UST GG5500

I purchased the UST GG5500 for hurricane electricity outages in 2008. It starts easily and continues to run great. I run it empty before putting it up and have not needed any replacement parts. I check the oil every time I use it and it doesn't burn or leak oil. The gas gauge has faded from sunlight and so it is hard to read. That's not a problem for me because during storms I fill it only when it runs out of gas. My GG5500 has been a reliable workhorse that starts easily and runs great. It has enough power to run everything except A/C and the clothes dryer. I have to be careful when using appliances that suck electricity like coffee makers, microwaves, etc. so as not to overload the unit. I also keep it well grounded when in use.

The gasoline engine runs but requires constant adjusting from use to use. At last use it ran fine for 3 hours then quit producing power. It turned out that the diode/rectifier/resistor packs on the rotor were loose and lying in the bottom of the frame. They were hard-soldered in a very poor manner. Poor manufacturing quality control. These generators are mainly worthless. It is becoming very difficult to find a well-made generator made in the USA, and the Chinese design is old and very much lacking in quality. This $550 genset sells in China for $150. That should tell you something. This was the first Chinese made generator I bought, and is certainly the last.

I've never owned a generator and bought one of these, about 4 years ago, during a heat wave/power outage in Michigan. As I recall, I paid just under $600.00 for the thing - at Walmart. This thing has gotten a lot of use, because shortly after I bought it we moved from the city to a rural area which is famous for it's power outages. I'm on generator power, right now, as I write this....!!! Two things went wrong with this: (1) the gas/fuel gauge on the top quit working after the first use, and, (2) after the first use it will not start - EVER - without having the carburetor primed. Priming the carb involves popping off a plastic cover and shooting a little gas, horizontally, into the carb - I use a small syringe that came with some doggy medicine. But, the engine burns very little oil and - after it's primed - it start with a couple of very gentle pulls. These lower end units are all made in China and they're all pretty similar. Maybe I got lucky, but this thing has saved our butt, over and over.

got my UST GG5500 from Wally world about 3 years ago, it's been sitting in my out building for over a year and wouldn't start last winter, it did last just past the warranty, no big surprise there, luckily we didn't have but a couple of short term power outages last winter, I decided to try to get it started again today hoping it was just a bad spark plug or something simple to fix, but figured out it was a bad carb....

when it was new, my initial impression of this generator was great, it started easily, ran great, and worked perfectly the 2 times I got to use it, used it a total of 13 hours, now carburetor needs fixed or replaced, it will not start without spraying fuel into the carb and with the fuel petcock turned on, it leaks fuel out the bottom of the carb.....

I have found replacement carbs on Ebay for less than 50 bucks but it's a shame that an otherwise decent generator wouldn't last longer than 13 hours, now my fear is that if I purchase the replacement carb, will it last a long time or just 13 or so more hours, I've noticed several other reviews having similar issues with their generators which leads me to believe there is an issue with these carburetors and I expect the replacements to be of poor quality as well....

Bought from a friend when it was almost new. He bought an electric start to replace it. It has been great. The capacitor did go out, but I got a replacement at an A/C industrial supply house - $10.00. I probably have 800 hours on this genset powering my RV and some 2000 watt fishing lights. Replaced the pull rope. Does not use or leak oil. Let it sit too long with gas in the bowl one time. Replacement carb was $25.00. Very dependable.

This generator, and any and all generators in the ''cheap'' price range are _all_ made in China, _all_ made of the same type & (lack of) quality parts. I am very serious. Take a close look at _all_ of them and you will notice the exact same design. The ''design'' is not common due to generators _being_ ''common''. They are all ''common'' because they are all made from the same exact cheap-as-possible (and seriously flawed) design... with every aspect being lowest possible quality. Most of these units have generator heads that are ''wound'' with _Aluminum_ wire (rather than quality Copper wire). Aluminum overheats and corrodes horribly over time.

