Costco! champion 3100w genny

bmzero wrote:
As an update with this generator, I wanted to report a couple of issues.

1. Fold out handle is extremely fragile. Mine broke pretty quickly after purchase. After that, it's pretty difficult to move around. Lesson learned - always pull this thing around by supporting the weight in the center of the fold out handle (ie. don't hold one side of the handle)
2. I also broke my pull cord (pull start). It broke with the cord in the extended position.

Luckily, I have the 2 year repair warranty from Camping World. So, they repaired both issues, but they had to take parts off of a new genny sitting on the floor. However, this generator seems to be a case where "you get what you pay for".

That being said, I am in no way unsatisfied with this generator. I have just had some issues that reminded me this is a $900 Champion generator and not a $3000 Honda. The extra $2000 in my pocket makes me feel a little better, though.

Yup, concur that fold-out handle is a bit flimsy. Been treatin' it gently since day one. If someone used this in a construction environment, that handle would be lucky to last through the first day :(

Lotsa discussion about the Champion 3100's (75531i) noise level and power handling, but not a whole lot mentioned about fuel consumption. The other day I did a fuel consumption test with my 75531i. It was about 105 degrees with approx. 50% humidity (around 2pm). Started the test with my toy hauler 105+ degrees inside! The a/c compressor (Dometic 13,500 BTU) didn't turn off for over an hour (thermostat set to 77-78 degrees--cooling only 140 sq ft). With a full tank of gas (filled to the "red line" as Champion recommends--capacity 1.6 gal.), it ran for 6 hours before running out of fuel. FWIW, temps had dropped to around 94 deg when the test ended at 8pm. Champion advertises 8 hours with a 25% load. For this test, I had everything turned off except the a/c. The compressor was on approx. 75% of the time and pulling 14-15 amps (as per PI EMS) which is approx. 65% of its maximum load capacity of 23.3 amps. I believe this puts the overall load at roughly 50%. So, under the circumstances, I think 6 hours is pretty good. Since the above test was a probably a worst case scenario (except in AZ or S. CA--lol!), I would expect to get at least 8+ hours under more reasonable conditions--especially at night when it's cooler. More than enough time for most of us to get a good night's sleep.

I've put about 20-25 hours on my 75531i so far. Pretty pleased with it so far.