Subaru, 4 HP, OHV/OHC Gas Engine, 1,800 Running Watts, 2,250 Maximum Watts, Portable Gas Generator, Overhead Valve, OHV, Engine Provides Improved Fuel Efficiency, Longer Life & Easier Maintenance, Overhead Cam, OHC, Engine Contains Less Moving Parts Equating To More Reliability, Quieter Operation & Reduced Emissions, 1.3 Gallon Gas Tank Runs Up To 6 Hours @ 50% Load, Control Panel Outlet Package Includes Two 120V Outlets, One 12V Battery Charger Outlet & Circuit Breaker Protection, Fully Enclosed Generator Reduces Noise, Fixed Handles On Both Sides Of Unit For Balanced Carrying, Includes Battery Charging Cables, 3 Year Limited Engine Warranty, 2 Year Limited Generator Warranty.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Coleman 25KW standby generator
Comment: This standby generator is huge and weighs about 1/2 ton so needs special delivery. I bought it in 2006 and have only used todate for 250 hours. The reasons I chose it was that it runs off natural gas, rotates at 1800rpm and is powered by a 4 cyl Ford industrial engine. It needs a GE Zenith ZTX Transfer switch. It is capable of delivering over 100 amps at 240v even using natural gas, so long as one has the gas utility company supply a 2 psi delivery rather than the usual 10 inch pressure system. The only problems I have had resulted from unclear directions from the now defunct Coleman Powermate customer service.
For the first oil change I used 10/30w multigrade Penzoil which caused the black lithium grease to flush off of the big ends and mess up the pressure sender module. This caused it to shut down because it sensed a low oil pressure situation. Going back to the proper Castrol HD 30 weight oil solved that problem.
After Hurricane Ike, when the generator started automatically as designed, it later shut down automatically when utility power was restored. I then found an error message on the operator panel which read "Watchdog Fail" and "Recycle Power to Rest". There is no mention of this fault condition in the owners manual. This was when I discovered Powermate was out of business. By removing and replacing the small cartridge fuse for the control panel I managed to unfreeze the control panel. Maybe this is what the "Recycle Power to Reset" instruction means. The generator is now ready for automatic switch on again.
This generator cannot be heard from inside the house. Engine parts should be available from any Ford dealer as it is basically a modified Ford Ranger engine. It was obviously well designed as its safe use controls are comprehensive and have been my main problem of ownership. As a whole house standby generator it is the equivalent of main utility supply, runs my two 3 ton AC units without a hickcup, but the cost of running it is more than our regular electric utility provider service.
Living as I do on the Texas Gulf Coast this generator is my biggest reason to "hunker down" for a CAT 3 hurricane. I think, with care, it will prove very reliable and parts most likely needing replacement can be purchased from their OEM suppliers (Ford).
It would be interesting to learn why Coleman Powermate went belly up. I suspect that after Ford withdrew their LRG-425 engine that GM required payment upfront for the intended Vortex replacement. I also suspect that there were s few design problems associated with the change over. For me, the fact that the GM engine was a 3600rpm unit was a downer and made it similar to the Koehler 30Kw generator. I am a happy owner of my PM402511 unit but a bit frustrated with how Coleman backed out of its 3 year warranty. For a city homeowner, propane is probably a forbidden fuel so natural gas is the way to go. People buying gasoline generators probably underestimate the amount of gas they need to store, the difficulty buying it after a disaster, and the dangers of storing it. This Coleman Powermate is definitely a loss for us all.
Customer Rating: Summary: BUYERS BEWARE- Coleman Poweremate is bankrupt!
Comment: Coleman Powermate is bankrupt. Don't expect warranty service or perhaps any ability to get parts until that is sorted out or someone buys them out. Funny how all these online companies continue to sell these items without letting you know that!
Customer Rating: Summary: Total piece of junk
Comment: I know generators, this is the ultimate lemon.
Used the Briggs powered 900 watt troy-bilt for 4000 hours, ran great until it gradually failed from overall wear, after 4 normal lifetimes for these things.
Bought the powermate a year ago. The carburetor is totally sealed, so you can't pull it apart and clean and adjust it, nor compensate it for altitude. It runs with a moderate miss - and once it needs cleaning out, which it will as there's no fuel filter, it will instead need replaced at about $150
It has a thin plastic choke lever that will break if you don't treat it like it was made of glass - and will anyway, after a few dozen uses.
The on/off switch wires vibrated off after about 10 hours, so I couldn't shut it off other than to shut off the fuel and wait. Repaired three times by serviceman. I finally had to fix it myself, reroute and ty-wrap the wires to keep it from doing it again every 10 hours.
The gas cap is recessed, so rain gets piped into the fuel tank rather than running off the sides.
The fuel tank vent is a plastic plug pushed into the top of the tank. It spatters gas when the tank is full, and after about 50 hours it simply pops out. Result is that it showers gasoline all over the place, and you get the unenviable job of running up to a generator soaked with gas and shutting it off before it blows up and takes anything nearby with it.
Repair service poked a new plastic plug in the hole.
That's what's happened so far - the little noisebox gets on everyone's nerves, so it hasn't got more than 50 hours on it to date!
Update: at 60 hours the engine seized TIGHT. Thank God I can finally throw this thing into the trashbin.
Ah, for the days when Coleman was made in USA. . .
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