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...

[ol_Bombero-JC]

.

"C-Leigh Racing" (Neil) - here's a different "take" on this lengthy thread!.:W

.

kirkadie wrote:
Hey All,
I'm new to this forum; found it after buying a Champion 3500 120/240 from TSC last week and wanting to convert to propane. I'm only at page 722 so far and just wanted to pipe in and say how grateful I am that you all have stuck to it all these years. During the page 722+- days there was talk of letting things slow down and although my wife was teary-eyed joyful at the though of me getting away from the computer, I have treated this whole blog like the tutorial it was started out to be... bravo.
All those who have taken the time to post their experiments, experts who have chimed in when necessary to keep people like me (violin maker, not mechanic) from blowing themselves up, KUDOs to all of you.
I will probably mostly be a lurker as it seems you have covered things clearly and a novice like myself would only be a repeater, so this post is mainly to let you all know you are greatly appreciated, and even if you don't always get feedback, there are no doubt many readers like myself who will follow your exploits and LEARN. That's a good thing.

Kirk
'68 Scotty Hilander

[ol_Bombero-JC]

JConatser wrote:
Wgeorge11, kudos to you for an eloquent, perfect response to the question. You're obviously a gentleman of character, and I tip my hat to you.

X2

well said, and as usual - compliments to The Prof for his
efforts and the amount of info shared.

~

[JConatser]

Wgeorge11, kudos to you for an eloquent, perfect response to the question. You're obviously a gentleman of character, and I tip my hat to you.

[Wgeorge11]

C-Leigh Racing wrote:
979 pages, "seriously", for a Chinese generator.
Are you moderators dealers for these generators or something & letting this thread run so long.
Neil

Neil

They sell nothing here. They do offer a lot of good information from some of the best minds on RVNet. I've been lurking here since '94 and have come away with some of the best ideas and help from this forum. If you have a question or problem with a Chinese generator someone will help you find an answer, especially the moderators who recognize a solid community sharing a common goal. The read may be long, but it's loaded with a lot of information. Come join us and learn.

[dcs1968]

My Chicago Electric 3500w generator was working great all weekend with no issues. It only has maybe 20hrs total usage but is 3yrs old.I shut it down and the next time that I fired it up.... nothing happened when I flipped on the circut breaker. I heard something that sounded like it was kicking around inside the genset. Maybe like a screw that fell out? How hard is it to open up to check out what happened?

Thank You.

[tvman44]

Just a popular generator with a lot of interest! 🙂

[C-Leigh_Racing]

979 pages, "seriously", for a Chinese generator.
Are you moderators dealers for these generators or something & letting this thread run so long.
Neil

[tvman44]

professor95 does that meter require cutting a hole in the panel to mount or is it a surface mount?

[professor95]

JoshInReno wrote:
Cabela's had the 46516 on Black Friday sale with the wheel kit and cover for $279.99, normally $499.99. I waited 2 hours in the cold for that deal. :B

It is still in my garage in the box, but I'll get it assembled soon. I need to find an hour meter for it too.

Call CPE and order the 120 VAC tri-digital Intelligauge from the 46555 or 46539 for your unit. You can check a manual here that shows the gauge - look on page 6, item #6. It will give you hours, hz and voltage. It is not hard to add. If you need to know the "secret" to reset hours on the meter back to zero after oil changes I know what it is. CPE does not give out the reset info.

[JoshInReno]

Cabela's had the 46516 on Black Friday sale with the wheel kit and cover for $279.99, normally $499.99. I waited 2 hours in the cold for that deal. :B

It is still in my garage in the box, but I'll get it assembled soon. I need to find an hour meter for it too.

[MrWizard]

a new member
welcome Kirk

[kirkadie]

Hey All,
I'm new to this forum; found it after buying a Champion 3500 120/240 from TSC last week and wanting to convert to propane. I'm only at page 722 so far and just wanted to pipe in and say how grateful I am that you all have stuck to it all these years. During the page 722+- days there was talk of letting things slow down and although my wife was teary-eyed joyful at the though of me getting away from the computer, I have treated this whole blog like the tutorial it was started out to be... bravo.
All those who have taken the time to post their experiments, experts who have chimed in when necessary to keep people like me (violin maker, not mechanic) from blowing themselves up, KUDOs to all of you.
I will probably mostly be a lurker as it seems you have covered things clearly and a novice like myself would only be a repeater, so this post is mainly to let you all know you are greatly appreciated, and even if you don't always get feedback, there are no doubt many readers like myself who will follow your exploits and LEARN. That's a good thing.

Kirk
'68 Scotty Hilander

[professor95]

Just a quick note to say that we pray that all of you in the path of Sandy will say safe and experience only insignificant storm damage. Hopefully your sometimes maligned synchronous Chinese generator is fueled up and ready to take over should the power go out in your area.

Please be careful with your generator. Do not refuel it with a hot exhaust or engine - gasoline spilled on the hot surfaces evaporates quickly and can ignite with an impressive fireball.

Keep the generator away from any living area where noxious exhaust gas can enter the home. And, never try to operate the generator indoors.

Electrical safety, especially with water all around, is paramount. Use only extension cords that have no cuts or openings in the outer sheath. Make sure the generator is elevated above wet ground and sheltered from the rain. In the situation we are experiencing from Sandy it is perfectly OK to use a set of automotive jumper cables between the unpainted metal on the generator and the ground rod for your home or a metal underground water pipe. This grounding method provides additional shock protection by putting the grounding part of the outlet at true earth ground.

And please, never try to back-feed power into something like a dryer outlet. If you insist on doing this (not a safe idea) be absolutely sure the main breaker for your home is off. If left on, you can back feed power to outside lines and put those trying to restore your domestic power at a great risk.

Ironically, we are not at our home in Virginia where we would experience the wrath of the storm first-hand. Our location is much further south - most likely a good place to be.

Stay safe - our prayers are with each of you!

[professor95]

Teamjd wrote:

Is it worth replacing the generator head? Or keep the unit for spare parts and get another one. I am quite capable of doing the repair. The unit only has 250-300 hours on it in 6 years of use. Not complaining about the longevity, just if it's worth repairing.

The simple answer is NO. To explain: given the cost of the new parts needed and the time involved along with 250-300 hours on your engine you will be money ahead to just grab a basic Champ 3500 at Tractor Supply for $299 (sale price) or $329 stock price. You also get a full one year warranty.

But...... the entire generator head (NOT parts/pieces) on virtually every 3,000 watt class Chinese generator using the GX160 or GX200 style engine will interchange. Wiring may be color coded differently but they will bolt right up. So, If you can find a Chinese genny with a bad engine for a few bucks you may want to give it a go. Craig's List is always a good place to start searching.

[waybo418]

MrWizard wrote:
if your looking for something like a chilton's the answer is No

if your looking for the parts diagram and list , yes thats online

this thread has pctures of engine parts and mods , carb starter exhaust etc...
but you will have to read thru it to find them

That is what I was referring to. In this thread, there have been many illustrated examples of tear downs.