Guardian Ultra Source 15,000 Watt Electric Start Generator

What can I add to these reviews????

Got this unit a few years ago, and it is powerful enough to run my entire house!

We had an electrician install a transfer box, and we just plug the unit into this and pull the switch when the power goes out.

This powerful unit runs the whole house! 4-ton central AC, lights, refrigerators (2 fridge, plus a chest freezer!) TV........everything!

My only complaint is that I wish thay made this in a propane powered unit. I left gas in it one hurricane season, and it gummed up the carb (my fault!). Had to replace the carb, fuel pume and lines. This not an issue with propane. Seems Generac does make propane units, but not as powerful as this and and this price.

What can I add to these reviews????

Got this unit a few years ago, and it is powerful enough to run my entire house!

We had an electrician install a transfer box, and we just plug the unit into this and pull the switch when the power goes out.

This powerful unit runs the whole house! 4-ton central AC, lights, refrigerators (2 fridge, plus a chest freezer!) TV........everything!

My only complaint is that I wish thay made this in a propane powered unit. I left gas in it one hurricane season, and it gummed up the carb (my fault!). Had to replace the carb, fuel pume and lines. ... more

I bought one of these units in January. I set it up and it seemed to work fine. My wife used it to power our water pump at our small place in eastern AZ because we have no other power source.

All seemed fine until our water pump stared giving out. We figured the pump was old and needed replacement. The well drilling company I called in to do the repair noticed that our generator was putting out way too much power (154V on a 110 line, and 310V on the 240V side).

The motor was fine, but something was wrong with the voltage regulator. Even when adjusted the voltage fluctuated between 124 and 154V on the 110 side. The well drilling company said this may have been the cause of my pump failure.

So if you're buying one of these get a voltage regulator and measure the output on the 110 side at least.

I doubt I'll ever buy another Generac again.

I bought one of these units in January. I set it up and it seemed to work fine. My wife used it to power our water pump at our small place in eastern AZ because we have no other power source.

All seemed fine until our water pump stared giving out. We figured the pump was old and needed replacement. The well drilling company I called in to do the repair noticed that our generator was putting out way too much power (154V on a 110 line, and 310V on the 240V side).

The motor was fine, but something was wrong with the voltage regulator. Even when adjusted the voltage fluctuated between 1... more

I wrote a review on Thursday 27 April, 2006 about this generator. During that previous review I tried to challenge the machine to see what it could do and if you read my review, you will be impressed as well.

In preparing for the 2007 hurricane season, I decided to give the machine a longer run, and see how much fuel it really uses under normal conditions. I put in 2 whole gallons of fuel.

My family and I tried to live in the house as we normally would until the fuel ran out

I ran the following electrical devices for pretty much the whole time as they cycled on and off under their own needs:
1) 3-Ton AC set to 76F
2) Hot Water Heater
3) Drying Machine
4) Pool Pump
5) All clocks and other small devices that are normally plugged in during a normal day.

My watt-ometer was showing between 3500 and 8000 watts during this time.

Additional Tasks not during the entire period:
6) Watched TV with surround sound stereo
7) Used the Garbage disposal
8) Bathroom light / Fan

All-in-all the generator ran for exactly 2 hours using the 2 gallons, so I would like to report that although this test was not completely scientific, the product description says the generator will run for 10 hours under half load, it seems like it would be closer to 16 hours. This is still a lot of fuel at $3+ per gallon but it is less than the product description leads one to believe is needed.

I wrote a review on Thursday 27 April, 2006 about this generator. During that previous review I tried to challenge the machine to see what it could do and if you read my review, you will be impressed as well.

In preparing for the 2007 hurricane season, I decided to give the machine a longer run, and see how much fuel it really uses under normal conditions. I put in 2 whole gallons of fuel.

My family and I tried to live in the house as we normally would until the fuel ran out

I ran the following electrical devices for pretty much the whole time as they cycled on and off under their own... more

I bought one of these last winter in preparation for Florida's 2006 hurricane season. We haven't needed it for an emergency yet. However, When I load tested it on the house last spring it did just what we had hoped for. We able to carry the AC, refrigerator, TV, washing machine and electric water heater with no problem. With the water heater off we ran the electric dryer. We even used one burner on the electric range.

