Bought a Generator - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

hilltool · 11-06-2012, 10:39 AM

Despite my previously stated fascination with solar- I've still wanted a generator that I could top off batteries with when camping with no hook-ups (again, jack covinced me with something he wrote.....) I also wanted one I could use for minimal "survival" at home should we ever experience exstensive power outages-which I believe may come to Wisconsin at some point if weather patterns stay the same----in the form of ice storms.

I agonized over this-wanting a "quiet one" but not wanting to spend money on the red or blue ones, and also it seemed to make sense to get one that could run AC in trailer in a pinch.

Making a long story short- I was aware of the Champion (chinese) inverter generators that had been sold at Costco and Sams for around 400.00 when they first came out but were now unavailable at that price----Cabellas has them for 699.00 but that was getting in the range of a Honda or Yamaha- and I would need two 2000w to run air. Then I saw that Costco had them back in, now red instead of yellow- and slightly different- but they were 449.00. Never knowing with Costco when the next batch would be in- I bought ONE yesterday. I may go back after Christmas and get another----we will see. My buddy is also buying one- as one will run the 500btu in his Casita. He claims if i buy the cord to run them together- I can borrow his if I head off and feel i will need the AC somewhere- though usually we do not.

So- I will see. It will run my house furnace fan (nat gas), which in a pinch is what I wold worry about. And, at 1600W continuous it should work for the batteries.

There is a 228 page thread on RV.Net that spans two years on Champions. I understand the "get what you pay for" argument, but at this price- I may be getting all I need for the hours i will be expecting to use it. I realize that for 350.00 i could have bought a much more powerful, and Heavy, and LOUDER one---but I did not want to be running one in a campground. Wont use it much for now-----but come spring I will update.

Rick

JackandJanet · 11-06-2012, 11:21 AM

Good choice, Rick. Hve you fired it up to see how loud it is? I think they are fairly quiet.

- Jack

hilltool · 11-06-2012, 12:24 PM

Not yet. Still in the box. I think my buddy and I will fire them up together tomorrow and we can see how loud they both are. If i had a little remote coffee cart or the like somewhere and I was needing to run it six hours everyday then I would go with a higher rated brand, but I figure i will use this, at most, 30 hrs a year. So it may be a good bargain for that. Time will tell. I'll let you know how they sound once we get them gassed ----its snowing a bit here, now, so we will probably plug a heater into them and sit in the back yard for awhile and pretend it is September.

rick

rrbusb · 11-06-2012, 05:47 PM

My generator showed up 3 days after the power came back on after an ice storm several years ago, and it has done a fine job ever since. (no major power outages

) I don't think I have ran it 3 hours in 4 years. But it does remind me that I need to get it out, and exercise it before the weather changes, better to find out now if I need to fix something that in the middle of when I need it. Oh yeah, I need to make up a cord or 2 just in case I need to hook up into something.

retiredcamper47 · 11-06-2012, 10:09 PM

Get yourself a generator power transfer switch for the house and you will only need 1 cord. My power was off for 24 hrs last week thanks to Sandy. I have a 4400 watt Homelite generator that is about 15 years old. We were quite comfortable with it plugged in.

Bob

hilltool · 11-07-2012, 02:30 PM

Bob

Good idea. My concern is that with only a 2000 watt generator when the power goes off I wouldn't know "what" had been on and chasing down all the possible loads could get tedious . My fear would be thegenerator would shut down as soon as all the loads hit it. Instead- I'm hoping to get an electrician to wire a switch/receptacle that I could switch the furnace from the the house curcuit into a plug so i could just run that and, maybe , the frig with an extension cord. Don't know how the thermostat would interface, though. I guess another way (now that I'm thinking) would be to wire in a power transfer switch and make sure I shut down the breakers on everything but the furnace and kitchen when the power goes down. I'll give that some thought.

AS it turns out I was right about grabbing a gennie while I could. My buddy went in the next day to get one and they had shipped them all to the east coast. He was able to get the display model but all others, big and little, were gone.

take care out there

rick

retiredcamper47 · 11-07-2012, 07:26 PM

hilltool,

Check your private messages.

Bob

hilltool · 12-08-2012, 10:37 AM

So

I was a little unsure about The champion inverter /generator at first and waited until I had it running a few times. At first I was concerned that it wass leaking oil but I now think I spilled some while filling the elongated filler tube and it took awhile to leak thru the housing and onto the floor thus giving impression it was ongoing.

It seems quiet paricularly in Eco mode. Started first pull every time. Don't have any Hondas or yamahas to compare it to. Let it sit for one month then pulled it back out last week and fired it up and let it run for twenty minutes. Started first pull and no oil "leak". Put stabl in it and put it away. I think it will be fine for charging batterey bank but I won't know more until next season. If it works for as little as I will use it then I think it is a bargain at 450.00 at Costco. Have not attempted "home" application yet.

Rick

Rick

Hamster · 12-09-2012, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hilltool

Put stabl in it and put it away.

Rick

Rick,

I don't know if you meant that literally, but the small engine techs at the turf equipment shop here recommend to run the engine until the stabilized fuel has displaced all unstabilized fuel in the carb, then top off the tank with more stabilized fuel. They also strongly recommend ethanol-free fuel of the highest grade available, at least 89 octane, in all small engines. I've found both recommendations very helpful. Only one 76 station near me has ethanol-free fuel - you may need to hunt.

Jeff

RichR · 12-09-2012, 09:30 AM

You may find non ethanol fuel at the off or non brand gas stations, but you may have to ask as to whether they have it or not. I think they have to post if they do use it.

hilltool · 12-09-2012, 01:58 PM

Great points.

Actually I was using non-ethanol since the start. There is a station near me which sells to boaters as I am also near a lake. So that recommendation was in manual and I followed it. All they have is "premium", though.

There is a gas tank AND fuel line shuttoff on this unit so, yes, I put stable in and let it run for a few extra minutes and then let the unit " run dry" by shutting down gas line and gas cap vent until she quit on her own. Did not then add More stabl but I can. I did put stabl in the gas can as well which is standard operating procedure in these climes for all our litle engines and gas containers.

It probably takes three to four minutes to run the lines dry but that seems like a good idea ANY time it is going to be shut down for more than a couple hours. Again, instructions recommend it.

I may pull it out and run it once a month, anyway, just for something to do. House battereys are already pulled for the winter and in garage on battery minder. May have to go out now and try to start snow blower. Global warming non withstanding it appears this morning that it may still do that type of thing from time to time around here.

Thanks for the feedback

Rick

sam · 12-09-2012, 06:30 PM

Every night we watch the world news and tonight they showed the snow storms in the mid section of the USA. Praying everyone will be safe and warm.