate how large your unit must be to operate safely. |
