Looking to buy Generators - Ever heard of Powerhorse?

[DesertRat]

Don't need a generator to boondock. Nice to have thought when doing it. Quite a few NF & NP campgrounds have no services but do have generator hours. Here's one outside the north rim of the Grand Canyon we've stayed at a couple of times.

Place called Hole in the Wall BLM campground

Death Valley NP

Just some of the places we have boondocked over the years. Have more pictures of other places just don't have them on this computer.

[EricNSTL]

Originally Posted by dawniewest

No way it's quieter than the Honda, but I don't think any small generator is. But for $200 less, I could put up with a few decibels louder.

Stupid thread, now I want one, even though we have never boondocked.

Its more like $1500 less then the red one that has equivalent wattage ratings. I saw no need to buy a 2000 watt model that wouldn't run my A/C. As little as I will actually use it, I have no worries about the champion lasting... Plus I could buy another one and still be ahead...

To bad you couldn't have bought this type during the ice storm last year!

Just don't go to Costco's web site and look at the Aug 2 date for the $100 off to end.... Don't do it!!!!!!

[wildwest450]

Originally Posted by EricNSTL

Its more like $1500 less then the red one that has equivalent wattage ratings. I saw no need to buy a 2000 watt model that wouldn't run my A/C. As little as I will actually use it, I have no worries about the champion lasting... Plus I could buy another one and still be ahead...

To bad you couldn't have bought this type during the ice storm last year!

Just don't go to Costco's web site and look at the Aug 2 date for the $100 off to end.... Don't do it!!!!!!

Very true, I was going by the smaller Hondas price. I also forgot that my tiny camper has a stupid 15,000btu air conditioner, I don't think that would work with this generator.

No way that would have run my house. I had 2 gas furnaces, the whole kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a bedroom, an upright freezer, and 2 tv's with direct tv and my computer running off that generator. It was super loud...
Now that's roughing it.

[EricNSTL]

Just got back from the storage lot and tested my new Champion inverter generator. It worked like a charm! Had no trouble starting my 15K BTU A/C. It also ran the fridge and TV at the same time with no effort. It is also light enough for me to handle with no problems getting it in and out of the truck. It is lighter then my 65 QT Pelican cooler when filled, which I never leave home without!
The noise level is ok. I have never used a Honda, so I cant compare it, but is was so much quieter then my open frame 5500/7500 watt Troy Built generator that I have. (not even a comparable.) I truly feel the noise would be completely acceptable in a campground that allows generators. So for the price, it receive a thumbs up from me!
I have my first boondocking trip in two weeks. We are so excited of the new opportunities the generator will allow us to explore.
So thanks West1134 for planting to seed on the generator!

[wildwest450]

Nice to know that will run the big air conditioner. Now to get mine fixed so I can boondock in luxury.


.

[West1134]

So I finally got my geni up to our 5th wheel today to test it out. I fired it up, turned off economy mode, and plugged it in, and fired up our A/C unit.

It ran no problem for about 10 minutes then turned on our fridge. About 20 minutes into the test, the A/C unit, (which was set to 73*), kicked the compressor on again, and then the generator died. It was probably 85+ degrees today, and the A/C was definitely working, but still I was a bit disappointed.

I restarted the generator, and tried it again, this time without the fridge running. However, once again after about 10mins once the compressor kicked in, the geni died again.

At this point, I'm going to definitely look into the hard start capacitor mod many have mentioned on the forums, and I've read plenty about. Figure that should do the trick. If however, for some reason, that doesn't do the trick, I'm still not disappointed with this unit. Its decently quite (tested it against my father-in-laws two Honda's EU2000's) and it was really close. I never bought this unit to use with my A/C, instead its just to give us the ability to go tailgating and hopefully try some boondocking in the future.

I'll report back once I install the hard start capacitor and test it again.

[West1134]

See my prev. post on my experience, however, just curious. How hot was it where you were at, and at what temp did you set your A/C to?

