Hi everyone. I just finished my first round of testing my new Predator 3500 inverter generator. I bought this to replace my Honda eu2000i. The Honda would push the 9000 BTU AC in my Lance trailer, but it was near top volume and felt like it was running flat out. I wanted an EU3000i, but didn't have the cash. Figuring I would get an extra 2 years warranty if I used my Costco Visa, the risk was low so I took the plunge.
Using my calibrated ear gauge, I think that noise is equal for all practical purposes. The Honda is slightly quieter with no load in eco-throttle, but the Predator is much quieter under loads of 500-1500 watts. The predator never feels like its running at the limit like the Honda does.
My biggest curiosity was fuel use and whether the Predator would live up to the claims on the box: 11 hours at 25% load (750 watts), and 90 hours at 50% load (1500 watts). I tested this by measuring out 250 ml of fuel, running under a constant load until the generator died. I did this for a few different loads generated using a heat gun and my wife's hair dryer. Ecotyhrottle was on for all cases. Here is what I found:
@ zero watts, runtime was 32 minutes (21 hours/tank)
@ 356 watts, runtime was 22 minutes (14.4 hours/tank)
@ 947 watts, runtime was 17 minutes (11.2 hours/tank)
@ 1647 watts, runtime was 12 minutes (7.9 hours/tank)
@ 1996 watts, runtime was 10 minutes (6.6 hours/tank)
Based on this data, I plotted a trendline in Excel and calculated the expected results at 25% & 50% load. They were 11.9 hours and 8.7 hours. This exceeds the published value at 25% load, and is slightly below at 50%. I would say that this is a very good result.
Comparing this to published data from the Honda shows that @ 400 watts (25% of the Honda rated load), the Honda uses about 37% less fuel at 400 watts and about 17% less at 1600 watts.
Overall I am very happy I made the switch. I can run my AC, microwave, water pumo and all of my lights at the same time. Time will tell on reliability but it feels very solid and runs really smooth.
