Time for a new Generator... Wisdom desired!

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I just picked up a champion 3400w inverter here for camping. $750Cdn. It started our 15k btu AC while running the battery charger and lights in our trailer. The AC alone is listed as 16 amps continuous and 72 amps inrush current while starting the compressor. It has an eco setting to idle down and can be parallelled with another one as well to provide 50 amps:

https://www.championpowerequipment.com/product/100269-3400-watt-inverter/

the only downside I can tell is a 1.6gallon fuel tank, but there is a dual fuel version as well that can run off a propane tank (of whatever size you want):

https://www.championpowerequipment.com/product/100396-3400-watt-dual-fuel-inverter/

These seem well received with champion having a large enough network of dealers/service.
 
One must be very careful about running in "eco mode" when compressor based devices with large startup surges are connected - an older fridge or chest freezer definitely put a load on a pair of idling EU2k's.

I've seen some guys triple them at the camp in the day out in the desert - then scale back to duals, or a single unit at night when everything topped up and the loads are light - laptops, phones, a few LED's, keeping up with a heater fan, big TV set the... - burbling away....

For any kind of extended service you are going to want a single crankcase to maintain and a larger wheeled genset will be a better solution if you anticipate long run times as the maintenance on dual engines will get tiresome over a long haul situation.


UD
 
Forget about Yamaha 1600/2000 Watt inverter generators.

About a year ago they switched to making them in China. The China made ones have a door on the side that you can remove to access the oil drain/fill cap, so that is how you can tell them apart from the pre-China ones that required removing the entire side to access the oil drain/fill cap.

There have been several post here on BITOG about the high oil consumption that the China made Yamaha 1600/2000 Watt inverter generators have. It is excessive and does not get better with age/usage.
 
Originally Posted by tcp71
I just picked up a champion 3400w inverter here for camping. $750Cdn. It started our 15k btu AC while running the battery charger and lights in our trailer. The AC alone is listed as 16 amps continuous and 72 amps inrush current while starting the compressor. It has an eco setting to idle down and can be parallelled with another one as well to provide 50 amps:

https://www.championpowerequipment.com/product/100269-3400-watt-inverter/

the only downside I can tell is a 1.6gallon fuel tank, but there is a dual fuel version as well that can run off a propane tank (of whatever size you want):

https://www.championpowerequipment.com/product/100396-3400-watt-dual-fuel-inverter/

These seem well received with champion having a large enough network of dealers/service.


Where did you get it for that price!!?
 
Originally Posted by MolaKule
I would first find out which appliances you want to use during a blackout and then add up the sum-total amount of power required.

Multiply that by 1.5 to equal the power required from the emergency generator's alternator. As others have stated, you need to seriously consider the surge current during startup.

I haven't found any Inverter type generators as yet that can fill the bill.


The math has been done. 4k surge with 3k continuous is the minimum needed to power the six circuits I have configured on my transfer switch. The current gen is pretty efficient, relatively speaking (since I have no experience with any other generator). I used less than 4 gallons over 16 hours of use powering all 6 circuits. I store at minimum 50 gallons of gas per season
grin.gif


I'm not sure I would appreciate the higher level of maintenance to keep smaller inverters running under the same conditions. It was a start, transfer circuits, and forget for 12+ hours this past weekend. However, I am concerned about running all these electronics without "clean" power (this could be an ignorant statement...looking for more wisdom here).
 
Originally Posted by UncleDave
For any kind of extended service you are going to want a single crankcase to maintain and a larger wheeled genset will be a better solution if you anticipate long run times as the maintenance on dual engines will get tiresome over a long haul situation.


Good points!
 
Originally Posted by UncleDave

For any kind of extended service you are going to want a single crankcase to maintain and a larger wheeled genset will be a better solution if you anticipate long run times as the maintenance on dual engines will get tiresome over a long haul situation.


UD



Plus that keeps someone from unplugging grabbing it and running away quickly.
 
Originally Posted by spasm3
Originally Posted by UncleDave

For any kind of extended service you are going to want a single crankcase to maintain and a larger wheeled genset will be a better solution if you anticipate long run times as the maintenance on dual engines will get tiresome over a long haul situation.


UD



Plus that keeps someone from unplugging grabbing it and running away quickly.


Another good point for the larger framed gensets. They are easily bolted or chained down as well. Add a home made insulated enclosure, with good forced ventilation, and you can decrease the noise considerably.
 
I have a generac, works good, does all I need it to do, I also know three other folks that own them and never any complaints
 
Originally Posted by JimPghPA
Forget about Yamaha 1600/2000 Watt inverter generators.

About a year ago they switched to making them in China. The China made ones have a door on the side that you can remove to access the oil drain/fill cap, so that is how you can tell them apart from the pre-China ones that required removing the entire side to access the oil drain/fill cap.

There have been several post here on BITOG about the high oil consumption that the China made Yamaha 1600/2000 Watt inverter generators have. It is excessive and does not get better with age/usage.


My Yamaha 2000 is old enough to not have the access door and does consume a good amount of oil. However, after enough runtime, the consumption stopped completely.

After I cleaned the spark arrestor, it started consuming oil again at the previous rate. It has once again stopped, and I don't think I'll be cleaning the exhaust system anytime soon.

I've owned it for a little over 5 years, and during the summer it runs continuously almost every weekend. Despite the consumption, I'm happy with the machine.
 
I have a Homelite LR5500. Tons of power but tons of noise and it's thirsty. Something to think about. Big generators are nice but you have to feed them.
 
