Generator brands

[Diamondpilot]

I mounted a 3500 watt Champion to the bike rack on the back of a 2010 36' Cougar 5th wheel. It's plenty secure and with the AC running it's noise is not noticed. More like a even hum.


Chris

 

[handirifle]

Well that was kinda what I had in mind, but how do you get it down to the ground? Assuming you don't just lift it. At 5'7" and 61yrs of age, lifting 125lbs ain't easy anymore.

 

[joshuabardwell]

That makes sense. Some people have had good luck with portable sound baffles (think folding screen), to redirect the remaining (or even primary) sound. After I upgrade the exhaust on mine, I may build a vertical screen baffle to try.

IMO, you can get some improvement this way, but it's kind of a can of worms with trying to quiet your genny and not overheat it. In the end, it never works as well as just buying a quiet genny in the first place.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Dave
I kinda figured that on the sincing of the generators, but ws really wondering how they sinc'd the sine waves. Bet that's tricky.

Probably easier on an inverter, where the cycle of the output is independent from the motor's rotation.

 

[SPYDERLK]

OK this is more RV related, but it will be used at home in emergencies. I want to get a 3-4KW generator for my RV, and I know the top models are the Yamaha and Honda units, but honestly at $2300+ they are pretty much out of my range. I see some units that have been considered reliable for about 1/4 as much. So with that, are the Yamaha's and Honda's 1/4 as quiet and 4 times as reliable?

I also know air cooled motors are more efficient if there is little or no back pressure on the exhaust, but surely one could be muffled enough with no increase in back pressure, right?

Are there some more affordable brands that are quiet and reliable?

That would be a factor of 16 ... and its pretty close.
larry

 

[sparc]

I basically agree, but until recently, Honda has been pretty much the only game in town if you wanted an inverter that wasn't a cheap-o Chinese knock-off. Yamaha has been coming up fast, but they're priced comparably to Honda. Maybe Champion is going to finally break the glass ceiling. A 2800 Watt continuous inverter genny for $900 is a heck of a deal.

The Ryobi is 2000w and sells for under $600, and can be paralleled just like the Honda's.

No one here has used or owns one?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qZFCh27h4Tg

 

[aczlan]

May have been mentioned already.... Champion has inverter models, and I think (?) they are designed to be paralleled to increase capacity. But yeah, in the Super Quiet/Reliable/Cheap tradeoff game, it's hard to score well on all 3, at least in stock form.
If you are willing to consider Used, some RV generators don't see a lot of hours. If you can find an RV being parted out (wreck, blown trani.....) then you may be able to find something like an Onan for a decent price. Basic tuneup and worst case a carb kit and you can have a decent RV generator for a reasonable price. This approach can also give you fuel options (gas, propane, diesel - usually not at the same time though ).

We have a 2000 watt Champion Inverter (this one: 73531i - Champion Power Equipment), bought from a Champion store/service center where it was a demo or return.
It is pretty quiet (especially in throttled down mode), definitely quieter than the 3500 watt Champion that we have. I dont have more than a few hours on it, but they have a parallel kit available for it which looked very similar to the Honda ones.

Aaron Z

 

[3930dave]

Well that was kinda what I had in mind, but how do you get it down to the ground? Assuming you don't just lift it. At 5'7" and 61yrs of age, lifting 125lbs ain't easy anymore.

The Champion 2kw inverter lists at 57#. I think that is part of why people like these for RV applications. I'm not saying there aren't other good dual 2kw choices, just highlighting what is probably a typical weight.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

IMO, you can get some improvement this way, but it's kind of a can of worms with trying to quiet your genny and not overheat it. In the end, it never works as well as just buying a quiet genny in the first place.

Primary design goals vs. retrofit..... agreed.....

Cost no object, we'd all just buy high-end inverter gens.

Add-on mufflers are a very low cost DIY project.... one of the most elegant low cost ones I've seen was a guy who sourced a brand new stock take-off muffler from a 600cc supersport bike (go fast guys immediately upgrade it when they get home) for something like $12 off ebay. Made a nicely built tripod base for it, so the exhaust fired straight up. Cheap, looked good (real good, to my eye, but then I'm a bike guy ), and worked well.

Acoustic panels (your point about heat handling noted) can be low cost if you can scrounge or salvage materials, or just stop by Restore one Saturday.

Yah canna turn a sows ear into a silk purse, agreed. But even if I throw $100 at a $600 generator, and only get it 2/3's as quiet, I'm still up $1300 over a $2000 one. That's plenty good enough performance to not piss off my neighbours, and saves me $1300 that I don't have. As stated, I do like the quiet Hondas and other generators (including some industrial ones) I've seen that are almost whisper quiet - nice to be around, and I'm impressed with the fettling that's been done to get there..... just ain't in my budget these days though.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Dave
I kinda figured that on the sincing of the generators, but ws really wondering how they sinc'd the sine waves. Bet that's tricky.

