3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

byates wrote:
The Onan Homesite 6500 that I own is manufactured by Chongqing Loncin General-Purpose Engine Co., LTD. I can attest to the quality of this genset, having mine in use for over two years now. It has the 120/240 voltage selector switch. I have not experienced any problems (manufacturing or shipping) with the unit. It is the only chinese made generator that I have found advertised with a heavy duty cast iron cylinder sleeve. As far as price is concerned, the Homesite is a bit more expensive than other chinese made gensets, but Costco.com (where I bought mine for $679) regularly has these gensets at a more affordable price than other online vendors

The 6500 is an entirely different animal than the 3500. $679 would be a good price for the 6500 with the 13 HP engine.

Glad to have a name of the builder. Was that in the manual or how did you identify it? I wonder if Chongqing Loncin also builds the 3500? Since they built the larger unit, I would expect them to also build the smaller models as well.

I do not know of any Chinese gensets in the 3,000 watt and up range using a Honda GX clone that does not have a cast iron cylinder sleeve. Virtually all the 6.5 HP engines on the look-alike-models are built on the GX200 design. I believe your genset has a Honda GX390 clone. I also own a Champion 6,500 in addition to several 3,000 and 3,500 watt makes and models. My Champ 6500 has the GX390 clone engine with a cast iron sleeve. It also has forged rocker arms vs. stamped on other models. I got caught with mud on my face over this several months back and decided to do some serious checking on the issue. The Honda GL engines (and clones) are the models that do not have a cast iron sleeve.

Thanks for sharing about your experiences with the 6500. User reports have been rare on the Homesite line.