Anyone own a Champion Generator?

jasult wrote:
Maxtar - You can get the Champion 3500/4000 pull start at Tractor Supply for 279.00 and it will be more then enough. You can also find them on craigs list as since storm sandy people are selling them after using them for a few days and want to recover their gouged price paid.

I paid 600 cash for a new never used Champion electric remote start 7000/9000 12 days after the storm

There is a 6000/7000 electric start Champ for $250 on CL now that if it were not for the weight, would be in my garage . I've seen the bigger remote start units for $500 but they are even heavier.

Maxtar wrote:
I was just looking for one to put up at my camp and not spend a whole lot of cash. I will not be running it much, just when I need some electric for power tools, (skill saw and such) Would the 4000 watt model be suffucient for this application?

My 3500/4000 has run my table saw, skill saw, sawzall, and miter saw without effort. None of those pull the amps my 13.5 btu AC unit on the trailer does, especially at start up.

Hello. My name is Dave and I'm a Champ 3500/4000 user!
My problem started over 4 years ago when I bought this heavy, loud yellow machine. I have abused yellow for maybe 500 hours now and have not had one problem with it. I hope to break this habit someday by upgrading to a quieter, lighter red or blue but for now I'm hooked on the yellows.

Best $300 ever spent. I'm a happy Champer

We boon-dock for a month for deer camp last fall. We would run our Champion 3500-4000 every night to watch our TV, lights and charge our batterys back up. I would run the generator the length of 1 movie every night. I have had contractor type generators before and they are noisy. This Champion is much quieter. It is the best $300 that my family ever spent and it fits our budget!

I bought a New Champion 3500-4000 last year from Tractor Supply. I had heard good things about Champion, before. It starts 1st pull about every time. It is about as quiet as the older Honda gen I used. I just point it away from 5th wheel and we watch TV with no problem. We absolutely love it! Not bad on gas at all!

Maxtar - You can get the Champion 3500/4000 pull start at Tractor Supply for 279.00 and it will be more then enough. You can also find them on craigs list as since storm sandy people are selling them after using them for a few days and want to recover their gouged price paid.

I paid 600 cash for a new never used Champion electric remote start 7000/9000 12 days after the storm

beemerphile1 wrote:
Anyone notice between the chest thumping and declarations of what is best - that the OP hasn't been back since asking the question?

Some are too lazy to use the search feature and then don't bother to even respond to those offering answers.

Hey, I appreciate the answers very much. There are 5 pages here and I have read every reply. After posting the op I was not able to get back online. As a long haul truck driver when I'm rollin there is no time for banging the keys. Now in 4 years when I'm sitting at Quartzsite in my RV I'll have more time. Thanks again to everyone for replying.

I was just looking for one to put up at my camp and not spend a whole lot of cash. I will not be running it much, just when I need some electric for power tools, (skill saw and such) Would the 4000 watt model be suffucient for this application?

JiminDenver wrote:
I figured this would become a Honda/Yamaha vs Champion thread. Sigh

Are the Champs perfect, no. Search the forum for problems with the big names and you will find they are not perfect either.

Still for the money saved, the vast majority of people that use the Champs are happy with them even if they are inferior to the big names. Mine may not be as good, but it fills my needs and that is good enough not to have to spend the big bucks on the big names.

BTW I am the third owner of my older 3500/4000. The original owner used it to run his trailer. He sold the both to the second owner that used it to run that and after he sold the trailer, he used it to run his cabin. By it's appearance and the oil that came out when I changed it, I can tell you it was not pampered. Still it starts with one or two pulls every time if it's below freezing or 100 outside. It'll run our AC at 5280 ft and even 9200 ft as long as the converter isn't pulling power to charge the battery. A good buy for $62 used. I'd buy another tomorrow if it died, that is unless the new Champion 3100 inverter model proves to be as dependable. Then I might spend the $899 for it.
Actually come to think of it, my solar will do the charging and any inverter model will have to ramp up to run the AC, especially up there, so I may not be gaining much for the money spent considering the need for AC at that altitude is rare.

jasult wrote:

Lantley wrote:
Since this is an RV forum . I assume the buyer plans to use the genset for camping purposes. Power Outages are a entirely different scenario and are irrelevant to the discussion.

Stating that the genset is great in a power outage only brings confusion to the discussion.
Any genset you can get your hands on is great during a power outage:S

Agreed

To OP and fellow NJ RV'r
I have 3 different Champs and they are reliable.
As I stated, their customer support is great when I had some questions.
They answer the phone and talk too you.
I had one small problem that was simple over the phone resolved.
I have never been in situation where I was asked to turn off generator at RV events or parks that had no power and that would be when we needed the genny.

I don't see where purchasing a generator for power outage is "irrelevant"...Most rv'ers for years purchased generators for their rv's to have "IN CASE" they lost power to their camper. How do you figure a power outage is "irrelevant"

This is an rv forum and MOST people purchase generators in case they have a power outage and absolutely have to fire it up to supply power to their rv...WHEN did that change?

How in the world does bringing up that the Champion generator works great in a power outage situation causes confusion and is "irrelevant????

Sure ANY of them would be great to have in case of a power outage, but it's absurb to say that the Champion is as loud as a contractors gen set...ridiculous!!

For YEARS, ( for me, since 75)...campers purchased generators to supply power to anything they camped in in case they had no power...there were some boon docking which WOULD be an entirely different situation...but no where did OP say, "I'm going to be boon docking , what is the best generator, I will be using it a lot"...I would have NEVER posted that I would recommend a Champion for that, as I stated. BUT AGAIN, MOST campers, like myself, want BACK UP POWER, ie (in case of power outage), to provide AC/ lights, whatever to their rv if they lose electrical power...

So, WRONG that it isn't relevant...it was relevant when we lost power at Lake Keowee while camping for 2 day's in SC....needed a generator....It was relevant when we lost all power for a week while camping in WVA as a back up power supply...so how is it NOT relevant on an rv forum????? REally PLEASE explain that one to me because it would be a FIRST!!!

How could it cause confusion????? DId OP say they were going to be boon docking a lot? Did they say they would be running the generator more often than not? NO, they asked if anyone owned one.... So those of us who do, posted and I went as far to tell WHY...

Sorry to have gone on, but to say talking about a Champion gen, when that was the topic was either irrelevant or would cause confusion is nonsense.

Lantley wrote:
Since this is an RV forum . I assume the buyer plans to use the genset for camping purposes. Power Outages are a entirely different scenario and are irrelevant to the discussion.

Stating that the genset is great in a power outage only brings confusion to the discussion.
Any genset you can get your hands on is great during a power outage:S

Agreed

To OP and fellow NJ RV'r
I have 3 different Champs and they are reliable.
As I stated, their customer support is great when I had some questions.
They answer the phone and talk too you.
I had one small problem that was simple over the phone resolved.
I have never been in situation where I was asked to turn off generator at RV events or parks that had no power and that would be when we needed the genny.