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3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

professor95
Explorer
Explorer
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 โ€œcloningโ€ 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 โ€œrunningโ€ 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. โ€œSupposedlyโ€ 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 โ€œabove average qualityโ€ 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 โ€œavailability listingโ€.

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

The published dB rating is 67 at 23 feet. This is โ€œreasonablyโ€ 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 โ€œlook alikeโ€ eng...






















Professor Randy T. Agee & Nancy Agee. Also Oscar, the totally ruined Dachshund.
2009 Cedar Creek 5th Wheel - 2004 Volvo VNL670 class 8 MotorHome conversion as toter.
Turbocharged, 12L, 465 HP and 1,800 ft. Lbs. of torque.
10,029 REPLIES 10,029

spectre
Explorer
Explorer
How do I make a dogbone? I have a 3500 watt Nikota and would live to get the full rating out of the 120 circuit.

spectre
Explorer
Explorer
This is for Kevin,
How do you make a dogbone? I bought one of the Nikota generators. It is a little light for my trailer. I would like to get the full amperage out of it. If I can't do it I might buy one of the power Pro 5500 generators.

feistycapn
Explorer
Explorer
Prof.:

Please be careful about CO. Your installation looks to be quite close to the house and several windows.

My concern would be that under certain wind conditions the corner of the house would be under positive pressure and any leaks would allow CO into the house.

At the very least I'd recommend a CO detector inside the house near the generator. The other thought would be to extend the exhaust up and over the eve of the house by about 2 ft.

I say this because we lost a neighbor to CO from a generator running outside his garage.

Barton_Family
Explorer
Explorer
I just wanted to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread and also to those who responded to my messages specifically.

As I mentioned a month or so back, I ordered an Amico 3300 generator which was pretty quiet as these Chinese units go, but still not as quiet as I had hoped for. I chose to bypass the Kipor unit and went ahead and purchase a slightly used Honda EU3000is on ebay. I really wanted to save the $$$ but where we camp, generator noise is a real concern so I really had no option.

The Amico is a great little unit - it has continuous output of 3000 watts as opposed to the 2800 most of the other clones have. No rewiring needed and it ran everything in our camper including air and microwave with no trouble. If it weren't for the noise output (a little quieter than most of the other clones at 65dB @ 7 meters) I would have gladly kept it as it met all our other needs and was a pretty good bargain for what appears to be a quality unit. I haven't even burned all the paint off the exhaust yet ๐Ÿ˜ž Looks like I'll be selling it now as I won't need 3 generators sitting around and I still have the Generac I started with a couple of years back.

Anyway, as everyone has stated time and again, if noise is not an issue - these Chinese Honda clones are still quieter than the standard contractor style gensets and really do a great job.

Thanks again to everyone who has posted on this subject. What an incredible thread both in size and valuable input.

blazer8
Explorer
Explorer
Ok, I rewired the generator per BobB's instructions. Do I need to change the breakers now? Or does this rewire not affect them?

BlackMax
Explorer
Explorer
Iโ€™ve sent my carburetor off to Hendrix for conversion to propane only. They prefer to do the carb mods themselves and send the carb and kit back. I hesitated regarding the conversion when I considered $300 for the generator and $200 for the conversion, but went ahead considering the cheap overall cost for what I was getting in terms of an emergency power source, RV usage and a safer, single, fuel. Meanwhile, Iโ€™m going to remove the tank and fit some type of cover/storage bin in its place. Iโ€™ll let you know how it turns out.

professor95
Explorer
Explorer
While the major focus of this forum has been about the many different types of small Chinese generators and their use on RVs, recent power outages due to hurricanes in the South has created a greater interest among both RVer and non-RVers alike to consider these units as power back-up sources for such emergencies.

For several years now I have wanted to convert my "contractor" series 5000 Watt Generac home back-up generator to propane. Thanks to another member on this forum, I was pointed to the US Carb website as an inexpensive source of a conversion kit. It took six weeks to get the kit once it was ordered, and several hours to install it.

The conversion is now complete. The US Carb kit worked as promised in their advertisements, but the conversion did not go as smoothly as I expected.

I selected the "tri-fuel, no drill" kit as I wanted to retain the ability to use gasoline. The customer service/order person at US Carb took my engine model number and advised me that I would need the Type "C" kit. This kit, even though it was supposedly specifically for my particular model 10 HP Briggs & Stratton engine, did not contain the parts or instructions to retain a functioning choke. It took an additional hour to design, fabricate and install a bracket/lever assembly to retain the choke function in the gas mode. It is also necessary to extend the crankcase vent tube. While the instructions address this, and the parts kit shows an extension tube, this type kit does not include the necessary extension tube. I had to come up with that myself - luckily I had a scrap piece of 1/2" copper pipe in the Junk Box that worked fine.

I also ordered a six foot flexible (rubber) propane hose with the kit. The 3/8" pipe thread fittings on the hose did not match the supplied regulator (3/4") and required my finding an adapter. Had I chosen to use a standard propane tank and regulator, I would have needed yet another adapter to go from 1/4" to 3/8" there as well.

