Generac Power Systems Reviews

5. Authorized "service providers" don't provide home service and good luck getting 4 of your able bodied friends to lift in it and out of a pickup truck you have to borrow.

So I contacted the Generac "service" people to explain my issues... Which they can't fix. Which they don't understand. Which they caused by producing a defective product. Which they touted as great. Which they touted as having reliable support. (Which they don't.) Which relies on irrelevant independent shops to fix their junk. Which demand you drag your really heavy generator to them. Which doesn't do me much good in the event I ever need power. Which means I'm stuck with an unreliable product sold by an unreliable company with unreliable service.

I called Generac customer service on 2/11/16 and they still could not provide me with a shipping date for the replacement unit. I wonder how many recently sold units Generac has shipped out to new customers while we have had to drag out our heavy Korean made portable unit for three power outages since our new Generac has not been available for service. If you have a dependable portable generator and are physically able to set it up each time you need it, save your money, keep your old portable unit and go out and spend the money that you will save on a nice gift for your valentine.

When I pointed out how ludicrous this was... the representative said that all he could authorize was that I take it to a service center and get an estimate to repair it. When I asked him if this was the "great service" that Generac touted on the website- he fell silent. Right now I am torn between deciding whether this product is a piece of crap.... or a piece of **!!!!

In removing spark plug (for the first time) they had to use a lot of pressure at an incredible angle to remove the plug. The threads on the aluminum housing had metal chips in the thread, and they could not replace the plug tightly. The resolution was to re-thread the hole at $400. No help or suggestions from the Generac CS people. Should have changed the plug after the first season and would have been under warranty.

Hey, Generac, make a change and start making generators that work, don't cost an arm and a leg for parts, and are reliable. Right now I would buy a "made in Red China" generator before I ever go near a Generac, and I will never buy those junks. Generac has failed us. All they had to do was make a product that customers will recommend, rely on, and be reasonable when parts are needed. Maybe someone with intelligence and pride in their products will buy Generac out and make those changes. Right now a big company is buying Generac, and they are doing the same with parts that don't last and cost a fortune to replace.

A month later the engine was replaced. Twice more we had storms that needed the generator and both times it was offline and out of order for some damned reason or another. Now, the unit is out of warranty and it's still needing parts. I just paid out $275.00 for a maintenance contract but it doesn't cover parts and now it needs another $500.00 in parts. This is ridiculous!! Calls to Generac are like "well, stiff **..." I've had less problems and paid out less money for a old "beater" car. And at least IT ran for a few months. I am told by the servicing/installing company that this is common with this unit and that I'm not the only one who has had these problems. COMMON?? Why won't Generac fix it?

Bought a new one for the house - a good reputable outfit said Generac was better now. First thing that went was the control board. Took three or four months to get that resolved, and then was within the first year. Now I find out that it needs some part on the regulator or something. The part is $300 plus, plus the trip for the Sutton to come and fix. (I'm on a island) Anybody want to guess what that going to cost? My generator guy said the set on has 22 plus hours. Call them for support - what a joke... The only thing these things are good for is a boat anchor - three out of three = junk.

We finally took it into a Generac certified dealer since it was under warranty. They told us Generac wouldn't warranty it because the unit was worn out and the air filter wasn't put back on correctly which is a bunch of bull. It only fits one way. This unit only had 900 hours on it and was 9 months old. As a business person I thought I was buying a great product but apparently it was defective and Generac doesn't want to stand behind their products.

I don't recommend their products to anyone. I had an off brand China made generator for years prior to this one and I wore it out after over 5000 hours and several years of work. I take care of my equipment because I have to have it to make money in my work. This, however is ridiculous. To make matters worse, the repair shop Generac sent it to is charging us a labor bill because Generac denied the warranty work. Bottom line, don't buy their products, they aren't made well and they don't backup their products.

Call the federal trade commission... 1-877-382-4357 website is www.ftc.gov make a complaint. They will submit a report to the proper authorities. Also contact the state attorney generals office 1-800-441-2555 the will send you a form to file a compliant. Also call AARP 1-888-687-2277 ask for Fraud Watch Network. This is the best we can do as consumers with this company. I'm thinking a class action law suit may be another avenue to go!

