[bubbatime]

Get the champion 2000/2500 W generator. People use them for thousands of hours in off grid camping. They are small and lightweight, something like 39 pounds. Plenty of power for a refrigerator.

I have used mine during a hurricane to power a fridge, freezer, Internet modem, fan, and window AC unit.

People buy generators that are way too big and that use way too much gasoline. These 2000 watt generators are very useful.

 

[bubbatime]

Honda or Yamaha.

Those other generators (champion, Sam’s/Costco/HF brands) at a lower price, are probably less reliable - which is ok if you can fix things AND CAN GET THE PARTS. I just don’t think you’ll be able to get the parts easily, or at all.

That's kind of the old way of thinking. These Chinese inverters are extremely popular. They are sold 50 to 1 compared to the Honda. And 500 to 1 compared to the Yamaha. Translation? There are a LOT of these little generators floating around in America. And they work. People have thousands of hours on them.

Champion has a full parts warehouse full of parts for these things and they have all the parts. Its always been that way. They probably have the best parts distribution network of any of the Chinese generators. Plus a 3 year warranty. Plus good customer service.

If it runs fine for the first 50 hours, chances are you got a good one and there should be no reason you cant put a few thousand hours on it.

And with the price of a Champion being about 1/3 that of a Honda.... the Honda might be better, but its value certainly isn't there. You can run the Champion for years and years, throw it away, replace it with a new Champion, and still be money ahead, then buying a Honda. Heck, you can get two Champions, plus the parallel kit for less than a Honda.

 

[bubbatime]

I went with the Honda.

Drove to pick it up and will start the break-in process tomorrow. The owner’s manual doesn’t mention anything about synthetic? Suggestions?

Fuel storage concerns…Gotta figure out how much gas I should keep on-hand.

Small engine guy here. Some tips.

1) Break it in with conventional 10W30 oil. Honda sells some but its expensive. The cheapest conventional 10W30 on the shelf is fine (for break in).
2) Run for 5 hours. Change the oil. Run it for another 5 hours. Then change to synthetic HIGH MILEAGE 10W30 oil. High mileage oil is thicker and has more anti wear additives and is better for a generator application.
3) If you don't want to use synthetic oil, stick with heavy duty engine oils. These are fleet oils, dual rated for gasoline and diesel. Rotella 10W30, Delo 10W30, John Deere 10W30 oils. Very good stuff.
4) Buy and use ethanol free gasoline if they sell it in your area.
5) Use blue painters tape and a sharpie marker to label your fuel cans with the date of purchase. When it gets 3 or 4 months old, dump it into the truck.
6) Use a double dose of Stabil or Startron fuel stabilizer in the fuel can
7) Run the generator out of fuel. Don't store it with gasoline in the tank.
8) Many people recommend turning the fuel petcock off and running it til it dies to drain the carburetor of any fuel. Don't bother. This method leaves a few teaspoons of fuel in the carburetor. The carburetor bowl has a drain screw attached to a clear plastic tube. Use this drain plug to drain the carburetor bowl. After you have drained the fuel bowl, put the choke on, and give the pull start rope a few pulls. Usually it will start and suck any remaining fuel out of the small carb passages. After a few more pulls, you can be certain that the carburetor is now empty of fuel, and WILL start the next time you need the generator.
9) Don't forget that a generator without an oil filter needs an oil change every 50 hours. So every 2 days running during an outage, you should be changing the oil. Many many folks blow up their generators during hurricane outages because they miss this important step. Its not a car that you change the oil once a year. Yes, it needs an oil change every 2-3 days (when in use)

 

[bubbatime]

In the EU2200i owners manual on page 14, Honda says they recommend 10W-30 API-SJ rated oil. The SJ spec is from 1997. I think oil has improved a bit since then and any modern oil will meet warranty requirements.

Yes the latest SP rated oil is backwards compatible. Meaning it can be used in old stuff calling for SJ oil.

 

[bubbatime]

The plan is to buy a 12 gauge extension cord with a single outlet to power the fridge for an hour and then switch to the freezer for an hour.

Thats fine. 12 gauge is appropriate for the load.

Unless your fridge and freezer are ancient, you can plug both of them in at the same time no problem.

Get a triple tap 2 ft extension cord adapter, and that way you only have to run one cord into the house. You can use the other two outlets to charge your devices.

2 ft. Triple Tap 3 Outlet Extension Cord

Amazing deals on this 3-Way Grounded Power Outlet W/ 2 Ft. Cord at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[bubbatime]

I have read some where that it’s best to split the load on a generator on the 2 outlets

You do that on 240V generators. Half of it’s available power will be on one set of outlets ,and the other half of it’s available power will be on the opposite set of outlets.

The generator is rated for 1800 watts (15 amps) continuous, which is the limit of one receptacle. The inverters work differently than a conventional 240v generator, so no need to try and “balance” the recepticles.