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Old 02-18-2015, 10:59 PM   #1
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Join Date: Feb 2015
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Using my generator at altitude

Okay, I have (new) Ryobi inverter generator and I will be using it this summer at around 7500' of elevation. I know as the oxygen is reduced so goes the power. In the manual it says to have the genny carb re-jetted for high altitude. I called my local authorized Ryobi service center and I happened to catch the owner and mechanic together. They were very nice and placed me on a quick conference call. Basically they both concluded the same thing: It wouldn't hurt the engine to NOT re-jet the carb but it would loose a bit of power. If however, I did choose to re-jet the carb then it WOULD potentially hurt the engine (ever time) if I did not put the original jet back into the carb.

I called the factory and the factory tech basically told me the same thing. The factory tech told me if I was going to spend significant time (2-3 weeks) at a high elevation then yeah go ahead and have the carb re-jetted. But, the power loss would not be huge and it probably wasn't worth the expense.

They also told me that if I did have it re-jetted I would have to change it back when I came back down in elevation because that could hurt the engine.... (basically same thing the mechanic told me at the service center)

thoughts?

thanks
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Old 02-18-2015, 11:42 PM   #2
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I'm not very familiar with the Ryobi, but the basic physics I'm sure hold true for any like inverter generator. In part it might depend on how you are planning on using the genny, but from experience, the overall power loss is not "huge". Noticeably reduced.. yes.. but I wouldn't re-jet unless I was going to be continuously at altitude.

If you are just looking to recharge your batteries, you'll be fine. If you plan on running any high load appliances on-gen then you might have an issue.

Easy fix though.. go solar!
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Old 02-18-2015, 11:56 PM   #3
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Ive used my yamaha all over the place, sea level to 12k feet. Unless you are spending months over 9k it's not an issue. I dont even notice a power loss at all. Then like it was said earlier you'd have to constantly re-jet based on camping location.
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Old 02-19-2015, 12:10 AM   #4
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In my opinion, you would need to be very close to maxing out your generator to worry about it. I almost always camp at or above that elevation with no generator issues. At 9,900 ft, I do think my generator struggled a bit, but I didn't notice any difference in output.
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