Posted: 8/18/2012 5:01:41 PM EDT
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Like the title says, I went tri-state looking for a generator, I had my sights set on a Champion 3000/3500watt but everywhere I went was out. Only models in stock everywhere were: Briggs & Stratton, which my mower and trimmer have these engines and work well but the genny's seem to have a hit/miss review Generac, again hit and miss Troy-Bilt , though a bit salty, buy once cry once Husky: never even heard of them. Generator's purpose would be for extended power loss I did the "how much do you need" calculation and decided that the Champion I could live with as power doesn't "normally" stay out very long here, but would feel more comfortable with more than 4kW so I wouldn't be running this thing max load the entire run length. plus having extra because..well shit happens you don't think about. My dad has a Champion and it's more than enough for him and he keeps suggesting I get a genny big enough and wired into my home to power everything but I don't have $10grand to have this done so a portable will suite me fine considering worst case power goes out in a blizzard and I have to run a few heaters and fridge, lamp, pc, tv, modem. I know most genny's provide "dirty power" for electronics and this will be my second prep. I just want a reliable genset to look for, since the first no name one he ordered from a magazine was a waste of time, missing and broken parts and when he called to get it fixed he was told it was junk and couldn't get replacement parts for. Like I said there were plenty of the above mentioned brands on the shelves of everywhere I went but no one had a Champion, should I stick with this or is there a better way to go. apparently Honda is the AR15 of generators and that's fine if I have to drop that kind of coin I just want the best bang for my buck. |
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No reason to not order online, just had my mind set on having it today to tinker with this evening then the thought hit me that maybe everyone was out for a reason "is there something I'm not seeing?" it happens frequently that I get an Idea only to later find out there was a better way. |
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Champs are great genny's. I have one because like you said, I dont want to have a bunch of money tied up in something i will use once a decade. where are you in the tri-state area? Everyone may be out, because the Hurricane season starts soon or because they are not stocked up from the last big storm. |
I have an e-bay account but have never done anything with it. I have ordered many things on amazon (replacement electronic parts) when fixing friends laptops, tv's, you name it. I am currently browsing the amazon link you provided and think this is the route I'm going to go plus it will be delivered to my doorstep and not have to pull 200LBS off the back of my truck myself |
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Quoted: Champs are great genny's. I have one because like you said, I dont want to have a bunch of money tied up in something i will use once a decade. where are you in the tri-state area? Everyone may be out, because the Hurricane season starts soon or because they are not stocked up from the last big storm. Eastern panhandle. that's the other thing that bothered me I know that lots of people buy them and then return them after there is no need and I didn't want someone's returned item. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Champs are great genny's. I have one because like you said, I dont want to have a bunch of money tied up in something i will use once a decade. where are you in the tri-state area? Everyone may be out, because the Hurricane season starts soon or because they are not stocked up from the last big storm. Eastern panhandle. that's the other thing that bothered me I know that lots of people buy them and then return them after there is no need and I didn't want someone's returned item. you will know if its a return. Champs come taped and factory strapped. ohh and champ 3500's dont weight 200 lbs. more like 65 empty. make sure you use good oil after the break in. I broke mine in with http://www.valvoline.com/products/consumer-products/motor-oil/racing-motor-oil/8 because of its high zinc content and i use this type of oil in all my small engines. Its about 8 bucks a quart, but it lasts a good long time. at least use a good synthetic oil. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Champs are great genny's. I have one because like you said, I dont want to have a bunch of money tied up in something i will use once a decade. where are you in the tri-state area? Everyone may be out, because the Hurricane season starts soon or because they are not stocked up from the last big storm. Eastern panhandle. that's the other thing that bothered me I know that lots of people buy them and then return them after there is no need and I didn't want someone's returned item. you will know if its a return. Champs come taped and factory strapped. ohh and champ 3500's dont weight 200 lbs. more like 65 empty. make sure you use good oil after the break in. I broke mine in with http://www.valvoline.com/products/consumer-products/motor-oil/racing-motor-oil/8 because of its high zinc content and i use this type of oil in all my small engines. Its about 8 bucks a quart, but it lasts a good long time. at least use a good synthetic oil. I'm thinking of Mobile 1 10w30 this oil has been life blood to every engine I've ever used it in, I ran out of 2cycle oil for my weedeater and put a squirt of this in the gas tank and it has ran wide open nonstop all summer. I'm thinking on pulling the hammer on this one http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Equipment-41537-Generator-Compliant/dp/B0056BYQP8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1345339888&sr=8-6&keywords=champion+generator |
