A-Z Tips on How To Identify Fake Generators Before Buying

How to Identify Fake Generators! Are you searching for ways to know fake generators? How can you tell if a generator is fake or original? Original generators are not only known by flashy looks, good packaging, and high price tag.

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Knowing fake generator sets is one of the biggest mistakes most people do when they are out there to buy a generator, therefore ending up buying the fake generators.

If you’re here in search of how to identify fake generator sets or original generator sets, then your search ends know for you’re in the right place.

In this article, we’re going to cover everything one should know about how to identify fake generators. This review will give an insight on the following:

• General ways to identify fake generator brands in the worldwide market before buying
• How to identify fake copper coil, aluminum coil and the brass coil of a generator
• How to identify fake generators by brand such as fake elepaq generator, fake sumec firman generator, fake honda generators, fake tiger generators etc.
• We’ll also guide you on how to shop for fake generators either online or offline.

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Fake generators are found everywhere (in the market, on the roadside, and more) but the question here is that “how will one identify fake generators when buying”?

This is because generators claiming to be from brands different from theirs are everywhere, especially in Nigeria. Ranging from the generator markets, in the malls, also in the road-side dealers’. Yes, of course, in the homes of uninformed buyers there are fake generators.

Read: A Complete Review of Generator Set

Culprits in most of these cases of brand counterfeiting are unknown brands trying to exploit the popularity of well-known brands to sell their wares, or dubious generator importers trying to sell their inferior (fake generators), less reliable brands at the prices of the trusted brands.

Read: A Comprehensive Review of Diesel Generators

This has made shopping for a new generator a very tiresome experience as uninformed buyers trying to escape the fate of previous buyers who ended up with inferior, counterfeited products that performed below expectations.

Below, we’ll guide you through how to detect the fakes of the popular generator brands in Nigeria, with the hope that you end your shopping with what you expected, which is the best value for your money.

General Ways To Identify A Fake Generator Sets

Before buying a generator, one of the first steps to take is first identifying the components that make up the generator set you’re buying such as the coil, engine, sound, counterfeit label and so more. Below are some of the things you should check to avoid buying fake generator:

The Coil

All generators have coils which could be copper, aluminum, or brass. Top-quality generators have coils made with copper. Check a generator’s coil very carefully before buying it. The coil should be neatly rolled inside the engine. If it isn’t, then the coil has been tampered with. 

Read: Steps in Identifying Original Generator If Buying

Rub your hands against the coil. If your hands are stained, this means the coil has been sprayed to make it look like copper. This may also be an indication that the engine has been refurbished: it will “knock” within three months.

See: A Complete Review of Electric Generator

Copper Wire Coil

You will notice that the copper wire’s colour is reddish-brown. Although some sellers might spray the aluminum or brass wire to look like the copper, you will know if it is sprayed because it will stain your hands once you feel it.

Aluminum Wire Coil

The aluminum wire coil comes in shiny silver color. This is not as durable as the copper coil.

Brass Wire Coil

The brass wire coil is gold colored. It is the weakest of the three. In fact, you should never buy a generator that comes with such a coil.

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The Engine Block

This is an easy check you can do by yourself. You can identify a fake generators engine block from an original one at first glance. A fake engine block is very shiny and lightweight. Taping the engine, the sound it makes should be muffled if it is original, but if it is fake, it will make a loud, resonating noise.

Engraved/Crested Name On The Generator 

An original generator should have its name crested/engraved on its parts such as in the fuel tank, engine block, air filter, carburetor, muffler, cylinder head cover, alternator rear frame, and AVR.

This might not be the case for all generators but ensure the generator you are buying has its name crested (not painted) on at least three to five of the parts mentioned above before you pay for it.

See: How to Fix Generators Hard Starting Issues

The Sound Of The Generator 

Don’t just enter a generator dealer’ shop and pick up a generator without asking the seller to test it for you. A generator’s fine packaging does not mean it is original. Insist that the generator is unpacked and switched on for you to hear its sound.

