I'm tired of always lugging around my (heavy to put in the storage or the new trailer and a bit loud) existing generator, when most of the time I have 3 or 4 times the power I need.I'm looking at a <1k inverter generator, light, quiet and going to start with minimal hassle (i.e. the DW can use it) are prime considerations.So the ones that seem the most interesting are these, interested in comments from people who may own one or have talked to someone who owns one. They are roughly in order of where I place them with what I know with an hour or 2 of browsing, other suggestions also will be looked at.Yamaha EF1000iS Earthquake™ 800 watt inverterhttp://www.getearthquake.com/inverter-generator-800-wattThis one seem to have a very wide price range depending who is selling??Honda EU1000iGenerac 5791 iX800 800 Watt Cannot find a noise spec, at this price I am nervous about quality.John

You can't go wrong with either the Yamaha or Honda. People prefer whichever they own, but there's really not much difference except the color. But consider the 2000i's, don't weigh or cost much more.

If you do go larger, Generac has a new gen called the IQ2000.Suppose to beat Honda and more quite.

You will need more than 1000 watts to run a microwave or small A/C. Lately we have added a toaster oven, which would also need more watts. As noted going to the 2000 watt size is not that big a deal in size or money. Or, to defer to DW, the operating difficulty.

Get one you can get parts for :)

What converter? Anything over 40 to 45 amps may overload these generators.Otherwise you could use a portable battery charger.For running a tv or charging small items maybe a small 150 to 300 watt inverter to run from the battery.My choice would be the proven Yamaha or Honda.

Comparing *Small* Inverter Generators | Good Sam Community

pnichols
Explorer II
Sep 21, 2015
dclark1946 wrote:
We have been dry camping for a couple of weeks at a time for years using a single EU 1000 to recharge our battery. I carry two of them but one always sits in the TV unused as a spare.

Dick, I believe that you can get a paralleling kit for Honda 1000i generators.

If so, two of the 1000i generators in parallel produce 1800 watts continuous (900 watts each), while a single Honda 2000i only produces 1600 watts continuous.

IMHO, two 1000i's are superior to one 2000i - if you can afford them:

1) Two 1000i's are easier to lift one at a time than lifting a 2000i once.

2) Two 1000i's in parallel produce more power than one stand-alone 2000i.

3) Two 1000i's backup each other for at least producing 900 watts of 110V AC power for your camping if one fails, while a failed 2000i produces no 110V AC power for your camping if it fails.
SoundGuy
Explorer
Sep 20, 2015
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Having a 1,000 watt generator is like having a 10-year old helper when building a house.

dclark1946 wrote:
We have been dry camping for a couple of weeks at a time for years using a single EU 1000 to recharge our battery. I carry two of them but one always sits in the TV unused as a spare. We perk coffee and do just fine without a microwave oven when dry camping. We have two EU2000s but they stay at home because they are too heavy for my back (taking it in and out of the truck for daily charging) and I don't need the higher capacity. The EU 2000s are handy however if there is a power failure at home.

Correct me if I'm wrong but having owned a 2007 KZ Spree 240BH myself I suspect your own Spree 240RBS has a WFCO 8955 converter that you use to recharge your battery with your EU2000i? :@ If so, your observations are interesting to me as that's the same converter I have in my current Freedom Express and further suggests I'd be on the right track by swapping my heavier EU2000i for a lighter weight EU1000i if it's sole use is for recharging my trailer battery, MEXICOWANDER'S "10 yr old" comment notwithstanding. ;)
dclark1946
Explorer
Sep 20, 2015
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Having a 1,000 watt generator is like having a 10-year old helper when building a house.

We have been dry camping for a couple of weeks at a time for years using a single EU 1000 to recharge our battery. I carry two of them but one always sits in the TV unused as a spare. We perk coffee and do just fine without a microwave oven when dry camping. We have two EU2000s but they stay at home because they are too heavy for my back (taking it in and out of the truck for daily charging) and I don't need the higher capacity. The EU 2000s are handy however if there is a power failure at home.

Dick
road-runner
Explorer III
Sep 20, 2015
What did you use to measure the speed?
Inductive pickup on the spark plug wire connected to an oscilloscope. Complicating the less than stellar measurement accuracy, the engine speed hunts around a bit in a narrow range. Unlike the eu2000i engine speed that's close to "solid as a rock".
horton333
Explorer
Sep 20, 2015
What did you use to measure the speed?
road-runner
Explorer III
Sep 20, 2015
Here are some rough measurements of the engine speed of the Earthquake IG800w:

low idle: 4140 RPM
high idle: 4700 RPM
max load: 5040 RPM

The corresponding speeds of the eu2000i are 3000, 4300, and 5000. To my ear, the speed change between high idle and max seems huge. I don't remember ever having such a big discrepancy between what my ears perceived and the instrumentation. I must be getting fooled by the increase in the noise level and/or change in frequency components.
DaHose
Explorer
Sep 19, 2015
Someone recently turned me on to these Wen generators.

Wen generator on Amazon

The specs. look really good and a claimed 51db noise level is even lower than a Honda EU2000i. I think I need to get me one.

Jose
road-runner
Explorer III
Sep 19, 2015
The PD and WFCO converters I've been able to measure come in at about 80% efficiency and 0.7 power factor. The only published spec for this I've found is for the PD converter efficiency of ">80%". Power factor correction would be a huge advantage for a converter running off of a generator.
horton333
Explorer
Sep 19, 2015
There must be a *terrible* power factor or something, 14.4*35*say 1.1 for efficiency is only 550 watts.
road-runner
Explorer III
Sep 18, 2015
When I use the Earthquake generator to charge a pair of T105s at about 50% SOC, I have to initially force the PD converter into its 13.2 volt mode. After 10 minutes or so I can step it up to 13.6, and sometime later to 14.4. I have to keep the current at 35 amps or less, which equates to about 900 VA with the PD converter operating in boost mode. I also have available a worst-case fallback of being able to fire up the built-in Onan for the initial charge. I find it ironic that after changing the long #6 wire between the converter and battery to a short #2, I realize that having the long wire to limit the current could occasionally be useful.

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