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]

Oldfordman wrote:
Wow, been gone a while. Wife was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and passed away last year. Just resuming my old activities.

I logged in for the first time in several years and couldn't believe this thread is still going strong after over 1,000 pages. Great topic.

I just upgraded my old 3500W/4000W Champion open frame to a 3500 Watt Champion Inverter. Old genset has run great for over 10 years of camping and a bunch of power outages at the house. Changed the spark plug and oil. That's all it's needed over the years and still starts on first or second pull.

Champion hit a winner with their generator(s).

(Condolences for your loss!)

And - the testimonials just keep on a-comin!!

Champion (true to the name) is a "Champion" - and newer models are still hitting winners!..:C

:C

[Oldfordman]

Wow, been gone a while. Wife was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and passed away last year. Just resuming my old activities.

I logged in for the first time in several years and couldn't believe this thread is still going strong after over 1,000 pages. Great topic.

I just upgraded my old 3500W/4000W Champion open frame to a 3500 Watt Champion Inverter. Old genset has run great for over 10 years of camping and a bunch of power outages at the house. Changed the spark plug and oil. That's all it's needed over the years and still starts on first or second pull.

Champion hit a winner with their generator(s).

[ghorn]

padgett wrote:
Pep Boys can be very confused. For those that are interested, the $249 price and $20 rebate for the Eliminator 3000 with "through April 2nd" and NO limitations such as "supply on hand" is on a 8 1/2x11 "Grand ReOpening" placard with the notation in the bottom right corner of 10025-78 US.

The *other* Chinese genset they were carrying, Nikota, does appear to have gone out of business but Elim ( http://www.eliminternational.com - Generator section is down the page a bit and in Red) is still around.

Be that as it may, does anyone have experience with the Coleman Powermate 3750 ? Looks like all it has are two 110v outlets and it does not mention a db rating. Am also not sure how they can get a 3750 rating with a 5.5 hp motor.

Have been looking a bit further into the Coleman - user's manual says:
"A & B. 120 V, 20 Ampere Duplex Receptacle
This duplex is split so that 20 amps of current may be drawn from each half of the receptacle. However, total power drawn must be kept within nameplate ratings." - (3000 watts continuous ?). Motor appears to be a Tecumseh OHH55 5.5 hp OHV which seems a bit small for the rating. Should this be in a different thread of "American Generators" ?

Pardon if this is a bit late (I've just registered and getting around to visiting this thread)...
I have a similar unit, a "Powermate ProForce" (supposedly by Coleman) and it is a model rated at 3125 max with 2500 continuous, with a 5.5 HP OHV engine, and 3 gal gas tank. It is 120 volt ONLY, with no other provision. It has only two 20A outlets, which the manual states may supply 20A each, but not to exceed the gen total capacity.


I have a 2008 Airstream 22' Safari Sport with a 13.5 Carrier AC which runs just fine on this unit. It will simultaneously run the convection microwave when the wife forgets, but it struggles with that double load. I use a 30/15 adaptor at the gen to adapt to the RV cord.

I feel like a cat caught with a bird-feather in his mouth since I bought it at a Pep Boys clearance sale in Dec '08 (just before the crash...they were looking ahead while I was not) for $149.
It's perfect for our RV as long as only one large-amperage item is running at a time. When the wife wants to use the hairdryer we just temporarily switch the AC to fan only for a minute or two. Otherwise , this cheap little chineese unit meets our every need, fits beneath the PU tonneau cover, runs all nite with AC running her in HOT HOT TEXAS, on 2.7 gals of gas. I wake up just in time to replenish the fuel for the rest of the day. Happy Happy Joy Joy...

I also have the HF 8750/7000 unit I use to backpower the ranchhouse and also to run my wire-feed MIG welder on 220v.

I no longer condemn all Chinese goods... after all...they keep the American HF cashiers employed, and they're learning capitalism is better than communism... Maybe another 50 years and they'll completely wake up.

(I still buy only U.S. branded big items like cars, travel-trailers, guns (NO AKs!), etc.. )

(BTW, I've noticed that lately when one examines copper-wired items from China such as jumper-cables, extension-cords, etc.,... that in fact they are ALUMINUM wire with a copper WASH coating. I have a feeling that dissimilar-metal-corrosion and heat will eventually kill these things, including generators wired with that kind of wire.)

