Eamaybury
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Re: Champion 3100 watt inverter gen question
We have used our champion 3100 with a 13,500 btu a/c overnight. Fill it up before you go to bed- I get up 6 hours later and it is still running. We minimize load besides the a/c overnight once we've done the final fillup of the genny for the evening. You are correct that the champion is gravity feed unlike the fuel pump in the Honda's so there is no commercially available long run tank for gravity fed generators that I have ever seen. You need to obviously secure the generator with a Cable and lock. We always run the A/C overnight camping in the south. The carbon monoxide comment is right on- there have been several high profile deaths from CO poisoning recently. Even if you don't have a genny you need one (or several, they are cheap) CO detectors on your trailer to protect you from the multiple deadly sources of CO both in and out of the unit. See my review and pictures on the Blain fleet and farm website.379Views0likes0CommentsRe: Which Generator? Need Your Opinions
Like others I did extensive Internet research before purchasing a champion 3100 watt inverter generator, our first generator. We have rare dry camping needs, so price is an issue. The unit ran flawlessly and is easy to start cold and hot. Easily powered our two year old travel trailer 13,500 btu a/c with stock starting capacitor, tv, battery charger and refrigerator. At night I put the refrigerator on propane and shut off the battery charger and just ran the a/c. I filled it up at midnight just prior to going to bed, we ran the a/c all night in Florida in September, and at 6 am the next morning it was still running when I refueled it. Although I don't recommend it If you are very careful and have the right kind of spout you can refill the tank without shutting the generator down. With the a/c on you cannot hear this generator in your RV even when placed next to the RV. All we could hear from the back of the RV was the old style genny of our neighbor! The exhaust has two screws so with a little ingenuity, a 3" piece of 1/2" galvanized pipe into a 1/2 to 3/4 inch pipe adaptor from Home Depot you can add a genturi unit to this generator if your campsite requires an updraft exhaust. The oil is easy to change if you have a vacuum dipstick oil changer such as the ones west marine sells. Otherwise I don't know how you could change the oil without a mess. It is a bit of a load to lift by myself ( I am a reasonably fit 51 year old man) but to get the capacity you need the cubic inches and weight that comes along with it. Operation in the rain was no problem as I brought a single shelf of one of those plastic shelving units and put a piece of plywood weighted down with a weight on top and arranged it to keep clear of the exhaust. Overall a great bang for the buck.397Views0likes0Comments
