Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After reading the reviews I thought the Briggs & Stratton would perform the same as the Honda or Yamaha with the exception of a little more noise. Nope. Not the case. When I was picking up a boat I bought, the seller was pulling a Honda 2000 off of it and told me it powered the A/C and everything else but to be mindful not to run the water heater when running the A/C. Well, when I plugged in the the Briggs & Stratton it kicked out immediately when the A/C was turned on no matter how I configured it. I tested the boat's A/C with the 15amp plug from my home and it worked fine. Then I tested the B&S generator with a skill saw that states 15 amps on its label. Again the B&S kicked out even when I tried to "feather" the trigger to get it going. Then I plugged in a 250watt light (2.1amps) and a 4.8amp drill. Everything ran fine. Then I added a 4.5amp jig saw for a total of 11.4amps, the B&S kept working but the red overload light began to flicker. When I let off the triggers for the drill and jig saw and then pulled both triggers again at the same time, the breaker kicked out immediately. This led me to believe that the B&S is capable of 11.5 to 12 amps but not the 15 or surge to 16.7 as its rating claims (2000/120=16.7amps). I put an amp meter on the line from my home and found that the boat's A/C spiked at start up with 17.8 amps then dropped to an average of around 10. Also, there is no reset button to get the juice flowing again after the circuit kicks out. You have to shut the generator down and then restart it. This began to get old pretty quick. As far as noise. It was quieter than a contractor type generator but louder than the 5kw on-board Kohler I had on my last boat. There was no way I could have slept at night with the noise of the B&S even when placed all the way to the back of the boat on the swim platform. This is with the Eco mode off and the generator running fast as I would have anticipated to keep up with the A/C. It was much quieter in Eco mode but the lower speed and noise level was not realistic for my anticipated use and demands. Keep in mind that this is NOT a returnable item at Amazon because it uses gas. If you have any chance that you'll want to return this item then keep the return policy in mind where ever you purchase it. To be fair, the local Yamaha dealer won't accept returns on their generators either so it's not just Amazon. Edit 4/01/2011: To follow up on powering my boat's A/C, I purchased the Yamaha and it did power my boat's A/C without complaint and even in Eco Mode. Turns out it was a 16,000 btu unit in my Regal 2860 (just in case there other boat owners out there doing their research). I ran the B&S next to the Yamaha. There was a definite difference in the noise levels between the two. You do get what you pay for. The Yamaha performed better, was lighter, and was also quieter. It was definetly worth the extra money to me. I could hardley hear the Yamaha running when inside the boat. I'm leaving the rating at two stars for the B&S. It does work but it doesn't perform as expected. Lesson learned...