Quiet generator for camping?

Honda or Yamaha? In the market again.

 

I bought the Honda EU2200i over the summer for camping and it’s plenty quiet

 

Thanks. I know Honda’s are great. In my research apparently Yamahas have a fuel line shut off so you can rub the carb dry versus a Honda, which does not. Is that true, if so, have you run into any problems cold starting after storage?

 

I'm glad the parks we visit don't allow them. I go camping for peace and quiet.

 

I have a yamaha ef3000iseb it’s nice and quiet and has wheels to easier move it around.

 

I'll second these, I have the 3000w for Hurricane season. Run it off my dump cans and can run it all week (7 days) on 8 gal. of fuel. Really quiet.

 

I used the Harbor Freight Predator 3500. Clone of the Honda at half the price. Reviews online look fantastic and I can attest, 40 hours on mine so far and she starts first try every time & runs strong. I think with regular oil changes, it should last just as long as any of the others.

I get about 8-10 hours on a full tank, depending on how much we run the A/C. And it came with the plug adapter for RV 30amp cords, which was nice.

 

Honda 2000 here, bought it around 10 years ago through Northern Tool. Has a fuel shut off, also has an eco-mode which makes it even more quiet. Still runs excellent after heavy race weekends running tire warmers and box fans. Of course, it has NEVER had ANY sort of ethanol in it. pure gas dot org....

 

Thanks for the input. Really appreciate it.

 

Interesting. Thank you.

 

Ill second the Predator inverter Generator...

I have 2 - 1600/2000 generators....one will be great for running heat (charging the battery and using propane) or just general chilling out and making sure the batteries are charged for my overnight (I use a CPAP and need power - and I run off 12v as necessary)...so one is fine for most chilling out.

only run 1 most times.

If I need A/c ill bring a second one, and tie them together...and have 26 amps (each are approx 13 amp) and that runs damn near everything in the RV (I have a 30 amp)...it is easier for me to lift one smaller one in and out of the RV...vs the larger heavier one.

have used it for several years, just regular oil changes...always starts ...runs VERY quiet...have received compliments on how quiet it is...

 

Thanks so much. I am adding Predator to the list.

 

Chair, fire, cooler full of ice/beer... I don't need no stinkin racket. If you need your AC and TV, go to a motel.

 

Come to the Deep South and tell me that. lol

 

lol You're just jealous cause you got no beer!

 

I bought a Predator 3500 this summer, really impressed with it. Actually a degree or so quieter than a Honda 3000. I figure I can buy 3 of these for 1 Honda.

 

Clean power with the Predator? I need the generator to run the furnace blower in the house when the power goes out. Furnace is newer and circuitry requires very clean power. It doesn’t like the power from my Briggs and Stratton 3500 and kicks a code.

 

Thanks. I use a generator to power the blower of the furnace in our house when we lose power, which is very often where I live in the winter.

 

The op was asking for camping generator ideas. I see a use for them in home and emergency and don't agree with him for camping if around others. If you are wildness camping, off the grid, knock yourself out.

I'm a camper, tent as well as hybrid trailer, but don't see a need for generators or a/c for my purposes or anyone in the campground. As I stated earlier in my post, most structured campgrounds up here don't even allow them. I've gone so far as to report them when I see them in use as they violate the park rules and interfer with my use of the grounds I'm paying to use and to get away from all the hustle and bustle

 

Sigh. I meant it as a joke. Nor was I singling anyone out.

consequently it sucks your power isn’t reliable. Especially in winter. That seems like a great use for alternate power sources.

 

I buy plenty of stuff from Harbor Freight, so when I got my trailer a couple of years ago I grabbed a Predator. I loved it at first- ran my A/C no problem, not too heavy, sipped fuel, and super quiet. Then a month or so later the carburetor problems started. It would randomly run so rich it would die, you could smell it. Sometimes it would restart, other times not for hours. I checked everything, upgraded spark plug, etc, but still did it. I returned it and H.F. replaced no problem. Set the new one up at home and ran it through the break-in procedure, varied the load on it and everything. Right at the end of the break in period with no load it did the same damn thing. Took it back and got my money back. A little research on the old interwebs showed a common problem. Hopefully it was just a bad batch, but at that point I was done.

In researching I found that of course Honda and Yamaha are great, but very spendy. After those, everybody spoke highly of Champion, especially their customer service. Got the remote start 3400w and love it. The best thing is the remote, after a while you can't imagine having to ever go out in the rain again to start the generator, or not get up and get dressed if you want to sleep a bit more but your wife is up and wants the generator so she can start the coffee pot, she just hits the button.

It comes with a 3 year warranty and after 1.5 years I recently got a chance to test that supposed great customer service. 1 or 2 times the remote didn't work so I called them up. After a telling the rep my issue he said sounds like a bad remote, asked me for my address and said he would ship a new one and the internal module for the unit just in case that was the problem, and did I need the location of the nearest service center or just the parts to do it myself, never even asked me for proof of purchase.

 

It’s all good. I was being a smart ass. I hijacked the thread for my own self-serving purpose.

I don’t camp much anymore. We bought a hunting camp with electric and heat!

 

It’s all good man, as I said in the other post, I was being a smart ass. I hijacked the thread. I didn’t want to start a new threat because I know there was one already on here. I don’t camp anymore unfortunately. We bought a hunting camp with heat and electric! I’ve never camped with a generator nor would I.

 

@Borgs all good here too...I actually agree with your type of camping....chair, fire, cooler full of beer (but make mine a Coke) and throw a canoe into the mix too.

 

Thanks so much for the thoughts. Unbelievable but my research literally found all the points you raised here. The key point for me with all the points raised, with the price and reputation comes the reliability and lack of hassle with the issues. Pay more for a bulletproof Honda or Yamaha, or deal with warranty issues with the cheaper brands? Sounds like you know what you are doing and spend a lot of time learning about the equipment. The remote is not a big deal for me because I only use an inverter in an emergency for utilities in the house. I was talking with my dad about these same points tonight. Maybe I am overthinking this.

 

I did set up our tent in the yard, of the cabin, this summer and slept out with the kids and their cousins. Does that count as camping?

 

Been there done that, in the backyard.

 

powerequipmentdirect.com

 

I have both the Honda 2000 and Yamaha 2800.
Honda is quieter and does the job for everything but the air conditioner. 2800 struggles to run the ac if anything else is running.
I'd like to trade the 2800 for another Honda 2000 so i can run them in parallel, just adding the 2nd generator if needed for the AC.
Both are solid and significantly quieter than my old champion.
The bigger the generator the louder its going to be, so i'd suggest figuring out your usage and how much power you really need.