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good on you for selecting good oil. many people dont and blow engines. that genny is super huge for your needs. you might want to slow down and re-think it. that genny will use about 6 gallons of gas per 8-11 hours of use. that comes out to about $25 a day. ahh you have time to make a decision. its not the end of the world yet. |
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Well I'm still looking and came to the same conclusion, how much I know on paper I HAVE TO HAVE vs trying to be above more than I need but winter is still a long way off so I am going to keep my original choice of wanting a champion but give a realistic approach of what I know I need and try to slightly go above it. Thank you for being a voice of reason you have kept me from making a lower choice and regretting it and also spending more money on more than I can actually use.  |
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one thing with the hondas but I cant confirm this
my friend was told you can connect them together to I guess double the output Not sure if thats true but that could come in handy you could slowly build up the collection or if one dies then you still have the other, and yes they cost top dollar if you use it weekly at campgrounds, or for main power I can see spending the money but if it only runs long enough for the once every 2 month's test to see if they work I cant see spending that much money when there are so many ones cheaper, you could buy like 3 cheap ones to 1 honda and use the others as spare parts this is what I have I think a 3000 watt (loud) From auto store, not sure brand name a cheap 2 stroke 800 watt (quiet) harbor freight and I think a 1500 watt (very loud) coleman brand, cursed with leaking gas cap when running and they have sent me 3 in the past everytime I call to complain 3000 good for powering the whole house, not full on everything working at max but tv's, fridge's, all lights, microwave etc.. but from a quick test I did, it uses almost 2x the fuel my small 2 stroke uses, and its louder so I figure I have 3 gens, all for different jobs now the way I wired my transfer switch I can run any gen, it will power almost the entire house. My transfer switch only does 6 circuits, house panel has 10 so basically the whole house can be powered I just have to keep in mind my output power so if I only want bare essentials, like lights couple outlets I can use the 2 stroke if I want lights, fridge, microwave use the 1500 watt although I tested the wattage on my fridge its like 500 watts max so I could get away with the small gen too if I can time when the fridge compressor comes on not to use extra power once its off it uses like 15 watts to spin the fan then of course if I want everything on and ac then use the large one this way in not dependent on one gen, which when we had a major 14 hr blackout on a 90f day my 20 year old whole house gen died after 2 hrs Luckily I had that 1500 in my work truck so I could still run the ac, and lights that saved my butt, well comfort wise why should I be all sweaty in the dark if your $800 or more gen breaks down then what, your out of luck I would rather have 2 small ones then one large one even if you dont do a transfer switch then keep enough dedicated extension cords to run where ever you need them to go no matter what, if you dont have the fuel stored for long run times then having a monster gen wont really matter if all you can do is run 10 hrs I keep about 70 gallons of fuel on hand just incase Also with the 2 stroke its so quiet I can throw in the garage and you can only hear humming about 20 feet away after that nothing, so its a nice covert gen to have at least it could power my ac,mini fridge, scanner and all my security cameras in an emergency |
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I am wondering if the watts are a general number. I have had different size China gensets and they have all had about the same power output, at least as far as what I have been able to run on them.
A 4000 watt unit I had couldn't do anything a 3000 watt unit couldn't do. And they have all had 6.5 hp engines.. |
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Well I slept on it and today I ordered this http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Equipment-46561-4-Stroke-Generator/dp/B0056BYP86/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1345396592&sr=8-11&keywords=champion+generator I hope it works out, now I have to figure out how to secure it during use so someone doesn't run off with it in the middle of the night. |
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They're pretty close to 120 lbs.
