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...

[jimmyfred]

Dixie Flyer wrote:
Question? When would you switch to 240 Volts on the the model C46540 3500/4000W? If you had your camper hooked up to the generator and then switched to 240v it would fry everything in it wouldn't it?

...........In my opinion, NO! A 240 plug has 4 connectors , 2 hots @ 120 each ,1 ground , and 1 neutral . A 30 amp connector has 3 , 1 hot @120 volts , neutral , and ground .
.......... All trailers with 50 amp service , have (2) separate 25 amp circuits that should be somewhat balanced but separate with their respective loads . These circuits are Never wired together(share a common ground) so the (2) 120 volt hot wires combine to create a 240 volt circuit . , jf

[tvman44]

First you don't switch while running unless you want to fry a few parts, at the very least the switch. Secondly the RV connector only has 120 Vac no matter which way the switch is. But the switch needs to be on 120 Vac for full power (3500 / 4000 watts) to RV connector.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Question? When would you switch to 240 Volts on the the model C46540 3500/4000W? If you had your camper hooked up to the generator and then switched to 240v it would fry everything in it wouldn't it?

[professor95]

RedRS wrote:
Thanks for your prompt reply. Yes "straight" 220 volt AC and yes the little fan heater will probably be something like 1500w. All I wanted to ensure was that actual tools I was using didn't suffer power loss from everything else I was going to try and run because tools are the whole point of turning the garage into a work shop! And yes please, a picture of you gennie house would be great.

Links to photos are below. This is about as simple as it gets, and yes it does significantly reduce sound levels on the closed sides.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

[professor95]

gnolivos wrote:
Is it safe to use a 3 prong 30Amp to 15 Amp adapter (RV plug) on this unit, and then power up regular 120V appliances to the full 3,500 Watts?

No. With the 15 amp adapter you should not exceed 1,800 watts. The adapter will overheat and possibly even melt.

[professor95]

gnolivos wrote:
Hello Professor,

The model is C46540 3500/4000W ! Any help much appreciated!

professor95 wrote:

gnolivos wrote:
Hello gentlemen. I am looking for the rewire info for the Champion 3500/4000W model, to obtain full power from the 120V outlet.

The forum has no thread-specific search, so the task is near impossible. Can someone please communicate the post number (or page number?) where the info is located? This may be a good thing to capture in the first post as well.

Apologies for what some may consider a spoon-feeding!

What is the model number of the Champion you own?

Will be glad to help, but without the model # I can only be "general".

No rewire is necessary. Just flip the switch on the front panel.

[Matthew_B]

On the C46540, when the switch is in the 120V position, you can draw full power at 120V.

When the switch is in the 240V position, you can't draw more than 1/2 power from the RV outlet.*

*PS, maybe less. I don't have the C46540, but another cheapie generator. It really complained if I tried to draw 1/2 power at 120V only with the other leg unloaded.

[gnolivos]

Hello Professor,

The model is C46540 3500/4000W ! Any help much appreciated!

professor95 wrote:

gnolivos wrote:
Hello gentlemen. I am looking for the rewire info for the Champion 3500/4000W model, to obtain full power from the 120V outlet.

The forum has no thread-specific search, so the task is near impossible. Can someone please communicate the post number (or page number?) where the info is located? This may be a good thing to capture in the first post as well.

Apologies for what some may consider a spoon-feeding!

What is the model number of the Champion you own?

Will be glad to help, but without the model # I can only be "general".

[gnolivos]

Is it safe to use a 3 prong 30Amp to 15 Amp adapter (RV plug) on this unit, and then power up regular 120V appliances to the full 3,500 Watts?

[RedRS]

Thanks for your prompt reply. Yes "straight" 220 volt AC and yes the little fan heater will probably be something like 1500w. All I wanted to ensure was that actual tools I was using didn't suffer power loss from everything else I was going to try and run because tools are the whole point of turning the garage into a work shop! And yes please, a picture of you gennie house would be great.

[professor95]

RedRS wrote:
Hi Folks, I'm new here, but have read quite a few of the 600-odd pages already and a big thanks to all who have contributed. My question is not so much which make, but rather what power? I live in a quiet town on the outskirts of London in England and want a genset to power my gargage. It is behind some shops with flats above so I need one that is quiet. I can't justify some £1965 for a Honda EU30iS that puts out 3000w when a Kipor IG3000 does the same thing for £495, it's a no-brainer!! Yes the Honda is quieter (56db) than the Kipor (66db) but I'm yet to hear either of them - a job for another day. What I require help with first, is that I need it to power the garage that will at max power drain, contain up to 4 florencent strip lights, a small fan heater, a 100w "lead light" (to get underneath my car) and an angle grinder or drill or similar, oh and a portable radio! As I'm not very electrically minded, could someone (perhaps Prof) help to advise, will a 3000w be powerful enough for all that or will I need the Kipor's big brother, the IG6000? Many thanks,

The big power consumer in your listing is the small fan heater. Since you say "small", I am assuming you are using around 1,500 watts.