With all of that said, if you read the reviews, you'll notice that some people get good usage out of them. That is because if you use them _very_ carefully, and are fanatical about maintenance and (particularly) about proper shutdown and storage, you _can_ get some decent usage out of these machines.

Just be aware that _every_ generator in the lower price ranges (_including_ many ''brand name'' machines), are actually all the same very low quality design, and made in China; usually assembled by very low skilled labor. These poor individuals learn that it is better (for them) to leave parts loose than risk breakage by properly tightening a sub-standard quality nut and bolt. Also, one thing I've found with just about all Chinese machinery is that they are made to (at absolute best) _meet_ the stated specifications. Americans are accustomed to machines that _exceed_ specifications. For example, and older ''Made in USA'' generator can run at ''max'' wattage without damage. These machines can _momentarily_ (at best) ''reach'' max wattage, but if run at max for more than a couple of seconds, they will pop fuses, etc... The Aluminum wired gen heads are to blame for this.

In short, this is the new standard of ''get (less) than you paid for'' when buying something at what appears to be a ''discount'' price. Which would be ''fair enough'' if they were built to at least run at specs. But the lack of quality parts and lack of skilled labor assures a poor outcome for most purchasers.

If you cannot afford 2 to 3 times the price, then at least _learn_ the proper usage, shutdown and storage procedures... not necessarily found in the provided manual.

Terrible experience got 2 of the 5500 generators from walmart both had major failure less than one hour took them to professional licencenced repair faclity at my cost ust tools rejected request for warranty total run around beware these are junk I am contacting all corporate buyers until they stand behind their product

I bought this mainly to use for when we are out traveling with my travel trailer. I have had it for 5 years now and for the most part I do not have any issues with it. It's able to power our A/C unit, refrigerator, and appliances without any issues.

The only two minor issues is that one of the wheel brackets was not welded good and bend when moving the generator. I had to reinforce it myself to fix. The other is that every now and then the when turning off the engine it would back fire. It makes a good pop when it does it but other than that it doesn't bother me.

I bought this machine from Walmart, North Windham, CT on 2/7/13 for winter storm. The saler told me that the machine is a returned one and never been used and it was tested at Walmart without any problem. They gave me $50 discount and I paid $450 for the machine. Since there was no other generator left, I determined to get it. I did not use it since the storm did not cause any power outage. I tested it on 2/18/13. I could start the machine and the voltage was normal. It is 120V without load and 116V with a vaccum cleaner power on. A energy saving bulb did not work well when powered by this generator (flashing). I was happy until I found the gas leak at the bottom of carburetor. There is a small device at the bottom of the carburetor with two wires on it. The gas leak may be from there. After I stopped the machine, the leak contined until no more gas left. I called the store and told them the problem. I was told that to bring the machine to the store and they will help me. I took the machine over there and require to return it. After checking the machine, I was told that I could not return it and had to bring the machine back home. The person who checked the machine told me that too much oil in the machine. Actually, I did not put any oil in the machine, since I was told that the machine has oil in it when I bought. I called the manager of the store about the machine next day. The store finally accetp my request and refound me. If all information given to me by Walmart is correct, this brand generator is not good.

I went to WalMart and bought a good size generator UST 5500W for power outages, just before last Christmas. Ran it about 20 minutes, after assembly. This year after being in storage I Smelled a gas odor and thought my van had a problem. Left my van Out of the garage for a couple of days. Went back into the garage and found a soaked piece of plywood that I left my generator on. My gas shutoff valve was closed and it leaked all the stored gasoline.

Talked to some friends about the leak and they said boat owners were having the same problem. The gaskets deteriorated with the ethanol in the gas. I guess there have been a number of suits directed at the manufacturers.

I called FTC and filled a safety complaint, they suggested I call walMart to see what they would do. Thier response was we have no recall on that product, call the manuacture, I got the Phone number from the FTC and called the company. 1-(866) 797-2738. I recieved a courtious response and they will send out a new shutoff valve within ten days.