The only caution that I might offer is that one must realize the fuel consumption. If you end up in a major disaster area for several days or weeks then a generator of this size does may not be practical. Gasoline is expensive and might be difficult to obtain.

I bought one of these last winter in preparation for Florida's 2006 hurricane season. We haven't needed it for an emergency yet. However, When I load tested it on the house last spring it did just what we had hoped for. We able to carry the AC, refrigerator, TV, washing machine and electric water heater with no problem. With the water heater off we ran the electric dryer. We even used one burner on the electric range.

The only caution that I might offer is that one must realize the fuel consumption. If you end up in a major disaster area for several days or weeks then a gen... more

This machine is absolutely amazing. I've witnessed it running at several of my friends’ houses for 2 weeks after Hurricane Wilma, and so I purchased it as well.

I had a professional electrician install a manual transfer switch that connects to my entire circuit breaker box, and it essentially powers the entire house. The transfer switch has a 200 amp breaker to switch from city power to generator power. Then there is a second 50 amp switch that enables the line to the generator. The transfer switch had an wattmeter that showed the power going through each of the 2 hot lines. The house was plugged into the 50 amp outlet on the Ultra Source. There wasn’t a think in the house that I couldn’t run.

The test I ran after it was hooked up was to try and overload the generator by turning on as many devices as I could in the house. Here is a list of devices I ran simultaneously:

1) Water Heater (100 gal.) ~4800 watts (ran all hot water taps in the house to ensure the device was engaged)
2) 3 Ton Air Conditioner. ~3600 watts (Set to 65F to ensure it was engaged.)
3) 2 fridges ~800 watts each (set both freezer and fridge setting to coldest possible settings)
4) 20” TV ~300 watts
5) Computer w/ two 21” monitors ~300 watts
6) Washing Machine ~500 watts
7) Dishwasher ~500 Watts
8) Pool Pump ~500 watts

Everything was working fine. I let this all run for about 30 minutes so make sure they had a chance to cycle on and off. At this point I was genuinely already quite impressed. But as this was a test I set out to try to overload the Ultrasource.

9) Dryer ~5700 watts
10) 4 burners on the stove on high ~200 watts each
11) Oven @ 450F ~5000 watts
12) 6 lights ~100 watts each
13) Sprinkler pump ~500 watts
14) Microwave on high ~1500 watts
15) Garbage Disposal ~200 watts

Items 9 through 14 ran in tandem with items 1 through 8 for about 10 minutes. I was little worried about the burners on the stove all being on, so those went off first, then the microwave. But the rest kept running until I ran out of fuel about an hour later. I only put in 2 gallons, and it ran for almost 2 hours with this load.

I know this adds up to way more than 50 amps going by the ratings of each device. My electrician told me that often times the ratings on these devices are exaggerated to ensure that the circuit breaker installed in the panel for that device is big enough to handle the surge. Also he said that generators can also handle more power than they are rated for, they just cannot guarantee that the power will be available, and so they provide a pessimistic rating.

Since the Ultrasource burns so much fuel to satisfy this load, I went and purchased 26 Five-Gallon gas containers. The Ultrasource can hold 17 gallons, so I figure with a total of 147 gallons in storage, running at about 20 hours per day, I should be able to go a week without needing to search for fuel. By that time the gas stations should be up and running again.

People day it’s a very loud. In my tests, at full load, it was louder than my lawnmower but still quieter than my gas power pressure cleaner, and the fact, during a blackout after a hurricane, everyone on the block will be running their generators, so that point is moot anyways.

Bottom line: The Ultrasource will run just about everything you can throw at it, but it will burn about 1 gallon per hour.

This machine is absolutely amazing. I've witnessed it running at several of my friends’ houses for 2 weeks after Hurricane Wilma, and so I purchased it as well.

I had a professional electrician install a manual transfer switch that connects to my entire circuit breaker box, and it essentially powers the entire house. The transfer switch has a 200 amp breaker to switch from city power to generator power. Then there is a second 50 amp switch that enables the line to the generator. The transfer switch had an wattmeter that showed the power going through each of the 2 hot lines. The house was p... more