Where was your generator made?

[jedjoe]

I have older (25+ years) generators. Japan and USA. Nothing from China (which explains why they are still working after 25 years....)

 

[Bison]

Will need to check others but my 40 year old EM5000 says Japan.

Nothing bad to say about it!
View attachment 3317203

I have 6500 watt Honda clone made in China, been using it on the farm for close to twenty years and put many hundreds of hours on it. It fires up every time within 3 pulls, even after sitting for months ( batt starter is shot since i got it). does not use a drop of oil.
i have nothing but good to say about it.

 

[JsJs]

Kawasaki Japan 30 yrs and still starts easy. Coleman from Kearney NE also 30 yrs and still a bastard to pull over and loud but works

 

[grsthegreat]

My 22KW Generac standby genset that powers the house, Tom and I completely disassembled it ( removed all the components from the original steel cabinet) and reinstalled them in a new from Generac aluminum enclosure I purchased from Generac. My original enclosure was steel and badly corroded, so we gutted the original one completely and moved everything into the new aluminum one. When pulling the components, generator head, engine and all the electrical and electronics out, all the electrical and electronic components were marked 'made in China or Taiwan' and I also adjusted the valves while we had the generator-engine out of the cabinet and when I removed the valve covers, inside the die cast valve cover's casted into each one was 'China' on the inside and interestingly, all the socket head fasteners on the engine as well as all the bolts securing the engine-generator head to the new chassis were metric, not SAE. Keep in mind that my 22KW as well as the John Deere 32 KW standby that powers the shop, both are over 20 years old.

I go with the 'assembled in USA from parts sourced worldwide'...

Never had the diesel powered one out of the cabinet, nor have I ever adjusted the valves, but I did on the 22KW air cooled unit for the house, so we had the opportunity to 'examine' that one close up.

Each unit has it's own vacuum actuated transfer switch but I've never been inside either of them, no need to as both generators and transfer switched operate flawlessly and have for well over 20 years now. Basically, all I've done is routine maintenance and replaced the starting batteries.

I'd say both mine were assembled in the USA with parts sourced worldwide, mainly China and Taiwan. Neither of my units state anywhere, 'Made in USA'.

As i said earlier, older generacs used chinese made parts. After generac was purchased by its new owners quite a few years ago, they remade the company. Now they have a company back east that manufactures their rotors and stators. And another company in usa that manufactures the engines. They make their own aluminum cases. The electronics are probably chinese or at least asian. Oil filters come from india. So they still use foreign sourced parts. But major parts are usa manufactured.

 

[Sigarms]

I have older (25+ years) generators. Japan and USA. Nothing from China (which explains why they are still working after 25 years....)

It has nothing to do where it was made, but the engineering specs laid out by the manufacturers line on how the unit is made.

You can take one manufacturing facility in China where they make multiple models of the same unit with same brand name, but what changes is the engineering guidelines set forth by the product made when the models change along with price point.

I could sell you a piece of crap or a great unit that will last longer, but the question becomes price point as both units are made in the same facility in China.

 

[Sigarms]

After generac was purchased by its new owners quite a few years ago

Was Generac bought out by new owners or a new investment company? Who owns Generac?

I have no doubt about your loyalty to the brand, but have been down this road in depth with HVAC and have given up LOL

 

[5030]

Additionally, Lincoln Electric, who we all know, their welders with the exception of their industrial welder-generators are made offshore and sold here, rebadged but I will say, none of them state 'Made in USA' except their big industrial units and there electric motor division based in Euclid and Painesville, Ohio also use parts sourced world wide and again, don't bother me because Lincoln, like Generac, uses strict oversight of the offshore manufacturing of parts.

