I've had a Kipor for more than 4 years, cost me less than $600 and still going strong.

The best time to use a Generator is 2.00am cos everyone is asleep and can't hear it 

Sorry all 

JocknNik wrote:

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Don't overlook the Yamahas either. Not as common as Hondas in the market but every bit as capable. We have a 1 KVA for the caravan which hasn't done a lot of work, but our 2.4 has done plenty and runs faultlessly. But like all the more powerful ones, it's a heavy bugga! It's quieter than the smaller unit though. They too are not cheap but you get what you pay for I suppose. There is another side to the story though. A keen camping farmer reasoned to me a few years back, you can buy three or four Chinese or Indian gennies for the price of one 'big brand' job. So if it fails you're still ahead in dollar terms. They usually last a bit better than that.

We run full synthetic oil in our gennies and that's good insurance against lots of hot weather work. Running your generator at max to drive a power sucking appliance puts a lot of strain on it, but full synth oil helps.

We too have 2 gennys like you but run them with the normal oils and fuels and yes our 1kva job sees little work but the 2.6kva has had lots of work since its birth date of 2010. And both are knock off chinese jobs.

For the both I paid the sum of 900 DOLLARS. 
-- Edited by JocknNik on Friday 7th of July 2017 02:37:10 PM

-- Edited by JocknNik on Friday 7th of July 2017 02:39:28 PM

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Hi

My considered opinion. Quite some years ago I ran a small engine repair shop. I liked Hondas and think they were top quality, but probably not worth the extra money unless you value first pull start and quality build However things have moved on since then and the cheaper clones are much much better now. Probably almost as good at a quarter or a third of the price. They are used extensively in third world countries. But not all are the same quality. Yamaha are top quality too.

I have a Honda but seldom take it with me or even use it at all. I use solar panels and the engine alternator as a backup. Cannot be bothered now lugging a generator around and fueling it and starting it. Solar is very quiet,  especially Dougwe at "2.00am cos everyone is asleep and can't hear it "

This statement is not correct IMHO " None of the above gens will like running on a light load for extended periods (we're talking days/weeks) and you will likely cause bore glazing which requires a new engine and is not covered by warranty." Small petrol engines do not suffer from bore glazing (if run in correctly). Diesels might though !

Cheers Jaahn

-- Edited by Jaahn on Saturday 8th of July 2017 10:00:59 AM

Although we have solar, also have a 2.4 Yamaha for aircon if needed.  The Honda 2 we originally had was good, but wouldn't run it.

The Yamaha has been good for us.

Also consider the Briggs & Stratton P2200 (1700VA) at $1200 and the P3000 (2600VA) at $1800 both available at Bunnings. NB. The P3000 weighs 44kg.

Make/model - Max VA - Cont VA - Engine size - Weight - Noise

Yamaha EF2000iS $1700  - 2000 - 1600 - 80cc   - 20kg - 52dB
Honda EU20i $1700          - 2000 - 1600 - 98cc   - 21kg - 53dB
Kipor GS2000 $1140         - 2000 - 1600 - 106cc - 22kg - 57dB
B & S P2200i $1200          - 2200 - 1700 - 110cc - 24kg - 58dB
E-bay GT3000 $349          - 2000 - 1700 - 53cc   - 15kg - 58dB

Yamaha EF2400iS $2100  - 2400 - 2000 - 171cc - 32kg - 57dB

Fuji-Micro F4200Ri $429    - 2700 - 2500 - 105cc - 22kg - 58dB
Kipor GS2600 $1389         - 2600 - 2300 - 171cc - 30kg - 67dB
Yamaha EF2800iS $2040  - 2800 - 2500 - 171cc - 29kg - 63dB
B & S P3000i $1800          - 3000 - 2400 - 171cc - 38kg - 58dB
E-bay BM-700i ($499)       - 3700 - 3200 - 124cc - 30kg - 58dB
[B & S = Briggs & Stratton]

In general the most important figure from generator specifications is
the continuous power figure. This indicates the maximum capability of
the generator, it is the power the generator is able to produce all
day, every day. It is a key figure for the designers because it will,
largely, determine the engine size, weight, noise and cost of the
generator.

The maximum power figure is far less important and unless a time is
specified for it (which one never is) should be taken with a pinch of
salt.

Another interesting figure is the weight; this indicates how much
metal is in the generator.

Also of interest is the noise figure as this indicates how much the
engine exhaust system is being restricted with consequent power loss.

However perhaps the most interesting figure from the table is that of
engine size. Power from an engine is directly related to its cubic
capacity and/or its revolutions per minute. In general, increasing
either of these will increase the power produced by the engine
however, as always, there are trade-offs. Increasing the capacity
increases the cost, size and weight whilst increasing the RPM reduces
the reliability and life span of the engine. In the field of energy
there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Yamaha appear to use the same engine for their EF2800iS and EF2400iS
but the EF2800iS produces 500W more power however it does this at the
expense of noise - a more efficient exhaust system.

What the table clearly shows if that the very cheap E-bay type
generators cut corners (whole sides!) to cut costs.

The GT3000 has an engine only about half the capacity of the others
so either it's running twice the RPM or their power claim is
exaggerated - a bit of both I suspect.

Similarly the Fuji-Micro appears to be performing wonders with an
engine 61% the size of its rivals and the BM-700i far surpasses the
highest quality products with an engine 72% of their size. Or maybe
their sellers are lying?

To me the table says; don't touch the real cheapies with a barge
pole, the Kipor, B&S et al look OK and the Honda/Yamaha look a little
overpriced.

What is a bit of a worry is the 80cc engine on the Yamaha EF2000iS?
And I don't believe the noise figure for the B&S P3000i.

However, and most importantly, will they all stop using a bloody
lower case 'i' in their model numbers! :)

Hi

Thanks for that very useful table of facts Mike, should be useful to people who want some facts. (Some people don't of course )

Just a comment or two!

Noise is important if you are not completely deaf. And it causes most disputation, more than most other things out on the range. If the noise goes up 6 db then it actually sounds about twice as loud , so take that into account with the db's between the cheapies and the pricey ones. Note that if you are out bush and the background noise is say 30DB then anything starting up will be BL**DY loud. City people do not even know what < 30 db is or even <40 db. Some people like to "hear the serenity". 

Secondly the noise from the pricey ones may be much easier on the ears during normal running at lower power outputs due to some detailed work to achieve this. Most of the extra noise does not come only from the muffler. Just saying !!

Thirdly the weight is important if you are getting on a bit. There was some work put in to achieve low weight by Honda, by integrating the parts into a better package. Having a bigger motor may not be any advantage and be heavier(and noisier). If you need to unpack it for use then the weight is vital IMHO. 

cheers Jaahn 

Mike Harding wrote:

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"What the table clearly shows is that the very cheap E-bay type
generators cut corners (whole sides!) to cut costs."


"To me the table says; don't touch the real cheapies with a barge
pole, the Kipor, B&S etc all look OK and the Honda/Yamaha look a little
overpriced."

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 Many upset forum generator owners now.