DuroMax XP4400EH Dual Fuel Portable Generator-4400 Watt Gas or Propane Powered Electric Start-Camping & RV Ready, Blue

I live 'off-the-grid' and needed a back-up generator for my primary one. In fact, I needed it really badly, as my primary unit's engine self-destructed. Although solar energy is one way in which I "make" electricity for my home, during the Pacific Northwest winters, there's just not a whole lot of Ol Sol to go around. Here I am in the middle of winter and my primary source of power has just died. I quickly researched available options and came to this little DuroMax generator. Reviews here, on Amazon (and through Home Depot, who also sells this brand), tended to be favorable, but there where a few really negative comments, resulting in lower ratings. I read them all and saw a common thread: The problems were related to quality control and end-user ignorance. The ignorance I could do nothing about, and had to dismiss a considerable percentage of those comments which stemmed from that issue. The quality control issues also seemed to have a common thread: poorly fitting this or that... these things tend to lead back to the end-user and either naiveté, inexperience, ignorance or some combination of all three. Only a few reviews actually had component failure and those seemed to be satisfactorily resolved. One reviewer indicated an oil leak developed after the warranty was out, but the seller was working with him on that.Here's my experience: Ordered Thursday afternoon. Delivered Tuesday evening. Set up (30-45 minutes), start up (recoil) and run. Charged house batteries for two hours, turned off and went to bed. Woke up next morning, electric start, run, charge batteries (and run whole house) until ready for work.... shut down, come in and write review at work (on my break - no internet at home). It starts really easily (on LPG - I haven't tried gasoline yet, but have that in case one of my smaller LPG tanks runs out), runs quietly enough that the rain on my roof was louder than the generator. I may need to adjust the engine governor, as I get an overspeed indication on my inverter. Otherwise it performs like a champ!C'mon, people... look at the big picture: you're paying rock-bottom price for a unit assembled in China by workers who typically make less in a week than many of us make in an hour. Let's fairly assess the value of the unit:1) The engine is a Honda 'clone', making 7 hp. It was probably reverse engineered in much the same manner as Ural motorcycles were reverse engineered from 1940s era BMWs. There's no R&D. There's no search for tiny modifications which will result in minor improvements. There's no re-tooling for newer versions and none of the intellectual overhead Honda has, but the engine is based upon a design which we know to work. Even with good maintenance, this engine will not likely last as long as the Honda upon which it was based, but at 1/3 the cost (or less) it can be replaced when needed (and Amazon sells the replacement engine!)2) This is a dual fuel generator set, from the factory... no messy modifications. It is warranted for 2 years. If you modify (or purchase) a Honda generator retrofitted for use with LPG, you'll find that Honda will not honor the warranty on their product.3) Noise level? I read reviews where people were complaining about how loud this unit is! I fired mine up and my wife didn't even know it was going! Go and listen to other generators before you complain that this one is loud! Compared to a Honda EU3000iS (MSRP: $1900+), this unit is louder, but is still not loud.Really.... if you want an analogy, buying this generator is like purchasing a base model Ford or Chevy and then complaining that it doesn't have fit and finish or run like a Mercedes or a Porsche. You have to look at it realistically. My Dad always said "You can't drink champagne on a beer pocketbook".While this may be a one star Mercedes, it's a five star Ford!Right now, this little guy IS my primary source of power, and it's looking very good. I'll update as things progress.UPDATE: I've now had this little jewel charging my batteries for over a month. It has NEVER failed to start. I've had three really minor issues... and two can be chalked up to operator error.1) I have begun running the generator on gasoline, instead of LPG, because gas is actually cheaper than propane, right now. This little guy can run my refrigerator, freezer, well pump, washing machine and some lights (as well as other small appliances - TV, DVD player, etc) AND charge my batteries.... some of these things run simultaneously. It runs a looooonng time on a tank of fuel. The little fuel gauge on the tank, however, doesn't always work right.2) Speaking of running all these things - I had it wired to run 120 volts off one leg of the 30 amp/240 volt outlet. The breaker kept popping. I then changed it to run off the 20 amp 120 volt outlet, and all is well with the world. Operator error.3) I have (he said, embarrassed) had the opportunity to "test" the low oil shut-down. Needless to say, it works. Operator error.... again.SECOND UPDATE: The generator has been running every day since its arrival. Never a problem starting on either gasoline or LPG. One issue I've begun to notice, though: Since gasoline is currently still cheaper than LPG, that has been my fuel of choice; the issue I've noticed may - and may not - be related to running on gas. After the number of hours this has run (I estimate around 200 - no hour meter [note to DuroMax: a cheap hour meter might be a good idea for the next incarnation of this set]), the engine has now "broken in" and tends to run a little fast. As a result, the output shows "overspeed" on my inverter. I confirmed this by choking it down, a bit, and the error signal went away. I'll need to look at adjusting the run speed on the engine. Otherwise, it keeps chugging along! The Little Generator that Could!

