Inverter generator recommendations

[Mac]

Hi, I’ve been reading reviews and watching U-Tube on the pros and cons of Honda vs Yamaha 2000w inverter generators. I’ll link two together for 4K watts. I’m sure either would work just fine as both get tons of positive reviews. Since both are roughly the same price, does anyone here have real world experience that would make a wise decision Clearer?  
thx, Mac

[SeaDawg]

As much as I love our old (12 years) Honda, I  would probably lean toward Yamaha, based on last two Honda recalls.

We also have an older and much larger (12 or 13 year) Yamaha, that works great, but is way too heavy to drag around with us, without carrying a ramp to get it out of the truck bed.

As a user of both, I would have to lean toward the no recall that I'm aware of Yamahas today, or even the Costco Yamaha motor 2000 watt units. They're pretty quiet, (my sister has one),  so far reliable, for two years. And, cheaper,  relatively. And when she bought it, it came with the parallel cable, no extra charge, to tie into a second genset. That may not be true today, so I  would check.

Sherry 

Edited March 20, 2020 by SeaDawg

[Mac]

Thanks SeaDawg ...Sherry! I wasn’t aware of the 2 recalls...guess my “research wasn’t very thorough!  I’ve had both Honda and Yamaha motorcycles, they were bulletproof.  The Honda felt smoother, like a sewing machine, the Yamaha felt tougher, like a washing machine. Does the tag Sea =  Seattle? Dawg = UW Huskies?

[Mike and Carol]

Tractor Supply sells a nice little 2000W Champion.  Weighs 37 lbs and is as quiet as the Honda.  I think normal price is $399, I got it on sale for $350.  Works like a champ (pun intended).  Gas only, not dual fuel.  It kept us charged last fall at Grand Teton when the weather got very overcast and cold and the solar couldn’t quite keep up.

[Mac]

So, you’re saying, price saving of 75% matters? I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for weighing in! Hadn’t really looked at them given the massive # of 5star reviews of the 2 priciest options.  Tractor Supply is everywhere around here...Franklin, Tn.

[SeaDawg]

1 hour ago, Mac said:

Thanks SeaDawg ...Sherry! I wasn’t aware of the 2 recalls...guess my “research wasn’t very thorough!  I’ve had both Honda and Yamaha motorcycles, they were bulletproof.  The Honda felt smoother, like a sewing machine, the Yamaha felt tougher, like a washing machine. Does the tag Sea =  Seattle? Dawg = UW Huskies?

No, sorry. Just means a seadog, sorry.

We're sailors as well as campers.

Sherry

[Patriot]

17 hours ago, Mac said:

Hi, I’ve been reading reviews and watching U-Tube on the pros and cons of Honda vs Yamaha 2000w inverter generators. I’ll link two together for 4K watts. I’m sure either would work just fine as both get tons of positive reviews. Since both are roughly the same price, does anyone here have real world experience that would make a wise decision Clearer?  
thx, Mac

Here-

We still like the whisper quietness and years of reliability of our two Honda’s. I can’t speak for other brands. 

The larger EU7000is is a backup for our home. It runs everything we need during a power outage except our 4 ton Trane AC. Ceiling fans are in play during a power outage to keep fresh air circulating.

 

Edited March 21, 2020 by Patriot

[John E Davies]

I like Hondas in general, my old push mower is simply amazing. I try to buy power equipment with Honda motors whenever I can. But I like my Yamaha 2400 way way better than I did my old EU1000i. 

One thing that really bugged me about my old Honda is the shut-off switch. It was a single knob that killed the spark as well as the fuel. So the engine would continue to spin through quite a few revolutions (heavy flywheel) before it quit. Which meant it was sucking raw gas into the cylinder since the spark plug was dead. It never would restart in one pull, like a Honda should.

My Yamaha has a fuel shutoff valve so you can let it run until it stalls, emptying the carb, then turn off the ignition. It always starts on the first pull. It’s a little thing, but in the real world it makes a difference in the unit’s usability. I used to swear a lot at that little Honda generator....

I used to trust the Honda name more than I do now, some of the motorcycles have had unacceptable problems, like the crankshaft replacement recall on my daughters CB300F, which required a brand new bike to be stripped completely down.. . That pissed off a whole bunch of owners.

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited March 21, 2020 by John E Davies

[WhatDa]

Take a look at the Ryobi generators too. Lots of good reviews out of Puerto Rico after the hurricane. Ours has held up well. Bluetooth app is nice too- gives you an idea of how much runtime you have and lets  you turn off the generator remotely. 

[katanapilot]

Newer Honda models have a three position shutoff switch that allow you to shutoff the fuel and not the ignition.

Probably not a popular opinion, but I’m going on a no China campaign (like the Champion Honda knockoffs).  Not achievable in the short term, but what has been unleashed on the world economy by the Chinese is unconscionable. I work for the airlines and we are being very quickly decimated. If you think we brought this on ourselves I will respectfully disagree. 

