Yamaha vs. Honda Portable Gen.

[Pirate]

I'm looking at this Yamaha EF6600DE - EF6600DE - 6000 Watt Electric Start Portable Generator Yamaha gen. Not counting price, does anyone know how these units stack up against similar sized Honda gens? Thanks.

EDIT: Too many choices. Generac 6K watts for 700 bucks? What gives?

[Kyle_in_Tex]

The Yamaha's are definitely top shelf genny's. There are many levels of gen's and it does get confusing. Some are made to be campsite quiet, some are made to be industrial strength. Inverter technology is expensive but good. Do your homework. Know your needs. There is no magic, x amount of HP will only make x amount of amps. I would say this, when you get to this level of generator, (Yamaha or Honda), you get what you pay for. They are competitively priced against each other. Definitely a couple of orders of magnitude above Harbor Freight.

[whistlepig]

As Kyle in Tex said the Yamaha and Honda generators are several notches above the cheaper models. I bought a Honda 6500 watt because I want it to last many years. A feature on the Honda I really like is auto-throttle. The generator runs at idle until it senses a load then it ramps up to load speed.

[RobertN]

I have a Poerter Cable 5500W here at home. Works great, louder than all get out though. Not sure I would use the power to run sensitive stuff(computers).

I would like a big Honda generator. Tough, because I like to try to "buy American". But those Honda's are nice. And, I will note, every fire engine in the district I volunteer in, and the other local engines, has a Honda generator or generator/portable light. That says a lot right there...

As Kyle mentioned, you really need to figure out your requirements. Then let that guide you to the generator.

[charlz]

Honda has some video on their site that demonstrates the different sound levels:

Honda Power Equipment - Honda Generators - Selecting the right portable generator for you

and then select "Generator sound level comparison" on the left under "Tools & Resources"

[whistlepig]

The Honda EU6500iSA is unbelievably quiet. You would have to hear one run in person to really appreciate how quiet it is. Hondas are expensive. An EU6500iSA will run about $3,400. My EB6500x was $2500.00. It's not as quiet as the EU6500iSA but the $900.00 extra for quiet was too much for me to handle.

[hr3]

During the 98 Ice Storm here in Maine It was hard to find a generator So I bought a sears 4200 watt unit.. Come to find out it was compleatly made by Yamaha.. Very quiet and still running strong...

[Lloyd_E]

Believe it or not but that generator looks very close to the hyundai I bought at Wal-mart for $850 Canadian. Manual and electric start - 7250 watt, 2 year warranty. Hyundai Power Equipment

My brother bought this generator ETQ Generator TG72K12 and is very similar to the hyundai... they all may be under a license agreement to build.

Undoubtably though Honda is a tried and true name brand that is extremely quiet.

Lloyd

[bdeboer]

We have the 2400 Watt Yamaha Inverter type. I think it is the ET2400is, it is quiet and at 60 lbs my wife and son can move it around. The Yamaha has variable throttle for load like the Hondas. This was purchased primarily for our camper, but it gets used for everything including running a 12" miter saw.

I also have a 5 year old 6500 Watt Generac with a Briggs engine. This is the unit on wheels. It is very loud, and heavy. I used to keep it chained to the tractor bucket when I traveled out of town during the winter.

Both start easily and have a place.

I looked at the Honda's but went Yamaha when the local dealer didn't tell us about a sale they were having when I called to check prices and find out what they had in stock.

[Mickey_Fx]

Originally Posted by Pirate

I'm looking at this Yamaha EF6600DE - EF6600DE - 6000 Watt Electric Start Portable Generator Yamaha gen. Not counting price, does anyone know how these units stack up against similar sized Honda gens? Thanks.

EDIT: Too many choices. Generac 6K watts for 700 bucks? What gives?

This model appears to be a typ "contractors" style genset. Yamaha make qlty products. Do you have the need to justify the price for the amount of time it will likely be run? You have to decide.

As a contractor model it has to be running 3600 rpm while delivering any amount of power as it is needed to produce 60Hz A.C. One needs to have an inverter model for engine speed to vary with load. Down side to an inverter model is if you exceed rating for even a few secs, it will shut down the inverter. A non-inverter design will keep running and bog down some and returning to normal operation when load gets back down within range. This is an important factor when dealing with electrical motors as they need 2-3X the running current to get started.

The longer one needs to run a genset, the better the qlty of the generator one needs to withstand the rigors of long periods of operation at high loads. Some of the low end units are only designed to last in the hundred's of hrs and not thousands of hrs.