You definitely have to know what you are on about, but in engineering terms it is relatively standard power control - the same situation comes up with grid-tied inverters for solar systems.

This thread has been flowing along well, but I wanted to be explicit (for a change ), as you never know who is reading along.... hate to see somebody trying to pair up 2 generic generators, and Let the Smoke Out of one or both !

Rgds, D.

 

[aczlan]

You definitely have to know what you are on about, but in engineering terms it is relatively standard power control - the same situation comes up with grid-tied inverters for solar systems.
This thread has been flowing along well, but I wanted to be explicit (for a change ), as you never know who is reading along.... hate to see somebody trying to pair up 2 generic generators, and Let the Smoke Out of one or both !

Good point. The Champion kit to sync two inverter generators includes connectors to connect to both the power plug (20A of 120VAC) as well as the control port. Not something that I would recommend trying on a generator that wasn't designed for it.

Aaron Z

 

[dragoneggs]

I have the Honda EU3000is. Expensive, yes! Best by far generator ever owned or seen. A little heavy (134lbs) but by far the quietest. Definitely less noise than the EU2000i and three times bigger gas tank. Has auto eco-throttle for lower noise and gas consumption and powers up on electrical demand. I was considering two EU2000i because of weight advantage but the noise was the deciding factor. Whatever generator you get I suggest checking the noise out first, don't just read the dB specs. I also recommend you listen to the EU3000 before making your decision. It should be the last one you have to buy... at least for the purposes you are considering. I use mine for house power outage backup, camping, and remote use of electrical tools. If you are going to be lugging it around a lot, then the EU2000 or two depending on your power needs is slick too. They weigh about 45lbs each. But now you need a cord and have to maintain two units instead of one.

 

[3930dave]

The Ryobi is 2000w and sells for under $600, and can be paralleled just like the Honda's.

No one here has used or owns one?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qZFCh27h4Tg

Hadn't seen those here yet, but can't say I've been looking. I never got into the Ryobi electric power tools, as they seemed (based on limited exposure) too light duty for my liking. I prefer larger/wider wheels on a generator, but the tradeoff here is the unit is relatively light - don't expect to use the wheels off-road. Fuel tank must be small, have a look at runtime estimates.

Being a house brand, I'd look at how long Home Depot has been into generators, and essentially the depth of their parts pipeline - ex. what does a carb kit cost for their oldest generator ?

One thing I like about a Briggs engine is the ready availabilty of parts, usually at a reasonable price.

Rgds, D.

 

[hslogger]

The only gripes from Honda owners are initial cost. If you go Honda motor and Honda generator you won't ever regret it in the end.
Second choice is some brand X generator with a HONDA, not knock off but HONDA engine. The copycat Honda engines don't meet my expectation

 

[ThunderChuck86]

I got the EU2000i but gonna add another to the line.

Online retailers for generators:
Honda Generators Direct
Camping World
Wisesales

What about the 7000? I'd like to get one of them as well in May.

I have used one of the lower end Yamahas and they aren't too bad. I still prefer the Honda's for their lightweight and super quietness.

Don't buy the Champions. They suck lol. My father in law had one and it quit on him. It was the 4000 watt Champion.

 

[mikehaugen]

Unless someone here has an idea that could be implemented fairly easy. I was just discussing with my wife, the fact that we would want to use it as an emergency unit for our home, but not sure how to get it down from the trailer. I could tow a small fork lift along with it I suppose :thumbsup:

It may or may not be practical for your uses, but what about a truck mounted crane? I've seen them that bolt to the bed or that go into the receiver. Of course it doesn't work when you are hooked to the camper.

But if you think you may be able to get help, say 75% of the time, it may not be bad.

 

[handirifle]

We are starting to lean towards 2 smaller parallel units. But I don't think we can afford hondas, unfortunately.

 

[timswi]

We are starting to lean towards 2 smaller parallel units. But I don't think we can afford hondas, unfortunately.

I'll probably be able to let you know if the 2k Honda parallels are worth saving for this summer..Yup, expensive, but what I've asked around about and researched says they are worth it...I'll provide an unbiased review after I get and run them awhile.

 

[Diamondpilot]

We are starting to lean towards 2 smaller parallel units. But I don't think we can afford hondas, unfortunately.

Then wait till you can. For weight and noise Honda and Yamaha are a step above.

Chris