The Difference Between Buying New and Used Generators

Category: Equipment and Solutions

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If you&#;re in the market for power system solutions, you&#;re probably wondering whether it makes better sense to invest in a new generator or shop used generators for sale. While purchasing a new generator can be a more streamlined process in terms of searching out the exact equipment you require and avoiding many of the common concerns that come with exploring the pre-owned market. A used generator often represents a sizeable savings, as long as you acquire it from a reputable dealer.

NMC Cat® Power Systems is a local source for both new and used generators for sale. As an authorized Cat® dealership, we offer the best selection of reliable power systems backed by world-class product knowledge and ongoing technical support. Before you decide exactly which type of equipment best meets your needs, consider some of the most important pros and cons.

The Positives and Negatives of Purchasing a New Generator Set

The best part of buying new is the fact that, in theory, everything about the product should be in perfect working order and ready to perform at optimal levels. Since there&#;s no previous owner, you don&#;t have to worry about how it was used in the past, whether it was serviced properly or if it&#;s ever been seriously damaged. With a standard manufacturers warranty with every new generator for sale, there&#;s no reason not to expect to benefit from many years of carefree use.

The flip side to having a brand new generator that represents the latest technology is the price tag. You&#;re likely paying anywhere from 30% to 70% more than you would for a similar pre-owned model. Depending on your specific requirements, it may also require a longer waiting period before you receive your new generator while it&#;s being built and configured.

Why and Why Not to Buy Used Generators

The most obvious reason to buy a used generator is the opportunity to drastically reduce the size of your capital investment. There are many options in purchasing a well-maintained, late-model unit or older power system that&#;s been rebuilt or remanufactured. There&#;s virtually no wait time when you pick out a used generator for sale, and in most cases, it can be put to immediate use, especially if you have an emergency application.

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The downside to all the savings is a lot of used dealers don&#;t offer a warranty and simply sell equipment as is. There are also many factors that need to be taken into consideration, from how the equipment was previously deployed to what type of condition it&#;s currently in. Unless the dealer makes the commitment to stand behind the quality of the equipment, you&#;re running the risk it might not last long enough to provide true value or worse yet, fail you when you need it the most.

Get in Touch With NMC Cat® Power Systems About New and Used Generators

At NMC Cat® Power Systems, we&#;re proud to be a trusted source of both used and new generators for sale. Our knowledgeable representatives will assist in analyzing your needs in order to help identify the power solutions that represent the most effective and cost-efficient solutions.

View our inventory of used generators for sale and get in touch with us today for a free, no-obligation quote.

rich4 said:

Just wondering about the best sizing of a generator for adding to a solar + battery system to reudce reliance on a grid connection.

With battery storage, it becomes possible to have a much larger generator running for less time instead of a smaller generator running for long periods of no sun.

Are there merits for doing this? Does a big generator work out more efficient? Big gensets are certainly cheaper per kVA, when buying used and obviously less annoying if they only run briefly to pump a load of amps into the batteries. I'd assume a lot less wear and tear on the engine too.

Obviously there would be a practical limit due to max charge current of the battery system and I assume higher charge rates might reduce battery lifetime.

Click to expand...

This all depends on how you use the generator & what you do with it.
Battery Bank Charging is TYPICALLY Handled by either the Inverter/Charger or a dedicated Charger with a proper Charging Profile for the battery chemistry. DC from a Genset is not used for charging solar batteries. The most common method is to use the Inverter/Charger as the charger and to provide additional VAC input for Passthrough to home which keeps everything running. NOTE: Depending on Inverter/Charger this varies and some are not capable, so check your specs to know what your system can do.

LFP/LiFePo4 batteries typically can discharge at 1C Rate and take a max of 0.5C Charge Rate, so for a 24V/280AH Battery, that means it can discharge at a max of 280A for 1 hour or take 140A Charge for 2 hours MAX (not suggested). Most people will charge at 0.25C which is much gentler on the cells and keeps "runners" at bay.