A good generator makes a regular, continuous sound. If the generator’s sound is “rough”, don’t buy.

How to Know Fake Generator Brands in Nigeria

The review below shows you how to identify fake generators and their brands in Nigeria:

How To Identify Fake Elepaq Generators

Original ELEPAQ generators come with full copper oil and an enlarged ELEPAQ anti-counterfeiting label. If the anti-counterfeiting label doesn’t exist, then it is most likely a fake.

How To Identify Fake Sumec Firman Generators

Being a best-selling generator brand in the lucrative Nigerian market means that FIRMAN generators are targets of criminals who clone the brand name to sell sub-standard products.

Nigerians who set out to buy a FIRMAN generator set now walk home with fake as these criminals ingeniously imitate the SUMEC’s branding to sell different and most times lower standard generating sets. So, how do you identify original SUMEC FIRMAN generators?

How do you ensure that the generator you’re bringing home when next you go shopping for a new generator is actually from the brand you trust and had in mind? See All You Should Know About SUMEC FIRMAN Generators.

An original SUMEC FIRMAN generator has the brand logo engraved to the oil tank, the Automatic Voltage Regulator, the air filter, the engine block, the alternator rear frame, the muffler, the carburetor, and the cylinder head cover. If this anti-counterfeiting coating is scratched off or it’s missing, then it’s surely a fake SUMEC FIRMAN generator.

How To Identify Fake Honda Generators

There are Honda Logo’s embossed, assimilate with the Engine (located in engine block / under the fuel tank. Honda also provides for its customers and intending customers to verify if the product they are buying is the original Honda product by typing in a verification code on their website.

How To Identify Fake Tiger Generators

Buying a good I Pass My Neighbor generator for your self is not a difficult task, but distinguishing the original from the numerous fakes in the market is where issues pop up. So how do you identify an original Tiger generator from the fake Tiger generator?
You can’t identify a good Tiger generator by its appearance alone, so you need to take your investigation steps further. But you need to start somewhere.

1. You can preview the identification through the label on the tank. The original Tiger (TG950) always have a two written alphabet(TM) on top of the label on the tank.
2. The bolt that is been used to tie the whole part of the generator is always white in color and there are two written alphabets (KS) on the bolt, while that of the Fake is always black in color with no written word nor alphabet on it.
3. The carton of the original Tiger generator is always brown in color while that of the fake is always colored
4. On the label, the brand name Tiger is written in a bold form and it has no Tiger head picture on it while that of the fake has a drawn carve of a tiger head on it.
5. Original Tiger generators don’t have a fuel gauge on them but the fake has.

Read More On: How to Identify Original Tiger Generators

Conclusion

Buying a generator remains one of the most important purchasing decisions for Nigerians. You want to buy a generator that delivers on your expectations e.g. powers all your air conditioners and refrigerators and does so reliably, for many years without a frequent need to replace parts or carry out repairs.

Unfortunately, the excitement of buying a new generator often too quickly turns into disappointment. For instance, a generator that effortlessly powers two or more air conditioners could, just after six to eight weeks, struggle to power only one air conditioner or none!

It soon starts to demand the attention of the neighborhood “generator engineer” every week and parts have to be changed. This is because a significant number of generators in the open market are fake.

If you are buying your generator from the manufacturer’s representative e.g. purchasing Honda generators from John Holt, then you can rest assured you are buying an original.

But to enjoy savings of up to 25%, most Nigerians buy from independent importers in the open market which is replete with fakes, from the Honda with cheap Chinese-made engines to counterfeits of high-quality Chinese generators.

However, when you know what you are looking for, and can identify it when you see it, the chances of being cheated are drastically reduced. This is what this guide hopes to achieve.

Here you have it all the A-Z tips on how to identify fake generators before buying. so dont fall a victim when next you go on shopping for generator if you have once but you have’nt, wow nice ensure you will not because we have you covered.