The little 1500 watt model weighs around 65. |
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thats the Canadian version. I have the USA one similar to this and it says 98. http://www.championpowerequipment.com/generators/46514/ anyway its a far cry from 200 I have the one that everyone wants but it has been discontinued a C46540 |
| I got married yesterday, and as we left the wedding site, I saw a 4K Briggs-Stratton (no brand name) 120-240 volt genny for sale in a driveway. The fellow fired it up for me, topped off the gas, I paid $120 cash, and he threw in his 220-oven style plug at no charge. I am a happy camper. Will compliment my Champion 2K inverter genny. Champion for night ops, lower power drive, lights, TV stuff like that, the Briggs 4K for well, furnace, AC etc. |
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Quoted: I got married yesterday, and as we left the wedding site, I saw a 4K Briggs-Stratton (no brand name) 120-240 volt genny for sale in a driveway. The fellow fired it up for me, topped off the gas, I paid $120 cash, and he threw in his 220-oven style plug at no charge. I am a happy camper. Will compliment my Champion 2K inverter genny. Champion for night ops, lower power drive, lights, TV stuff like that, the Briggs 4K for well, furnace, AC etc. congrats on the marriage. Your new wife is a keeper. |
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Quoted:
Well I slept on it and today I ordered this http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Equipment-46561-4-Stroke-Generator/dp/B0056BYP86/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1345396592&sr=8-11&keywords=champion+generator I hope it works out, now I have to figure out how to secure it during use so someone doesn't run off with it in the middle of the night. That should be a great unit. The Champion remote-start models have a little more sophisticated automatic voltage regulator than some of the manual-start models - It automatically disconnects any AC loads while the engine is starting up or shutting down. According to some reports, it also produces better power quality. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Well I slept on it and today I ordered this http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Equipment-46561-4-Stroke-Generator/dp/B0056BYP86/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1345396592&sr=8-11&keywords=champion+generator I hope it works out, now I have to figure out how to secure it during use so someone doesn't run off with it in the middle of the night. That should be a great unit. The Champion remote-start models have a little more sophisticated automatic voltage regulator than some of the manual-start models - It automatically disconnects any AC loads while the engine is starting up or shutting down. According to some reports, it also produces better power quality. I got this same unit from Amazon. You will be pleased. I used ours for 5-1/2 days right after the big blow. It ran our freezer, fridge/freezer, coffee pot and several fans at the same time. Also ran our TV and DVD player. We charged our phones and computers with it. I've never really tested it to see how much it could handle. I'm adding a AC unit to my arsenal for the next power outage. |
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Quoted: By "big blow" I assume you mean the last power outage, that was the #1 reason I decided to finally get a genny, everyone I know lost power even my work, but when I got home mine had never gone out. but one can only be lucky for so long.Quoted: Quoted: Well I slept on it and today I ordered this http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Equipment-46561-4-Stroke-Generator/dp/B0056BYP86/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1345396592&sr=8-11&keywords=champion+generator I hope it works out, now I have to figure out how to secure it during use so someone doesn't run off with it in the middle of the night. That should be a great unit. The Champion remote-start models have a little more sophisticated automatic voltage regulator than some of the manual-start models - It automatically disconnects any AC loads while the engine is starting up or shutting down. According to some reports, it also produces better power quality. I got this same unit from Amazon. You will be pleased. I used ours for 5-1/2 days right after the big blow. It ran our freezer, fridge/freezer, coffee pot and several fans at the same time. Also ran our TV and DVD player. We charged our phones and computers with it. I've never really tested it to see how much it could handle. I'm adding a AC unit to my arsenal for the next power outage.  It's very reassuring to know that you have the same model and are happy with it. (the remote control start sold me though) at least it doesn't feel like a "gamble" now, I mean any genny is better than no genny but not all are created equal, like I mentioned earlier I had been tri-state and every model in stores was everything but Champion, my dad is happy with his and since none were able to be found they have to be doing something right. |
| I ordered one of these for $319.99 and free shipping. They did charge $20.00 for sales tax since MI has a Cabelas. |