Honda Genny vs Champion

Comparing the Champion to the big quiet Honda 3000. then yes the Honda is quieter as well as heavier and more costly.

Comparing the Champion to the Honda Handi and the Champion looks REAL good for less than half the cost.

A group of 3 campers that include myself, my dad, and a buddy spend at least 3 weekends a year camping together at various race tracks. 3 years ago my dad picked up a pair of the 2000 watt champions. I have 2 EU2000's.

After 2 years my dad bought a motorhome with an onboard gen and no longer needed the champs, and sold them to the other buddy who had been using a contractor genset just to charge batteries (when cars were on track....otherwise it was too obnoxious). my point is that I've spent a few weekends with direct comparison of the honda 2000's and the Champs.

In terms of noise - the Honda's are quieter by a bit. It's not a huge difference....if they werent in close proximity you'd never know.

One area where the champions seemed to struggle was with air conditioners. Even with hard start capacitors installed and other loads either removed or greatly reduced they seemed to cut out an awful lot when AC's were fired up and/or run for a long period of time. I've never had that problem with the Honda's on my 15k btu AC unit. I dont know if they were just bum units in that regard or what. In cooler weather without AC the champions performed otherwise admirably.

Just my experience.

The owner of the champions should call customer service at Champion. I did with the two I purchased several years ago when they struggled with my 15,000 AC. They asked for serial numbers and said send them back for an upgrade at no cost to me. Now, they work great. Apparently there was a problem for some units.

otrfun wrote:
Kinda interesting this thread came up. Day before yesterday I did some dry-camping down in the Keys. Two sites down from me I couldn't help but notice a guy prepping his Honda Handi generator. Walked on over to chat with him for a few minutes. Although he liked the light weight, he admittedly was disappointed that it wasn't nearly as quiet as the "other" Honda inverters. I hung around till he hooked it up and noticed it was very similar in loudness as my Champion 75531i when his compressor kicked on. Not nearly as loud as a typical synchronous "lawnmower" type generator, but distinctly louder than the Yamaha EF2400iSHC, Honda EU2000, or the 140 lb. Honda EU3000iS.

That's because the new "Handi" 3000 watt is not in the same league with the old EU3000 Honda. It's a cheaper version (don't know exactly what)
that's designed to compete with the China clones. Not nearly as quiet as the original EU3000 and the price reflects it. Completely different genny aimed at a different market.

JiminDenver wrote:
Comparing the Champion to the big quiet Honda 3000. then yes the Honda is quieter as well as heavier and more costly.

Comparing the Champion to the Honda Handi and the Champion looks REAL good for less than half the cost.

That's my thinking too.

Ron3rd wrote:

otrfun wrote:
Kinda interesting this thread came up. Day before yesterday I did some dry-camping down in the Keys. Two sites down from me I couldn't help but notice a guy prepping his Honda Handi generator. Walked on over to chat with him for a few minutes. Although he liked the light weight, he admittedly was disappointed that it wasn't nearly as quiet as the "other" Honda inverters. I hung around till he hooked it up and noticed it was very similar in loudness as my Champion 75531i when his compressor kicked on. Not nearly as loud as a typical synchronous "lawnmower" type generator, but distinctly louder than the Yamaha EF2400iSHC, Honda EU2000, or the 140 lb. Honda EU3000iS.

That's because the new "Handi" 3000 watt is not in the same league with the old EU3000 Honda. It's a cheaper version (don't know exactly what)
that's designed to compete with the China clones. Not nearly as quiet as the original EU3000 and the price reflects it. Completely different genny aimed at a different market.

Agree, in terms of noise level, absolutely. But, in terms of price you might be in for a shock. At wisesales.com the the heavy, VERY QUIET, 140 lb. EU3000iS costs $2000---the light, somewhat noisy, "Handi" EU3000iA costs $2300. You're paying a $300 premium for a 3000 watt Honda generator that weighs significantly less at 80 lbs., but at the same time is also 6-7 db louder (than the EU3000iS). If Honda is trying to use the Handi to compete with the Chinese clones (Champion) then its price certainly doesn't reflect it.