The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread

[pritch272]

8/1/2010 edit: Thread renamed at the suggestion of the Professor.
Renamed from: Champion Inverter and Remote Gens Promo on CPE's web site)

3/22/2011 edit: Thread renamed ...
Renamed from: Official CPE 2000 Watt Inverter Generator Thread

3/23/2011 edit: Thread renamed at the suggestion of the Professor.
Renamed from: (Un)Official CPE 2000 Watt Inverter Generator Thread

Inverter Available August 2010



Remote Available July 2010

[Old___Slow]

PrivatePilot wrote:

bradyk wrote:
Dennis maybe can add to the burping issue on our gennys, Seems pretty common out there that no one has a magic answer for. I didn't notice it so much but the wife pointed out to me last weekend. I wouldn't put it in the deal breaker category but is it something that is going to get worse or maybe an internal component going to fail down the road. Maybe Dennis can read many of those posts and throw us some ideas.

It's nearing the "it's going back to the store" category for me, depending on how it behaves this weekend at a outdoor jamboree we are attending. It'll probably be running about 16 hours a day for 3 days - if at the end it's still burping and wandering it's idle all over the map I think mine will be going back in the box and back to Costco.

I love the little Champ when it's running right, but this burping and wandering throttle issue *IS* a deal breaker for me.

What a difference a day makes. From a minus to a 'possible' plus for Champion.
The CEO Mr. Dennis Trine with (CPE) must have known all along about the problems with the Champion 2000i. With the coming of the fix, just like that. Bingo. What the fix for the leaking and burping is *is* will be one of the most watched for posts, I think in the history of RV.Net.

I continue to be in hunt for a nice priced Inverter Generator that has many and mostly good reports.

[_40Fan]

PrivatePilot wrote:


As for my situation, I don't want to go into details on how I'm being taken care of, but suffice to say I'm happy.

What? Why not? I am sure that we would all like to know what they are doing to remedy your situation. Without facts we are only left to speculate.

[canadiankid]

Could you at least tell us if your gen still burps and if you still have the same gen (or if they replaced it or sent you a new part). Thanks. Mine burps and I hate when it does it, and I have thought about bring it back to Costco. Thanks.

PrivatePilot wrote:

As for my situation, I don't want to go into details on how I'm being taken care of, but suffice to say I'm happy. I have no reason to believe that Champion won't address he concerns of others as well so long as you contact customer support in a professional and civilized fashion. It's clear that the hunting/burping issue is fairly isolated, yet we seem to have attracted a lot of people with the issue to this thread, surely because of the fact that this thread gets a lot of attention from Google.

[JConatser]

For the record, I second what lots of others have stated about Champion's excellent customer service. The one time I had to contact them with a problem RE my 3000 watt open frame Champ, my phone call was answered quickly, and they took care of it right away, no questions asked. I was very impressed.

[PrivatePilot]

JConatser wrote:
Don't forget, it's not a 2000 watt generator, it's a 1600 watt. Probably 1400 to 1500 watts would be a good number to count on, depending on what you're running, how long, your elevation, the outside temperature, etc.

I've had no issues drawing 1600+ out of mine all day long, hour after hour, until the fuel tank ran dry, but I agree, people are expecting unrealistic results in some situations here.

We had similar situations at the jamboree we camped at last weekend - limited voltage available from the power posts and yet people were doing stupid things, trying to run their electric hot water, A/C, and fridges all on 120v. Needless to say, problems ensued until the problem makers smartened up and started shedding load!

This situation is no different. You need to work within your means when it comes to consumption. Fridges and hot water tanks are designed to also run on propane for a reason. 😉

As for my situation, I don't want to go into details on how I'm being taken care of, but suffice to say I'm happy. I have no reason to believe that Champion won't address he concerns of others as well so long as you contact customer support in a professional and civilized fashion. It's clear that the hunting/burping issue is fairly isolated, yet we seem to have attracted a lot of people with the issue to this thread, surely because of the fact that this thread gets a lot of attention from Google.

Champion really wants to protect their otherwise good reputation, and the well-regarded customer service I've always read about has been reenforced for me.

[JConatser]

PrivatePilot wrote:
... We must remember that 2000 watts only goes so far...

Don't forget, it's not a 2000 watt generator, it's a 1600 watt. Probably 1400 to 1500 watts would be a good number to count on, depending on what you're running, how long, your elevation, the outside temperature, etc.

[bradyk]

I have a burping one as well. Do it yourself fix or what is up?

[MrRchitty]

PrivatePilot,

What are they doing? Of the two I have, one does it and one does not.

MrRchitty

[PrivatePilot]

grooveman wrote:
Used my Champion 2000i this past week for the first time and I have to say I am kinda disappointed. Started it up to make some coffee and it overloaded. Realized the fridge was on auto so turned to fridge to gas and it still overloaded with nothing else inside the trailer on.

Turn off your converter.

People forget about all the phantom draws in their RV's. The converter is a BIG one and will cause situations like this. We must remember that 2000 watts only goes so far...you can't blame the generator for simply not being able to supply more than it's rated for due to operator error.

Anyhow, I wanted to chime in and say that I have great news - I've been in contact with Champion and they're remedying my situation with my hunting/burping throttle issue. I really believe that this is a situation that is isolated to a small number of the (perhaps earlier generation) 2000i's - the unfortunate part is that people are quick to complain about negatives, but all the people with 2000i's that are running perfectly are not running here to sing their praises.

In short, we're only hearing the negatives here, not the positives.

A big thanks to Champion for being proactive in helping me out. I can tell you that when I had problems with my Honeywell 2000i (a generator which also had a LONG long long thread here at rv.net) Honeywell was less than helpful. Champion customer support has been a refreshing change from the usual.

