Bob, if I was prepared to lash out the cash required for one of the brands you suggest, I would just go & buy it, I would NOT be seeking forum comments.

I am NOT prepared to invest that amount, hence my question requesting viable comments relating to a well known alternative brand 

that forum members have first hand knowledge or experience with.

Richard

I have also been looking at generators, and I believe ther eis a significant difference between how the "expensive" brand name products are made, and the cheap no name brands. Probably the most significant of these differences would be the presence and quality of the bearings. If I was going to rely on a generator as my only real source of power, then there is no question, I would be buying one of the big well known brands.

Given that I believe I have over speced my electrical system, it is likely that the generator I buy will sit in its storage space, and only get pulled out occasionally to make sure it still works. It will only be there as insurance. For this reason I intend to buy a small version of one of the cheaper brands.

If you are looking for a big brand alternative (as in you expect it to get heavy use), I would be contacting Ryobi Australia and asking them how suitable the unit would be for your intended use. I expect they will be relatively honest, in other words if they do not think it is appropriate they will tell you.

 Is this the one?  - It looks more like $900.

Although they say it is a 2,000 W model it only has a continuous rating of 1,600 W. When it comes to starting equipment with motors you often require a peak (surge) capacity of four times the continuous power draw of the device. Units with a "soft start" can get away with less peak rating. You can figure if you have enough starting capacity by looking at the power rating in the handbooks/data sheets of the equipment you desire to operate from the generator.

-- Edited by PeterD on Thursday 30th of January 2014 04:46:37 PM

oldbobsbus wrote:

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Generator threads have been done over and over and they all come to the same conclusion..

Buy a Honda, Onan, or a Yammie..

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 Well UPO doesn't seem to like your response BOb. I do as you say it's been done to death,,,,,,, "you get what you pay for" works well for gennies. How many have lamented their purchase.

UPO I suggest you find out who repairs them under warranty in your location,,,, look to see how many are there and why,,, you may be surprised.

Example: I went to a BIG electrical repairer a few weeks ago for a record player belt,,,, discoverred one brand of TV absolutely littered the place waiting for repairs/warranty approval ( seemed a bit slow getting approval) PLUS heaps of others never to be repaired. ie they are uneconomical to repair.

Lesson: You get what you pay for.

PS: As Plendo said,, often the quality is not the same,,, as many have discoverred Aussie are suckers for "cheap" and then complain when they find out they were seconds or contain parts not up to spec.

I have no issue with Ryobi as I use their power tools etc with good results.

Interesting price RISE in the last few days    Was at Bunnings Victoria Point Qld early in the week and read the specs on the Ryobi & Kipor boxes on the shelf and the Ryobi was then $799 according to the shelf price sticker - 

Thanks to those who provided insights to their gen use / expectations etc - looking at standby / occasional use only as all essential gear in the van is 12V with solar charging. 

Totally agree that the intended / expected level of use dictates the quality of the product required and hence the price involved.

I have a 20 year old HONDA 4 stroke lawnmower that has done a vast amount of work and is 100% reliable - friend has a small 600W HONDA gen set that spent about 15 years on a cruising yacht with fairly decent use and is still going. Both HONDA products were not cheap and were bought for the intended purposes and have been good value purchases.

Our intended purpose is similar to several others - occasional & fall back use - so a top end equipment investment is, as a value judgement, not necessarily required - in our case I am not going unknown fleabay type product ( which may very well give years of reliable use ) but a known and nationally supported item - just a pity about the price rise - still $1000 less so not all bad 

UPO - Richard