Best Generator for the money?

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: JTK
They're decent units. Right on par with all of the $500 and under crowd. If you want a Honda of similar capacity, you're talking closer to $1000. I'd keep and care for the Champion.


A Honda EU2000 is $900 or so, and its only 2000VA (about 1800 watts, in practical terms). Does Honda even *make* anything close to 3500 watts? And if they do, it'll be more like $2k:
Honda 3k inverter generator

 

[Kawiguy454]

A Generac xl5500 here. After turning off the main power panel switch. I made a twistlock to 220 adapter so I could back-feed the power panel thru a 220 outlet in the garage to the whole house. At night i would turn off the 220 outlet and plug the fridge directly alone so when it wasnt running the gen would go down to idle and save lots of gas.

That Generac motor looks a lot like a OHV Honda and has pressurized oil system with low pressure cutoff.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
So if im wanting to run my laptop, 50inch TV, modem, fridge, and a lamp...3500 watts is good?

Another question for those of you that have used generators similar to mine...what is the gas consumption per/hr?

Lets say my power was off for 72hrs and i wanted to have power for those 72hrs.. how much gas would i need on hand?

I think the engine in mine is 196CC

Factoring all in this would be a snowstorm situation, with roads closed and power out.



That is plenty if no well pump involved.

It's about 1/3 to 1/2 gallon per hour burned with cheapo ones.

I work 90% at home so instead of dealing with my annoying generator I have a $100 ups powering my internet/router for about 7 hrs in quiet bliss. My work laptop lasts about the same.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: JTK
They're decent units. Right on par with all of the $500 and under crowd. If you want a Honda of similar capacity, you're talking closer to $1000. I'd keep and care for the Champion.


A Honda EU2000 is $900 or so, and its only 2000VA (about 1800 watts, in practical terms). Does Honda even *make* anything close to 3500 watts? And if they do, it'll be more like $2k:
Honda 3k inverter generator


Looks like EB3000's approach $1500. I love Honda OPE, but that's a LOT of Chondas.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Originally Posted By: Kawiguy454
A Generac xl5500 here. After turning off the main power panel switch. I made a twistlock to 220 adapter so I could back-feed the power panel thru a 220 outlet in the garage to the whole house.

This is a very, VERY bad idea! It is also illegal. It relies upon you remembering to switch off your main breaker before firing up your generator. There are two potentially bad outcomes here:

1. You electrocute a utility worker by back feeding into the grid while they are trying to restore it
2. The power comes back on while your generator is running, causing it to blow up and start a fire

You may wish to reconsider your approach for your own safety and that of others.

 

[JTK]

I totally agree with Astro ^^.

We all know it's easy to back feed, but unless you're to code with a tie-in and transfer switch, run your portable gen off extension cords as designed.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad

it doesn't take many watts of CFL to choke your generator ... certainly way less than adding up the demand versus capacity would seem to indicate. Six 18 watt CFL bulbs will choke a 2000 watt generator.


While I'm not doubting the basic premise 6 bulbs is exaggerated it wont choke a normal 2000w generator

10-15 on the other hand....

I've run 5 on my 850w ok.. 6 was not ok.

Switched to LED.. pretty much as many as I could plug in.

 

[Silverado12]

Another vote for a Briggs & Stratton generator. A friend of mine has one from 2003 when Hurricane Isabelle came through. Still runs well and sets for long periods of time, has been run for a week at a time through 2 storms and countless outages. It seems like we're always the last to get power restored here.

 

[jonnied1]

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
A generator is a lot of copper, which isn't going to be cheap if made in North America because of the added value in each step from raw material to retail. Still, it's a simple construction well understood for 100 years, so an import won't be an issue provided it's sized correctly, and that is far from guaranteed. The associated panel and motor are more important though, and a North American made unit will prove worthwhile there. Anything with a motor or even worse, a compressor, is a severe load on startup, so size your generator accordingly.

Use incandescent or LED lighting with any generator. Absolutely avoid any Compact Fleurescent Bulb (CFL) lamps in your generator driven circuit, as they have a very poor Power Factor which makes them a very difficult load.

Normal residential wiring from the Power Company has no way to account for Power Factor, but commercial 3-phase power does. The Utility can therefore charge the business customer for the extra power it must generate to run the CFL bulbs but for a residence they can't (they raise the rates overall for the entire customer base to compensate). Regardless, when you are running a generator you are the Power Utility, and it doesn't take many watts of CFL to choke your generator ... certainly way less than adding up the demand versus capacity would seem to indicate. Six 18 watt CFL bulbs will choke a 2000 watt generator.

Not an issue with the other types of bulbs.

Off topic, but what do you suppose the chances the Power Utility will lower their rates when everyone moves to the benign LED load from the onerous CFL load, therefore allowing the Utility to generate less power per watt delivered to residences?


