The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread

Unyalli wrote:
Good info Grandpaswagon, those with a Costco membership and a store nearby would be best to check their store first. So whats the red one look like? In the 239 pages of this thread is there a picture?

They're on ebay all the time:

Good info Grandpaswagon, those with a Costco membership and a store nearby would be best to check their store first. So whats the red one look like? In the 239 pages of this thread is there a picture?

Unyalli wrote:

grandpaswagon wrote:
That is the same as the Costco red version for $489. If black and silver is worth $170 more to you, go ahead.

I said compared to the camping world unit. I can't find this red Costco unit anywhere on their web site. What's the part number? I can find the yellow 73531i on Sam's web site but after discussion with Sam's found it's been discontinued. You sure the red one is still available? My closest Costco is 80 miles away, that's a $70.00 round trip. Add membership of $55.00 and were at $125.00. Add insanity of driving the corridor and I'm still coming out to the good. This was just an info post, not a challenge to see who can do better.

The red Costco unit is p/n 73538i. Like many Costco items not all store items are sold on the web and vice versa. Not all Costco stores carry it - but most seem to. It is a current item. I have spoken to the very helpful CPE customer service folks and they confirm units from the same era are alike except color. Seems to be a marketing thing like mattresses, etc - same guts but various colors for different retailers.

It never seems wise to buy a membership for a single item purchase but for those who are members (28 years - Fedmart > Price Club > Costco) it is a typical good deal.

We got hit hard at our home in Virginia with an F-zero tornado just before the 4th. We were camping at Kerr Lake when the storm hit and fortunately did not experience the wind first hand. But, when we got back to home base we found many trees down, one of my garages crushed by a fallen tree and no power. Rather than go into the house with no air conditioning and 100+ degree temperatures we decided to stay in the camper. It was 4 nights before we got power back to the house.



I used one of the 2000i units to power the 6,000 BTU roof-top air conditioner in the bedroom of the camper. The unit ran for over 80 hours without stopping. This gave me an opportunity to test the extended run fuel tank I built last year. At first I could not get the gas to flow from the aux tank to the 2000i tank. I found that if the 2000i tank was filled to the brim with no air in the tank that it would continuously pull fuel from the 6 gallon aux tank. This made operation a lot easier because I did not have to go out and refuel during the night. The one time I did refuel it was easy and safe to just add fuel to the aux boat tank borrowed for the genny. The aux tank did need to be elevated to work properly and keep the prime.



We ran the 15,000 BTU main air conditioner from the 46512 synchronous 3500 watt CPE generator I have mounted in the undercarriage of the Volvo. I only ran the bigger unit during the day. It also worked perfectly and supplied all the power we needed in 104 degree heat.



We are still cleaning up the mess from the storm and waiting for the insurance adjuster. I have an outbuilding to replace, trees to cut up, stumps to grind and a roof and fence on part of the barn to replace. There was some minor damage to the house from flying limbs - siding and shingles along with a TV antenna. Some of our neighbors had damage that was much more severe - guess we were lucky.

Not real sure of what is going on with CPE and Costco or Sam's but it appears that they might be dissolving their mutual business relationship (my impression - not a fact). What is interesting is that SuperGen Products is now a distributor of factory certified refurbished CPE inverter generators. They are currently offering the yellow 73531i through both their new brick and mortar store in NY and on ebay. All of the info about the newest venture is at the bottom of the ebay page.

I talked with Fran (the manager at the brick and mortar store) Monday and was told that the refurbished units have a new software program for the control module that improves operation in the econ mode and is much smoother overall than the original software. Fran told me that they would reprogram any existing 2000i modules from older units for $20 if the customer paid shipping both ways. I do not have a 2000i module with this new software yet but I have sent him a module and will be giving one a test in the next few weeks. Fran commented that he previously spent some time at CPE's California facility doing service and repair on virtually all of their products so he should know what he is doing. He told me that he does not currently work for CPE and the new store is an independent facility.

I am personally pleased to see a full service and parts store on the east coast that offers CPE products - both refurbished and new. The big box stores couldn't offer any service or tech support.

It will be interesting to see how this new outlet for CPE products performs. I have talked with the owners previously and tested a couple of their products. They seem to be a very determined and knowledgeable group dedicated to making their business successful.

grandpaswagon wrote:
That is the same as the Costco red version for $489. If black and silver is worth $170 more to you, go ahead.

I said compared to the camping world unit. I can't find this red Costco unit anywhere on their web site. What's the part number? I can find the yellow 73531i on Sam's web site but after discussion with Sam's found it's been discontinued. You sure the red one is still available? My closest Costco is 80 miles away, that's a $70.00 round trip. Add membership of $55.00 and were at $125.00. Add insanity of driving the corridor and I'm still coming out to the good. This was just an info post, not a challenge to see who can do better.

Unyalli wrote:
Update, Northern Tools has the 1700 watt 73537i with 12 volt outlet for $650.00 and it's much nicer looking in black and silver. This is compared to the Camping World 73531i for $750.00 and 1600 watt and no 12 volt outlet.

That is the same as the Costco red version for $489. If black and silver is worth $170 more to you, go ahead.

Update, Northern Tools has the 1700 watt 73537i with 12 volt outlet for $650.00 and it's much nicer looking in black and silver. This is compared to the Camping World 73531i for $750.00 and 1600 watt and no 12 volt outlet.

MrWizard wrote:
yeah it was the A/C model number, I was thinking of
wondering about the LRA of the compressor

Yes, it has been a couple of weeks, but I had the A/C inside unit off for other reasons and looked at the label.

It is a Carrier 13.5k BTU
"Model 68RV0010AA, part no. 99-00469-00 or -01."
"Is for use with Roof top section Part No. 99-00468-00 or -01"

Sorry that isn't the model of the roof compressor unit, but it's the best I've got for now.

str8nzem wrote:

By the way, leaking petcock promptly replaced by CPE.

Do you still have the old one? Please say you do. I was pretty much called a liar (by a champ rep) when I posted the picture of my o-ring in my leaky petcock.



Here is what the one I pulled from mine looked like. The other of my two, that was also leaking, was to far destroyed upon removal. If you still happen to have yours still, can you please post a picture?