# craftsman model 580.328300 10,000 watt with subaru robin engine any good?



## Radman (Jul 21, 2017)

it shows little use, could get it for $500.oo would be used for home back up power, refrigerator lighting etc a few times a year for maybe 24 hours a year. thanks Randy


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## thehandyman1957 (Feb 11, 2017)

A small quote from a guy who knows.

Ive done alot of work on many of these type of engines. Just in the last couple of years Ive been seeing these Robin Subaru engines coming in that cant be fixed. They do not have a cast Iron cylinder sleeve, and the cases are too thin to fit them with one. Instead they are built like the cheaper throw away lawn mower engines(non-industrial) with an aluminum cylinderbore (called "cool bore" by B&S) electroplated with various elements/alloys like Nikasil and Alusil which is known for breaking down under the sulfur contained in gasoline. They can be sent in to be re-Nikasil'd, but why even bother? It ends up being cheaper to buy a new one. This doesnt make them poor performers while they are running by any means, but reduces their longevity exponentially. A Kohler can be rebored 10-15 times, basically giving you a new engine each time with a few new parts at a fraction of the cost of a new powerplant.

Perhaps that's too much info. Perhaps it won't matter to you if your only going to use it for a small amount of time each year. My big question for you would be, how many hours does it have on it now? How much life is left in the motor?

But to be honest, I have purchased generators in the past without asking any of these questions and thankfully have never gotten bitten from my lack of homework. I'd say, if it looks clean and runs good, and they can prove to you that it will handle it's self under a good load (not a cheap drill) for at least 10 minutes then it's probably a keeper. Make sure to do a volt meter test on it while under a load. Make sure it's producing and maintaining the right voltage.

This is the closest thing I could find to what your talking about.


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## Radman (Jul 21, 2017)

thanks for the come back and info, what about the power generating side of these small portables, we have a coleman 5500 we use when the power goes out to save our refridgerators and watch tv, I seem to gather that none of these higher rpm small units are made for the long run and it's making me think thats why so many that still work are on craigslist, maybe experienced people sell them at about fifty hours of use ( harder use) meaning sell for $300.00 and get a new one for $550.00?
Thanks in advance Randy


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## exmar (Jun 29, 2015)

"How high is up?"  JMHO, but I have a generac 3750, 12 years old and runs great and has taken us through an outage or three every year. Upgraded to a generac 5500 as I found Lowe's giving away a floor model, so now have two. Buy a decent unit, be rabid about maintenance, particuarly addition of Stabil, etc. to the gas, empty the gas once a year and put in your vehicle and refill. Occasional use of SeaFoam, etc. is good to offset anything the Stabil didn't catch. Ethanol gas is the modern day curse of small engines. If you're in an area that does experience outages and want reliable backup, spend a few bucks, you won't be sorry. Used to like picking up used small engine stuff, now, with ethanol, EPA carbs, etc. Not worth the aggrivation. e.g. Picked up a new Bolens push mower a couple years ago, just to mow around the house and a couple of trees that the big mower couldn't get to. Knew it was a light weight, but figured it would work for 10-15 minutes every time I mow the yard. Gave it away this year, tired of pulling the carb, soaking, blowing out, etc. Bought a real push mower with a real engine.


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## Radman (Jul 21, 2017)

I concur on the engine side of the jenny, I'm a motor man and do not suffer on that side of the machine.
any input on the power generating side of the unit I mention in the top of the thread. as far as 10,000 watt units go is the electrical side of this one comparable to others? weaker? all about the same? 
Thanks again Randy


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## thehandyman1957 (Feb 11, 2017)

Since there is really no way to know who manufactures the electrical side of this generator, or many others for that matter I would say that it would be comparable. As long as they are true to their #'s.


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