The total delivered cost of the kit and hose was "about" $200.

I found the need to come up with these little "extras" irritating for what I thought was a complete kit with the necessary adapters, fittings and parts for my particular engine.

I selected to draw my propane from a large underground tank previously installed in my backyard for two gas fireplaces in the house. It is possible to simply use refillable above ground tanks like the ones on your BBQ grill or RV. You can also use natural gas if you are lucky enough to have it piped to your home. In my case, nothing is piped to or from my home (no water, gas or sewer) and I consider myself lucky to get electricity even on a sunny day. That's the cost you pay for living in a rural area.

The beauty of my going to the in ground propane tank is a long fuel storage life, no need to store 20+ gallons of gasoline for an emergency, and no refueling danger since I am not dumping gas into a tank on a hot engine (yes, I know you are suppose to turn it off and let it cool.) I live in Virginia - about 70 air miles from the Atlantic coast. Previous ice storms, hurricanes, tropical depressions and the like have left us without power for as long as two weeks in the past. With a generator sucking up 6-7 gallons of gas a day, that adds up, especially when gas stations are closed and the roads impassable. My goal is to keep my 300 gallon propane tank at least half full at all times, which could fuel the generator for up to 3 weeks. We need the generator to pump water from the well, to keep the freezers running, and to run the oil furnace (in the winter).

While I installed my kit on an old, noisy B&S powered Gererac rather than the recently acquired ELM3000, kits and procedures for any of the Chinese generators we have been writing about appear to be similar. Needless to say, the Chinese units would be quiter and use less fuel than my old B&S engine does.

Despite the little irritations with the lack of completeness, I am pleased with my US Carb conversion kit. The generator starts easily and runs perfectly on propane.

Photos of my complete set-up are included below. I have kept them small out of consideration for those on the forum who have dial-up Internet connections. If you want larger images, they are available by clicking on the link next to the photos.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I would also be interested in knowing if anyone else follows suite with the propane conversion.

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Professor Randy T. Agee & Nancy Agee. Also Oscar, the totally ruined Dachshund.
2009 Cedar Creek 5th Wheel - 2004 Volvo VNL670 class 8 MotorHome conversion as toter.
Turbocharged, 12L, 465 HP and 1,800 ft. Lbs. of torque.

BlackRam
Explorer
Explorer
Sonic1954

Having read your instructions, I'll have to check out my Champion tomorrow (weather permitting),
Thanks for posting the pictures for us

Skip

SILVER_TURTLE
Explorer
Explorer
I also own one of the 3000 knockoffs. It runs very quiet without any problems brand name was Eliminator and indicated it was a honda knockoff and honda engine parts were interchangeable. 10 feet away it is almost un-noticeable.

If you are trying to dampen your sound here are the cheapest and the best designed sound absorbing items in the world. EGG CARTONS!!
Just trim off the lid and staple or tack the egg holding side to your boxes or cubicles. The many faceted areas of the egg cartons catch and absorb all frequencies of sound with no rebound. The old gray paper mache ones work the best. Your sides will look like a city of miniature pyramids with the egg cartons butted against each other.

You can dampen your workshops noise by hanging light weight pieces of paneling with these egg cartons attached to both sides around your shop. They work so well.... You will find yourself shouting just to talk to yourself.
Turtle..
I started out with nothing
and still have most of it..

Sonic1954
Explorer
Explorer
Due to several recent emails about how I rewired my Champion Generator, I am posting more pictures!

First, here is the original post:

This is of my new Champion 3500 (4450 watt peek) watt gen set that I bought today at Checker Auto. It is wired for 120/240 so only 1750 watts is available for me to use with my camper. It is on sale for $299 It has the large muffler and is fairly quiet compared to my Coleman but loud compared to my Honda 3000. It came with a wheel kit that I have not yet installed as well as a 12 volt charging cable to charge up automotive batteries (10 amp). It also came with a spare foam air filter. It did come dry. NO oil in the crankcase. It does have 2 ell shaped shipping brackets that need to be removed. The engine is a 6.5hp Honda clone.



I have it running outside right now with a 1500 watt load on it. At 1 am, I am going to switch over to the other plug and run it to daylight to get it broken in a bit.

I want to configure it so ALL of the 3500 watts are going to be on the same set of the 120 volts. I do not need to generate 240 volts so wiring in a switch will not be necessary.

Below is a picture of the head of the gen set with the cover removed.



I think this is going to be an easy conversion since the coils of the gen set are conveniently wired to a terminal strip as shown in the picture. The red and dark blue wire go into the gen set as a pair and ohm out to be shorted when tested (test done with them removed from the terminal strip) and the white and brown wires show the same. The light blue (left side of picture) and another brown wire (right side of picture) (not seen, it is under the visible brown wire) go to the power panel. The center terminal has 3 wires on it. Two white and one red wire. One of these white wires go to the power panel. As already mentioned, the other 2 are paired with the light blue and the brown wire.