I just read an article in G-Captain that talked about the steep decline in containerized shipments from China and the substantial increase in containerized shipments from Vietnam and Taiwan so I'd say DJT's tariff on Chinese imported goods is having the desired effect. WE are China's largest trading partner, however, the trad balance is extremely lopsided. China exports to us, about 4 times as much as they import from here so the tariff deal is about balancing the equation. Besides, the import-export scenario, China blatantly steals our technology and repurposes it for their own betterment plus the trade on both out stock exchanges and purchase American land and all that has to stop, least in my opinion (you may not agree with me) but that is my opinion.

 

[5030]

It has nothing to do where it was made, but the engineering specs laid out by the manufacturers line on how the unit is made.

You can take one manufacturing facility in China where they make multiple models of the same unit with same brand name, but what changes is the engineering guidelines set forth by the product made when the models change along with price point.

I could sell you a piece of crap or a great unit that will last longer, but the question becomes price point as both units are made in the same facility in China.

That is referred to as 'manufacturing oversight'. Good example is portable battery powered handtools.

Milwaukee, DeWalt, Harbor Freight and others are all made on the same lines in China or Taiwan but so are the cheap Hart and Amascon copies, The difference is manufacturing oversight. The off brand stuff and the Amascon stuff is cheaper but their build and assembly has no oversight, consequently, the quality is questionable, whereas the price is less.

The big issue is, Americans, in general, want it cheap and so they buy the stuff of questionable quality. Cheap and quality and 2 words that are not synonymous with each other. You cannot have a top quality tool or anything else for that matter, cheaper than everything else. Just don't work that way.

 

[grsthegreat]

I don't doubt you, but could you provide documentation that they are "made in the USA"?

I looked online, and it's somewhat discombobulated IMO as to the information provided.

The issue is the percentage of foreign parts included in the machine. The common sense question is Generac manufacturers everything in house, why is it only the "home standys" are MADE in the USA and not assembled in the US?

I'm on LP. After taking a residential and commercial class from Generac, after finding out what it would cost to install a "whole house generator" and how much run time you get with LP for fuel, IMO it is far easier and cheaper to buy a portable gas generator and run electric to what you need in the house.

The issue is I do HVAC, and in the South with heat pumps, a homeowner is pretty much required to go with a 22KW generator if they want to run their HVAC.

Ive visited the manufacturing facilities. They make their own engines used in the standby units. They make their own rotors and stators. These are all back east. The portable generator engines are mostly made in Vietnam and china. There are a few models made in the USA. Its the home standby, air cooled units that they manufacture here. In the last few years, they started making their own larger liquid cooled engines here in the USA also.

BUT ELECTRONICS are sourced parts from everywheres. Lets face it, USA used to be the best electronics manufacturing, but not for a long time.

In around 2012 ish, generac took all the loose electronics under the cover, and there was a mess of transformers, ice cube relays, charging modules, voltage regulators, pcb, etc; and incorporated them into a single controller. This was the single greatest thing they did in a long time. The reliability shot thru the roof. I hardly ever see an electronic issue effecting a generator any longer. And if there is one, you dont have to spend hours testing every individual device. Each part was pretty expensive. Involved large inventories of parts. When the older voltage regulators failed, the generator kept running putting 300+ volts into the house.

The new controllers monitor everything. If voltage goes too high or too low, the unit shuts down to protect house. Very few controllers fail. Some first era units had some problems, but these were fixed over time. Ive carried a spare evolution 2 controller on my rig for severlal years…and never needed to use it.

Ive never personally seen a failed USA made rotor or stator. I have replaced quite a few of the older Chinese ones they used though.

 

[5030]

Another good example of manufacturing oversight is Grizzly. Balola exercises strict manufacturing oversight on the machines he imports from Taiwan and China. The issue with imported goods again, are the tariff's and how that will impact overseas containerized shipments. More to the point is how the tariff war is impacting the Chinese workforce and smaller businesses. I've read that China is in a tizzy and closing factories and putting people out of their jobs.

Remember, China isn't like we are. There is no 'unemployment insurance' nor any ancillary benefits nor any union representation. The Chinese government controls everything as It's a dictatorship unlike here.

While China will never allude to any issues, I have a feeling that their economy is taking a major dump.