Naio, wrote:
It ran my freezer and microwave simultaneously, which surprised me .
Wow .... surprises me too!! Way to go - you snagged a great little machine at a great price.
FWIW, I have another pristine (maybe 3-4 hours total run time) discontinued Honda non-inverter generator ... a Honda EX1000 that I use for powering tools when out and about on the property. It's heavier and louder than the EX650, however, so due mainly to it's louder sound I use the EX650 for battery charging in the motorhome when camping. The built-in RV generator handles larger power requirements fairly quietly, anyway ... like a hair dryer on HIGH so we can dry off the dog after a bath when drycamping.
By the way ... here's an unusual application for the EX650 that we have done. When it's kindof hot outside at a campsite, but you'd like to eat outside or sit around and talk outside in spite of the heat under some shade (RV's awning, in our case), carry a large enough fan along so as to create an "artificial wind" to blow on you so you're comfortable. Put the little EX650 on the opposite side of your RV so you won't hear it purring along at all ... but run an extension cord from it to power your fan! We did this at a drycamp site to host an outside BBQ with family and friends on a very hot day.
Here's the link again I provided earlier of a chart comparing the older Honda generators, showing that the EX650 weighs 51 lbs., not 57 lbs. like the article stated - which I think is an error. My EX1000 is definitely heavier than my EX650, so assuming the EX1000 is 57 lbs. like the chart shows, the EX650 is probably 51 lbs. like the chart shows. The EX650 is most likely heavy due to it's well insulated steel case and - as a poster above explains - it's motor being larger displacement than normally necessary so as to produce the required horsepower at 3600 RPM instead of higher RPMs, like the modern Honda inverter generators top out at:
http://www.tappedin.com/hop/html/litegen.htm
