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...

[Britincali]

The dont use that much water at all, its only a 3/8th line feeding it. They dont work at all in humid areas.

If its a dry day and 115 outside it keeps my house right around the 75 mark, it runs non stop damn near all summer, it just really sucks when we have a summer storm or a humid day 😞

[Capt_Storm]

Thanks Britincali,

Cool idea...never heard of it...always learning..lol.
I'm on a well,wonder how much water that thing uses..probably too much for me.

[Britincali]

http://www.mobilehomerepair.com/ArticleSwamp.html


A ton cheaper to run than house AC and works great in the desert 😉

[Capt_Storm]

What the heck is a roof swamp cooler?

[Britincali]

During a recent power outage at my house I finally found the limits of the little champion.

I ran an extension cord from the 110v outlet to my roof swamp cooler with a 3/4 horse motor and it flat killed my little baby, no breakers popped but it killed the RPMs and put a load like Ive never seen on my little yellow trooper. I tried to get it to start a few times but no go.

We ended up running the extension to some splitters and running multiple fans in the house instead, all in all it ended up runnin 3 fans, 36" CRT TV, surround sound, dish box, 5 60w lamps, refer, freezer and my computer.

Im really suprised it wouldnt start my swamp, the motor doesnt have a capacitor so maybe that was the issue. After a couple of beers I almost got on the roof and spun the squirrel cage while the Mrs plugged it in but I figured loosing fingers wasnt worth the cooling.

It has always run everything Ive thrown at it without a hickup, but I guess a non capacitor 3/4 horse motor is enough to make it scream mercy.

[lt_eggbeater]

I will be under a constant 600 watt or less draw so I will let you know what it does as far as fuel useage.

[MrWizard]

Floyd
Look at the.specs
1500 surge 1200 run 3600rpm

2000 surge 1600 run 4500rpm

900rpm 25% faster and 33% more watts run rating

Is it really that efficient?
Are they playing loose with the numbers?
Idk ... But the yammy 2000 has a 79cc engine and it works for them

[MrWizard]

That's starting at around 11amps load chargingbatteries with a 55amp WFCO the load decreasing as the batteries charge, also including turning the converteroff for long enough to use the mw to bake a potatoor heat up something then turn converteron again, so the load was not.constant value

lt_eggbeater wrote:
is that 5 or 6 hrs at full load or half load.

[Old___Slow]

lt_eggbeater wrote:
Does Anyone have any long term experience with the champion 1200/1500 watt 80cc four stroke models?

Looking at the size of the engine (80cc) for this Champion 1200/1500 watt gen and thinking about the new 'Champion Inverter' with the 79cc engine? I wonder if the two units have perhaps a common engine. Just minus the flywheel for the Inverter. If so, is this engine a product of the Champion factory? And can they get 2000watts from the Inverter with only a 79cc engine?

[lt_eggbeater]

is that 5 or 6 hrs at full load or half load.

[MrWizard]

One tank is good for 5>6 hrs
You will need to refill or maybe make an extended run tank
We had over 1000 hrs on it, we gave it to some friends when we bought the 3k

[lt_eggbeater]

We plan on running it 8 to 10 hours a night and wonder how long it will last per tank and how many hours overall.

[lt_eggbeater]

How many hours have you gotten from the little one? I have a 3000 watt rv model that we use at the ranch and have had good luck with it. We have bought a 1200/1500 watt one for charging batteries for the solar array on cloudy days, and for at night since we will be having about a 1200 watt draw on the battery array at night and want to trickle about 600 to 900 watts(we can program the xantrex/trace inverter to put a limit on how many watts it will draw for aray charging) back to the batteries at night while the array is being drawn down. We figured the little genset would use less fuel than any of our other gensets which range from 3kw champion to a 25kw whisper watt diesel.

[MrWizard]

Great little generator,
My first champ was the little one, I was so impressed after 11 months of use that I bought the 3000

[lt_eggbeater]

Does Anyone have any long term experience with the champion 1200/1500 watt 80cc four stroke models?