Forum Discussion
Searching_Ut
May 28, 2011Explorer
I could have played around with my little champion, and done a lot of measurement tests, but it’s all about whether or not it works that counts, so I took the unit on a road trip using it as my primary power source for a week plus. Here is how it worked for me:
As long as I take the generator out of ECO mode before plugging it in, it only tripped once from my WFCO 55 amp converter when the batteries were down to about 50 percent. Re-started gen and it worked fine the second try. I have a stand alone charger I could have used if necessary. Once the trailer is plugged in, I found that after a few seconds I can switch to ECO mode no problem.
1000 watt sunbeam microwave won’t run without tripping the generator unless I power only it off an extension cord straight from the generator. Even then, the generator is struggling, and the voltage output drops down to around 100 volts, too low for comfort so running the microwave off the little Champion isn’t an option.
The most important items, which are the wife’s hair dryer, and curling iron: I did have to find her a smaller hair dryer that only draws 1200 watts though because she kept turning the big one on high, which would trip the overload. Even with the 1200 watt unit, I have to turn off ECO mode first, as the converter is generally drawing 300 watts or so, and I’m pushing the limits and the engine tends to spool up to speed to slowly for comfort.
The engine burps approximately every 30 seconds as others have described, and the higher the altitude, the more inclined it is to bog itself down, stutter momentarily, and then speed up to recover, which is does in addition to the burping. You’ve got to love the EPA for taking away our ability to adjust carbs. Which I think would solve the bogging down difficulty as the engine appears to be running too rich.
Finally, one day I had serious difficulty getting the unit to output power. I’d start the engine with nothing plugged in, but the output light would never stop flashing even after several minutes of running. I shut it down and re-started 4 times before it started working. It worked fine the next 6 days after that.
Over all, I’d only rate the generator as 1500 watt, with virtually no surge capacity. Even at 1500 watts the engine is struggling, and the voltage tends to be quite low. The generator is reasonably quiet, but the burping makes it an annoying sound rather than a steady background drone which tends to fade from being noticed. I’ll have to contact champion to see if they have a high altitude jet for the carb, and enquire about the flashing output light.
As long as I take the generator out of ECO mode before plugging it in, it only tripped once from my WFCO 55 amp converter when the batteries were down to about 50 percent. Re-started gen and it worked fine the second try. I have a stand alone charger I could have used if necessary. Once the trailer is plugged in, I found that after a few seconds I can switch to ECO mode no problem.
1000 watt sunbeam microwave won’t run without tripping the generator unless I power only it off an extension cord straight from the generator. Even then, the generator is struggling, and the voltage output drops down to around 100 volts, too low for comfort so running the microwave off the little Champion isn’t an option.
The most important items, which are the wife’s hair dryer, and curling iron: I did have to find her a smaller hair dryer that only draws 1200 watts though because she kept turning the big one on high, which would trip the overload. Even with the 1200 watt unit, I have to turn off ECO mode first, as the converter is generally drawing 300 watts or so, and I’m pushing the limits and the engine tends to spool up to speed to slowly for comfort.
The engine burps approximately every 30 seconds as others have described, and the higher the altitude, the more inclined it is to bog itself down, stutter momentarily, and then speed up to recover, which is does in addition to the burping. You’ve got to love the EPA for taking away our ability to adjust carbs. Which I think would solve the bogging down difficulty as the engine appears to be running too rich.
Finally, one day I had serious difficulty getting the unit to output power. I’d start the engine with nothing plugged in, but the output light would never stop flashing even after several minutes of running. I shut it down and re-started 4 times before it started working. It worked fine the next 6 days after that.
Over all, I’d only rate the generator as 1500 watt, with virtually no surge capacity. Even at 1500 watts the engine is struggling, and the voltage tends to be quite low. The generator is reasonably quiet, but the burping makes it an annoying sound rather than a steady background drone which tends to fade from being noticed. I’ll have to contact champion to see if they have a high altitude jet for the carb, and enquire about the flashing output light.
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