Originally Posted by EricNSTL

Just got back from the storage lot and tested my new Champion inverter generator. It worked like a charm! Had no trouble starting my 15K BTU A/C. It also ran the fridge and TV at the same time with no effort. It is also light enough for me to handle with no problems getting it in and out of the truck. It is lighter then my 65 QT Pelican cooler when filled, which I never leave home without!
The noise level is ok. I have never used a Honda, so I cant compare it, but is was so much quieter then my open frame 5500/7500 watt Troy Built generator that I have. (not even a comparable.) I truly feel the noise would be completely acceptable in a campground that allows generators. So for the price, it receive a thumbs up from me!
I have my first boondocking trip in two weeks. We are so excited of the new opportunities the generator will allow us to explore.
So thanks West1134 for planting to seed on the generator!

[EricNSTL]

Originally Posted by West1134

See my prev. post on my experience, however, just curious. How hot was it where you were at, and at what temp did you set your A/C to?

It was in the 90's today. I tested for about a hour. The unit never reached the set point of 71 degrees. I did however turn it off and on about 5 times. It worked fine with the eco mode on and off. When I tested with the eco mode off, and I switched the eco to on, the RPM's dropped to what sounded like a half way point between idle and full speed. So in my opinion, the generator wasn't maxed out while running.
I did notice a few things. My A/C was set in auto. When I turned the A/C on, the fan came on first, then after about 45 seconds, the compressor came one. This happened each time. Which means the start up load of the two motors are split up. Also, when the generator was in eco mode and the compressor came on, the overload light lit for about 1 second. When the eco mode was off, the overload light lit for about a 1/4 second while starting.
Also, during my testing I did have the Fridge on as well as the TV while the A/C was running. However, I am not sure if I had them on during the starting of the A/C, it might have been only while the A/C was already running. Additionally the converter was on. The water heater was turned off.

Is there anything else that you may have had on? Maybe try testing with the converter circuit off.
Hope this helps.

Oh, I also am using 93 octane fuel, and 5w30 synthetic oil. I also did the 5 hour break in prior to doing this testing today.


Also, the elevation here is about 500 feet which could make a difference.

[MartyG]

West, the water heater is a BIG user, and the fridge a moderate user. Turn both to propane. That geni should run your ac. I would be very disappointed if it didn't.

[West1134]

Thinking back on it, I did have the circuit on for charging the battery. THAT would certainly have a big draw, especially considering my battery would likely be nearly dead since my last use/charge. I will have to try again and see with that turned off if it makes the difference. I will still do the hard start capicitor mod too since it certainly won't hurt anything.

Thanks for the responses!!

[West1134]

Just wanted to follow up with my first real experience with the generator.

We took it tailgating (the reason we actually bought it) last weekend, and it ran everything we needed with no issue! It wasn't hot enough to run the A/C so didn't try that, but the fridge, coffee maker, microwave, lights, and charging the battery all were running while the generator stayed in eco-mode.

After bfast when the coffee maker was unplugged & obviously microwave was not being used, my wife was able to run both her hair dryer, and straightener at the same time (both draw a lot for the heating elements) and the geni did idle up, but still ran without issue.

Overall I'm VERY pleased with this unit. A tad louder than the two Honda EU2000's running parallel, but again $2k vs $700 I'll take my slightly louder solution any day of the week!

Ran all weekend, for hours on end, with decent fuel economy, and fired up first pull every time, so long as I choked it (if it was cold) first. I would definitely recommend this unit to others who may not really need a geni very often, or don't want to spend the big bucks on the Honda's.

[EricNSTL]

The Champion is on sale again at costco,

Champion 2,800W Running / 3,100W Peak Digital Inverter Gas Generator (CARB-50 State compliant)

[hopkins44]

careful when using generators. campers are 110volt . also generators make "dirty" power. some things may not work, or work correctly.. washers, tvs, ... this is where the money goes , how quiet , fuel , and weight are secondary.

