Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

We had a power outage here a few days ago. It was out for several hours which is unusual. During the outage, it was raining pretty hard and that had me concerned about the sump in our basement. I'm certain that it would take a couple of days of heavy rain for the sump to flood but not having an operative pump caused me concern. Accordingly, I bought an inexpensive Chinese Champion CSA40032 generator. It has 3000W continuous and 4000W surge power. I tested it out today with a 1500 watt continuous load then plugged in and actuated the sump pump. The generator worked just fine. Overall, I'm impressed with the machine. The engine is a Honda GX200 clone. From what I've read, this 196cc engine is produced for Honda in China and, Champion Power Equipment supposedly have a license to manufacture the same engines under their name. According to their advertising, they claim that their engines are built to the same quality and specifications as the Honda GX200, cast iron cylinder, ball bearings and all. After adding fuel and oil, it started on the first pull. A bit of white smoke originally puffed from the exhaust then absolutely clear exhaust after two or three seconds. The engine is very quiet and smooth. I ran it under 50 percent load for an hour and a half on a liter of fuel. I hate to say it but this little generator has impressed me. I think I'll have to take back some of the bad mouthing I've done in the past about Chinese engines. In addition to my initial impressions, my research has revealed that owners of these generators have put many hours on them with very few mechanical issues. One person reported that he has been using one for up to seven hours a day for almost a year with no problems at all. That's encouraging.

Oh, and did I mention the price? I paid $450.00 taxes included, out the door at Chinadian Tire. I checked out a comparable Honda EG3500XK1A (not exactly the same specs but close enough) and it's priced at $1789.95 plus taxes, which comes to 2022.64. Now, I'm not so gullible as to believe that these machines are on the same level. However, I'm also realistic enough to know that the machine I bought will only be used in emergency situations for brief periods of time. Considering that I could buy 4.5 of these machines for the price of one Honda, it truly does make one wonder why a person would shell out that kind of bucks for an iconic brand name and a bit more quality.

Does anyone out there have any comments on these machines?

For their intended purpose (camping etc.) the inverter type generators are hard to beat. Honda, Yamaha, Kipor and Boily are top sellers with Honda and Yamaha being very pricey by comparison to the other two. In Canada, the EU2000 is $1600.00 and equivalent Yamaha is similarly priced. An equivalent Kipor or Boily is usually half of that. A friend of mine bought a 2300 watt Boily. Had it delivered to his door for $800.00 all in. I've seen and heard it run. With variable rpm/load it's very quiet and seems fairly well built. Certainly not on the same level as an equivalent Honda or Yamaha but, for half the price, it looks like a bargain. If it holds up only half as long as Honda, you're breaking even. If it lasts longer, that's bonus time.

The Champion is not an inverter type generator. It runs 3600 rpm no matter what the load. So it will be making more noise all the time it's running. For my needs, noise is irrelevant. It's for emergency use in case of an extended power outage. Extended is 24 hours or more which has never happened and likely will not being that we have huge hydro plants in and close to the city. So there's a good chance that I'll never need the generator at all. For the $400.00 that I paid for it, it's very inexpensive peace of mind. I also have a 6kw diesel gen set out at my camp that's been faithfully running for 26 years and has close to 6000 hours on it. That's relatively low hours considering the engine is designed to run at least 25,000 to 30,000 hours as a generator power supply. That liquid cooled 850cc, three cylinder Kubota has been a real gem. All I've done to it in 26 years is change oil every 150 hours, and coolant twice. It's kept in a clean environment and still looks virtually new. The valve lash hasn't even gone out of spec!

I've been toying with the idea of building a gen set myself. Not that I need another one. It's just that I've seen brand new 850cc liquid cooled three cylinder Yanmar diesels for $2400.00 and new 7kw generator ends for $1600.00. That's a lot of generator for the money!

