Bargain Generator

[HenryJ]

Today I came across a real bargain on a larger generator. One that could provide emergency household power. Might make a good addition to a RV trailer sometime in the future.

This reminds me of the $99 Offroad HID bargain earlier this year. It probably will not last long as the local store has sold seven of them since yesterday.

I just bought a Champion 4000 peak / 3500 watt continuous generator for $161.75

Shucks Auto supply (Shucks/Checker/Kragen and Murray?) are selling the Champion C46540 4000W generator for $399. It is currently on an unadvertised mark down to $349 and offers an additional $100 rebate. Add to that a 25% off coupon for another $87.25 off.

It is a Chinese knock off of an older Honda generator. I had one of the Honda's like this when I worked construction in the early nineties. It is not huge, but really did a great job and was bullet proof.

It is a 6.5 hp OHV 4 cycle engine. This has a foam washable air filter. Low oil protection. I am told that Honda parts interchange so parts availability is good. The muffler is different. Champion has used a automotive style muffler. Other than that and the air cleaner, everything looks very close to the old Honda I had.
With a four gallon fuel tank running half a day is pretty easy. This will make a very handy tool to have around. It comes with cables for battery charging, a funnel , spark arrestor for the muffler and sparkplug wrench.

This unit is yellow. I see the same generator , painted blue, available on Amazon.com for $240. That is still a good price for a unit this size. I have been watching for quite a while. A back up for power outages is my main concern. This is big enough to power the pump for my well , should the need arise. With water we can do pretty well in an outage.

Reviews are very good for this unit in moderate use.

Thought I'd spread the word. $162 for a 3500W generator is half price of any unit I have seen thus far. $1 per 10 watts seems to be the best price I had seen. This cuts that nearly in half.

Now the good news and bad. Not so bad really.
I put a lifetime of wear on the pull rope. Came real close to taking the POS back and asking for one that runs.

I did everything I could think of. Pulled the plug, checked the spark. Checked the needle valve and float. Pulled the main jet and blew compressed air in the bottom of the carb. WD-40. Choked with fuel. Fuel off in case it was flooding.

I did find a tiny piece of plastic flashing in the float bowl. It must have come from the float. There must have been a piece in or under the main jet too. It finally started after the removal of the main jet and a good blow job.

It is slightly louder than the old Honda IIRC. Really pretty quiet for a inexpensive generator of this size. Much quieter than the Briggs powered versions this size.

I gave it the 10 minute run in and cool down. Started up after a couple pulls. Remembering to turn the switch back on helps.

Barely a burp in the engine to power a 1/2" drill. I have no doubt that it will do all I need. It will come in handy haunting the corn maze this year!

 

[toy_tek]

We've got a pile of 6 or 7 of these in our construction shed, all toasted for various reasons. One of these days I'll Frankenstein them together to bring at least one unit back from the dead.

That said, they all served between one and two years of fairly continuous duty in seriously less than ideal conditions: AZ heat, concrete dust, no regular maintenance, employees that could give a rats azz about equipment. Obviously they weren't built for commercial use, but we gave them a shot.

So that price is a pretty good bargain. I would caution, however, that from our field reports, I believe that a 3500 watt output rating is rather generous. Ours have all been replaced with 5000 watt units.

 

[HenryJ]

Any tips on the failures? The generator is permanent magnet and brushless. That eliminates some potential failures.
The engine design is a good one, but I am not sure about the quality, or quality control. The electrical panel could be damaged and I am not sure how brittle the outlets might be. I am sure you would not want to tug a cord out of them.

I know exactly about what you speak when you talk about a less than caring crew. I deal with a crew that given an anvil and fifteen minutes, would have it broken. They run the equipment like it can be replaced with new daily. Heaven forbid they should actually have to check a fluid level.

This unit is not built to take a beating , thrown in the truck, dropped out to the ground. The sheet metal is light for the switch panel. The tubing may be thin. It is not advertised as a contractors grade or commercial generator. You are going to have to take care of this unit and treat it right, I am sure. The RV outlet kind of sets the market they were looking for, would be my guess. A good "weekend warrior" generator. Single outlets should be a clue to the fact that it will not handle huge loads.

The three dozen reviews for it that I read were mostly positive. Four out of five stars averaged. Complaints were from shipping damage. Bent bars , sheet metal and broken outlets. The add on wheel set seems to be a big cheap POS. That is where several rated it low. I avoided that and had no plans to add the cheap wheel set.

I will admit to having the "rose color glasses" on right now. I have been watching for a good deal on a generator for a very long time. At twice the price I paid, I would not have purchased it. At $250 it would have still been tempting. For $162 I could not pass it up.

I did have a real problem getting it started. Someone less mechanically inclined or less stubborn , would have given up for sure. Since then it has started first pull every time.

 

[gary in ohio]

Harbor freight sells one, I find them at Odd lots/big lots all the time.
They are good for what they are. Prices are usually good for a secondary backup or little use primary system. I wouldnt want to bet my life on one.

 

[toy_tek]

I don't have much info on the failures, honestly they've trickled through over the past year so its difficult to remember what the problems were. I do recall a couple circuit breakers frying, and one had little/no output which could be a voltage regulator or something. I'm sure a couple just suffered from lack of maintenance.

After re-reading my previous post I might have come off a little too negative on it: I think its a great unit for somebody on a tight budget that won't use/abuse it regularly. Our units most likely had a couple hundred HARD hours on them before they gave up the ghost.

On the Harbor Freight comment: we actually replaced the above units with the yellow General Thunderbolt unit. My previous post was inaccurate, these are actually rated at 5700 watts/ 5200 continuous. They were blowing out some scratch & dent units last fall for $350 so we took a chance on one. Its been working out great and we have since purchased 5 more since December. The company owner basically said no way in he** will he buy a $1500 Honda to give to our crews, so this is the route we took. I figured if they were total junk they'd be back by now, but they seem to like the abuse.

 

[HenryJ]

I appreciate the input. Seeing all sides clearly is a good thing.

This would not be my choice for the crew I work with, however I would not be a bit surprised to see one of those above me to show up with one as their idea of the best replacement available.

I know there are those who say "The price will soon be forgotten, but the quality will not."
Sometimes you have to take a chance. This is one where at this price it would be hard to go wrong. I think to when the neighbor and I each bought new riding lawnmowers. He swore that nothing out runs or lives a Deere. I bought a less expensive mower from the local farm supply. He spent $4700 on the green lawn tractor, I spent $1000 on my red lawn eater. I take pretty good care of my equipment, so I was not too worried. I figured I could be on my second or third new tractor and money ahead in the long run. Funny how you can not tell the difference between a lawn cut with a $5k mower, or a $1k mower. Here we are ten years later. His green Deere sits in the junk pile dead. I am still riding my $1000 mower, torn seat ragged baggers, but still going strong.

I have hopes that this will follow the same good fortune. For the price paid I can be on my second or third new one for the cost of another generator that may , or may not be better. For no more than I will use it, I can not justify a $1500 generator sitting in the garage waiting for a disaster, or project. I have a handy smaller generator that I pack in the truck for the travels. It is in the same boat really. Rarely gets used.
In an emergency do you really want a cheap portable generator? I really don't NEED a generator in an emergency. It would be more of a convenience item.
That is how I see this.

Keep the comments coming , good or bad. Airing out all the thoughts is what forums are about.