Anyone own a Champion Generator?

NC Hauler wrote:

steiny93 wrote:

2oldman wrote:

JiminDenver wrote:
I figured this would become a Honda/Yamaha vs Champion thread. Sigh

They always do... over and over.

as that's always the question; how close to the gold standard are the cheap ones

I totally get it; I went through the exact same decision process.

In our 'crew' we have all the players Honda/Yamaha/champion/kipor all in the 2000. We've run them side by side and for extended periods in pretty harsh conditions. (hot and humid as well as terrible cold)

Personally I can't really tell the difference between the Honda/Yamaha. But anyone can tell the difference to the rest (noise / issues / etc).

The question; are those differences worth the uptick in regards to the price. This would totally depend on your usage and willingness to put up with the issues.

Oh; the other difference we've noticed between the champion and the Honda is fuel use. The Honda uses somewhere between 30-50% less. Not a big deal until you are refueling in -20 with a 25mph wind.

Thing is, I haven't seen the issues you speak of ....Most KNOW that the Honda's and Yamahas are better and quieter, thus the reason they're so much more expensive. But again, I haven't seen all these issues you talk about "putting up with", to more or less, save a buck...not like it's being used at ANY TIME, in my case unless, and I will say it again, There is a power outage...you act as though these generators will be fired up every day, any time, any where for day's on end, which in reality, is a bit silly, unless there was an extended power outage, and at that point, I really don't think someone would comdemn someone for using a Champion generator to stay warm, keep their food fresh and have lights at night time.

Don't really understand what the big deal is about -20 and 25 mph wind....this past summer, wind was blowing at 55 plus mph and wrecked havoc in WV and VA...power out for a week or better....generator was refueled in 55 mph wind and pouring rain, temp wasn't cold though....don't know what that has to do with anything..but if it's a way or reason to deter someone from purchasing a cheaper generator that will do the job, then more power to you. In an EMERGENCY, hope I'm not going to have to answer to you about using my generator to make life just a little better for my family....

Again, haven't seen or experienced any of the issues you speak up just to hype up the Honda or Yamaha...some people don't have that kind of money for a generator, surely you're not going to "look down your nose at them" if they don't purchase the more expensive Yamaha or Honda generator , are you??

definitely not condemning anyone; i'm just calling out the experiences I've personally seen when we have been running these gensets next to each other

I even stated the following "The question; are those differences worth the uptick in regards to the price. This would totally depend on your usage and willingness to put up with the issues." which is what I believe the original poster is trying to determine.

These 'issues' being the ones I called out in my first post; the restarting issue and the no power output when cold.

My comment regarding refilling the genset in -20 temp with 25mph wind is in regards to how much that sucks (being outside and doing it). think -60 degree wind chill; its very not fun.

For our usage we need these to work in a very cold environment a weekend at a time. This year we have over 200 hours of genset time since December. To date the Honda's and the Yamaha have always fulfilled this need and the Champions have yet to make a weekend on a single unit(they are 0 for 3). On the plus side those two gensets cost less then a single Honda.

I don't really care what anyone else purchases or spends on their equipment; I'm just relating my personal experience.