How should I choose portable generator?

[Panzerman]

People are making way to big a deal of Generator noise while camping and others minding.
We go camping alot and I hardly ever see High dollar Honda and Yamaha generators.
I see alot of Coleman and Toro. No one minds the generator noise except for that old guy with the Honda.
Him, he is angry.

 

[Linctex]

Newer direct drive generators usually have good mufflers, it's all the dang mechanical noise (air cooled) that makes most of the racket.

I have had very good luck with the Champion 73536i 2000 Watt Inverter Generator. I would have liked to have gotten the Honda, but I just couldn't afford it at the time. I bought mine as a "refurb" for $299 or so several years ago, and it was brand new except for some markings on the exterior.
Had never had gas in it.
Only problem was it didn't like starting when below 40*F (about 8-10 pulls instead of 1-2) but other than that.... I built my entire 384 sq ft cabin with the thing, and typically used maybe a quart per hour of fuel. Zero oil consumption, and VERY quiet. My biggest gripe: Starting big load was very hard on it. Once the load was going, it would idle nicely. But you had to switch "Econ" off (about 4500 rpm then) to get the big loads going. Even then it was a struggle to keep from blowing the breaker.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: FastLane

I'm going to pick up a Honda eu2000i. It will do for most power outages without the noise and fuel burn. Ill keep the 5500 for backup.

Why would you throw away $1000 for a 1600 watt unit??? My WEN is 1800W and has the same exact efficiency not a whole lot nosier and has the same features. Oh and it cost $180

I have run it 12 hours at 2/3 load. It holds rock steady 58.8 Hz, and 112 volts. Hardly changes at rated load.

 

[4WD]

At pre storm prices I bought a 6000/7500 (389 cc) with a gas can/oil/tax for $800 - 8-10 hour run time tank ...
(240v/120v)

 

[rummy]

Honda EU2000i or Yamaha EF2000is

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: 4WD
At pre storm prices I bought a 6000/7500 (389 cc) with a gas can/oil/tax for $800 - 8-10 hour run time tank ...
(240v/120v)

At half load

 

[Astro_Guy]

Originally Posted By: Al
[At half load

I think most of us up north typically run our generators at half load. The other half is held in reserve for starting inductive loads like the refrigerator and freezer. A lot of us use gas to heat water as well, although in my case that includes an electric igniter and an induced draft fan. The latter is yet another inductive load.

I think that a lot of our friends in Florida are trying to power electric resistive water heating plus an air conditioner or two. The difference means that people like you and I can run far smaller generators and the fuel consumption at half load is actually pretty meaningful.

 

[Al]

Quote:
I think that a lot of our friends in Florida are trying to power electric resistive water heating plus an air conditioner or two. The difference means that people like you and I can run far smaller generators and the fuel consumption at half load is actually pretty meaningful.

So True!
I have pretty much determined what I "need". The value of stuff in my frige is $100 (not needed..but I can keep it cool if desired), I have a swimming pool which whe water is drinkable and can be used to flush toilet. I just need lights and computer. Should it be necessary (in summer) I can run a window unit. I have a "safe room" that is pretty self contained with propane (500 gal tank-good for the winter).

I used to have a 5500W gen. But I have no problem running what I have (1800W)at 80%.

Also depends on the level of comfort you want....and of course if it were weeks..level of comfort is out the window. And since one gal of gasoline only gets you 6kwh...ultimately you need to think smaller. Constant run of 3Kw means 12 gal/day. Who has that kind of gasoline? I have a relative who bought a 6kw unit and had zero clue how much gasoline it would drink.

Originally Posted By: Ausfahrt
Honda EU2000i all day long.

-It'll run 24 hours at partial load on 3 gallons.
-Quiet.

750watts. But again..no way would I consider $1000 for it. But works for you

 

[Ausfahrt]

Honda EU2000i all day long.

-It'll run 24 hours at partial load on 3 gallons.
-Quiet.
-If you need parts or service, your local Honda dealer can help you out.
-If a Chinese one breaks and you can't fix it, buy another one.
-I can run a small window AC, refrigerator, lights, with my computer & TV all at the same time.

I have had mine for about ten years now and although it has low hours (under 100) I am thinking about tearing into it to change out the timing belt due to age.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: Al

Quote:

Honda EU2000i all day long.

-It'll run 24 hours at partial load on 3 gallons.
-Quiet.

750watts. But again..no way would I consider $1000 for it. But works for you

How did you respond to my post before I posted it?

Any way, the MSRP is now $1150 and it's still worth it.

