Honda has a GX160 formerly rated at 5HP and a GX200 formerly rated at 6.5 HP. The GX200 clone is used on the 3,000 to 4,000 watt synchronous open frame generators. The 171CC makes me think that the new engine should be in the 5.5HP range but I also suspect peak RPM will be between 4,000 and 4,400 rather than the fixed 3,600 for the synchronous units. Again, making an educated guess based on engine size, I would expect the new CPE digital to be rated 2600 watts continuous.
Knowing that the 2000i from CPE has a lot of similarities to the Yamaha engine design I would strongly expect the same on the new 30000.
Champion does not claim or advertise any similarities to Honda or Yamaha engine designs. Champion's synchronous generators were part of the production from
Zhejiang Changtong Machinery Co. But, the Changtong digital 2000 watt offering did not appear to be anything like the 2000i from CPE nor is there anything on the Zhejiang Changtong Machinery Co web sites to indicate a CPE relationship for USA and Canada digital generators. There is a
2000 watt digital on the Changtong web site that has the Champion name on the side but I have never seeen one offered here. CPE does have their own facility on the Zhejiang Changtong Machinery Co campus where assembly and testing takes place. All export, CARB, and EPA certification of the synchronous products is apparently done by Zhejiang Changtong Machinery Co. It is entirely possible that both of the inverter generators were designed and built exclusively on CPE's campus by their engineers but certified under the umbrella of the larger Chinese company. This would make the market for the digital models sold under the CPE brand totally exclusive and unavailable for re-badging like the Magna to PowerHouse models now being offered at Camping World.
Nothing here should be considered as factual. It is conjecture based on personal findings. Personally, I like the idea of having the CPE brand backed by the largest builder of small engines and generators in China. That, with the proven good customer service provided in the States is support for a strong, well developed product - hopefully including the inverter/digital models.
