Difference between Yamaha & Honda Inverters

In real life use, the Honda has far better surge capacity. (Yes, We've tested it).
That being said, If I could get what I paid for my Honda, I would go out and buy a Yamaha ef2800i instead of the Honda's 2200 and have even better performance.

I still like Yamaha's Burst feature on their 3kw EB genny. Gives a "burst" of 500w pulled from the starting battery for about 10-15 seconds to help start A/Cs and other high load starting motors. I wish they'd do that on all electric start models. One thing to watch out for in their inverters though, is that the 4kw unit uses a CONSTANT SPEED engine. Runs at a constant 2600 RPM instead of adjusting speed for demand. All other of their inverter-generators are variable-speed, including the 6kw.

Lyle

You are partially correct. For a given CONSTANT torque, to get for horsepower, you do have to increase the RPM. I am sure you know that many internal design factors affect the torque generated at a specific RPM so we are not exactly comparing apples to apples.

The other "confusion factor" is that both of these are inverter generators. Inverter generators start by producing a high voltage (around 200V), variable frequency (for AC power, frequency varies with engine speed), 3 phase AC current, typically using permanent magnets. (3 phase AC is much more efficient than single phase.) This is then converted to high voltage DC, filtered and then inverted to a constant voltage, constant frequency inverter circuit.

I suspect the engine size used on those two generators had more to do with what size internal parts (piston, rods, crankshaft, block, etc) both companies already had in production for other equipment. The difference could be from the strength of the magnets, efficiency of the electronics or the power of the engine.

The Yamaha 2400, 2800 and 3000 inverter generators all use a 171cc engine !

The Honda EB2800i uses a 186cc engine, but the EU3000i uses a 163cc engine !

JMO, but yes, makes sense to go with the bigger Honda engine for longevity, and useable power. Since the price difference is very little, a no brainer really! The Champ is an 80cc but a bargain in comparison, in case that may interest you.

Jerry