[MrWizard]

mine is used almost daily, still going great, about (2) yrs on this one

[MrRchitty]

Alphabavo wrote:
Hey everyone, new guy here.

Was wondering what kind of longevity everyone is getting from their champion inverter units. Trying to decide between getting a couple or dropping the coin on Honda.

Still going strong. I know a guy who uses it for a lunch truck. Big time hours.

Champion is a great choice.

[pianotuna]

I have the Yamaha 3000 sIEB. If I were buying today I'd go for the Champion 3500 watt inverter unit.

Alphabavo wrote:
Hey everyone, new guy here.

Was wondering what kind of longevity everyone is getting from their champion inverter units. Trying to decide between getting a couple or dropping the coin on Honda.

[Alphabavo]

Hey everyone, new guy here.

Was wondering what kind of longevity everyone is getting from their champion inverter units. Trying to decide between getting a couple or dropping the coin on Honda.

[otrfun]

Rolling Condo wrote:
Breaking news, Champion now has a bigger inverter that can be paralleled.

Here

Higher 3200w/3500w output, remote start, and parallel capability---nice!

Sound level for one unit is still 58db at 23 ft. with a 25 percent load (roughly 65db at 100 percent). Two of these 3200/3500's paralleled under significant load are gonna be pushing 65-70db. That's just as loud as many open-frame generators.

Unfortunately, rather doubt the parallel capability is gonna be all that attractive to the RV crowd---unless one has a dire need to run two a/c's---and, has no concern about sound level. The 2800/3100w Champion (with the remote start) is more than capable for the vast majority of RV'rs (with one a/c).

[Rolling_Condo]

Breaking news, Champion now has a bigger inverter that can be paralleled.

Here

[agropz]

Thanks everyone for all the info. Believe it or not I have not gotten around to working on it yet - "real life" intervening again and so it sits under a tarp - but when I do I will be going in well armed thanks to you guys. I'll let ya know how it turns out...

[72cougarxr7]

agropz wrote:
Just wanted to say thanks for the incredible amount of info, I just got a Champion C46540 for $5 (non-working) and while doing research came across this thread. Holy cow! 1000 pages!! said I, this is the Rosetta Stone of Chinese 3000 gensets! (Where's the index, lol)

Runs but no juice. Going to tear into it tomorrow *greedily rubbing hands*

Tent camping this year,but an full up camper refurb is in the wings for next winter, and as it's on a strict budget, this was a rather karmic gift of the yard sale kind - and then doubled by finding this enormous treasure trove of info. Thanks everyone 🙂

I have the exact generator I bought from a Tractor Supply for $50 "runs but doesnt make power".
I did some trouble shooting and it appeared the issue was the automatic voltage regulator or "AVR".
I ordered direct from Champion, I think it was $30 or $40 shipped to my door, and its worked great for 3 or 4 years now!

[jimmyfred]

Clark W. Griswold wrote:
I have the 3000 ELIM and it hasn't been used for over a year. When I realized I have not started it in such a long time I got it out and tried to get it running to no avail.

I changed the plug and replaced the fuel and still will not start.

Any suggestions on how I can get it up and running?

...............Clean the carb , run it out of gas every time you use it , treat the gas with the red stuff meant for such !jf

[Clark_W__Griswo]

I have the 3000 ELIM and it hasn't been used for over a year. When I realized I have not started it in such a long time I got it out and tried to get it running to no avail.

I changed the plug and replaced the fuel and still will not start.

Any suggestions on how I can get it up and running?

[mdconvert]

Could the problem with this guys generator be that the field needs to be flashed? BTW: flashing in this case doesn't require a trench coat.

I have a homelite 2500 generator that, if I don't run it for a while, starts and the engine runs but doesn't get any current flow. What I have to do is plug in a drill and have it set to go forward and spin the chuck backwards by hand a few times. Eventually the generator will produce current flow and the drill runs normally.

I've never had this happen with my chinese generator and don't recall anyone else having the problem but thought it may be a possibility.

[MrWizard]

Two things
First pull the end cap off the generator and then the brush holder for the feild brushes
They may be worn, stuck, or dirty
It they are OK put them back in
start the generator and using a volt meter on vdc setting
Measure the Volts on the wires to the brushes
If there is little to no voltage the avr automatic voltage regulator is bad
They don't cost very much from champion and you will get it or brushes in a couple of days directly from home office in Santa Fe springs, CA