Which Generator? Need Your Opinions

[lawnspecialties]

Now that the Cyclone is gone, we don't have an onboard generator. The Work & Play is a TT so its 30A. This summer, we've been using a mammoth generator: this NorthStar.

Obviously, power is not a concern but its quite loud. Now that the summer is ending and cool temperatures are coming, I have the yearning for something a little quieter. I'm worried a Honda 3000 will become a hassle if we decide to keep using this next year. But the next size up is the Honda 6500 or 7000. Right now, they are $3999.

Yamaha makes a 4500 inverter but the closest Yamaha dealer is 40 miles away. Weird but there shows no dealers in the Raleigh area. The 4500 would do well I think and I found a used one on craigslist. I just talked to the guy today.

Yamaha

Its a little over two years old. It now has 9 hours. It obviously looks brand new and he said its in perfect condition. The remote start means nothing to me. When we set up at our races, the generator runs until its time to add fuel or its time to go home. He said his price is pretty firm.

WiseSales shows them listed at $3059.10 and an extra year of extended warranty. That's four years of warranty versus one left on this one.

What would you do? Get a Honda? Get this Yamaha? Get a new Yamaha? Get something totally different? Reliability and quietness are a priority.

[Eamaybury]

Like others I did extensive Internet research before purchasing a champion 3100 watt inverter generator, our first generator. We have rare dry camping needs, so price is an issue. The unit ran flawlessly and is easy to start cold and hot. Easily powered our two year old travel trailer 13,500 btu a/c with stock starting capacitor, tv, battery charger and refrigerator. At night I put the refrigerator on propane and shut off the battery charger and just ran the a/c. I filled it up at midnight just prior to going to bed, we ran the a/c all night in Florida in September, and at 6 am the next morning it was still running when I refueled it. Although I don't recommend it If you are very careful and have the right kind of spout you can refill the tank without shutting the generator down. With the a/c on you cannot hear this generator in your RV even when placed next to the RV. All we could hear from the back of the RV was the old style genny of our neighbor! The exhaust has two screws so with a little ingenuity, a 3" piece of 1/2" galvanized pipe into a 1/2 to 3/4 inch pipe adaptor from Home Depot you can add a genturi unit to this generator if your campsite requires an updraft exhaust. The oil is easy to change if you have a vacuum dipstick oil changer such as the ones west marine sells. Otherwise I don't know how you could change the oil without a mess. It is a bit of a load to lift by myself ( I am a reasonably fit 51 year old man) but to get the capacity you need the cubic inches and weight that comes along with it. Operation in the rain was no problem as I brought a single shelf of one of those plastic shelving units and put a piece of plywood weighted down with a weight on top and arranged it to keep clear of the exhaust. Overall a great bang for the buck.

[lawnspecialties]

I went ahead and ordered me a Honda EU2000i Companion for now. We have four more races between now and November 2. The way the weather's been lately, I think we can avoid the AC for the rest of the season.

I'll use the companion for now and at the start of next year, I'll probably go ahead and get a second 2000 with the parallel kit and the extended run fuel tank.

[2012Coleman]

Ask the OP on this thread. Then you will be sure that you have made the correct choice...

[JiminDenver]

because of altitude, the 4500w Yamaha would have been the option for us if we had needed the air even a few times a trip. Luckily because of the altitude that rarely happens so it wasn't worth the investment. Nice unit though.

[lawnspecialties]

beemerphile1 wrote:
Just a note that may help; you say the TT is 30 amp but you are mentioning some generators larger than needed. A 30 amp service is equal to 3,600 watts. A 7,000 watt generator will produce unneeded excess power.

Good point. This is why I thought the Yamaha on craigslist was a perfect setup. Until I saw the price and the fact it was over two years old. But a 4500 watt Yamaha seems ideal. More than ample power and over 15 hours run time at 1/4 throttle.

[mlts22]

It is good to have a little bit of headroom. The A/C compressor will briefly want 60 or so locked rotor amps, and this can drive even a 3000 watt generator into overload sometimes. Some factors help or hurt, such as flipping the breaker to the RV converter, having a hard start cap, using a high quality fuel in the generator, and so on. A pair of Honda twins gives you 3500 watts (not sustained), which is enough room to get almost all 15k BTU A/Cs up and running, even at full head pressure.

[beemerphile1]

Just a note that may help; you say the TT is 30 amp but you are mentioning some generators larger than needed. A 30 amp service is equal to 3,600 watts. A 7,000 watt generator will produce unneeded excess power.

[mlts22]

The Smart Tool ones have OK reviews, but I'd be leery of them because it might be difficult to find parts. For the same price, you can buy Champion models that have decent parts, good service, and some repair places.

For the rig I have now, if I had to do it all over again, I'd go for two 2000 watt Hondas paralleled, although with an A/C running, they are noisier than a 3000 watt generator with the same load.

