Small Generator Recommendation

[DennisArrow]

Will..............Look at all of the Honda comments....YOU WILL NOT GO WRONG....YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET.......my EU3000 is going on 11 years old, perhaps 1000 hours on it, it's second battery, and starts on the same pull...........Keep your eyes open to craigslist or such to buy a used one if you are worried about the money situation. They are totally bulletproof and if it starts and runs is worth the money used.........

The Honda is for our Airstream Video/editing studio that we travel and work out of. In addition it is a backup for a 6.5KW Subaru Sparrow engined generic one that is used for the house for emergencies. BUY THE HONDA..............Good luck and God bless......Dennis

 

[madpogue]

Also look at Craigslist. I frequently see Honda inverter generators with very low hours (homeowner backup) for about 1/2 new price.

Not around here. On the rare chance you see a Honda EUxxxx, they know what they have, and it's only a couple hundred less than new.

 

[KubotainNH]

I've also heard good things about the Yamaha qith quality on par with Honda, may be worth a try for the $$ saved. All depends on what you want. If you don't care if it breaks after a couple years and is loud then go for the cheapo.

Slacker, what's the scoop with that 4 battery setup you have there? I see a transfer switch that looks just like the one I have ready to be installed, still on my to do list.... I'd be curious to know how long a set of batteries would last running a 2 or 3 k inverter with gen as backup for a fridge, furnace and a couple lights. May be a good route for me to go.

On the Craigslist deal, when I see them on there the price is usually $100-200 less than new. I'd buy new for this amount more instead of an unknown unit.

One more thing I forgot to mention, make sure you watch the numbers on these things. One may post a 3k number but may be it's surge rating (most of them list this way) while another lists it as it normal rating with surge at 3.5k. Just something to watch.

 

[Slacker]

Slacker, what's the scoop with that 4 battery setup you have there? I see a transfer switch that looks just like the one I have ready to be installed, still on my to do list.... I'd be curious to know how long a set of batteries would last running a 2 or 3 k inverter with gen as backup for a fridge, furnace and a couple lights. May be a good route for me to go.

My inverter is a 3000watt and I have about 190 amp hrs worth of batteries.
Run the genny for the fridge, furnace and well pump.
Use the batteries for the lights, radio, tools etc. I like the batteries for use at night, no genny noise, don't have to fuel up etc. I'd avoid high draw appliances if running on batteries.

 

[KubotainNH]

That sounds about the size I would use. Can you tell more about the setup like what you have there and how it's setup? Looks like it would be perfect for me. BTW, I'm not sure what 190 amp hours is in real life Thanks!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

That sounds about the size I would use. Can you tell more about the setup like what you have there and how it's setup? Looks like it would be perfect for me. BTW, I'm not sure what 190 amp hours is in real life Thanks!

190 amp hours is a lot of juice. At 12 volts, that's 2280 watt hours. Your average chest freezer draws about 800 watts, so those batteries would run a freezer for 2.85 hours, or eight 10 watt fluorescents for 28 hours. That looks like an honest 3000 watt continuous inverter, so that would drain the batteries in 3/4 of an hour. Actually less than that, because inverters have low voltage cutoffs and won't suck the last little bit of juice out of a battery, and 3000 watts at 12 volts is 250 amps.

Even with all four batteries in parallel, that's 60 amps per battery, which would get them pretty hot from resistive heating. If you want to use high wattage from an inverter, you really need a heavy duty alternator to provide most of the current. Fortunately, inverters are pretty efficient and don't pull much current at idle. You can use a large inverter to run a few light bulbs without draining the batteries, but the power is there if you need it - for a little bit.

You will get longer battery life, even with deep cycles, if you don't discharge them all the way.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

If you need a lot of power, you can buy a Chinese 15kw PTO generator for $1300, at least until the dollar drops off the face of the planet.

16,000 Watts Max/15,000 Watts Rated Tractor-Driven PTO Generator

 

[dex3361]

If you need a lot of power, you can buy a Chinese 15kw PTO generator for $1300, at least until the dollar drops off the face of the planet.

16,000 Watts Max/15,000 Watts Rated Tractor-Driven PTO Generator

Use the 20% off cupon and that would make it less than a grand:thumbsup:

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Don't get an Eastern Tool & Equipment (ETQ)!!! :confused2:

 

[whistlepig]

I paid the extra dollars for the Honda just because of Honda's reputation for being reliable. Ours is a larger generator just for emergency power back up.