Generator pros and cons

[davelinde]

Over the years I've had two generators and they both served me well. The first was a 2kW Honda portable. It was super quiet, always started easily, a nice addition to our first fifthwheel and also served us well during an extended power outage after a hurricane. Sadly it was stolen 😞

The other generator was a 5kW Onan mounted in our second fifthwheel. It was a true luxury and I never got tired of pulling into a rest stop, hitting the remote start and having everything running. It was a bit loud and hard to service. We just sold that 5er so now I am back to no generators.

I was thinking of getting another Honda but I see they got a lot more expensive than I remembered. Years ago I'm pretty sure I got mine for $800 and now the best I see are 2.2kW models for a bit over $1000. I do see a bunch of no-brand 2kW gensets for $400 but worry they could be noisy junk.

I'm also intrigued by the idea of dual fuel - especially around the house in case of a hurricane, since we have a 100 gallon buried propane tank which would be much nicer than my memories of filling the Honda with gas 3 times a day after "Irene".

Is the Honda still the gold standard for the small portables? Is there a pretty good, pretty quiet second best people like?

[DSchmidt_2000]

OkieGene wrote:
For those of you who are ham radio operators, and thus ARRL members, you can get a really good deal on Honda generators.

Mayberry's runs an ad in QST for this, and we get a great deal from them. You can't get the best price unless you tell them you read their ad in QST and you're a ham radio operator.

https://www.mayberrys.com/

I didn't renew my ARRL membership. What's the discount Mayberry gives for ARRL members?

[Camper8251]

I just purchased a duromax 2200 Generator from lowes for under 600.00
https://www.duromaxpower.com/products/duromax-xp2200eh-2200-watt-dual-fuel-digital-inverter-hybrid-p...
Dual Fuel built in.. Only have run it on propane so far but it seems quiet and runs really well.

I have not tried to see if it will fire up the A/c Unit on my TT but I am happy with the purchase...

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DuroMax-2200-Watt-Hybrid-Gas-Propane-Digital-Inverter-Portable-Generator/10...

[steveh27]

I use my Honda 2000 once or twice a year. Does what I need. I follow the manuals instruction for storage; full gas tank with stabil, drain the carb, and it's good for up to a year. Pull a few times to get gas through the carb & she starts.

Also used it when my house lost power for 3 1/2 days. Ran extension cords to power fridge, sat tv, computer, lights, and my neighbors fridge and a light. I used an extended tank to run it for over a day before refueling. I'm thinking of having a transfer switch installed or getting the furnace powerline altered to have a plug end so I could use an extension cord for it.

[agesilaus]

Or for reasonable periods of time, cut off the gas valve, run until the gas in the carburetor is used up and it stalls. Add StaBil to the fuel in the tank.

[philh]

lane hog wrote:
The trick to any generator being reliable is not to store them wet... I always run the tank dry until it kills itself, or use a fuel shutoff valve to the carb.

Pure gasoline, or my preferred liquid, AvGas, and you don't worry about it 🙂

[lane_hog]

I love my Honda twins. I don't use them nearly as often in the past six or seven years, and they sit dry for most of the year unused. When I need one or both, all I do is fill the gas tank, pull once or twice, and they fire up.

The trick to any generator being reliable is not to store them wet... I always run the tank dry until it kills itself, or use a fuel shutoff valve to the carb.

[Crabbypatty]

Depends are what your doing and where you want to camp. The inexpensive Chinese knock off inverter gens are more noisy than the Honda or Yamaha. Who knows how long they will last. You get what you pay for. My Honda 3000i is now 15 years old so yes they are expensive, but very quiet and built to last. We also have the 2000i that I bought used off of Craigslist for $600. Since we added solar and a second set of batteries, we used used 3 times this year while dry camping 30 days (no hookups). If I had to do it again, I would have bought solar, batteries and inverter first, then a small gen like the 2000. Yes I can run everything and its quiet.

[SoundGuy]

theoldwizard1 wrote:
The new "dark horse" in the Westinghouse iGen 2500. It delivers 2200/2500 watts, more than the Honda 2200, and, again at a fraction of the price.

davelinde wrote:
hmmm, now THIS is why I feed my questions to forums. I'd seen all the no-name Honda form factor knock-off 2kW that have hit the market since I last shopped but I'd missed this 2.5kW option. That is a nice price-point too.

My wonderment about this horse is just how quiet and how reliable?

Which has just a 98 cc engine vs the Honda EU2200i's 121 cc engine. Now which do you think will be less stressed under heavy load and which one offers superior surge capability? Hint - it's RED. :W

[jjrbus]

About 6 years ago I bought a back up Honda 2000 for $650, now it mostly sat around and got very little use. I just sold it for $600!

This is not the first time I have sold a Honda generator I have used for big bucks so to my way of thinking Honda is the cheapest long term. They tell me parts are expensive but the only thing I have ever bought is a pull cord and that was generic.

The small tank is a pain, but extended run setups are easy to cobble together or even easier to buy. I might have $30 in mine.

I am still mad at me for letting a Honda EV4010 go with an RV I sold. Big Mistake.

[OkieGene]

For those of you who are ham radio operators, and thus ARRL members, you can get a really good deal on Honda generators.

Mayberry's runs an ad in QST for this, and we get a great deal from them. You can't get the best price unless you tell them you read their ad in QST and you're a ham radio operator.

https://www.mayberrys.com/

[agesilaus]

I'd never spend several hundred bucks on some equipment without a fairly long track record. Thus so far as I am concerned the horses in the race are Honda, Yamaha and Champion. I readily concede that Honda/Yamaha are excellent quality.

The question you have to answer is whether paying 1/3 as much is worth some lesser amount of quality. To me it was since the Champions do everything I want them to do, start on one pull, run up to 16 hours, don't use large amounts of fuel, are quiet, are reasonably reliable and have a backup Warranty program.

I admit that their warranty service is not quick like a bunny but I took my Honda 2K in for service and it took months. So at least locally here, yes they have a warranty but if you need it on the road you are in trouble.

[2oldman]

Youtube has some vids on that gen.

davelinde wrote:
5dBA is significantly more sound power and would be clearly noticable in a side-by-side compare..

Yes it would. In my many years of dry camping, what I notice about the cheaper gens is not just the loudness, but the kind of sound they make. It's a kind of rattling/banging sound that carries a long way. Honda has really done a good job of muffling that to a gentle hum. That's what you're paying for.. that and longevity.

As for service, I've really never needed it except for one mistake of leaving gas in it for months. What has been a regular occurrence is the fraying/breaking of the starter rope due to the sharp angle inside the unit. Replacing that is no DIY.

[davelinde]

davelinde wrote:


My wonderment about this horse is just how quiet...?

I suppose I should have wondered about weight also. Looking it up I found it only weighs couple pound more -nice.
Sadly I also found it's spec'd at 5 dBA more... although it's still in the range of not stopping conversation, 5dBA is significantly more sound power and would be clearly noticable in a side-by-side compare.

hmmm.

[davelinde]

theoldwizard1 wrote:


The new "dark horse" in the Westinghouse iGen 2500. It delivers 2200/2500 watts, more than the Honda 2200, and, again at a fraction of the price.

hmmm, now THIS is why I feed my questions to forums. I'd seen all the no-name Honda form factor knock-off 2kW that have hit the market since I last shopped but I'd missed this 2.5kW option. That is a nice price-point too.

My wonderment about this horse is just how quiet and how reliable?