Please explain the CFL power factor thing.
Edit, looked it up.
http://ecmweb.com/lighting-amp-control/hidden-costs-cfls

 

[ragtoplvr]

I had a 3000 watt continuous 220 110 volt generator. I wired the hot water heater for 110 volts, ran it, refrigerator, chest freezer, blower on fire place or attic fan, lights TV. I would shed loads and cook, wash clothes, or dishes. I had enough hot water to take comfortable quick showers and do dishes. It burned about 5 gallons a day. I ran out of gas, drained carb and and stored as long a 3 years, it started on the first pull.

I lost power a total of days while I owned it. lost a oil sensor for like 5 bucks.


I should have kept it but moving, stuff has to go.

Rod

 

[Astro_Guy]

Originally Posted By: ragtoplvr
I should have kept it but moving, stuff has to go.

Generators are one of those things that you never need unless you don't have one! I believe that there was an Irishman by the name of Murphy who had a pretty good perspective on this phenomena.

 

[meep]

I'm confused about the CFL thing. I ran my house and the neighbor's fridge for about a week a few years ago on an EU 2000. ALL of the lights in my home were CFL at the time. We backfed (we now have a transfer switch), which allowed us to run about half of the circuits. I'd say easily 10-12 CFLs on with a family of 6 hanging out throughout the home. It was summer, so utility fans + ceiling fans were also on. Didn't have any trouble at all. ?

-m

 

[jonnied1]

I have a 3500 watt Champion generator that I purchased around 2010 or 2011 for my 5th wheel. I don't know how many hours are on it but it has never failed to start right up and do the job for me. It seems to run forever on a tank of gas. I also have a Generac GP15000E. I installed a Reliance Controls 200 Amp whole house manual transfer generator-ready Loadcenter with Meters and a 50 Amp exterior connector.

If we have a power outage and the weather is mild I will hook up the Champion generator using the RV outlet, 30 Amp cord and 30 to 50 Amp adaptor and only run 120 volts to the house for lighting and appliances. I turn off the 240 volt breakers when doing this.
I use the Generac when I need heat or air conditioning.
Like them both.

 

[cronk]

I have a 3500w Champion generator, mine is the older model version of what the OP has.
I have used it during a couple power outages and to run power tools at hunting camp. Always starts in 1 or 2 pulls and the power output is pretty clean.
I change the oil once a year and have not had to do much of anything else.
I honestly was so impressed with Champion, I bought one of their 2000w inverter units for use with my RV. I have been super happy with that unit as well.

I did need to order a parts on a couple occasions, (maintenance parts and an air cleaner cover that was lost) you can order parts direct from Champion, they stock them in California, so they are relatively quick to get, and the parts pricing was very reasonable.

 

[4WD]

I have a couple of those 3500 Champ Chonda gens - they are good little machines ...
My bigger unit has a B&S Vanguard ... Great motor ...

 

[Cujet]

To answer the original question about the "best generator for the money", clearly there are many choices and everybody will see the situation differently.

However, the word "best" implies that there are no better alternatives, when combined with the statement "for the money" .

So, I feel this is and easy question to answer.

Northern Tool sells a line of Honda powered generators with the world class excellent Mecc Alte generator head. This one in particular is excellent:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200467366_200467366

4

It's half the cost of a comparable Honda unit, has the same engine, and that excellent Mecc Alte generator head.

 

[JimPghPA]

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
So if im wanting to run my laptop, 50inch TV, modem, fridge, and a lamp...3500 watts is good?

Another question for those of you that have used generators similar to mine...what is the gas consumption per/hr?

Lets say my power was off for 72hrs and i wanted to have power for those 72hrs.. how much gas would i need on hand?

I think the engine in mine is 196CC

A good rough estimate of how much gasoline a 3500 Watt generator that runs at 3600 RPM continuously like most do (not an inverter model) would be about a half gallon per hour.

Factoring all in this would be a snowstorm situation, with roads closed and power out.

 

[JimPghPA]

There is something wrong with the BITOG website. I tried to quote the OP and his question and add a reply, and only got the above post.

Krismoriak72, as someone has already posted, your 3500 Watt generator that runs at 3600 RPMs will consume approximately 1/3 to 1/2 gallon per hour.

 

[Silverado12]

Yes, I had a 3500 watt (cheap Chinese Champion) and it burned about 4 gallons in 8-10 hours.

 

[Astro_Guy]

My Champion 3500 watt, equivalent to the OP's, is supposed to run 12 hours on 4 gallons at 50% load. I've proven that it will run 12 hours on a 4 gallon tank on an estimated 50% load, but do not really know what the actual load was. Things like refrigerators and freezers don't run all of the time, but if they did, it would have been closer to a 70% load.