[gatorewc]

I actually bought 2 of the Sams A1 2300 generators 2 weeks ago after reading a 1000 reviews on all makes.  Really wanting the Honda or Yamaha, I could not walk away from the $350 a piece deal especially since I had $500 in credit refunds.  It came with parallel jumpers and all I need.  I have only ran 1 for an hour and it really seems okay.  Only time will tell.  I figured it will be available for my kids during power outages and whatever circumstances come our way.  I have a 20 year Coleman 1000 watt that I run about once a year, have changed the oil maybe 5 times and it runs forever when called upon.  Of course it is much louder.  I intend to be a little more diligent on maintenance with my newer ones.   So bottom line, Honda better up their game if they want to stay the leader, all brands are catching up.

[John E Davies]

One oil change every four years is risking internal corrosion. If the machine is parked in a dry environment that may be OK but if you run it even one short time, you should consider changing it more often. A full synthetic is better.

An inductive hour meter/ tachometer is a super easy mod to monitor use and engine performance. I change the oil in my Yamaha every 50 hrs or at the end of every camping season. 

When parking your machine every time, pull the cord slowly until you feel resistance (compression) and then stop. This places both valves fully closed so moist ambient air cannot get into the cylinder and possibly cause rust.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[gatorewc]

Totally agree oil change every 4 years is not what the doctor ordered.  Yep, working operations in a power plant for over 20 years I know all about start up friction, moisture accumulation in oil, and proper preventive maintenance.  Sometimes we get lazy at home from the exact work we focus on every day.  

Generators are really getting very efficient and low maintenance if you follow guidelines for upkeep.  Hard to justify name brand when they have recalls.  I was real impressed with the Westinghouse generators too.  When you pay for the best, you expect the best!

[Mac]

Thank you for sharing your opinions and experiences. I’m very thankful that there are good options at several price points. The feedback has helped me narrow my priorities to: noise levels, power output, reliability, size and weight, warranty, ease of maintenance, and fuel efficiency. What’s clear to date is I’m definitely going with parallel capable units of 2000-2200w, due to power flexibility, and the unit‘s  weight as we’ll need to move it in and out of the Sequoia and/or Ollie a lot. 

PS... this past Friday I spoke with a man claiming to be a long tenured  customer service advisor at Yamaha Generators about generator build quality and country of manufacture. I was curious about the premium pricing of both Honda and Yamaha generators compared to all others. I’d assumed the reason being they were made in Japan.  Wrong! He said that ALL brand name generators today are made in China. He said that ONLY Honda and Yamaha have their own factories and therefore maintain their own standards for parts and build quality, and thus the premium pricing.   He said ALL other brands to his knowledge use common manufacturers, with less stringent specs.  Obviously I have no idea if what he said is true, and no way of knowing how the parts and build quality compares. For what it’s worth....

[John E Davies]

It’s not just QC, it is after sale service and parts availability. A “Hong-wu SRX Max Gen Sunrise” will have a very short warranty, the service line will always revert to voice mail telling you to email, and they won’t answer those. When you ask for a replacement part like a simple switch, assuming you could get an answer, they will tell you it is unavailable and you will have to source one for yourself. If you need a major part like a control board or piston, forget it. “Sorry, these are disposable utensils and are not meant to be repaired.” Here’s looking at you Harbor Freight. Read the warranty, read online user reviews for followup service and parts. 

Yamaha warranty 3 years.

Honda warranty varies, 1 to 5 years. .... http://cdn.powerequipment.honda.com/pe/pdf/warranty/pwl50623-w.pdf

Harbor Freight standard warranty: 90 days, extended warranty expensive, must buy at local store.

Parts? Amazon sells all sorts of Honda generator bits ... https://www.amazon.com/slp/honda-generator-parts/hy6z9gy68zp25un ... and the big brands have well established dealer networks and independent online parts suppliers. If you take your Honda generator to Joe’s Small Engine Repair, he will fix it and the replacement parts will be on his shelf. If you bring your no name unit he will laugh and shake his head..... 

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited March 22, 2020 by John E Davies

[John E Davies]

Here is an example, the HF Predator 2000w generator. Nice manual supplied, 102 parts listed in the diagram (but no engine parts). But wait..... 

NEITHER THE MANUFACTURER OR DISTRIBUTOR MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND TO THE BUYER THAT HE OR SHE IS QUALIFIED TO MAKE ANY REPAIRS TO THE PRODUCT, OR THAT HE OR SHE IS QUALIFIED TO REPLACE ANY PARTS OF THE PRODUCT. IN FACT, THE MANUFACTURER AND/OR DISTRIBUTOR EXPRESSLY STATES THAT ALL REPAIRS AND PARTS REPLACEMENTS SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN BY CERTIFIED AND LICENSED TECHNICIANS, AND NOT BY THE BUYER. 

OK, how about this “Available Parts” link......

Ten items listed...... hmmm.

