Looking for some advice on gennies for RV and around the house. Looking at 2000 w Champion inverter and Powerhouse 3100 inverter. Need it quiet and don't want to fork out for the Honda or Yamaha. What do you think? Thanks John
He is right, I purchased my EU 3000 Honda 6 years ago for all the money over $3000.00 and it has never missed a beat. At the races field camping, -21c at the hunting camp in the dead of winter starts every time. Quiet doesn't eat much( 13 to 20 hours on a tank) nice pet to have around. In all the time I have had it I have yet to replace the plug. The only maintenance is oil changes after every use with any time involved.... I think you can buy them now for around 2k. You will not be disappointed. With the Ice storm coming nice insurance. Jeff
It's pretty tempting with the prices of some of these gennies. I looked at a 5000w homelite yesterday that was around 600$. It was manufactured by some company that I can't even begin to pronounce. One of the problems w/ the cheap gennies is finding somewhere to repair them when they do break down. Most shops will laugh you out the door. I'm still using the Honda 2000 that my Dad bought used 20 years ago. It burns a little oil, and it's heavy, but it keeps the lights on all these years later. If you go brand name you will probably only buy one.
I have a "King Canada" 2 stroke generator that I paid $140 for. It was likely built by the same factory as "Champion". It's a good unit, but I had some issues after only 3 years of light duty use. Parts were easy & cheap to obtain. Would I buy a cheap generator again: yes, I got my money's worth (not much). Be aware you will get what you pay for; so if you need something reliable, spend to get a Honda, Yamaha or Generac. Good luck, Michel
I bought the Mastercraft mid range unit this past winter(on sale at significant discount, door crasher price). Given it will only sit, as a complete back up for emergency use only, I prefer not to have big money in a genny. If I had a camp, or trailer or something where it would be used much more, then I would definately get a quality product. For me, that amount of use/dollars invested led to the lower cost product purchase decision.
I had a 4000W unit I bought at Costco years ago, don't remember the brand but it was about $600. At the time I was building a house and before the electricity was hooked up I used this for power when I started living there. One thing I did learn (the hard way) is not to let your generator run out of gas when under load. The voltage fluctuations play havoc with the generator and will damage it. Luckily, they repaired mine under warranty...although they really shouldn't have. It was immediately clear to the technician what I did to it. After it was repaired I used it a few times for another couple of years and never had a problem with it, so it was a pretty good value for me. BTW that one had a Tecumseh engine in it, I never had much luck with or faith in the B&S flathead engines.
Thanks for all the reply's. With the amount of anticipated use (not a great deal really) I think I will try the Champion at $499 (Costco). If I get just camping use out of it it will be ok. John
I have a 6000w Champion and it only gets used occasionally. I was told when I bought it that if I used it 24/7, it won't last long at all which is fine since I only use it for power failures at home. Also the voltage it puts out is what electricians call "dirty" and I can see this with the fluorescent lighting as the tubes flicker like crazy. :shock: For occasional use the Champion is ok, but if you need a work horse and long term usage with clean electricity output nothing beats a Honda. They are built to run and run.
Champion 1500W generators are on sale this week at the Newfie Speed & Performance shop ( Cdn Tire ). Regular $350, on sale for $250. Not a bad deal...
One thing about the genie from CTC is they are loud, and I have seen full blow fights over the noise of someones genie, drrrives some people nuts :evil: This guy had 6000 watt job site size generator in the back of his pick up at a event in the states reving at 9000 rpm first thing in the morning and most of the night. Well you can guess the rest. Buddy across from him and his son in the middle of road 9am just going at it. Good times :lol:
Ive had a cheap 2500W off brand(jetman??) genny for several years now that does the job just fine with no issues. It sees very sporadic use and could use a primer after it sits for along time, but once going Ive had no issues(knock on wood, lol). It did see lots of continuous use for a month or two a few years back when our club built our snowmobile warm up shack and performed well. That same shack has a small cheap crappy tire model sitting out back in all kinds of weather to power the lights and again it performs acceptably. Worst thing about them is they are a bit noisy compared to the quiet humm of a Honda. So, if you can afford the Honda, absolutely go for it, they make great reliable stuff, but if you,d rather save your pennies for other toys I think you can get along fine with a cheaper alternative. Cheers, Todd
I bought a 3500W Hyundai from Walmart to use as an emergency backup, mostly because of the 2 year warranty, price, and the fact that Walmart will take just about anything back if you bitch enough. I lost the power to my shop late in the fall one year, and wasn't going to be able to fix it until spring, so I connected the Hyundai, and ran my shop on it all winter. It's significantly quieter than the Briggs/Generac units, and worked flawlessly. I didn't use it every day, but at least every other, and 4-8 hours each day. Once I put a new pole up, I forgot about the generator, and it sat out back for about a year. When I realized it, I tried, and it fired right up. I'd buy another. I also have a 2 stroke Gio, which they say is about 900 watts, but I've gotten 1200 continuously from it. I paid $75 shipped for it and it's worked so well that I bought another and still have it in the box.