SIZING the Generator is important.
Look at the Charger Device you have and at how many Amps it can charge at for your battery voltage and how much passthrough is used. Passthrough is the usual amount of power being used to run the home without heavy loads (like electric dryer/hot water tank, electric stove).

Example:
I have 24V Battery Bank, AH in 6 packs. Inverter/Charger set to 80A Charge Rate to battery bank, this takes 120V/22-23A (it floats a little) + Passthrough power which the inverter feeds directly to my AC Side. This is roughly W (120V X 23A=W) which is provided by the Genset L5:30 Plug (120V/30A) I am running with a Champion Power Equipment INVERTER GENERATOR W Model which is very quiet, reliable, easy to maintain... I have had no issues with Champion Equipment and my Big W has well over hours and purrs like a kitten, just have to change the oil and clean the filters per schedule. REF:

Pure Sine Inverter Generators are not only considerably quieter they provide clean pure sine wave form which is best for your electronics and motors (fridge, AC etc). A regular Construction/Industrial use genset is MOD-SINE (much cheaper) which the Frequency will float from 57-63 Hz and is not consistent (you'll notice lights will flicker a bit, fridge sounds louder noisier when running etc) and some electronics will misbehave.

Look at your Inverter/Charger and/or External Charger. Determine at what Amperage you want to charge with at XX Volts. Look at the specs to work out how many Amps / Watts are required to run your Charger at those settings and add 20% at least for overhead.

There is another long extended thread on generators here and you will see a LOT of people have Champion Generators and no issues over the years... I've used Champion Products for over 20 years and no complaints.

Hope it helps, Good Luck

This all depends on how you use the generator & what you do with it.Battery Bank Charging is TYPICALLY Handled by either the Inverter/Charger or a dedicated Charger with a proper Charging Profile for the battery chemistry. DC from a Genset is not used for charging solar batteries. The most common method is to use the Inverter/Charger as the charger and to provide additional VAC input for Passthrough to home which keeps everything running. NOTE: Depending on Inverter/Charger this varies and some are not capable, so check your specs to know what your system can do.LFP/LiFePo4 batteries typically can discharge at 1C Rate and take a max of 0.5C Charge Rate, so for a 24V/280AH Battery, that means it can discharge at a max of 280A for 1 hour or take 140A Charge for 2 hours MAX (not suggested). Most people will charge at 0.25C which is much gentler on the cells and keeps "runners" at bay.SIZING the Generator is important.Look at the Charger Device you have and at how many Amps it can charge at for your battery voltage and how much passthrough is used. Passthrough is the usual amount of power being used to run the home without heavy loads (like electric dryer/hot water tank, electric stove).Example:I have 24V Battery Bank, AH in 6 packs. Inverter/Charger set to 80A Charge Rate to battery bank, this takes 120V/22-23A (it floats a little) + Passthrough power which the inverter feeds directly to my AC Side. This is roughly W (120V X 23A=W) which is provided by the Genset L5:30 Plug (120V/30A) I am running with a Champion Power Equipment INVERTER GENERATOR W Model which is very quiet, reliable, easy to maintain... I have had no issues with Champion Equipment and my Big W has well over hours and purrs like a kitten, just have to change the oil and clean the filters per schedule. REF: Champion W and up Inverter Generators Pure Sine Inverter Generators are not only considerably quieter they provide clean pure sine wave form which is best for your electronics and motors (fridge, AC etc). A regular Construction/Industrial use genset is MOD-SINE (much cheaper) which the Frequency will float from 57-63 Hz and is not consistent (you'll notice lights will flicker a bit, fridge sounds louder noisier when running etc) and some electronics will misbehave.Look at your Inverter/Charger and/or External Charger. Determine at what Amperage you want to charge with at XX Volts. Look at the specs to work out how many Amps / Watts are required to run your Charger at those settings and add 20% at least for overhead.There is another long extended thread on generators here and you will see a LOT of people have Champion Generators and no issues over the years... I've used Champion Products for over 20 years and no complaints.Hope it helps, Good Luck

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