3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

[professor95]

professor95 wrote:
EDIT ADDED 45/5/2013- When this thread started in March of 2005, I never expected to see it survive this long or amass the quantity of information that has been shared here.

In the eight year run of this thread we have amassed almost 10,000 postings and surpassed a million views. This creates somewhat of a dilemma for anyone who has just discovered the forum.

Since the amount of information is virtually overwhelming, I suggest you set your preferences for this thread to read "newest first" and then begin to page backwards.

What you will find in these pages is a wealth of info on virtually any make or model of Chinese manufactured synchronous (non-inverter) generator in the 3,000 watt performance class. Info will include how to rewire series coils to parallel to obtain maximum wattage from a single 120 volt outlet. Tips on further reducing sound levels, how to care for these generators, which ones are "RV ready" and provide the best overall performance for the dollar invested. Which companies NOT to deal with, where the best prices are, how to safely wire the generator into a home or RV, how to check your RV for electrical faults, sources for generator accessories, which 20/30 adapters are safe to use and which are not. How to convert a gasoline generator to propane or NG. This is only the beginning. The forum has a life of its own with the focus sub-topic switching frequently. Still, the main topic of utilizing the amazing, inexpensive Chinese gensets is always there. The amount of creativity and innovation presented in these pages is indicative of the talents shared in the diverse backgrounds of the folks who make up our combined RV community.

Many of the original brands and models of Chinese gensets mentioned in the introduction and early pages of the thread have since disappeared. New EPA and CARB emissions requirements, company bonds assuring the emissions warranty will be honored even if the company goes out of business, and fierce competition in the industry have changed the playing field. Champion Power Equipment has become the apparent "trophy team" providing an ever expanding retail outlet, an ample parts supply, a strong warranty and excellent customer service. CPE has continued to improve their product and now offers a new model (#46538) with exclusive convenience, safety and performance features aimed at the RV market. Big names like Cummins/Onan, Honda and Generac all now have Chinese built open frame synchronous gensets available. Ironically, the prices often found on these gensets has not significantly changed during the past eight years - even with the devaluation of the American Dollar and new EPA/CARB requirements.

I also encourage you to use the search function and even the advanced search options to find information. Key works such as "rewiring", "PowerPro", "Champion", "Onan Homesite", "Duropower", "ETQ", "Jiung Dong or JD", "Tractor Supply", "Costco", "Lowe's" and "Home Depot" are all examples of keywords that will give you specific information on different models being sold by retailers today.

Or, you can fill your glass with your favorite beverage (keep more close by - maybe some munchies as well :D, sit back at your computer, tell your wife (or significant other) that you will see her in the morning and spend the next 10 or so hours reading through the postings.

No one on the forum gets mad if you ask a question that is a repeat. Please do not hesitate to post to the forum. All questions are considered important and those active on the forum will do their best to respond with a valid answer.

Also note we are not out to knock the Honda, Yamaha, Kipor or other brands of high end digital gensets. We recognize the quality of these products and their suitability for quite, efficient RV use. But, there is a flood of reliable, inexpensive and comparatively lower cost gensets coming out of China that are excellent alternative choices for the RVer wanting power to run an air conditioner, microwave, etc. without excessive noise or breaking the budget.

Oh, one last thing. The folks on this forum are true gentlemen. We do not flame one another or the product discussed - period. Ugly contributors usually have their comments and remarks ignored by our masses. It is not a forum to start arguments to obtain a clear win. We do disagree on many issues, but we have all agreed to do that in a respectable manner.

We now have the introduction of more and more inverter gensets. There is a rather extensive thread named "The Official Unofficial Champion 2000i Generator" on this forum. Today, I added info on the new Champion 3100i inverter genset. Discussion on this product may get moved to its own thread at a later date.

Many have looked upon this thread with distain saying Chinese is cheap and doomed to failure. I remember saying exactly the same thing about Japanese products a few decades back. But, over the past eight years the track record for Chinese built generators has shown otherwise.

Please, join us in a fascinating journey down the Chinese built genset road of knowledge.

This is the question I posted that got it all started back in March 2005.......

Randy

For a little over a month now, I have been somewhat intrigued by the availability of a 3000 watt, 6.5 HP generator at Pep Boys and Northern Tool for under $300.00. The engine on this generator looks identical to a Honda 6.5 HP OHV engine. Knowing that the Chinese have become very adept at “cloning” reputable technologies from other manufacturers, I was not surprised at the similarities. Neither store could give me any information on the generator nor did they have a “running” display model.