Generac told me because it was classified as portable I had to get it to a certified Generac repair shop for them to cover the repair. This portable generator weighs 413 lbs. (Note: This generator has a crane lift ring in the center because of how portable it is.) So I had to pay the repair shop to come and pick up my brand new, never been used, $3000 generator to repair it and pay them to return it. While my brand new, never been used, $3000 generator was being repaired my power was out two additional times. I remember a time when the customer was considered valued, now customers are on their own. 'Caveat Emptor'

There should have been a recall at least. 750+ volts continuously running could have burnt down my house. I reacted quickly after hearing explosions in my house and shut the generator down. Generac, Rebecca **, said Generac did not pay for blow out electronics but would consider my case. I have paid to replace or fix the devices lost and asked Generac to repair or replace the generator at some reasonable cost to me. So, what's the answer??? This is the third time I have had difficulties dealing with Generac.

UPDATED ON 07/26/2015: I finally got aggressive and called Generac (Wisconsin) and asked to speak with Rebecca - resolution manager. She was too busy at that time, and said she would have an Email to me that afternoon explaining the resolution (after 5 months) of my case. The email did arrive. Very short and to the point that my Generac generator was out of warranty, and Generac had closed my case. Well, of course it was out of warranty. I had asked Rebecca about that five months earlier in February.

Anyway, warranty was not my issue. The fact that there was no over-voltage shutdown on this unit was my issue. I have checked with other manufacturers - Briggs/Stratton, Kohler, etc. about this over-voltage issue. All have an over-voltage shutdown on their whole house generators. And, after filling out an extensive Generac complaint form and meeting all the other Generac requests (photos, parts) during this process, I deserve more of an explanation than the short impersonal email that didn't even address my concern.

Generac is not a customer oriented company. As I said before on July 15, I have had four issues of failed parts. This unit has about 100 hours on it. Generac always gave my dealer and me a hard time about replacing any part, even ones during the warranty period. Their quality and reliability is poor. I just purchased a new Briggs and Stratton 15kW to replace it. I could have done that 5 months ago if Generac hadn't played their games with me.

In our humble opinion this unit has been a complete waste of money. If we do suffer a catastrophic power outage it will most definitely be more than 40 hours (less than 2 days) before power is restored to the area. Do not buy this unit. Generac will not stand behind their product beyond the time limited warranty. This position defies all reason considering the limited hours the engines run prior to having a catastrophic failure. Not recommended if you are considering an alternative backup power source for your home.

This was a one time agreement and no extended warranty was provided. I am of course happy they agreed to pay for the $322 repair, but I am also concerned that if the gasket failed after only 32 hours of run time in over 3 years, might it also fail again in the future. I will have to wait to find out and live with questions about how reliable the unit will be long term.

Original Review: June 1, 2015

In my new construction home, I had a Generac 8KW installed by an authorized dealer in January 2012. The dealer has maintained it as recommended. After the April 2015 maintenance, the generator was not starting for its weekly run. The repairman has had to disassemble the unit and has found the head gasket is burned thru in 3 places. The unit is 3 years and 4 months old and has run a total of 32 hours in that period of time. Generac refuses to pay for the repair other than the $3 part. Unfortunately, I have recommended Generac to 3 friends who also have them installed. I would definitely stay away from Generac products as they do not stand by them.

After I had the Gen running I went to see if the furnace was running and much to my surprise the HRV control and the Honeywell heat control were acting erratic and showing erroneous inside temperatures. I called my heating contractor and he could not seem to understand why the control was doing this but he felt it was something to do with the power supplied by the Generac. I turned the furnace OFF (I think I did it in a nick of time). While looking at the control smelled sometime burning. I went into the office and found that the surge protector was starting to melt. At that point I thought it had burnt out and I unplugged it immediately and put in a new one.

I left the office and went into the kitchen and saw the microwave control flashing with an unknown signal. I unplugged it right away. Then I heard a loud POP sound. I Immediately went into the office and my computer had smoke pouring out of it. I thought it was on fire (and it would have been if I had not unplugged it) so I unplugged it and started to shut down everything in the house. Then the utility power came back on. I turned off the XT8000e and unplugged the transfer switch which allowed utility power back into the house. I turned the furnace on and it appeared OK as did the Microwave. I checked the rest of the house and found my Xbox power supply was burnt out as was the surge protectors for my computer and my stereo system in the great room.

WE WERE LUCKY THAT THESE COMPONENT DID NOT CATCH FIRE. THE COMPUTER WOULD HAVE CAUGHT FIRE FOR SURE AS THE POWER SUPPLY WAS MELTING DOWN. SO WE HAD AN OVER CURRENT. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. The ONLY power coming into the house was being supplied By the Generac PERIOD!!! The house wiring is NOT defective nor would it contribute to the over voltage. The only other possibility was the Generlink but it was installed properly and to code by our utility company. In addition I contacted generlink and informed them of the event and they said it could only be two thing - This is the email they sent me:

"There is a couple of things that could have caused this to happen. 1. The "ground / neutral" cable in the back of the GenerLink wasn't connected properly when the contractor installed the GenerLink. 2. The generator voltage regulator for that instance didn't work properly. This can happen where the generator will spike causing an "over voltage" and then go back to normal use. From what you have describe, there was an "over voltage" from a power source."

