Generator thoughts?

[Shadow Catcher]

Both of my generators were made in China and the 5K emergency failed fairly quickly. The local repairman who is wizard class, could not obtain the capacitor which fits inside the generator housing so mounted an external cap. Finding quality is difficult and I would hazard that if you look for place of origin you would find one province in China for the vast majority.

[GerryS]

I would agree, manufacturing has been sucked into that red evil giant (not the people....the government) and there is almost nothing of substance made elsewhere. It sickens me to see what our elected leaders and wallymart has done to us. All this aside,

Yes, Yamaha and other innards are probably made in china...However it's a safer bet that Yamaha, Honda,and Generac are going to have parts available. If you are buying a non-branded, bottom of the harbor freight specials, you are truly on your own. Personally, I'm even leery of highly reputable internet type brands like Aurora because there is no good wide range of dealers.

Your best bet is a good generator head (ST series) and a motor of your choice (LIster us mine) and home-brewing it...you then aren't tied cheaply made small plastic parts, just I nensure to buy replacements for wear items...these tend to run for 10s of thousands of hours instead of 2000.... They run small villages in 3rd world

[Socal Tom]

I work as a quality consultant, and I can tell you that a generator that is designed well, and built according to appropriate procedures will be much better quality and life than one that is designed and built on the fly. If Hondas stuff is built in china, the design and quality requirements will be better than those of a Harbor freight or no name manufacturer, because Honda will have designed it to last longer,and the design will require higher quality components.
Tom

[bdosborn]

I just have propane as a fuel alternative because it stores better, and is a lot easier to transport than a gasoline can...with the added bonus of being another source just in case I runout of the other....

I think the propane versus gas decision is just like any decision in life; weigh the pros and cons and pick the option that best suits your particular needs. I looked long and hard at propane and almost pulled the trigger on a conversion kit for our generator. However, I put a PV system on the camper and realized that I wouldn't be running the generator very often. I didn't buy the propane kit because the additional costs didn't make sense since I only use about a gallon of gas a year.

FWIW, you should still exercise you generator once a month, even if it is running on propane.

Bruce

[Redneck Teepee]

I may be in the market for a generator. The OP's inclination to run on propane parallels my thoughts. My primary reason is that I would only be using the generator infrequently and it would sit for a long time between uses.

For me, the choice is Honda or Yamaha, but I don't believe they make a propane version of their small generators. I have noticed that there are a few companies that modify these generators to be multifuel conversions - gasoline, LPG and/or natural gas. Does anyone have experience on the modified Hondas or Yamahas?

I've got the Honda eu3000is for the 5th wheel, I wanted to get a propane kit for it installed and was told because of heat concerns that Honda does not sell them and would void the warranty. Note the disclaimer in the ad. http://www.generatorsales.com/order/Hon ... S_Tri_Fuel

[Socal Tom]

I just have propane as a fuel alternative because it stores better, and is a lot easier to transport than a gasoline can...with the added bonus of being another source just in case I runout of the other....

I think the propane versus gas decision is just like any decision in life; weigh the pros and cons and pick the option that best suits your particular needs. I looked long and hard at propane and almost pulled the trigger on a conversion kit for our generator. However, I put a PV system on the camper and realized that I wouldn't be running the generator very often. I didn't buy the propane kit because the additional costs didn't make sense since I only use about a gallon of gas a year.

FWIW, you should still exercise you generator once a month, even if it is running on propane.

Bruce

Personally,
I think that propane only makes sense for permanent installations, unless your TV runs off of propane. Gas takes up less space and provides more power per gallon vs propane. Gas cans weigh less than propane tanks. Either way, you have to go to the store and fill it up. You can plumb your generator to your fuel tank, as easily as you plumb to a propane tank. However, you can get propane delivery, and if you have a large propane tank on your property, you have can run off of it for a long time. Propane does store better than gas, but you can always dump your extra gas in the TV for the trip home so you have fresh fuel.
Tom

[GerryS]

Good points. That's why tri-fuel is great. You can pick the fuel best for the situation.