Yikes...you guys really get the shaft on pricing up north. My EU2000's were about $915 (USD)/each with free delivery from Wise Sales.

borat wrote:

I like to think our power is fairly resilient where I live but a windstorm or large snow storm undoubtedly takes the power out where I live. At times it can take local power utilities several days to get power back to some. We are primarily Hydro as well in WA state and bleed off our extra power to the states to the south. There are some large wind farms now though.

I'd love to have a diesel type generator at my cabin like you mention below. That is some serious power.

I'm hoping I get some good years out of the Hondas.... I've seen a few people on other forums mention having 10-12K hours on their units. I guess they are living in some kind of "off-the-grid" arrangement.




borat wrote:

snowmachine wrote:
Very true. The list prices are ridiculous and the local dealers don't budge. That's why I buy much of my OPE and motorcycle related merchandise from the U.S. I've probably spent $20K in the U.S. in the last three years. I get the gears from local dealers for buying out of country and not supporting the local economy. I usually tell them that their pricing is waaaaay out of line and me supporting them is equivalent to providing a thief with a gun to rob me.

I can understand that there is some disadvantage for local manufacturers and dealers however, it's no where near the difference in price and they don't even try to give you a break on prices. A prime example is just before the economic melt down, a fellow I know bought an brand new GMC pick-up. After the economic crisis, that same truck was selling for close to $9000.00 less. How does a manufacturer/dealer sell the same product at such a reduced price and stay in business? You can rest assured that their profit margin in Canada is way over the top compared to the U.S. Canadian manufactures and dealers get no sympathy from me. We Canadians have been a cash cow for manufacturers/dealers for far too long. Now that the U.S. and Canadian dollars are reasonably close, there are many bargains to be had in the U.S. and local merchandisers had better take heed!

As a matter of fact, before I bought the Champion from Chinadian Tire, I had ordered a similar one from Cabellas in the U.S. They had an equivalent model on sale for $399.00 USD. When I looked on the CTC website, they had a similar model for $599.00 CDN. When I went to CTC for something else, I went down to their generator section and saw a similar machine on sale for $399.00 CDN so I canceled the Cabellas order and bought locally. I'll buy local if the price is reasonable. This is another prime example of profit gouging. If they can afford to knock off $200.00 from the price of a machine and still make money, the profit margin is excessive.

Independent dealers are even worse. I told the story before of the local Toro dealer selling a twenty cent bolt for $5.89! They should have a nylon stocking pulled down over their faces.

so, I'm resurrecting this thread from the dead... anyway, after the two power outages this year in Northern VA, I just purchased one of the champion generators from costco for $700. It's model 41537 (7500/9375 watts). It's got a 439cc Chonda engine. The generator is still in the box, unopened. However, I'm considering the Honda eu6500is, which is close to 5x the price of Champion generator. Obviously, there are bigger differences. The eu6500 is an inverter and I won't have to worry about the computers, tv, etc. I decided against a home standby generator as it's very expensive and we will not be staying at this house forever. So, I thought about getting the Honda. How has your experience with the Champion? still working after 3 years? thanks ray

I only fire it up once a year each fall just to make sure it runs. 

I just add enough fuel to run it for half an hour or so and put a load on it.  Fires up willingly and runs nice but that's no indication of how long it will last when put to work for extended periods of time.  What I Can tell you is that if you do some research, you'll see that most people who've bought the Champion generators are very pleased with them and some have put a lot of hours on them.  

I recently bought a Chinese built 2kw Hyundai inverter generator to use as an alternate power source to the diesel generator I have at camp.  No sense running a 6kw diesel generator to supply 500 watts of demand which is our normal load.  Got it for a very good price and I'm quite impressed with it's build quality, smooth, quiet operation and very good fuel consumption.  I've put about 7 hours on it just testing it and breaking it in.  Did the initial oil changed and run the hot oil through a paper coffee filter to inspect for engine grit.  Other than discolouring the filter paper, the oil had no detectable particles in it.  Clean as anything I've ever owned.  The same was true for the Champion.  

