Need A Generator

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Originally Posted By: yeehaw1960
JTK...I only keep 2 of them and a mess of parts. Both are out with family members. I figure you can never have enough new or used junk around the garage.

BTW, do most of the Chonda engines run a 3/4" shaft so I could use one of several engines I have on hand to repower it after the Chonda goes Tango Uniform?
The 212 cc Predator from HF has a 3/4 shaft. I intend to go and get another one next time they're on sale
 
I have a Champion Power Equipment 3500w running 4000w surge.
During the last power outage I had, it ran 2 refrigerators, a mid size chest freezer, and pretty much any light I wanted to run in the house. It would also run my furnace, I just made sure it didn't cycle on at the same time both fridges were running.
I ran all this 4-5 hours, the power came back on for an hour or so, then back off, so it ran a couple more hours.
I tried it on my well pump, and it ran it WITH EVERYTHING ELSE TURNED OFF!
This seems like an appropriate size for your needs, gives you a little extra capacity, but not overkill. They are pretty fuel efficient, I only used about a half tank of gas with 6-7 hours use.
You can pick them up for about $300-350, I got mine from tractor supply.
If you look at the reviews on Champion power equipment, you will find they are a very reliable generator, and a very good bang for your buck.
 
Originally Posted By: yeehaw1960
JTK...I only keep 2 of them and a mess of parts. Both are out with family members. I figure you can never have enough new or used junk around the garage.

BTW, do most of the Chonda engines run a 3/4" shaft so I could use one of several engines I have on hand to repower it after the Chonda goes Tango Uniform?


Yeah, the ones I've seen were 3/4" x ~2.5" shafts. I don't know what kind of outboard crankshaft support they have though.
 
The champion is getting lots of play because the packaging is nice and its offered at a affordable price point. For a few hours a year of service its quite fine.

If its going to be run a lot, more than simple standby power for a few days a year - the champion becomes markedly less workable that the Japanese counterparts. The tables start to turn radically in terms of cost to own vs cost to purchase.

The champion only has a 100 hour interval between valve lash inspections/ adjustments.

The Honda/ Yamaha & Subaru product have 3 times this hour rating.

If you are really going to use it- pay the money for the good stuff up front.


UD
 
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I'm fishing on Craigslist with a Toro Self Paced Bagger Mulcher Mower as bait. Waiting to see if someone has a generator they need less than they need a mower.
 
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Been running our hunting shack off of a Champion for 3 years now, it's been great and was cheap. They have some pretty nice features for a budget generator like electric start and remote start/shutdown. Fairly quiet as well, not as quiet as a similar honda but not too much louder. Runs about 8hrs on a tank.
 
Originally Posted By: UncleDave
The champion is getting lots of play because the packaging is nice and its offered at a affordable price point. For a few hours a year of service its quite fine.

If its going to be run a lot, more than simple standby power for a few days a year - the champion becomes markedly less workable that the Japanese counterparts. The tables start to turn radically in terms of cost to own vs cost to purchase.

The champion only has a 100 hour interval between valve lash inspections/ adjustments.

The Honda/ Yamaha & Subaru product have 3 times this hour rating.

If you are really going to use it- pay the money for the good stuff up front.


UD


Champion is getting a "lot of play" because they are making a good quality product that people can afford, and top notch customer service.
On the RV forum I frequent, there are some with the same Champion genset as I have, with plenty of hours and no issues.
I have owned mine around 5 years with no issues, starts in 1-2 pulls every time.

Honda and Yamaha make a great product, but don't under estimate the Champions.
 
The champion needs 3X the maintenance of the japanese units over 300 hours of use.

http://www.championpowerequipment.com/media/2369/75531i_manual-english.pdf

Its all there.

Guys always seem to want to pretend valve lash isn't even a maintenance point - yet I burned a valve on a honda 2K within the adjustment interval when subjecting it to a heavy load.

No one has valve clearance issues until they do.
Most ignore it so long the valve rides on the base circle of the cam then burns.

100 hours comes and goes pretty quickly when using a genset for prime vs standby power.

Im not saying its junk, but lets be realistic about what it is one gets when buying this unit.

Im pointing out that it isn't the same quality one gets from a a japanese unit - not by a long shot you get what you pay for.

UD
 
Just because the interval to check the valve adjustment is more often, does not necessarily mean the valves will come out of adjustment more often.
I have approx 200 hours on mine and the valves have never needed adjustment, still within specs.
In another thread, on this forum, Trav mentioned after the initial break in adjustment, he has never had to touch his valve adjustment.
 
I made an offer on a Champion for $250 on Craigslist, but I bought an old dirt bike instead. People with generators just don't want to give them away! I mean...I'm a nice guy and all...
 
Originally Posted By: yeehaw1960
I made an offer on a Champion for $250 on Craigslist, but I bought an old dirt bike instead. People with generators just don't want to give them away! I mean...I'm a nice guy and all...


Yep. Generator deals are tough to come by on my local CL too. People basically want close to retail prices for them. They're all "just like new"..
 
Inspection interval is a pretty good indicator of the quality of the material in the heads and valve train.

Who wants to have to even bother checking 3x as much?

UD
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
If you have a well pump you'll need about 6KW to be on the safe side.

How safe do you want to be?? Must well pumps are around 1 KW.

A Generac GP 3250 would be a good choice.
 
Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
If you have a well pump you'll need about 6KW to be on the safe side.

How safe do you want to be?? Must well pumps are around 1 KW.

A Generac GP 3250 would be a good choice.
Try starting a well pump down about 300 feet or so with less than 5 or six when other items in the house are running. It's the starting draw which takes a stiff line, running it requires less.
If you LIKE to turn off the boiler, fridge, freezer, and assorted lamps and home entertainment devices to get th epump to start, so be it. Alternators used for AC production tend to fold back quickly under a heavy load, even a brief spike, which drops the voltage. You could, of course, check the size of the average self start hard wired stand alone unit, but too much information is a drag, right?
In addition, one seldon, if ever, sees a deep well pump on a 110 line, does the "GP 3250" do 220?
 
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Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Try starting a well pump down about 300 feet or so with less than 5 or six when other items in the house are running. It's the starting draw which takes a stiff line, running it requires less.
If you LIKE to turn off the boiler, fridge, freezer, and assorted lamps and home entertainment devices to get th epump to start, so be it. Alternators used for AC production tend to fold back quickly under a heavy load, even a brief spike, which drops the voltage. You could, of course, check the size of the average self start hard wired stand alone unit, but too much information is a drag, right?
In addition, one seldon, if ever, sees a deep well pump on a 110 line, does the "GP 3250" do 220?

Depends how many appliences you want to run at a time of course. If you want to pay to run all the apppliences at one time of course you need to go biggeer. What you mentioned requires a larger standby unit. How big is your unit???

The GP unit is 220/110V.
 
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