I have done a little research. This is what I have discovered:

Many of these generators are imported by ELIM International (www.eliminternational.com) out of Buffalo, New York from Jiung Manufacturing in China. (The unit at Northern is identical but carries the JIUNG name.)

The engines are indeed a Chinese knockoff of the popular 6.5 HP 196cc Honda Engine. “Supposedly” Honda has licensed the engine technology to the Chinese manufacturer of the product.

The Chinese company that makes the ELM3000 generators is a rather large, diverse, long-standing company with a reputation for “above average quality” Chinese made products (Jiung Manufacturing). There are many more Chinese companies making almost identical gensets.

The generators at PepBoys do have a six month limited warranty. But, it is only on the engine (not the generator) and requires paying for shipping to and from Buffalo. Probably not a very practical thing to do if you have warranty issues.

ELIM does supply replacement parts (a PDF parts manual is available on the ELIM web site). No prices are given for replacement parts nor is there an “availability listing”.

The generator head itself is a brushless design. The only really significant wear parts in the generator are the bearings – most likely universally available.

The published dB rating is 67 at 23 feet. This is “reasonably” quite for a generator of this size as most comparabl.... The 67 dB rating is the same as Honda gives their 3000 watt CycloInverter with a “look alike” eng...

[Emptyspaces]

Neuen wrote:
I bid on mine from them on 7/6 and won the auction at $269.99. They took my payment from PayPal but have yet to send me an acknowledgement or tracking number.

I bought mine through EBay from them in mid-June and it took about 5 days before I got a tracking number. I bit slow but within EBay guidelines. Came UPS to the door.

[Damdifino]

Ready?ToRoll wrote:
Well, I've delayed ordering for so long that now the E-bay site for the ELIM 3000 has raised their starting bid to $299.99. HERE (Up from $269.99) 😞

I bid on mine from them on 7/6 and won the auction at $269.99. They took my payment from PayPal but have yet to send me an acknowledgement or tracking number. Probably hurricane Dennis has jacked up the price. Have you heard from the seller yet?

[Ready_ToRoll]

Well, I've delayed ordering for so long that now the E-bay site for the ELIM 3000 has raised their starting bid to $299.99. HERE (Up from $269.99) 😞

[Capt-Ron]

Duplicate post...deleted!

[Capt-Ron]

When I read about you putting it in your forward compartment, although yours isn't fueled, I wondered how many folks might be transporting generators with gas in them in compartments with electrical equipment. These fuel caps are vented and with the constant sloshing would likely vent considerable gas fumes inside the compartment. Some forward compartments like mine also house the inverter and fuse panel. One spark might result in quite a bad day!

Anyone else have any comments on a way to possibly seal these caps from venting when transporting? I've looked at the one on my ELM3000 and from the way it's constructed it looks hard to do.

My generator is fueled... but then there's no electrics other than a few wires passing thorugh my front compartment. I also store my Hondas and fuel cans in there.

I will likely do as my neighbor did and install a remote fuel tank, filling the generator mounted tank would be hard to do with the enclosure installed.

Capt Ron

[ib516]

DODGETRUCK wrote:
Can someone tell me if the power maximizer adapter 15/30 from page 79 will work?
My gen lists 4500 watts but the ac trips the breaker. It has two 15a120v recep and a 30a/240v. no switch to select between. It has 2 breakers, 1 for each 15a/120v recep.

To get anything other than a general answer, you'd have to supply the make and model #. One of the electrical geniuses (I'm not one of them;)) on the forum will look up the wiring diagram and let you know.

As I understand it, If these adapters will help you at all depends on how the gen is wired internally.

[DODGETRUCK]

Can someone tell me if the power maximizer adapter 15/30 from page 79 will work?
My gen lists 4500 watts but the ac trips the breaker. It has two 15a120v recep and a 30a/240v. no switch to select between. It has 2 breakers, 1 for each 15a/120v recep.

[youth4him]

I don't have wheels on mine, so I have to carry it around by hand, moving it around, turning it on it's side, etc, and no leaks from the top whatsoever. Maybe as the seal ages I'll have a problem, but for now, no worries.

[Emptyspaces]

Capt-Ron wrote:
Well, I did it again... To make a long story short I bought another one and my SO was not pleased, said that I was silly...that's how much she knows. She has a weakness for casinos and I have a weakness for generators.

Anyway, since I'm departing in the morning for a 40 day trip I just loaded it in the front compartment of the 5ver and will permanently install it while in Iowa.