With many good reviews I thought I'd give this generator a try instead of using the clunky, old, heavy, fuel-leaking, pull-start one I've had. This new generator is so much lighter, more maneuverable, far easier to start, and uses FAR less fuel than my old one. I love the push button start that makes it so much easier to use.However, while the instructions are mostly good, they leave out some critical information that caused me problems as I tried to figure this thing out.First, the choke: The manual says to push the choke lever to the left to start and then push back to the right after starting. Ok, BUT, there are TWO positions for the choke lever to the right with no guidance on which position to shift to! I tried the middle position and later found out this was wrong and that you should push the choke fully to the right as far as it goes. JUST SAY THIS IN THE INSTRUCTIONS! Then, when I contacted Tech Support by email (since getting anyone by phone was impossible), they simply sent me a copy of the same manual I already had with no clarification on what I was asking about.Second: Break in period: There is NOTHING in the manual that mentions or describes any type of break in period. Yet, after reading another review on Amazon that mentioned a 5-hour break in, I contacted Tech Support, who again sent me the same manual saying that it's described inside, which it is NOT! They did say in the email that I should run it for 5 hours at a max 50% load and then change the oil. NONE OF THIS IS MENTIONED IN THE INSTRUCTIONS! But luckily I found this out and did it, although some of the break in was done with the choke in the wrong position.Third: Oil change instructions are unclear but after finally figuring out where the oil drain plug is it's in a ridiculous position that requires gymnastic moves to be able to change the oil! Instructions say that the oil drain plug is under the oil fill cap....but there are TWO bolts under the fill cap and nothing shows or describes which one is the drain plug! To help you out, it is the bolt directly under and a couple inches to the left of the oil fill cap, NOT the bolt under and to the right of the fill cap around the corner of the silver metal box. Another way to be sure, it's the bolt directly above the metal bar/frame that holds the two wheels. But, by being in this position, it means the oil drains all over the frame and makes a mess. I got it done but it was far more difficult than it should ever have to be.Overall, I'm liking my new generator and hope it will last but I had to endure more frustration than I'd like simply because the instructions do not provide enough detail and clarity and it's impossible to get anyone to answer a phone call.UPDATE: While all the above remains true, I owe an update after we just went through a "bomb cyclone" that knocked out power for 6 days at my house. Thus, I put this generator to the test and it excelled in all ways! First, it's easy to use, easy to move, and the dual fuel option saved me. In trying to clean the fuel bowl I had messed up the O-ring which then caused a fuel leak. I was able to easily shift to using a propane tank for the first time and it worked perfectly. I replaced the O-ring and had no more fuel leak and then used the generator for about 10 hours/day over 6 days. It's so nice to have an easy, push-button start, it's quieter than my neighbor's generators, and I was also able to roll it out to my pumphouse to hook it up to my 240 volt well pump to refill the water tank and my house that had run out of water. This made it easy to switch from 120 to 240 volt with the flip of a switch. So, after this 6 day long test I was very thankful I'd made this purchase and highly recommend it to others. Now, I've got the change the oil, which will be messy as I mention above, but I'll live with that in order to have an easy to use, easy to move, dual-fuel, reliable generator.

I bought this years ago, as i lose power regularly and went with the propane option as gas pumps dont work without power but there are allot of propane tank still available that i would still be able to run it. ever since Ive bought this i have not had to use it, not even once. so its done its job quit nicely as did my snow blower that i have never had to use. well worth the investment for the piece of mind that it wont be needed. i researched the model and this was the better deal to run what i needed as it wouldn't be able to run the whole house, has nice features and eclectic start with the option of a remote start if i run the wire to my house for that.

So far the gen has worked awesome! The battery was defective but the company replaced and sent us a second one as well no extra charge. The electric start is so nice. We have run nothing but propane in it.Propane runs cleaner, leaves less deposits and does not gum up carb if you leave it sit for to long. Also propane is safer to store and has aprox 10 year shelf life, so that's why it is all we run. It seems to get more hours run time on 5 gals of propane then it would get on gasoline. (that is based on how long my other gen runs on a tank of gasoline.) It starts right up every time. Runs smooth, not excessively loud... we have used it a lot now as well. We live where there are frequent power outages so we use a lot. Couldn't be happier!