Have you been annoyed by the sound that your regular generator makes? Well I have, especially those old ones which sound like a motor bike every time you turn it on, it may not be much of a problem for some but when it comes to situations where communication needs to be as clear as possible and even the slightest sound can interfere with what you are doing it would be best to look for a generator that does a little more about its muffler. DuroMax XP4400E really should be the best quiet and portable generator around.
DuroMax XP4400E 4,400 Watt 6.5 HP OHV 4-Cycle Gas Powered Portable Generator With Wheel Kit And Electric Start (CARB Compliant)
What do You Get?
The unit gave a first impression on Amazon that it is entirely sturdy; the kind of look that gets me thinking I could give it a good knock around and not worrying about it having any serious damage, and when I got it out of the box I was not disappointed. Like a few other portable generators the wheel and handle kit are not attached and require you to manually assemble it to the generator, it’s kind of that something I look forward to since I won’t have anything much to do with the generator aside the regular use, fuel filling and oil changing.
After a few minutes of assembly I noticed that the tires were air filled, and I for one like that because it gives me something else to do; fill the tire with air when it needs it. So the entire setup wheel kit and all looks great, the bars have a good foot grip ant the bottom, they seem very solid and hold a firm grip in my garage.
Silent Engine
It comes with a 4 gallon tank which is a lot and sufficient for regular usage, a few drops of fuel additive will lengthen the running time. Looking around I noticed that this is no regular lawn mower stile muffler system, and I guess it looks like those on a regular family sedan, I guess this is what contributes to it being silent? The engine is an isolated 4 stroke engine, which uses engine oil for a four stroke obviously, so I just took my car engine oil and gave it a good drink, with a funnel of course since it has that weird curve.
Through the entire time from filling fuel to looking at the muffler system this generator has got me thinking of it as a car, what’s next? Key start ignition? Well I was slapping myself the moment I realized the two little keys that came with the generator weren’t for security purposes. With my right hand gripping a stick as if to put the gears in neutral I turned the keys and my foot outstretched pretending to rev the throttle the generator started with ease. And guess what? It’s not noisy compared to the others I have.
Medium Power for Household Use
So begins the inspection on the important thing about any generator, the power and output levels. As usual the numbers on the side and in the manual are just estimates, the best way to determine the output is by using a watt meter (I use Kill’O’Watt). Here are my results, on idle it produces a stable 120V, with 60Hz, it maintained this up until I plugged in my espresso machine which took up 2600watts (I like coffee especially during my work) then after that it drops to 110V, after that I plugged in a hair dryer which is about 1200 watts and it really dropped (I got 90V with my espresso machine turning off).
So DuroMax-XP4400E is a good silent generator but not a really strong one, Duromax did really well with the noise reduction, the power is average, just like any other portable generator, perfect for once in a while usage, and for those times when less noise is better. So this is for household use and outdoor musicians.
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