Feedback on $50 Onan carbs on Amazon?

I don't know anything about an Onan knockoff but I've been using a cheap $12 Champion knockoff carb I got from Amazon on my generator for about 4 years now. I tested it yesterday preparing for the Texas grid to collapse tonight. My cheap carb is still working.

Buck up and buy the real deal.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Buck up and buy the real deal.

I just need that three digit code from the back of your card and I’ll be good to go. :B

How old is your generator? The original carb lasted this long.
Will a new OEM cadb last that long? Maybe.
Will a cheap replacement carb lasr that long? Maybe.
Buy one and report back.

So you can buy 8 knockoff carbs for the price of 1 OEM. How long did the original carb last? If the knockoff lasts 1 year; after 8 years are you ahead or behind? If it lasts 2 years? Etc..? A $400 carb that only lasts 4 years certainly wouldn’t be a good value; if it lasted 10 years (without problems) then yes.
Those are questions only you know the answer to.

dedmiston wrote:
What's the consensus on the cheap knockoff carbs for Onan 5500 generators? They run in the $45 - $70 range, which is a lot less than $400 for the OEM.


Anybody here have any experience with the knockoff carbs?

A neighbour is a retired mechanic, an old school ‘rebuild not replace’ kinda guy. He was an auto mechanic who gave up on stealerships and their ‘throw parts at it’ mentality as he got on in years and went to work for the local rent-all shop that was a huge small engine / chainsaw retail & repair facility. Honda & Stihl dealers.

I took my small snowblower to him earlier this fall because it wouldn’t idle properly. I was very surprised when he suggested a replacement ’knock-off’ carb for the Kohler engine in it.

His comment was the carb is $30, a rebuild kit is $50 and there’s $0 labour in rebuild time.

I asked about quality, his opinion (based on the ones he used) was that they seemed every bit as good as the ‘factory’ items.

That was good enough for me.

I gave in several years ago and went with the cheap carbs. I’ve been amazed. Had a saw that had been serviced at a dealer three times that just wouldn’t run right. 5 years running great with a $15 carb. I’ve replaced one on a tiller and one on a big water pump with no problems.

This is why a certain Country owns us, people are happy to buy the CHEAP option over and over again.

I am sure you have looked into re building the carb?

I looked online for a cheap carb for my Stihl chainsaw once. After reading how the mixture screws don’t line up correctly with the case I abandoned that and instead cleaned my stock one. It turned out to be a cinch and now runs great.

The point is that it’s not just about whether they function but also about fit.

Also, most of the time a carb doesn’t need any parts (even gaskets) and can just be cleaned.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
This is why a certain Country owns us, people are happy to buy the CHEAP option over and over again.

I am sure you have looked into re building the carb?

I had two different Stihl pros rebuild my carb three times. No improvement. A $15 Chinese carburetor fixed it immediately after spending more than $200 trying to get it fixed. You’d have to be an idiot to throw more money at a losing proposition.