Would I be correct if I moved the center white wire to the dark blue and the center red wire to the brown wire? One side of my new 110 would then be the dark blue and white wire and the other side of my 110 would be the brown and red wire. The wire colors are consistent with the drawing by allpraisebob.

I'll be replacing the 240 volt plug with a 30 amp camper plug and doing something creative with the circut breaker.


Now here is the new stuff!

I would like to note that you will have NO power on the panel until it is re-wired. I am enclosing pict of my re-wire job. I used some of the blue wire that was no longer needed to finish up my re-wiring.

This is a picture of the head after is has been re-wired.



Here is the OUTSIDE of the power panel after the re-wire. Note that I removed the 220 volt plug and replaced it with a 30 ampre camper plug.



Now here are the breakers. They are the original breakers but I have them wired in paralled. The brown wire comes directly from the generator head. I have tapped into it and ran one leg of the tap to one breaker and the other side to the other breaker. Coming off the breakers, I used the blue wire that was no longer needed to go to the brass colored terminal of my 30 ampre camper plug. Both circute breakers now go to the same point. This will have all the wattage to this point while going through the circute breakers.



Now for the rest of the wiring. Here, a picture is worth a thousand works. Hope the picture shows enough detail.



Mine is still working well with close to 300 hours of time on it. Be sure to change your oil ever 48 hours of run time! That may be more often that recomened but it does not take long and does not take that much oil to add life to the engine.
2005 Chevy Duramax 2500HD
Pulls a
1999 Rockwood Ultralite
That pulls my
Wells Cargo box trailer for my toys!

FrizzleFried
Explorer
Explorer
Well...I finally was able to really test out my PowerWise 3500 that I purchased from Kragen some months back. It was pretty hot out in the desert this last weekend and the PowerWise 3500 worked flawlessly. It ran my brand new Carrier 13,500 BTU air conditioner and TV/DVD plus a few lights without issue.

I am quite happy with the unit...used maybe a gallon of gas all weekend...nice!

Kamphiker
Explorer
Explorer
I was considering the Tri-carb convwersion, But at $ 200.00 for a generator that I paid $ 300.00 seemed excessive.

But now with Katrina & Wilma (and still no power from wilma). $ 200.00 does not seem that much money to invest when I see the lines of people waiting for gas (1 Week after wilma and the lines are now only a few minutes).

I have natural gas at home and the conversion would be a life saver.

Keep us up to date with te results Professor.

One more surprise w/ my PP3500, I can run the washer and dryer (dryer is gas/ 110 volt) and the house refg. and TV at once and still have not tripped the breaker.
2006 Winnebago Outlook WF324V
2009 Honda CR-V 2wd TOAD ......Campgrounds in the Smoky Mountains NP
Last Camping trip ->2011 SUMMER SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

professor95
Explorer
Explorer
Due to the lack of Gas in the area (few stations w/ power and 5 - 6 hour wait with a $ 20.00 limit) I am limiting the amount we run the Generator.




I am really glad to know that this thread has helped to relieve the inconvenience caused by extended power outages. I have had similar situations where we have been without power for almost two weeks (Hurricane Isabel) to several days (Gaston, ice storms, etc.) Our generator is an invaluable piece of equipment.

Having had similar problems with the availability of gas for the generator, I ordered a propane kit from US Carb 5 weeks ago. It finally arrived last Friday. I have finished the plumbing to a 300 gallon in ground LP tank in the back yard but ran out of time needed to connect the regulator to the intake on the generator. Hopefully, Wednesday will allow this to happen.

Storing sufficient supplies of gasoline can be problematic, even with stabilizer added. Propane is simpler. Most RVers have propane on their rigs or in a BBQ grill. It is safe to store and does not "go bad". Due to the ease of propane cylinder exchange points, it might also be more readily available after a hurricane than gasoline.

Yes, it adds to the cost of a generator since the kit with the hose is right at $200. But, in an extended power outage, $200 becomes insignificant.

I will post my observations and results along with some photos as soon as I complete the hook-up.
Professor Randy T. Agee & Nancy Agee. Also Oscar, the totally ruined Dachshund.
2009 Cedar Creek 5th Wheel - 2004 Volvo VNL670 class 8 MotorHome conversion as toter.
Turbocharged, 12L, 465 HP and 1,800 ft. Lbs. of torque.

guy48065
Explorer
Explorer
Not sure if anyone has specifically brought this up in the forum but I notice that Pep Boys currently has 2 slightly different versions of the Power Pro 3500. The older version has 1 110V outlet, 1 220V twist-lock outlet and 12V binding posts for battery charging. The newer one has 2 110V outlets AND the 110/220V toggle switch (in addition to all the other features of the "old" model). No voltmeter. Looks like they are paying attention to the Elim fans!
05 Durango Hemi
2010 Neo all-aluminum 7x20 CH

dlefarris
Explorer
Explorer
"If you know anyone who needs an ELM3000 please contact me. I know where one is available." dlefarris@yahoo.com
Dlefarris