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by hopkins44

careful when using generators. campers are 110volt . also generators make "dirty" power. some things may not work, or work correctly.. washers, tvs, ... this is where the money goes , how quiet , fuel , and weight are secondary.

That would be why you buy an inverter genset. Cleaner power than you find at most campsites.

Everytime I walk past my surge monitor when I'm running the gen, I see a constant 120V and there's never a flicker on the TV or computer.

When you start talking 50A yes somethings won't work if you are only power one leg.

After my solar, I wouldn't be without my genset.

[hopkins44]

had trouble with cummins 5,5 kw ben a few years ago...
had two 30 amp brakers...

with a meter. ground to A: 30- i had 110 volt
ground to B;30- i had 110 volt

BUT - between A and B legs i still only had 110 volt. took me forever to figure that out !

LOL- and that's just about where our story began ..LOL now that i think about it, that was our first camper, AND first trip with it. 750 miles from home, me , wife, our 3 boys, and the dog.... in the FL sun in june... and been a camper ever since.lol. maybe Im addicted to misery

no exp with solar ... don't work good ?

[wahoonc]

Solar works very well within it's limitations, ditto generators. They can be a pain to trouble shoot. You have to understand and know what to look for. Plus with most RV's your dealing with two different power systems. The 12 volt DC and the 120/240 volt AC, along with the interfaces between them. Unfortunately the clowns that assemble most RV's don't know what they are doing either, if they screw something up, it takes someone that really knows what is going on to straighten it out. In many cases you end up tearing things completely out and rebuilding them to work properly.

Aaron

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

Solar works very well within it's limitations, ditto generators. They can be a pain to trouble shoot. You have to understand and know what to look for. Plus with most RV's your dealing with two different power systems. The 12 volt DC and the 120/240 volt AC, along with the interfaces between them. Unfortunately the clowns that assemble most RV's don't know what they are doing either, if they screw something up, it takes someone that really knows what is going on to straighten it out. In many cases you end up tearing things completely out and rebuilding them to work properly.

Aaron

Once you figure out how to best use each power source to fit your style of camping, they compliment each other nicely.

We mostly use the solar to maintain the 12V side of the trailer and very rarely do we ever run a 120V appliance with the inverter.

The generator only runs for as long as the task requires, or the A/C gets the inside temp down to were we are comfortable. The longest the generator has ever run is on race day and only if we can get a TV signal.

If only we could get the waste water problem solved, we would never have to use hook ups.

[chily3]

Whichever generator you get be sure to add fuel stabilizer to the fuel. As the new fuels do not last and will gum up the works (carburetor). Or run it dry and do not keep any gas in the tank.

And this is the same for any gasoline engine the does not use up the fuel in a few months. .

[MartyG]

Originally Posted by chily3

Whichever generator you get be sure to add fuel stabilizer to the fuel. As the new fuels do not last and will gum up the works (carburetor). Or run it dry and do not keep any gas in the tank.

And this is the same for any gasoline engine the does not use up the fuel in a few months. .

That's why we bought one that runs on propane!

[West1134]

Another follow up post:

I have now had my Champion Geni for 6 months. Purchased for tailgating last season, and have since used it a couple of times when we had longer power outages at home. I LOVE this thing! Price is great, only a tad louder than my father in laws 2 - Honda's and when the power was out at our house, it was really nice to plug in my new 60" TV, and Blu-Ray Player and watch movies while we waited for the lights to come back on.

Definitely would recommend this geni to others. I have decided rather than following the procedure to fully winterize it (ie drain stuff & clear carb etc.) I am just adding fuel stabilizer, ensuring it has fresh oil in it, burning fuel out of carb before storing and then just setting a reminder in my calendar to go out and run it once every two months or so. So far, so good with this method. Still fires up right away after sitting awhile.