 

[Cujet]

I am a huge fan of the Honda EU2000, $999 from Northern tool, free shipping. They really are a very good choice.

An economical choice known to last is the Champion 3500w unit non inverter unit. But keep in mind the 3500 Champions are not 240V like some other Chinese 3500W units.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
An economical choice known to last is the Champion 3500w unit non inverter unit. But keep in mind the 3500 Champions are not 240V like some other Chinese 3500W units.

Yup - been using one of those since Hurricane Sandy. It's connected through a 10 circuit manual transfer switch. This provides power to the following:

• Kitchen refrigerator
• Basement refrigerator and 15 cubic foot freezer
• Blower and igniter on the main gas heat
• Ingniter and induced draft fan on gas fired water heater
• Igniters on the gas range - oven won't run without this
• Network infrastructure, including FiOS ONT and two routers
• One PC with I5 CPU and mid level graphics card
• Dishwasher
• Bathroom outlet for the Mrs. hair drier
• 1/2 HP garage door opener

Naturally some of these circuits cover other things, so we are not in the dark. For extended outages we run a 15 Amp extension cord over to the neighbor's for their refrigerator and whatever else then can connect. All of this is on a Champion 3500 Watt generator with 196 cc engine. We ran it for two hours last week due to a local power outage. This goes to show that you can accomplish a lot with a rather small generator.

Just to keep it on topic here, my generator is currently filled with Rotella T6 5w40. I think that it will see Mobil 1 0w40 at the next change since I have need of that but no other need for the T6.

 

[bubbatime]

When I had my small engine shop, people would bring me generators to get running again. Without fail, the metal tank units were completely full of rust. Really soured me on any generators with metal tanks. Its a bear to clean, and usually much easier to just buy another $100 tank. I MUCH prefer having a plastic tank on a generator.

My generator has a plastic tank. I run it every couple of months. Dump a half gallon of fuel in it, and run it completely out of fuel. I don't store it with fuel in the tank.

 

[Kamele0N]

Originally Posted By: Ausfahrt


How did you respond to my post before I posted it?.

it seems that he knows some woodoo tricks....

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
Originally Posted By: Ausfahrt


How did you respond to my post before I posted it?.

it seems that he knows some woodoo tricks....

No I had just posted and very shortly thereafter Ausfahrt posted...so I just edited mine with his quote.

 

[tig1]

Does the Honda inverter still have a plastic cam? How reliable are they?

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: Kamele0N
Originally Posted By: Ausfahrt


How did you respond to my post before I posted it?.

it seems that he knows some woodoo tricks....

No I had just posted and very shortly thereafter Ausfahrt posted...so I just edited mine with his quote.

I am relieved that no voodoo was involved.

 

[Rab6715]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Does the Honda inverter still have a plastic cam? How reliable are they?


The Eu2000i is indeed a GX100 with OHC which has a plastic cam and rubber timing belt vs pushrod. The eu1000, eu3000, eu7000 also use traditional metal cam's w/ pushrod. I have an eu2000i and I was slightly concerned about the 'plastic' cam/rubber belt, but it seems to be a non-issue. People run these things for thousands of hours and failure on the cam/timing belt seems pretty rare. That being said when it comes time to change these parts, albeit its a big job, since there is no 'head,' but the parts are CHEAP and available. The GX100 does have a cast iron liner and a ball-bearing supported crankshaft. Its my guess that Honda has stuck with OHC on the GX100 to make it lighter and quieter, especially in the Eu2000. There is virtually NO sound deadening material in this unit as far as i can tell. I think the Yamaha EF2000 has a bit of sound deadening material to reduce noise. I would tend to think that if you ran your generator in Arizona during the summer on a regular basis, perhaps the life of these parts [timing belt/cam] would be slightly reduced, but I'm not totally sure. I do like Subaru's version of the OHC with a chain driven metal cam. However, subaru does not make portable generators any longer. All in all, i think the OHC is a simpler design and is easier to replace with less moving parts, but i'm not sure if it makes it more reliable?

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Does the Honda inverter still have a plastic cam? How reliable are they?


Yes the plastic, single lobe cam is part of, and integral with the plastic timing belt pulley. They have a 10,000+ lifespan, due to excellent design and the associated very low valve spring tension.

The design works exceptionally well, and with proper maintenance will provide extremely long service.

I was very skeptical at first, until I studied the issue and learned just how well they work. Sometimes a conventional design is not best.

 

[Kamele0N]

Originally Posted By: Cujet

I was very skeptical at first, until I studied the issue


Can you please elaborate that "issue"? ....tnx

And are these plastic cams compatible with ester based oils?