If you have a tractor with a PTO, you could get a PTO driven generator. $1000 buys you an entry level device, but you need the driveline and something to put it on. (Small trailer or 3 point hitch cradle.) This would be my ideal setup anyways. One less engine to maintain and the tractor would most likely be a reliable diesel.

My other choice would be whatever your furnace runs off of. Although, if you live in town, I am not sure if the gas flows in the even of an outage or not?
 
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Originally Posted by Cujet

So, if you are running heaters (inc water heater) , motors, air conditioning, a stove or cooktop, electric dryer or other heavy load, you will probably want a conventional generator with conventional generator head.


Just a 2nd Note..

We run Five (5) Air Conditioners, Three (3) Refrigerators, Two (2) Pumps (Pool, Well), Water Heater (via 3-way swich from 4500Watts to 1125Watts), Cooktop(s), TV's, lights, etc

..all on a single Honda 5kW inverter..
 
Not at the same time you don't.

Wanna rewrite that so the uninitiated don't get delusions of grandeur?

Too often people think cruise ship - when they should be thinking life raft - especially at 5KW.

UD
 
Agreed, impossible to run all of those devices/appliances on a 5kw without rotation.

I went ahead and purchased another Champion 4.5kw generator on sale for $400 (CDN). 20% more powerful runtime power than my current genset, which has performed great for almost a decade, but with AVR and Volt Guard and a 28cc larger engine. I have been really impressed with my simple Champion generator over the years. Doesn't burn oil, starts perfectly (since the new spark plug) and powers all 6 of my transfer switch circuits.

I'm going to wait for the smaller portable inverters from Champion to become available at Canadian Tire (on sale). I suspect I'll be able to buy the following for under $500 CDN on sale at some point in the future:

https://www.championpowerequipment.com/product/100414-2000-watt-inverter-generator/

This will become my portable solution for family/friends/camping.

Both generators/inverters will be had for hundreds less than a single Honda EU2200i. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have nothing but Honda, but they are cost prohibitive and the support from Champion is second to none in my experience.
 
Originally Posted by webfors
Agreed, impossible to run all of those devices/appliances on a 5kw without rotation.

I went ahead and purchased another Champion 4.5kw generator on sale for $400 (CDN). 20% more powerful runtime power than my current genset, which has performed great for almost a decade, but with AVR and Volt Guard and a 28cc larger engine. I have been really impressed with my simple Champion generator over the years. Doesn't burn oil, starts perfectly (since the new spark plug) and powers all 6 of my transfer switch circuits.

I'm going to wait for the smaller portable inverters from Champion to become available at Canadian Tire (on sale). I suspect I'll be able to buy the following for under $500 CDN on sale at some point in the future:

https://www.championpowerequipment.com/product/100414-2000-watt-inverter-generator/

This will become my portable solution for family/friends/camping.

Both generators/inverters will be had for hundreds less than a single Honda EU2200i. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have nothing but Honda, but they are cost prohibitive and the support from Champion is second to none in my experience.


At some point champion changed the interval inspection from something like 50 to 100 or more hours.

Not sure if they just changed the spec or the material in eth head/valve seats.

You definitely want the higher interval -the hours come and go quick.

The most common real problem I see in gensets after bad gas/ carbs is burned valves.
With cheap head and seat material the valve pounds up into the stem and rides on the base circle of the cam failing to fully close and that means fully cool .
The unit runs but is hard to start and gets lousy economy and wont make full power.

Ignore the lash interval at your gensets peril. - contrary to popular belief and marketing - these things are not maintenance free.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by UncleDave
Originally Posted by webfors
Agreed, impossible to run all of those devices/appliances on a 5kw without rotation.

I went ahead and purchased another Champion 4.5kw generator on sale for $400 (CDN). 20% more powerful runtime power than my current genset, which has performed great for almost a decade, but with AVR and Volt Guard and a 28cc larger engine. I have been really impressed with my simple Champion generator over the years. Doesn't burn oil, starts perfectly (since the new spark plug) and powers all 6 of my transfer switch circuits.

I'm going to wait for the smaller portable inverters from Champion to become available at Canadian Tire (on sale). I suspect I'll be able to buy the following for under $500 CDN on sale at some point in the future:

https://www.championpowerequipment.com/product/100414-2000-watt-inverter-generator/

This will become my portable solution for family/friends/camping.

Both generators/inverters will be had for hundreds less than a single Honda EU2200i. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have nothing but Honda, but they are cost prohibitive and the support from Champion is second to none in my experience.


At some point champion changed the interval inspection from something like 50 to 100 or more hours.

Not sure if they just changed the spec or the material in eth head/valve seats.

You definitely want the higher interval -the hours come and go quick.

The most common real problem I see in gensets after bad gas/ carbs is burned valves.
With cheap head and seat material the valve pounds up into the stem and rides on the base circle of the cam failing to fully close and that means fully cool .
The unit runs but is hard to start and gets lousy economy and wont make full power.

Ignore the lash interval at your gensets peril. - contrary to popular belief and marketing - these things are not maintenance free.



Link to the howto's please?

My gensets don't get many hours on them. If I was looking for commercial/heavy use my criteria would be different.

When you say "The unit runs, but is hard to start and gets lousy economy..." are you referring to any chinese built engine, or just the engines that go through progressive stages on their way to "burnt valves"?
 
I reread your posts now that I'm at home and I think I understand now. If you don't perform the regular maintenance, including the valve clearance check/adjust, there is an inevitable outcome. Correct?
 
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