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Thread: The PF ICE (gas engine) generator thread

  1. #1

    The PF ICE (gas engine) generator thread

    ***work in progress, corrections appreciated

    I’ve been doing a lot of research on gennys. I currently have a traditional/“smoke and noise” Champion 3500w genny. Traditional/“smoke and noise” gennys run at full speed all of the time and can not adjust to power draw needs. I had problems with fuel starvation on this one, a brand new carburetor did not fix the problem. The EPA restrictions (for “air quality”) in conjunction with ethanol gas make this a very common problem with carbureted small engines. The solution is to drill out the main jet on the carb. Doing that made my previously deadlines and unusable Champion, a one pull to start on one year old ethanol gas generator. No shit. Now, this genny is rock solid reliable on the old carb. This type of generator produces sometimes “unclean”or oscillating power, which is bad for high end electrical devices such as TVs, computers, etc.

    Anyway, I want an inverter generator. These are not as noisy as “smoke and noise” gennys as they are designed to only run at the engine speed needed to produce the amount of power being drawn. You usually have two settings on these, “Eco”which is the aforementioned on demand engine speed setting, and of course, full throttle. These inverter gennys produce very “clean” or stable electricity, which is much better for your high end electrical devices. The inverter gennys are of course, more expensive than smoke and noise gennys. One nice thing about inverter gennys is most of them can be ran in conjunction with another to produce double the power via a parallel cable kit (example.

    The no brainer, easy inverter genny purchase (if you have the money) is of course, the Honda EU2000I which of course, can be ran with another using a parallel cable kit. Too much for my blood #PoorFag . I’ve got my eye on this Harbor Freight 3500w. For around $650-$700 with an available 2 year warranty combined with its excellent reputation (especially after Irma), I view it as the thinking man’s alternative to the Honda. An alternative would be two of the Harbor Freight 2000w inverter gennys with a parallel cable kit. Out the door, with warranties, you’d be at about $200 over the price of one Honda Eu2000i.

    But wait, there’s more! The HF 2000w is apparently a clone of the excellent Yamaha 2000w inverter genny and unlike the HF 3500w, there are many differently branded variants of the Chinese Yamaha clone such as this Lifan, this Westinghouse or this Duromax.. Nearly all of these can be used with a parallel cable kit.

    Yamaha EF200is clone conglomeration post

    PF Generator spreadsheet
    Last edited by LittleLebowski; 10-23-2017 at 07:20 AM.
    #RESIST

  2. #2
    HF 3500w versus Honda EU2000w sound comparison.

    #RESIST

  3. #3
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    USA
    Don't forget about the option of used, brand name gensets. I picked up an EU3000is a few years ago for $700 off CL. Heck of a machine for peanuts price tag. Obviously the std used-equip buying caveats apply, but a ton of stuff on the used market is near pristine.

  4. #4
    I have a red Kipor 2000w (Honda clone) that is pretty quiet. We used them for tire warmers on motorcycles. Four of us bought them and 3 failed after a year.

    What about a power/signal conditioner post-genny? That way you can keep your current unit or upgrade to a 10kw unit for much cheaper than the Yamaha/Honda clones.

    As an aside, can anyone speak to building a battery bank that you can keep charged, as opposed to just running a genny? And maybe that way you can run a cheaper/bigger unit without worrying about clean power.

    Batteries are expensive, but maybe have enough for a few hours vice a few days, since you will be charging them anyways.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by TBone550 View Post
    Don't forget about the option of used, brand name gensets. I picked up an EU3000is a few years ago for $700 off CL. Heck of a machine for peanuts price tag. Obviously the std used-equip buying caveats apply, but a ton of stuff on the used market is near pristine.
    Yup, just contacted someone on Craigslist whom supposedly has a Honda EU6500 for $1000, but it is prolly a scam.
    #RESIST

  6. #6
    I've got two of the Honda 2000eui's with the parallel kit. At the time, it was cheaper to buy two of the 2000, vs 1 of the 4000, plus I had the added capability of having TWO generators. I could run them at different parts of the property, or loan one out to other family members. I live in the city, so all we really try and power are fridges and freezers. I never have to power stuff like a well, either. It's never unbearably hot here, nor does it ever get dangerously cold, so my generator needs are simple.

    I normally do hurricane prep in the late summer, as AUG-DEC is when a storm would likely blow our way. I didn't do any prep in 2016 as I had some medical issues. A month ago, I remembered that I hadn't started the genny's up since summer of 2015. I just flipped the genny upside-down and dumped the two year old fuel, put in some new gas, and it fired up in a couple of pulls. I can't say enough good things about the honda units.

  7. #7
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Sierra Nevada Mtns, CA
    Done a bunch of research but have not pressed the trigger. A Honda of some variety is in the future. Need to power three freezers.

    I still debate a whole house generator, it was be thug life to be able to run the well and the hot water heater. 3 grand versus 10 but a lot of advantages.

  8. #8
    Last edited by LittleLebowski; 10-17-2017 at 11:31 PM.
    #RESIST

  9. #9
    We have had a Honda EU2000 for, I dunno, a decade plus. We had one of the ubiquitous Briggs&Stratton 5000W ones before that.

    I have lots of Harbor freight stuff.

    My 2 cents: it depends on why you're buying it. If you're buying it for the hunting cabin, or as a 'nice to have' backup, then I'd consider one of the HF ones. If you really, really want it to work, I'd get the Honda. You just don't want to buy parachutes from HF.

    I've had HF stuff that was great, and stuff that failed immediately. What you buy this month may not be the same quality as what you buy from them next month.

    For our usage, the Honda is great. When the power goes out in winter, I carry it from the closet to the driveway and run a couple of extension cords through the cat door. It will run the furnace blower (gas furnace) and fridge at the same time. It throttles down when neither is running. We don't run it 24 hours a day, just as needed to keep the house unfrozen. For that, it uses 1 to 2 quarts a day of gas. That means a 5 gallon can of gas lasts a long time. After use I mothball it carefully until next time; it has always started right up.

    YMMV!

  10. #10
    Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Heading for the hills
    The Honda 2k is bulletproof and sips gas. I say bulletproof based on my buddy who runs several of them all the time in connection with his work. I don't think I have ever read or heard a bad word about those Hondas. The sipping gas thing gets to be important after a disaster when access to fuel may be limited, not to mention very pricey. I have a 5k Ingersoll-Rand with a Honda motor. It cranks and runs like a champ, but for power outage usage I don't always need all that wattage. I can run the 5k to keep the two refridgerators and freezer cooled off, but if all I want to do is run a couple of fans and a TV, or even just a Skil saw and radio, the 5k is using way more gas than I need to burn. So two 2k Hondas cabled together would be the hot ticket even if it does tear the wallet off your azz.

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