Generac Hurricane Prep Essentials

Surprisingly BAD

I’ve always had a positive opinion of Generac, mostly because I sold them for standby use when I worked at an electrical supply house, but that was years ago. During the pre-storm days of the winter storm this year January 2026, I assisted a widow from church in preparing her newly purchased GP6500DF generator. This is my honest experience. 1. It did not include a quick start assembly sheet. 2. The leveling feet needed to be installed, but no basic tools were included. 3. The battery was not ...

Buyer beware be aware.

On January 30, 2026, I purchased a Generac generator (Model G0080620) and a Lowe’s Protection Plan from the Meridian, Mississippi Lowe’s store (#1568). This purchase was made for emergency use during an ice storm under FEMA Disaster Declaration EM‑3640‑MS. When I needed Lowe's they failed miserably. When I attempted to use the generator for the first time, it immediately leaked gasoline from the carburetor area before it was ever started. The product was clearly defective and unsafe. I attemp...

Disappointed fuse blows - Lowe's won't return

We purchased a Generac generator from Lowe’s during a power outage, only to discover it was defective out of the box. The unit repeatedly trips the breaker even when nothing is plugged into the outlet. We have video evidence showing the issue. When we returned to the store, the manager told us corporate would not allow an exchange without an RMA from Generac. Generac then told us an RMA must be issued by a certified service representative—but there is no active certified representative availabl...

Piece of Mind

When I got my Generac Generator I was like a kid with a new toy! I am so excited to know that if I lose power again for any length of time I am prepared this time. I have suffered through multiple days without power several times. Losing all my food and having nothing to help cool or warm the house. If you have been there, you know what I am talking about. You feel helpless to the situation and rely on the power company to get you back up. I think my favorite thing about the generator so far is ...

Pretty slick machine

Unpacking/Assembly: Oddly, the assembly instructions are on the box. I unpacked and assembled this myself so I cut the box down the side and cut the instructions off to make things easier. When you go to assemble it you may notice there are two different types of nuts which isn't shown on the parts list and way more washers than the assembly says to use. There's also some rubber gaskets not shown to be used at all in the assembly (these are replacement parts). The two nuts without a flat washer-...

Semi-mobile worksite generator

Unboxing was interesting as the instructions for cutting open the box are buried and won't be found until you already open up the box. I cut a side off and slid it out. It's heavy, get some help. Good construction mostly, but the layout is not the best. The caps for the outlets don't fit well and take time to make sure they are sealed all around. A hose is provided for the propane feed, but depending on the size of your tank and location, may not be long enough. Just something to consider if usi...

Fuel leaking from filter

Unfortunately, we purchased this on January 28 due to our generator dying during the severe weather. Upon opening the box and assembling this unit, everything seemed to be going just fine. After putting in gasoline and following all manual, instructions opened up the gas line to find out gas spilling out of the filter immediately called Lowe’s and was told to bring it back, however, due to having gasoline the person on the phone said they would not take it back. Immediately called Generac and wa...

The right features at the right price

I was facing an ice storm and living in an all electric house, with above ground power lines and 3 people in the house who would not be able to rough it should we face a prolonged power outage. Generac is a brand I trust and Lowes got emergency shipments at the store on at least 3 days leading up to the storm. The limited assembly was easy. I like that you can burn multiple types of fuel. The electric start worked like a champ, and I like that it has pull start as well. The shipment my unit was ...

Did not work out of the box & cannot return!

After 3 calls with the Generac service hotline to get this thing to work, and after running around trying to find & replace a new sparkplug (from their direction) we are now in the process of getting this 200lb machine into an authorized service center to diagnose why this brand new machine out of the box will not start. I have never been more disappointed with a product in my life. I feel so foolish for spending so much money on this thing. We are still weeks away from getting a working gene...

The Boy Scout Motto Still Holds Up

I’ll be honest — I would have preferred an inverter generator or even a whole‑house standby system, but when you need power, you need power. I’ve lived in my home for over 12 years, and while the electricity usually comes back on within a few hours, I’ve learned that comfort and security matter more as I get older. The truth is, I may never actually need to run this generator in a real outage. But I’ll start it regularly to keep it ready and keep clean fuel running through it. For me, this purc...