Personally, I admit that Honda and Yamaha are superior generators.  Are they five times better?  I highly doubt it.  If your needs are only to run the generator for less than 500 hundred hours or so a year, I'd be more than happy with the Champion.  If you're going to be running something like 1000 hours a year or more, you might want to buy the Honda or possibly an small diesel.  However the large inverter Honda will be quieter under light load conditons.  Have you looked into the Chinese built diesel powered inverter generators?   I bet they'd be very easy on fuel.  

I doubt the generator will be run for more than 10 days a year max.


Fuel consumption and silent operation are the main benefits of the Honda.


The Champion is rated at 74 db at 23 feet.


The eu6500 is 60 db.


Fuel consumption for the Honda can be 4.7 hrs to 14hrs depending on load. The Champion 8 hrs at 50% load. So, I figure consumption is about the same at 50% and 100% load. However, the Honda can throttle down to 1/4 load for 14hrs of use. Which I figure will be important if gas becomes unavailable. I can convert both to natural gas, but that's just more work than necessary. I've purchased the conversion kit, but will leave it on the shelf until I need it.

I've looked at the bigger diesel home standby generators at central maine. Kubota looks good, but I don't think I can have a 100gal diesel tank in my yard. So, it's natural gas when we move to a bigger house. I could then use the Honda as a back up.

raysmd wrote:

I figured you guys may not have heard about this recall. http://m.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml?pageType=health&url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57545168/costco-sold-champion-generators-recalled-for-fire-risk/&catid=57545168

hirschallan wrote:
Never heard about it.  Only two models invlovled.  The units involved are quite large.  Mine is only 3000 watts.  Neither of the two recalls is mine. 

The fuel consumption with the 5000+ watts non-inverter type generators would be excessive. 

Rather than spend money on one big generator, I'd buy a couple inverter units.  Probably a three kw. and a two kw. (running watts).  That would give more flexibility and a bit of redundancy as well.  I'd probably not buy Honda or Yamaha.  What I've seen from the Champion and Hyundai units I have, I'd trust them to pull us through pretty much any emergency situation.  Not claiming them to be on the same quality level as the other two.  However, they're plenty good enough and at 1/4 the price, kind of easy to do.        

When we built our house over twenty years ago, I ensured that we'd have an alternative reliable heat supply for winter emergencies.  Hence, two large, high efficiency Opel 2000 fireplaces.  One on the main floor, the other in the basement.  I keep a two to three month supply of dry wood on hand and have access to plenty more just out back of the house.  Can't go wrong with wood burners if you have access to properly dried fuel.  Pretty simple stuff.  Dry wood, a good stove/chimney and a match.  Accordingly, my only need for electricity is for relatively low power consumption devices.

 We have "on demand" gas heated hot water that requires only enough electricity to ignite the burner and supply the control panel.  We have gas cook top, gas clothes dryer and gas heat as well.  So, if used properly, the two small units we have would be more than sufficient to keep us relatively comfortable.  The inverter would be used to provide power for lights, TV, satellite receiver and computers and one light draw fridge.  Light load, quiet operation and economic fuel consumption.  The 3000 watt Champion would be used to run one refrigerator and a freezer as required.  That would be more for convenience than necessity.  Being winter, up here we have plenty of freezer opportunities.  I keep enough fuel on hand to run the generators as required for probably a month or more.  So, overall, I think we have the bases covered.  

Another fortunate aspect is that our water supply likely wouldn't be interrupted for quite some time.  About five years ago, a massively huge underground reservoir was built up on the other side of  a 70 foot high hill about a third mile as the crow flies, behind our house.  It was built to accommodate future expansion of the area for decades into the future.  It's the size of a very large two storey department store underground.  About the only thing that would effect us in a big way would be a lengthy gas supply interruption.  However, we have the wood burners to fall back on to cook and heat water.  Kind of like being at camp!  

We're pretty luck living up here on the shield.  No earthquakes, no hurricanes, very few tornadoes.  Ice storms and the rare, long drawn heavy snow storms are the biggest threat during winter and heavy rain/flooding is the most damaging warm weather events if you live in low lying areas.