So with that Generlink sent me a test procedure to make sure the Generlink was properly installed as follows: "So, you will need an Ohms meter in order to do the testing. When you are ready follow these steps. 1. Connect the GenerLink cord into the GenerLink. 2. Connect a power cord into one of your 120v outlets near where you can reach both the GenerLink cord & this extension cord. 3. Turn on the Ohms meter and set the dial to 20 ohms. The display should be blank at this time. 4. Take one of the probes and touch the neutral of the GenerLink cord. See picture. This is the prong diagonally across from the ground. (Pin without the black tip.) 5. Take the second probe and touch the neutral of the extension cord. This is the longer of the 2 square slots. When you are touching the 2 cords in these locations, the meter should read 20 on the display. If you get a reading, the GenerLink is connected properly."

I conducted this test immediately and the meter read the proper OHMS indicating the Generlink is installed properly and further The Green light on the Generlink show the Generlink is operating properly. SO the sole cause of all the damage was the current supplied by the Generac. There is no other device or wiring issue that would have contributed to this overcurrent and it is obvious that the AVR (automatic voltage regulator) malfunctioned and DID NOT control the voltage. Incidentally I have been made aware that there was a Generac the same as mine that caused the same problem in Ohio. I am sure you were made aware of this or should have been.

So Generac agreed to have the Gen set picked up by Coby's. They did that and apparently put it under static load of 4500 watts (well below the 8000W capability of the Generator and found it ran OK/. I spoke with Cosby's and asked if he checked the AVR and he did not. He just performed the load test and he was asked to do by Generac. So I called Generac (Dave **) and asked if he could check if it was possible that the AVR could have failed intermittently. Apparently Dave checked with someone with certain knowledge of generators and they could neither deny nor confirm that the AVR failed to control the voltage.

So that is it. Mr ** says I cannot prove the Generator caused the problem. This is ridiculous. The fact of the matter is that the only power being supplied was produced by the Generac. I went to great lengths to look at all other options and I spoke with the Electrician that wired the home, an Electrical engineer (I sent him all the Generator schematics and Generlink manual), and Generlink. They all agreed that the ONLY POSSIBLE CAUSE - the Generac that MUST have malfunctioned and caused this over current. This combined with the fact that Generac (as per Mr **) can neither say either way if the AVR malfunctioned intermittently. Also there was no specific tests conducted by the repair facility that would check out the AVR.

So Mr ** stated that I needed proof that the generator caused this. Well I have all the proof I need: Three expert in this field agree that is was the Generator causing over voltage; Three burnt out surge protectors - one of them started to melt (I am keeping this as proof); Burnt out and melted power source from my computer (I also have this); Burnt out power source from my XBox (I have this); Two blown light bulbs from the garage door opener. What proof does Generac have that this Generator did not cause the over voltage - None.

I was just lucky that I noticed all these conditions - had I not paid attention to this there is no doubt I would have had a fire starting in the office - the house (which is new) could have sustained major damage or in fact burned down resulting in loss of property and the possible loss of life. I can only imagine what would have happened if the power outage was prolonged and we had this generator running without checking the circuits especially if we had it running overnight.

It is quite evident that Mr ** is denying that the Generator caused these problems and I can understand that as a Generac employee it is his job to do so. On the other hand Generac needs to step up to the plate on this and look into it. I cannot imagine the horror of someone running this type of Generac and sustaining a fire that caused loss of life. I spoke to the Fire Department and they told me that if there was a fire the Fire Marshall would be called in. There is no doubt that the source of the fire would be traced back to the Generator as this is the ONLY SOURCE of power at that time.

So my damages are as follows: Three failed surge protects - estimated replacement cost $50.00 each =$150; Failed computer - repaired - cost $96.00 Canadian; Burnt out Xbox - estimated replacement $250.00; Two burnt out light bulbs - $8.00; Invoice from Cosby's for 72.04 - for troubleshooting (???). I had to pay this; 300 Kilometers travelled twice to Cosby's to look at replacement gen set and to pick up the generator after test 50 cents a Kilometer = $150.00. Total 726.04 and I am lucky it was not thousands more. Yes I expect to get reimbursed for this. I do not want to hear about your boilerplate and excuses. You need to step up and pay for my damages as your product caused them.

