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OT - Generator Question

B

Bill VA

Well-known Member
Got an old farm house and want to transform it into a camp/workshop. I need a generator for power.

Here's what I need:

1. Light weight - generator would be stored in the house, but operated outside. There are steps, so I can't lug some massive generator up and down them.

2. Only need enough power to handle 120V tools. 20 amps would be nice - along with the reserve to handle inrush off an electric motor - like a circular saw or air compressor.

3. Quiet

4. Fuel efficient.

5. Cheap.... ;-)

Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Thanks!
Bill
 
Dad bought a 7500 watt (I think) for about 900 bucks. Electric start and quiet. He leaves his in the shop. On pneumatic tires with handles to roll around.
 
Dad bought a 7500 watt (I think) for about 900 bucks. Electric start and quiet. He leaves his in the shop. On pneumatic tires with handles to roll around.
 
Most generators that will produce an honest 20a are going to be hard to carry! We have a little Coleman, but it is on wheels, like a 2-wheeler, very noisy and not very reliable. My brother-in-law has a Champion from Menards, similar to one from HF, much quieter and seems more reliable, it is on wheels too. Could you use some ramps on your stairs?
 
The generator that you want has yet to be invented. They are generally not quiet or fuel efficient. They also tend to be rather heavy. And, all of that in an inexpensive package? Not.

Best suggestion is to either run power to it from the electric company or to make a permanent mounting outdoors and protected. A natural gas or propane powered unit would be desirable.

But, by nature, generators are:
1) noisy

2) heavy

3) use a LOT of fuel for electricity produced

4) are expensive.
 
Don't ever EVER operate that inside a building. Local man asked his wife to run out and check the generatr inside the barn, she never came back,,,, she had walked into the barn, the carbopn monoxide hit her, she collapsed right there. Dead.
 
Your requirements are pretty much mutually exclusive. There are plenty of cheap generators. There are plenty of lightweight generators. There are efficient and quiet generators. But there are no light, efficient and quiet generators that are cheap.

The Honda EU2000i comes close to meeting your requirements. If you can handle the price tag, it meets all your other needs. Also, it can be paired with a second EU2000i if you find you need 4000 watts.
Honda EU2000i
 
You can buy a "quiet" genny, but they aren't cheap
You can buy a "cheap" genny, but they aren't quiet

Ive heard so many horror stories of cheap China built gennys that crapped out and there was no parts or service available.

For light weight and quiet check out Hyundai and Yamaha and Honda 2000 Watt Inverter Gennys

The Hyundai get some decent reviews and I believe are less expensive then Yamaha or Honda

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hyundai+generator+vs+honda

John T
Genny comparisons
 
Sounds like you are describing a Honda eu3000. Only they are heavy. My sil has one in garage on wheels. It just idles with a small load. And is quiet.
 
Do not store it in a house. Gas fumes can be a problem. You will not find what you are looking for. In a cheap generator. If you can't afford a name brand at this time. Save your money until you can.Don't buy one of the cheap units from the big box stores or your local discount house.If you want to throw money away on the cheap units. Send it to me. I could use it.

Every month I take one or two of the cheap ones to the junk yard. From my shop.Parts are very hard to find if you can find them at all. Eight months to find parts for one I was working on.Best thing is to buy a good name brand unit. Set it outside on a pad. Run cords to it.Have it where the wind can carry off the fumes.
 
I have a Honda eu2000. Best 850 bucks I've spent, although now its about a 1000 bucks.
Not sure about the air compressor though. Mine won't run mine but its a 4 hp motor.
Honda makes an eu3000 but it weighs about 150lbs and cost 2 grand.
You get what you pay for.
 
Billy, you're about the hundredth person I heard that from, and you're a generator technician.

Thanks for your inputs, I hope you keep hanging out here

John T RV owner who has owned a ton of gensets and had to work on them sometime grrrrrrrrrrrrrr lol
 
I have a Coleman 6500 with a 10 horse Briggs that I bought a good 15 years ago. I wanted it for odd jobs away from the farm. It is great and not too terribly loud. At the time I went to a muffler shop and got a muffler from a Geo Metro and welded it in place of the stock one. It has its own wheels but I have been tempted to Bungee cord it to a two-wheeler hand truck like I did with my Lincoln welder. That's what I would do. It would go up and down the steps easier.

Better yet, go to a lawn mower repair place and buy a dead push mower that has those high wheels in the back. Take off the motor and put the generator on there. Those high wheels would go up and down the front steps pretty easy.

My neighbor has had one of those cheap HF generators for years. It is literally whisper quiet. He runs it out of fuel each time he uses it. No problems yet.
 
John T
I fought Generac for over thirty years.They do have some good units. But they are rare.Just a short list of the problems I had with them.
No help from the factory. No matter how bad the situation was.
Warranty denied even on jobs they sent you on.
Need a bank loan to buy parts.
Never knew what engine you were going to find.
Very hard to get anyone to work on them. Even their own dealers didn't like working on them.

But if anyone is going to buy a generator. Get a brand name one. You will pay more but how much will you spend on five cheap ones.I had a guy bring me a new single cylinder diesel cheapy. Cranked it up and watched it melt in front of us.
 
Very good point. Have it outside where the wind can carry off the fumes.Under a roof for protection is fine. But it needs the wind to carry the fumes away. At least 10 feet from the house.
 

My backup is a 5000w Coleman that is plumbed to an exhaust pipe that runs outside of my shop - electrically it hooks to the 220 line that also feeds the house. When it's running the engine heat keeps the shop from freezing and the 'juice' provides power to house for refer., furnace (nat. gas) operation, lights, etc. 8)
 
.I run mine inside my 40x60 shop that is a little over 100 ft. from house. I have two large doors and crack them about 3 ft. off ground and throw them wide open to service or check on gen.. Generator sets right inside door when in use. You can make a pipe system and pipe exhaust and still run gen inside.
 
