tragusa3 wrote:
I've spent a half hour randomly picking pages in this thread, but don't feel like I have gotten a handle on the general feel about the unit.
I'm shopping for an inverter genny and was going to go with the general consensus. Problem is, I can't figure it out from this thread! :)
Can somone summarize in a brief paragraph? I'm a fan of the "buy it once" philosophy, but I'm also out of work, so the CPE is inticing.
I think it all comes down to what you want a generator for and what you need to power. Never buy a generator that will not power your expected loads - no matter what the cost is.
If your power needs fall withing the 13.3 amps or 1600 watts the CPE provides you should be OK with this unit. When assessing loads, be sure to consider the power factor of important devices such as your converter/charger (usually about .7 PF) which will kick you back to about a dependable 1200 watts for that device.
The CPE inverter does not have the surge or reserve capacity a synchronous generator has for getting hard starting motors running. If you cannot get the starting current to drop below 1700 watts within 400 ms it will often go into overload mode and cut off power.
Personally - I love my CPE2000i, but I do not expect it to perform beyond the limits I stated above.
Additionally, CPE is a good company to work with if you have warranty issues, have technical questions or need parts.
