Disappointed with Champion brand generator!

[grsthegreat]

did a search... heres a blog from repair men.. also noted here is that alot of Stihl products are now made in china apairently. This lists the Honda EB series as made in china
Jd + Stihl - Page 2 - Professional Power Equipment Congress

Gonna have to disagree with that. Just because something is made there doesnt mean its inferior quality. Just depends who is making it. Have had no issues with the Honda EB generators that are now made there. EB3800, 5000, 6500 all come in boxes that say Made in China

 

[whistlepig]

i used to run my old coleman 2,000 watt generator about once every 1-2 years......when it was needed. Use only non ethanol fuel. Ive had that generator for 23 years. And still use it.


running something every few weeks would drive me crazy

Do they still make Coleman generators?

 

[kenmac]

did a search... heres a blog from repair men.. also noted here is that alot of Stihl products are now made in china apairently. This lists the Honda EB series as made in china
Jd + Stihl - Page 2 - Professional Power Equipment Congress

Gonna have to disagree with that. Just because something is made there doesnt mean its inferior quality. Just depends who is making it. Have had no issues with the Honda EB generators that are now made there. EB3800, 5000, 6500 all come in boxes that say Made in China

Well, at some point China quality will come. I can remember when I said the same things about Japan. I didn't buy things made in japan because it was low quality (Japan Junk). Quality came and prices went up. Manufacturing moved to other countries and paid lower wages, IE; China.. With those lower wages came lower quality products. One day , China quality will come. Just not today

 

[whistlepig]

Sounds like Honda is made in China now. I don't think Coleman makes generators anymore. Champion seems to be out. Are we helping the OP?

 

[kevinwak]

I see guys coming into our shop with generators and the ones with the biggest breakdowns are Champions. The sad part is when they come in they need power right away. Even the owners admit they think their junk. They simply don't last but as the saying goes "you get what you pay for". I could have bought a Champion for around $900. last year but instead paid $3000. for a Honda 6500 and yes it was a little pricey but I'll get a part for it easily for the next twenty years at my local Honda dealership if needed but I truly doubt I'll need any parts. In the early 90's I worked as a Honda power equipment tech and even back then I didn't see many " natural" issues with the Honda product. The issues I seen were "man made". I'm sorry to hear about your issues. They didn't treat you right. I sure don't have any confidence in Champions or the other 50 plus Chinese built generators that on the market.

i
I have been looking at that Honda. I then saw the champion in costco the other day, and was thinking to myself " why not for $700?" But picturing my wife fighting to pull a rope and start a generator at -20 in the dark when I am at work really makes me think the honda is more worth while.

 

[whistlepig]

There are some extremely well made and dependable portable generators out there. I have one. Maybe when the brand bashing is over we may see.

 

[kevinwak]

I also just picked up a Honda EU6500IS (Inverter based, quiet, electric start is what the codes stand for). I'm also in the market for an EU2000I or an EU3000IS to service my JLG man-lift. There are quit a few generators for sale in this class and very few Hondas for sale below 80% of their new price. All the rest are 50 to 25% of their new price. I happened to look at a Generac 2000 watt model and noticed that it only has a 2.5 hp motor while the Honda's is 3.5 hp. The reviews say it all. The Honda does a better job of handling a starting load before the throttle ramps up, while the other models fail to get the appliance started and overload. Even though they are all rated about the same. I see that a Yamaha inverter generator is also well rated in this power range, but is actually a smaller displacement 2.5 hp motor like many of the other non-Hondas. So, its both a quality and a performance advantage that you need to watch out for when buying a generator that's closely matched to your needs. I have a 50kw pto generator that really does the job, but I love a bargain and flexibility of tools like this. Not very many Honda inverter generators are available for a bargain price. Plenty of others, though...

I have an EU2000I. Love it for the camper.

 

[MikePA]

that i dont know. they sure had honda written all over them. ill have to go and take another look. Ive never seen a honda store?? cept car lots

As the picture in 4shorts earlier post shows, the Honda generators he and I are referring to are generators built by Honda, not just Honda-powered generators.

To state the obvious, running a generator every few weeks and using Stabil are great ideas, but then shutting the fuel supply off and running it dry defeats the purpose of having a standby generator with an automatic start/automatic transfer switch.

 

[coobie]

I'd expect good customer service no matter what type of product I buy.

I believe GOOD customer service is a thing of the past sorry to say.I think Honda generators are hard to beat.I had a 3000 watt and now a EU2000I watt,both have been flawless.Don,t forget to add marine grade stabil or starbrite products.IMHO you get what you pay for.

 

[Vtnewbie]

Looking at the manual on my two generators and one says run every three weeks and one every two weeks. If you go six months and have fuel problems I don't think you should blame the generator or the fuel supplier. I run mine every two weeks with an electric heater plugged into it. This test the generator head and helps dry it out. I then turn off the electric heater after 20 minutes of running. I then turn off the fuel and let it run out. I have a champion 2kw and it does fine. It is an inverter version and will run 9 hours on a gallon of fuel. That is why I got. It probably is low quality, but after two years of light use (maybe 20 hours) it is still working. I use Stabil too. Generators mostly sit a lot and take a lot of fuel care as a result. Sorry for the lecture, but I see too many failures from lack of simple maintenance.

In my first post I wrote that I ran the generator every 2 weeks, and the problem was the broken power switch, not the gas!