[Corwin C]

On a serious note, I would take a look at the Champion Inverter generator.
Champion Generator


It gets pretty good reviews over at the big RV forum. It seems to be the only generator that gets recommended that isn't blue or red.
277 pages of Champion Inverter Thread. I think they have them at Costco too.


Bruce

P.S. The caterpillar weighs 20,000 pounds so it exceeds my GVWR by just a little. I take a Yamaha EF1000iS for camping but it won't start my AC.

My buddy bought one of these about 6 mo ago and so far swears it's as good as the Honda's and Yamaha's

A note on the Champions ...

The 3500/3800 watt version of these went on sale at a local establishment, for a really good price. My brother in law and I went in independently from each other within a day or so of each other and each purchased one. We have had very different results, however. Mine starts on the first pull (unless I've shut the fuel off and ran it until it quits to keep the carb from having old fuel in it) and then its second or third pull. His takes multiple pulls, fiddling with the choke, swear words, etc. Mine runs smoothly and adjusts quickly to varying loads, his hesitates, surges, and I've even witnessed it stall from a 1500 watt hand drill. While I wouldn't call mine quiet, it is definitely less noisy than his. Serial numbers on the engine are within 1000 pieces, the generator itself within 8000 (assuming they're numbered consecutively.) We care for them in nearly identical fashion, use the same fuel (often out of the same can) and so on. While I'm happy with mine, the obvious lack of consistency makes me hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

[Rolly]

The benchmark for small portable generators is the Honda EU2000i. You may find better specs or a better price. If you buy the benchmark you will not be wrong. That being said, my personal generator is a Yamaha EF3000iSEB. I like the option of being able to turn off the gas and run the float bowl dry before transporting or storage. It is a wonderful generator till I need to load it into a pickup or trailer. I am involved with a club that has 3 Honda EU2000i s and 3 Yamaha YG2800i s. We had to replace one off/on switch on one of the Hondas and squirt carburetor cleaner in the Yamahas after the sat unused for a year. Propane is neat but I can buy gasoline in more places. I see a lot of posts on a generator forum about Yamaha 1000 s not running right due to clogged tiny orifices after storage.

Gary

[Fenlason]

My Honda 3000 has a fuel shut off "knob".

[d120]

I have a Honda 3000 for the house,a honda 2000 for mobile uses,The 1000 is not as rebuildable.The Champions I have messed with were all Good...suprised me how well they ran ...the motors are suposed to be Chinese copies of Hondas??
I like the Hondas,but if I was going to buy the cheapo,I would buy a Champion.

[rbtrary]

I have a Honda 3000 for the house,a honda 2000 for mobile uses,The 1000 is not as rebuildable.The Champions I have messed with were all Good...suprised me how well they ran ...the motors are suposed to be Chinese copies of Hondas??
I like the Hondas,but if I was going to buy the cheapo,I would buy a Champion.

Surprisingly harbor freight generators are in the "recommended" top 5 list in Consumer Reports ratings!

Rumor has it that both Champion and Predator come from the same Chinese factory that builds Honda.

[MtnDon]

My latest Honda came from Thailand. I don't believe most of the same factory as... stories we hear.

[Mojave Bob]

I had a cheapo generator I bought from Homier. It was a 3500, and had not only a 20A and a 30A receptacle, but also a 220v one, which was nice, as it could power my deep well pump at home. I had it for several years. It was branded Jin Dong (good Irish name, doncha think?), but it sure looked, started, and ran like a Honda. No complaints from me. I sold it to my boss a couple of years ago, and he still uses it. I think I paid $349 for it. It was not of the ultra-quiet variety, but it was not too bad (but too loud to take camping).

[citylights]

Bet this one would run your AC. Found it in the Arizona Buzzard mine. Added bonus, it is connected to a dynamo rather than a generator.