Don't worry about that generator fetish here, the last time I counted I had 6 ranging from a small antique 2 stroke Sears to a 12KW that runs off a 30hp tractor PTO.

When I read about you putting it in your forward compartment, although yours isn't fueled, I wondered how many folks might be transporting generators with gas in them in compartments with electrical equipment. These fuel caps are vented and with the constant sloshing would likely vent considerable gas fumes inside the compartment. Some forward compartments like mine also house the inverter and fuse panel. One spark might result in quite a bad day!

Anyone else have any comments on a way to possibly seal these caps from venting when transporting? I've looked at the one on my ELM3000 and from the way it's constructed it looks hard to do.

[Capt-Ron]

Well, I did it again. This morning my next door neighbor knocked on my door and said that he was going down to Pep Boys to get his generator and would I like to go. To make a long story short I bought another one and my SO was not pleased, said that I was silly...that's how much she knows. She has a weakness for casinos and I have a weakness for generators.

Anyway, since I'm departing in the morning for a 40 day trip I just loaded it in the front compartment of the 5ver and will permanently install it while in Iowa. By removing the cat carrier that never got used in 2 years and a cooler that rarely got used I ended up with the same space available. Placing the unit fore and aft along the curb side frame rail puts all the controls within easy reach. This also makes it easy to build a metal enclosure for it and to install vents in the front wall of the compartment and to cut vents in the floor below.

BTW, she doesn't know that the generator is in the compartment. Besides, if one of my Hondas fails then I have a back up. Then we'll see how silly I am, god knows that she refuses to be without A/C.

Capt Ron

[Damdifino]

For those who are interested, I found at Harbor Freight a pdf downloadable manual for their version of what appears to be the Elim 3000.

I wish someone would matrix all these gensets so it would be easier to tell which "brand-name" has which strengths and weaknesses. I'd do it, but I barely understand the lingo.

[hgarraway]

Neuen wrote:
After reading all these posts, I am still (or, rather, more) confused about one aspect. If I get any of these gens (Power Pro, Elim 3000, etc.) will I be able to get the full 30 amps out of all of them? Do I use just one receptacle? Do I have to rewire something?

It depends on the wiring of the generator. Based on the models discussed on this thread, the following statements should be correct.

If a generator delivers 120 and 240 volts on the front panel but there is NO switch on the control panel to select between 120 and 240 operation then:

This unit will only deliver half of the unit's available current (in amps) to each of the 120 volt outlets. The outlets CANNOT simply be tied together to fix this because they are opposite phase. This unit would have to have a wiring change or switch installed to allow you to access all of the available current at 120 volts. When rewired to do this or when the aftermarket installed switch is in the 120 volt mode you don't have 240 volts available but you do have all current available at 120.

If the generator delivers 120 and 240 volts on the front panel but there IS a switch to select between 120 and 240 operation then:

This unit will deliver all of the unit's available current to the 120 volt outlet(s) when the switch is in the 120 volt mode.


Within this thread there is information on rewiring such as schematics and instructions.

[LittleBill]

Neuen wrote:
After reading all these posts, I am still (or, rather, more) confused about one aspect. If I get any of these gens (Power Pro, Elim 3000, etc.) will I be able to get the full 30 amps out of all of them? Do I use just one receptacle? Do I have to rewire something?

depends on the wattage, my elim only puts out about 3100 watts which is around 22 amps

my elim also doesn't have to be rewired, puts all voltage through one 110v plug, other models vary

[Damdifino]

After reading all these posts, I am still (or, rather, more) confused about one aspect. If I get any of these gens (Power Pro, Elim 3000, etc.) will I be able to get the full 30 amps out of all of them? Do I use just one receptacle? Do I have to rewire something?

[MrWizard]

PatJ wrote:

This generator uses (basically) a single 240 volt center-tapped winding, creating basically two 120V circuits out of phase from one another. This means that the generator is not able to supply its full (claimed) 3500 watt capacity to a single 120 volt circuit

...............................................................................

they are NOT out of phase, they are linked in series like 2 trojan 6v batteries

acoss both batteries is 12 volts, read the middle where they are connected to either end and you 6 volts

the gnerator is wired just like your stick shack ( home )

240 across the 2 ends 120 from the center neutal to either end,

you can NOT plug and adapter into your 220 dryer socket at home or the incoming service line nad put all the power into ONE 120 volt cord, and you can't do it with the generator either, for exactly the same reasons VOLTAGE not PHASING

rewiring to switch the windings into a parallel situation will put all the current available at one voltage level..