One caveat: I'd make sure to get either reinforcing handle brackets or Low Pro LockDown brackets and anchor the Hondas to a surface that isn't going anywhere. I like the LockDown brackets because it will take more than just bolt cutters to remove them.

[muelldawg]

$599 each; Smart Tool AP 2000iQ; at Costco and can be hooked up parallel.
They seem to have same quality as Honda/Yamaha 2000's for $300ea+ less money. Reviews are good.

[JiminDenver]

Bamaman1 wrote:
I'll be going for a Champion 3100 inverter generator--which is comparable to the Honda EU3000 unit. But at $850 @ Overstock.com, they're far, far less in price to the Honda or Yamaha. I've heard nothing but good review about the product and the company behind them.

I'd like to have a little more watts, however a much larger generator is just so much more expensive to run. With 3000 watts, I might have to cut the a/c to run the microwave--a small penalty to pay for the low price.

The newer Champion 3100i can be paralleled with another.

Also I wouldn't say the Champ is comparable to the EV3000is, that's considerable quieter. It is nearly identical to the Honda Handi though.

[bobwalter]

As was mentioned in an earlier post, weight is a factor. I run a Honda EU6500 generator in my food/concession trailer. It rides inside but when we get there it runs outside. The problem is getting it back inside. Weighs over 350 pounds and two people cannot push it up the ramp to load it. I bought an electric winch and that solved the problem but it is another piece of equipment to mess with. If you don't need the full 6500 watts, pair up a couple of smaller ones.

Bob

[Bamaman11]

I'll be going for a Champion 3100 inverter generator--which is comparable to the Honda EU3000 unit. But at $850 @ Overstock.com, they're far, far less in price to the Honda or Yamaha. I've heard nothing but good review about the product and the company behind them.

I'd like to have a little more watts, however a much larger generator is just so much more expensive to run. With 3000 watts, I might have to cut the a/c to run the microwave--a small penalty to pay for the low price.

[lawnspecialties]

smkettner wrote:
Kit comes with a custom fuel cap where the honda can draw fuel in continuously through the fuel hose from a secondary tank. Looks similar to a fuel tank for an outboard motor.

http://www.wisesales.com/duration-power-dual-feed-extended-run-fuel-tank.html

Kit shown may not have the new fuel caps so call to make sure what you need.
I assume you could even top off this fuel tank without shutting down the generators.

I like that. Smart idea and would suit us perfectly.

Isn't it odd how some can be paralleled and some can't. I even see how the new Honda 7000s can be paralleled. Nothing like 14,000 watts to get something started. 🙂

[wa8yxm]

There are many Inverter generators out there,,,,, I have heard Honda, Yahama, Kipor and a couple of others.. All were within a decible or two on paper but.

Honda and Yahama (1db difference, HONDA is, I think louder, you can not tell the difference) sounded very much alike, story follows.

Kipor though not louder was far more noticeable/annoying due to the QUALITY of the sound.. Champion was not out yet at the time.

A friend and I were talking to the salesman at a Yahama display at Quartsite, now the croud noise was fairly loud there (not like the campsite) but still

The Yahama was the EF-xxxxi line

1200 (1,000 watts full time) I could not hear running, I knew it was running cause the exhaust was warming my trousers leg but I could not hear it. (no load)
2400 I could hear, but my friend and the salesman could not at no load. At half load we all could hear it but did not have to raise our voices at FULL LOAD we had to speak up.

Did not test th 3600 but suspect it would have come in very close to the 2400

NOTE: due to the nature of my job, and my hobbies both of which involve 2-way radios, I am very used to listening for sounds (Voices mostly) covered by noise. So I'm guessing the reason I could hear the middle model at idle was that training.

But I was impressed.
The biggest difference between the Honda and the Yahama are as follows.

HONDA: more dealers
Yahama: Better main bearings
HONDA 1,000 really is 1000 watts PEAK, 9.0 KVA rated output (900 watts if power factor is 1.0)
Yahama 1200 is 1200 peak This one will put out a true 1,000 KVA

Alas the 1200 is (2400 and 3600) are getting hard to find they changed the 2nd digit to 0 on current models same as Honda.

Basically. I would make Yahama 1st choice and honda a darn close #2

Oh, one other advantage HONDA

Honda uses a sealed fuel system WITH A PUMP this means if you change the supplied fuel cap for an optional Extended run cap, Which comes with their extended run kit (optional) you have an EXTERNAL tank, that it can suck the fuel out of.. Giveing you a lot more run time and the chance to run and re-fill the ER tank while it runs on the on-board tank,

Funny story: I "Fixed" a EU-2000i once.. Yup, suggested they open the vent valve on teh fuel cap.. (Thank you forums because if not for you I'd not have known about that)