The Generator was returned to Lowe's. They are going to work with Generac to get to the bottom of this. Lowe's has AMAZING customer service and after hearing what happened they at least took this faulty Generator back. Generac should be the same with their customers. I did not create or cause this problem. Your Generator did.

I again called Generac's customer service number and this time I was told that I should remove the front panel and there I would find a small fuse that I could replace. I did so and there was no fuse (this is after the person on the phone had looked up the model and schematic diagram). I called again and was told to take the unit to a local Generac authorized repair service, which I did.

After two weeks, I called the repair service and was told that the generator had not even been looked at yet because there was some problem and Generac would not authorize him to start working on the unit yet. I called Generac back and they looked up that particular repair company and told me that "there should be no problem." I told them that I had just spoken with the repair person and that there WAS a problem that originated on the Generac end. I then asked if they could call the repair company and straighten it out and was given some vague answer which was basically "no."

I was then told that I could choose to take the generator to one of two other repair companies, both in towns 30-40 miles away. This is a brand new generator out of a box. It has been almost a month and a half and I have not yet gotten to use the $700 generator. My sympathies to the people I am reading about who spent much more.

1) The first problem began within weeks of installation when the generator battery charge was not being maintained. I was told by the authorized service dealer that this was a common problem and that I should purchase a smaller trickle charger to maintain the battery. Replacing the controller did not guarantee the problem would be fixed.

2) The second problem occurred about 9 months after installation when it was noticed that it was leaking oil. When running, it would "spray oil" all over the inside of the housing and out of the ventilation panel. Inspection revealed a crack in the casing near the cooling fan. The engine was replaced.

3) The third problem was a short in the control board which caused the whole system to shut down. The board was replaced and this also fixed the battery charging problem (#1).

4) The fourth problem was the assembly controller motor which caused the engine to rev and shut down with an error message "Over RPM". Replacement of the assembly controller corrected the problem.

5) The fifth problem was when the engine would not start. It would crank but never fire up. It was discovered there was no compression in the values, so the engine was replaced again.

6) The most recent problem (occurred in May, 2014) was when the engine would not start and the error message was "under voltage". I am told this is the rotor/stator side of the genset. The warranty ran out in January 2014.

I contacted Generac to request a warranty extension to correct the problem since this unit had had so many issues from the time of installation. After MANY calls and emails over 5 months and visits from several other service dealers attempting to diagnose the problems, Generac decided the warranty could not be extended because it had never been properly installed and maintained. Their reason - it was too close to the house. Then they asked about our usage since the system had over 1000 hrs when it finally died, 3 engines later. Remember, several Generac Authorized Service Dealers had been to the site and none of them told us we were out of spec or were using it incorrectly. We used the unit as a backup to our off-grid system. When the unit ran, it was usually on rainy days or in the middle of the night when our battery bank was depleted. Standby generators are not supposed to be used as a primary power source which is defined as any situation where there is no utility company supplying power. This was not clear to us until after we purchased the unit and spent 3 years trying to keep it running.

The bottom line: Generac is not interested in customer service. They are only interested in sales. If a unit is purchased from a Generac dealer and installed by a Generac dealer it does not guarantee that Generac will uphold its warranties. More importantly, the Generac standby units are not designed to take any heavy use such as continuous run time or high run hours. I was told by one dealer that most Generac units will have a major problem before 500 hrs. In addition, the engines are very inefficient. Our unit burned 2 gallons of LP per hr of use. A home owner would be better off to purchase a smaller portable gas powered generator with an electric key start. These will cost only a fraction of one standby unit and will last for years under regular use. Don't waste your money on a Generac standby. The peace of mind you will feel from owning one will quickly disappear when the unit fails right when you need it most.

We lost power again, and again, the motor came on but still did not generate power. I had an electrician check the output right from the unit, and he said it was the same problem again. I feel I got the unit made on a Friday afternoon, just before a holiday weekend. I do not understand how Home Depot and Generac could let me spend $5,000 and still have nothing to show for it. This speaks very poorly of American workmanship and Home Depot's promise of consumer satisfaction. I still need a generator as my basement will surely flood without power. I feel I have been had and have nowhere to turn.

It took a month for the first part to arrive and be installed. That part is obviously defective because the generator is still not working. We had been waiting for another 2-3 weeks for this replacement part. Finally, the part arrived. The repair man installed it again and the generator still is not working. Now Generac and the repairman claimed that another part must be replaced. They said, this is what is causing the first part to fail. It is a wait and see game and is very frustrating.