I had to get the President of distributor to call President of Generac to get any action on my service. I will NEVER buy another one, it is the customer service that is almost unworkable. They outsource the service, and do not pay the locals enough that they want to perform it. I would have been screwed if I did not do half million a year of other business with distributor, or they would not have done anything.
 
Billy,I don't mean this the wrong way,but you contradict your self on Major Brand vs cheap brands.(Generac)In the 20K to 100K market Generac(all Ford-GM engines) probability has more market share then all others put together,so they are a MAJOR brand.I'am not a Generac fan,but the 40K that dad had,the factory bent over backwards to help with a small problem(even on a 10 year old unit)all at NO charge.(Parts and all)Small stuff like the poster wants,Honda would be my choice.
 
I also have a Champion that I used ALOT on our camper and motorhome. I have been very pleased with it for the price and this thing has a LOT of hours on it. We used to go to Country Stampede at Manhattan, KS and run this thing pretty much for about 8 days straight with one oil change in between. It would keep our camping unit nice and cool. I really like the Honda EU3000 but I can buy about 5 of the Champion units with the same money. I've had some governor issues and called their support in CA they were very helpful and accomodating, good product support. Cabela's sell them and I don't think they sell junk. For the long "run time" outings I prefer to use this instead of logging hours on the much more expensive Onan generator in our motorhome. If the Champion goves out so what, but if the Onan fails we're talking serious $$$.
 
Yes massey Generac is a major brand.The town I live in has one at each lift station.Town bought them because they were the low bid.But they are also one I would stay away from.Glad your dad was able to get help. Believe me he was lucky.

I was at a nursing home in Glen Rose Texas.That one of their dealers had just installed a new panel on. Was shutting the unit down for no reason.Called the factory for help. Since there were people on life support equipment. Had storms in town and power was unstable.They told me to call the local dealer. Told them the local dealer was the one that caused this problem. Have people here on life support and I don't have time to play phone tag.They told me to call another dealer and hung up the phone. Called them back. They refused to talk to me.So I removed the new panel. Which gave the home back their generator. Then wrote a report for the state inspector as to why I had removed it.

Honda would be my choice also.
 
Champion is the only cheap unit. I would tell anyone to buy.Good product with great support. I called about our emergency radio club needing a part.Told them no hurry just need the part.Got the part the next day. Overnight express no charge. Can't beat that kind of service.
 
No I wouldn't buy one,but for the local home owner or small business owner,that is about the only option.Kohler and Cummins have their noses stuck so far in the air,it isn't funny.They only seem to want the 100Kw.and up business and won't even talk the smaller units.I have had more problems on services with Kohler.Except for one unit,all mine are Kato-Light units.(Diesels)
 

Problem is a 7500watt generator only has 3750watts per 120V circuit.
RV generators with a 30amp 120V receptacle vary in actual continuous wattage . Champion makes one that really is 3650 watt iirc. Read the fine print.
As it's annoying and noisy to have generator operating. You may consider batteries and a invertor to operate low power loads.
 
Sadly customer service is no longer the same as it used to be. Always liked Kato-Light units. Good solid product.
 
I think champion 3500 watt Rv generator is a very good generator for the money, so much so I purchased a second on with remote electric start. I have one mounted in a lawn cart, the other I pull behind lawn mower. I use them to power up my well, refrig, hot plate when power is off. Use it mostly to power up a 4 hp electric chain saw. I can say they are much quieter than any briggs generator. Yes, Honda inverters are the Cadillac, $1500-2000 for 2000 watts vs on sale $300 for 3500 watts. Some say the champion is a honda clone. Keep in mind the more the watts, the more the db. Does anyone have dbs on of a honda 3500 watt generator? If you are in the country, who cares is your generator produces 68 db? I have had good luck, very easy on gas too.
champion 3500 watt RV generator, 30 amps out.
 
(quoted from post at 14:53:44 07/03/15) Stay away from Generac.
Click to expand...

For occasional use they are fine. Just be sure to run it every so often. If you want cheap try some auctions, I bought a 5000 watt one for $60, like new, but they couldn't get it started at the sale. With shot of carb cleaner and cleaning the plug it fired right up and runs fine. It is heavy, especially with a full load of gas. Now I have two cheapies (relative term).
 
I bought a Gillette brand, built in nearby Elkhart, IN. 9K peak, 7500 continuous, 16 hp Briggs single- whisper quiet. My parents were without power four days last year at this time due to a storm, ran that bad boy each night for a couple hours to keep the frozen stuff frozen. The muffler would glow cherry red after dusk, showed the neighbors on their cul-de-sac where the bear went, ahr ahr ahr!
 
(quoted from post at 12:47:48 07/03/15) .I run mine inside my 40x60 shop that is a little over 100 ft. from house. I have two large doors and crack them about 3 ft. off ground and throw them wide open to service or check on gen.. Generator sets right inside door when in use. You can make a pipe system and pipe exhaust and still run gen inside.
Click to expand...

A CO meter in your shop would be interesting. Do you have an up to date will ?
 
Don't know where you guys are comming from.The generator sets just inside overhead doors with them cracked about 3 foot off ground and if its not raining where it would blow in I leave doors open. You don't stay inside while its running and when you go to check on it you throw both doors wide open and don't have to go inside building to service or check generator it sets in middle of large door.
 
This is picture of door that it sets just inside of.
a195160.jpg
 
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