I am also making the assumption you will be using "straight" 220 volt AC and not 120 VAC as we do on our side of the pond. If wrong, please let me know.

A Chinese genny like the Champion, Power Pro, etc. with a sustained power output of 3,000 watts should work nicely. The heater will be 1,500 watts resistive (no real surge load) leaving you with 1,000 watts for the other devices - more than enough power to get them going.

Needing a quite unit and possibly purchasing one of the Chinese GX200 open frame gennys, I suggest building an open end dog house enclosure with the open end facing away from the area most sensitive to noise. I have posted the photo several times of the one I made from 1/4" thick fan fold panels. If you need to see it again, let me know.

[professor95]

I’ve been able to collect some info that I thought I would share.

Popular Mechanics magazine for October 2009 shows two photos of the Champion 3500 watt Chinese generator on pages 116-117 in an article on providing backup power. No mention of CPE or other Chinese brands in the text, but PM using a photo of a Chinese generator is a first for me to see.

For those wondering where the blue Ultra-Fab version of the 40008 is, I have learned that it will be here soon. Apparently UF felt the RV market slow down due to rising fuel costs and experienced slow sales. Therefore, they were unable to bring the new models into their distribution points. But, Ike caused a near sellout from their 2 distributors. The ol’ Yeller inventories are basically gone. UF will be singing (selling) the “blues” in coming weeks.

Some CPE CSA40045 models normally destined for Canada are now being sold in the USA, primarily through O’reillys due to shortages created by Ike. Nothing wrong with this, but remember if you purchase one of these the neutral is bonded to the frame and should be changed to an unbonded floating neutral when using on a RV.

Select Home Depot stores are now carrying a bare bones unit with 6000w surge and 5000w running power called the CPE PowerStation (model 40046). It is Black in color with Red decals throughout (No Yellow!). A no nonsense model with levered breakers. Two 25A breakers serving a 240 VAC outlet and two 20 Amp breakers serving individual duplex outlets (no TT outlets). There is no switch or provision for paralleling the main coils for 50 amps @ 120 VAC installed. This unit will also be louder than the 3500 RV model – something like 72 dBA would be expected. This is a great unit for home backup in a power outage or perhaps for a 50 amp RV with two A/C units at a NASCAR race. Could also be used to run two individual 30A RVs from one generator provided you are not camped in a quite zone.

Warehouse inventories of Chinese generators are virtually non-existent right now. Ike cleaned most every one out. There will be some store shortages in the short term, so if you are looking to buy one now – better get on the ball while stock may still be on the floor of some stores.

[tvman44]

3000 should do for that.

[RedRS]

Hi Folks, I'm new here, but have read quite a few of the 600-odd pages already and a big thanks to all who have contributed. My question is not so much which make, but rather what power? I live in a quiet town on the outskirts of London in England and want a genset to power my gargage. It is behind some shops with flats above so I need one that is quiet. I can't justify some £1965 for a Honda EU30iS that puts out 3000w when a Kipor IG3000 does the same thing for £495, it's a no-brainer!! Yes the Honda is quieter (56db) than the Kipor (66db) but I'm yet to hear either of them - a job for another day. What I require help with first, is that I need it to power the garage that will at max power drain, contain up to 4 florencent strip lights, a small fan heater, a 100w "lead light" (to get underneath my car) and an angle grinder or drill or similar, oh and a portable radio! As I'm not very electrically minded, could someone (perhaps Prof) help to advise, will a 3000w be powerful enough for all that or will I need the Kipor's big brother, the IG6000? Many thanks,

[professor95]

gnolivos wrote:
Hello gentlemen. I am looking for the rewire info for the Champion 3500/4000W model, to obtain full power from the 120V outlet.

The forum has no thread-specific search, so the task is near impossible. Can someone please communicate the post number (or page number?) where the info is located? This may be a good thing to capture in the first post as well.

Apologies for what some may consider a spoon-feeding!

What is the model number of the Champion you own?

Will be glad to help, but without the model # I can only be "general".