[MrRchitty]

grooveman wrote:
Used my Champion 2000i this past week for the first time and I have to say I am kinda disappointed. Started it up to make some coffee and it overloaded. Realized the fridge was on auto so turned to fridge to gas and it still overloaded with nothing else inside the trailer on.

Brought the coffee maker outside and plugged it directly in the generator and it worked fine so no idea why it won't run it while plugged into an outlet inside the trailer. Oh well, at least it charges the batteries. I can always upgrade to a larger generator next season..

Can you isolate or turn off the converter? You can see from a couple hundred Watts to as high as 1000 Watts. Your coffee maker can be from 1100 to 1500 Watts. The two together is surely goimg to overload the Little Champ.

[grooveman]

Used my Champion 2000i this past week for the first time and I have to say I am kinda disappointed. Started it up to make some coffee and it overloaded. Realized the fridge was on auto so turned to fridge to gas and it still overloaded with nothing else inside the trailer on.

Brought the coffee maker outside and plugged it directly in the generator and it worked fine so no idea why it won't run it while plugged into an outlet inside the trailer. Oh well, at least it charges the batteries. I can always upgrade to a larger generator next season..

[BENT_ARROW]

Well this past week I used the Champion 2000i every night while boondocking at 9000 feet in the Colorado mountains, then also a few hours some days to recharge the house batteries. It ran my wife's CPAP and oxygen generator for 9 to 10 hours each night for 8 nights. The pictures posted on page 102 were a great help while adding a 2nd tank. The RPM did change but after the first night I decided it was the frig coming on or going off and the batteries topping up. It did burp as I guess the miss is called and died 1 time in the day but that was caused by a air leak in my hose setup. It would not run my Sharp microwave/convection oven but know thats asking to much.

[Old___Slow]

ganderson967 wrote:
I follow this forum everyday but have never felt like I had anything I should to contribute so this is my first post.

I am personally angered that Dennis from CPE would imply that #40Fan is lying about his O ring and gas leak problem. Additionally, his statement about his tec guys and records of calls is a lie.

In April I bought a Champion inverter after reading the positive comments from the Professor and Randall C. I took it out of the box, filled the tank with gas and set it in the basement compartment of my fifth wheel trailer. When we arrived at our camping spot the smell of gas was everywhere. The entire contents of the gas tank had leaked out onto the floor of the trailer. It was really scary and bad.

I immediately called the hotline on my cell and spoke with a guy named Jim Miloto who asked if I had the fuel cap switched to off and the gas valve on the side turned off. I told him I did. Then he told me that the fuel line from the gas tank was probably leaking and began to give directions on how to fix it. I told him I did not have the tools to fix it and would either return it to the store or take it to a repair shop. I gave him my cell phone number and he told me that he would call back within a hour and tell me where to take it for repairs. He never called back so I called the next day and asked to talk to Jim. A guy told he was not there but would be in later. I once again left my phone number and asked for a return call but no call was returned. On day three, I called again and listened to the directory and called his extension. When he answered he had no clue who I was or even remembered talking to me so we went through the whole thing again. He never could give me the name of a repair shop where I could take the thing to get it fixed. That is when I said to myself forget it. I returned the generator to the store as soon as I got home.

This Dennis guy either doesnt know as much about his company and product as he thinks or he is a liar trying to protect his rear end. Without being given a real name to go with the handle how would he know if #40Fan called or not? My name is George Anderson. This Dennis guy needs to do some apologizing.

Just one of the questions I have with the above post: How many others have reported leaking and received this kind of treatment?

The danger of this issue could be life or death, at least cause serious injury. In another report of fuel running over a relay, this is serious, right? Then another report, the o-ring perhaps is made from improper material, to be used with E10. Is it possible that over time it could disitegrate? All these questions and statements must be pretty serious for the 'CEO' Mr. Dennis T, of Champion (CPE) to get involved. What are the rules for reporting these kind of issues, does it take a death?

[_40Fan]

I received a PM from him.

Dennis wrote:
I have tried to post a redo Se. I think I have now been blocked. Will get you a picture on Monday.

Call Jim Miotto at our offices. He will take care of you

My thought was that he was only having problems with posting a picture.

This was my reply.

I will call if you want me to, but as of this moment, there isn't anything that I need to be taken care of. The issues I had were fixed. I only posted the pictures so that it would help anyone else that might run into this problem. Whether it be right after their purchase or years down the road when warranty is no longer valid.

[ganderson967]

I got a email message from Mr. Dennis at CPE. I asked him if he would give permission to copy and paste it to the thread and he said ok. this is wht he had to say


-----Original Message-----
From: DennisCPE
Sent: 07/23/11 12:29am
Subject: Champion inverter

Thank you for your post. Unfortunately I cannot answer your post on the forum as I have apparently been blocked. I have attempted to respond and update six times over the last 24 hours and my posts will not load.
I am sorry for the poor service you received from Champion. I have already contacted Jim and asked him for a full update on your call and why no follow-up. This treatment is inexcusable on our part and I hope we can somehow make that right.

Regarding 40fan, I chose my words very carefully.
1) we record calls by name, phone number city and issue. We don't have a record of any petcock leak with an inverter, nor any issue from Colorado during that time period. 2)Then the picture he posted wasn't our o-ring
3) Then the picture he posted clearly shows a misaligned petcock.
With that information, facts, I asked him to contact me. There is too many questionable issues above to take his post at face value.
I am sure we will talk on Monday and get it straightened out. Of course I won't be able topmost but if he is an upstanding and integrous person, I am sure he will update his post.

I personally would like to hear about your leak issue. It will be the 3rd I have heard about. My number at the office is 877-338-0999. X156

Thanks and regards

Dennis