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited March 22, 2020 by John E Davies

[Mac]

Good reminder, John. I’m going Yamaha 2200i over the Honda, because of the fuel indicator, higher fuel capacity and carb drain feature.  However, I do like the smaller and lighter footprint and slightly quieter run of the H.  Though the Red machine is more popular,  I’m going Blue this time. Thanks!

[WhatDa]

Another reason I like my Ryobi 2300.  90 Day money back guarantee.  3 year warranty included.  Blister pack of two with paralleling cable was $999 on sale at home depot.  I could have also added the home depot warranty for like $100 - but based on the reviews of the Generator I skipped.  I keep the second one as a spare as we don't need more than one to power anything in the trailer.  Has a 1.2 gallon tank (vs .95 in Honda) for a  nice long runtime.  I can see the runtime on the display, or my phone.  I can turn ECO throttle off on my phone too if I know I need higher power now.  Hour meter on generator and phone.  While I can't remote start, I can remote cutoff when we are done charging the batteries/cooling/using the microwave.  Great reviews on HomeDepot, youtube, and those in Puerto Rico that ran them 24/7 for months after the Hurricane.

Parts are super easy to get: https://www.partswarehouse.com/Ryobi-RY-i2300BT-Digital-Inverter-Generator-s/323887.htm

If it breaks though, I am just using the 3 year warranty and grabbing my spare generator in the interim.  After warranty, I'll fix myself.

[Mac]

I considered the Ryobi but after looking at customer reviews on the Ryobi 2300, The positive reviews were great. It’s the number of less than great that incline me away. My blood pressure pump doesn’t have very good tolerance for things that don’t work well or have to be returned or fixed often. It may cost 2x but I’ll probably have a less stressed existence using the blue one.  😊

[Raspy]

I have a 2000 watt Yamaha.  Obviously Honda and Yamaha have excellent reputations.  My general experience with them has lead me to repeatedly see that Yamaha's engineering is better.  Not necessarily more user friendly, but mechanically better.  Honda will use sleeve bearings, where Yamaha will use roller bearings.  Honda likes to use plastic camshafts, and Yamaha uses steel camshafts, etc. 

My Yamaha has a separate fuel shutoff and it is the best way to shut the engine off.  Then, no matter how long it has been sitting, maybe even a year, it starts right up.  

Keep in mind that these gas engines will lose about 3% of their output per 1,000 ft of elevation.  While camping at higher elevations, the reduced output is really noticeable.  

While it's true that they simply plug together to make more power, the whole idea of carrying, maintaining and running two generators means a lot more trouble and more noise, more lifting (if that is an issue), and more gas to run them.    How much power do you really need?  Why can't solar do it (aside from running the AC)?

While camping in quiet places, it is becoming more and more annoying to hear generators running.  I decided about a year ago to not bring mine along anymore, and I've never missed it.  While camping at Yellowstone, Death Valley and Valley of fire, generators were a significant disruption.  These days, you can run the microwave, charge phones and computers, and watch TV from an inverter.  And charge very well from solar, or the truck.  Again, unless you are trying to run the AC.  I get that it's nice to park in the shade, and there are cloudy days, but the truck can make up for some of that by charging through an Anderson plug at 50 amps or so. 

Inverters will give you 120 volt power without having to go out and start the generator, they work fine during mandated quiet hours when generators are not allowed, and they are silent.  If quiet hours start at 8PM, for instance, and you need a generator to watch a movie, or charge your computer, you are out of luck.   Inverters can't be used continuously, and they require monitoring the batteries more carefully, but they offer significant advantages too.

At some point it's hard to see the difference between camping and living in a luxury apartment with invisible utilities like homes have in the city.  I've had to camp next to motorhomes that ran their generators all day, while they weren't even in the motorhome at all.  Why do that?   Or, if you're camping where you have to have AC, but you have to sit inside all day with the AC on and the Generator(s) running, are you really having any fun, or enjoying your surroundings?  

[Geronimo John]

Raspy:  

My grandfather also hated running generators.  Seems he had a neighbor that left their camp generator running 24/7, when the norm was to use them only during daytime.  His solution was to give his neighbor's generator a shot of CO2 gas from a fire extinguisher that needed to be recharged.  It shut down the generator and we all could sleep well.  

[topgun2]

Ouch!

Was that sleep after all the cussing and fighting stopped 🤓?

[WhatDa]

I only use the Generator for batteries when solar isn't enough, like winter in WA with tall tries and gloomy/snowy skies.  During much of the year, we'd be better with solar panels mounted on the side of the trailer.  We don't have an inverter: USB-C laptops charge off of DC power, DC TV, and DC conversion on the apple TV.  So all we lose are the Microwave/Convection, AC, and dehumidifer.  The dehumidifier is the one thing I want back for snow camping - followed by the micro/convection for some cookies.

[beaker]

We've had the 2000W Honda Companion Generators for 10 years and have had no problems with them.