Briggs & Stratton Portable Generators Category:

Briggs & Stratton Elite 30242 – Best Mid-size Portable Generator

by Greg on June 2, 2010

Briggs & Stratton Elite 30242 is by far the most well known midsized portable generator; many have said that this is the generator to ward off those cold winter days when their regular power supply grid fails them. I myself couldn’t resist the temptations to look up this generator online and even at local stores to find out what makes this generator so renowned.

Briggs & Stratton Elite Series 8,750 Watt 11 HP OHV Gas Powered Portable Generator With Electric Start (Non-CARB Compliant) #030242

Price and Package

Online they were selling it at Amazon for roughly under $800, and at the store it was slightly above $800, so I got the generator shipped in to me anyway and it came in a few days later, I impatiently unpacked the generator and it looks great, black and red sure go well with each other. The simple assembly was always present with the generators I bought, all you have to do with this one is slide the wheel bar through, place the wheels and lock them in with a knee brace. And after the wheels are on, you need to attach the bracket that lifts the front up. Another thing about the wheels is that they are air filled, and the seller online says they are never going to lose air, not a surprise because these wheels won’t find themselves on any road.

Socket Guard and Buttons

So with a quick look around I found the following cosmetics and outside accessories that are worth mentioning about. The sockets and plug in box has a flap which you can lift up to protect it from rain or snow, this is pretty good but it would have been better if they had individual rubber flaps like the craftsman version. Another thing that this didn’t have that the craftsman did was the “Searsstation” power indicator, so I just have to do the math’s myself then.

About the motor, as you would expect from Briggs and Stratton, you get an adjustable cap which you can rotate to adjust the motors timing, this will affect the torque by making giving it a more “retard” or “Advance”, of course they only let you turn towards the Advance side which will increase fuel consumption and provide more power.

1 Pull Kick Start

So fuel and motor oil filling time, for the motor oil everything was just like the regular, get a funnel and pour in a whole bottle of engine oil (the small 1 Quart or 946ml bottle of course). Then for gas just pour in as much as you want, add additives or you can use the fuel cap saver drip, this generator needs about 7 gallons.
So now to the running, it is with no question that Briggs & Stratton Elite 30242 will start with only one pull, make sure the choke and switch are on.

Handles Plenty

All that aside, we will now take a look at the electrical terms and jargon which will define a good generator from a bad one, this is a 10hp generator so you will be expecting a lot of power, and this does give you power, at 5550 stable output this generator is enough for most of your household necessities, and it even works well for handy men like me, with a 8550 watts to start up all my power tools. Plug in is easy and tight, the board even has a circuit breaker just in case.

Great Value for Money

There is nothing more I can say about power and usability that Briggs and Stratton have not stated out clearly themselves. The only thing which I would want to complain about is that I wish the price was a little lower, but overall this Briggs & Stratton Elite 30242 is a beast among all portable generators, use it to power your winters, garage work in the summer, or even as a life support for a sick relative when the grid fails. It’s a good buy and is worth investing in.

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