Which portable <span class="highlight">generator</span> ?

I run a Honda EU10i and find it very good. Whisper quite and uses bugger all fuel...about 2 L every 8 hours or so

Hi Kiwi & Cushla
Honda is the go. I run an EU201 and it brilliant.
Good Luck with your choice.
Rob

I got a Yamaha from Midland tackle&gun mart. That was at a camping show.
Royal show starts next week might be some specials at that.
Brian

Hi there. Just to be different, I went the Yamaha path, and bought a EF1000iS. Firstly, it came out slightly quieter than the Honda, and also slightly cheaper (at the time). Both these are generally recognised as the pick, in terms of electrical performance and overall reliability.
Some are now saying the Yamaha has a chrome bore but the Honda doesn't - can't remember the details. I just recall some saying the Honda 2kw is more durable than the Honda 1kw because of this question of the material from which the cylinder liner is made.
Neither unit likes running at low load, but my Yamaha gets a bit snakey with me running the fridge and the intelligent charger whilst the generator is set to economy mode. I find it best to run my stuff from the batteries where psooible, and then run the genny to recharge. I certainly wouldn't want to run the genny for hours just to power a tv plus a couple of lights (too noisy; and bad for the genny (so they say)).

Ditto re Tenpounder's comments above - I bought the Yam EF1000iS too. A fine little beast. Inverter technology with high quality clean power for electronic devices. Starts first time, every time, quiet and very frugal on fuel. Show specials seem to be the best prices - at the time, ours was about $300 cheaper than a Honda of the same size and it has all the same specs. I keep mine full of fuel all the time, but find that it appreciates a 5 minute run every month - that keeps the carby happy for easy starting. As for the eco throttle - some devices (initial stage on my smart charger for example) can make that a little cranky, so at times it may need to run on full throttle.

Have to agree with Chris, power your accessories on 12 volt and use your genny to recharge the battery with a smart charger.
I have a Honda E1000 and my son has the Yammaha and both units will do the job fine. Yamaha is a bit quieter than the Honda but only marginally.

There is biggest market is Honda and with more support , prices between
EU1.0 AND EU2.0 ( $300 ) you can get EU2.0 $ 1800 and yes they just snooze away

regards Paul

There is biggest market is Honda and with more support , prices between
EU1.0 AND EU2.0 ( $300 ) you can get EU2.0 $ 1800 and yes they just snooze away

regards Paul

I got the Yamaha 1000.Im pretty sure its quieter,lighter and uses less fuel than the Honda.
I would compare them before making a decision

Go the E10i, I purchased mine through the generator place, cost was 1300 which included 5 year warranty, locking chain, cover, engel cooler and a first aid kit.

They will freight anywere pretty cheap, I opted to pick mine up they have dealers in Perth and probably some in Kal.

You can call the honda shop in Midland and ask for a deal, they will knock dollars off just for asking.

The warranty and quality were the big selling points for me.

I've had both the Yamaha EF2400iS & the Honda EU20i both very good and quite i only sold the Yamaha because I needed the xtra space the Yamaha is by far the best if you need that xtra bit of power,but if the Honda puts out enough power for you,it's the best for you.it's a really good unit

I got the Yamaha 1000 and its great

Looking above Yamaha & Honda are the way to go - Yamaha is cheaper and may be better. Cheers Tony

I bought a kipor sine wave 1kva
In my mind its on a par with the honda only 3db noisier
At the time Hondas were around $1400 I got the kipor for $600 new off ebay
Im more than happy with it and hasnt let me down in 2 years
The way I see it I could buy 2 of these for the price of one honda

Yamaha EF1000 has fuel tap which Honda EU10 does not. Yamaha can be run dry in the carburetor and no leakage or smell. Honda EU10 with bouncing leaks fuel out air filter and stinks everything of fuel. Overall Yamaha EF1000 is a lot better unit than Honda EU10



Yamaha EF1000 Feature Benefit
Lightweight Design/Easy to Carry Newly designed exterior and compact lightweight inverter unit reduces weight to 27 lbs. Lightest weight generator in its class.

Noise Reduction Design Molded casing, noise-absorbing glass wool construction and a newly designed muffler produce unbeatable noise reduction

Long Run Time Runs continuously for up to 12 hrs. without refueling (at 1/4 load*)

Variable Engine Speed Automatically adjusts engine speed to precisely match load, resulting in greater fuel efficiency and noise reduction.

12 Volt DC Output (Battery Charging Cables Included) Recharge 12 volt batteries for RV, auto, marine, aircraft, etc.

Inverter System with Pulse Width Modulation Industry -leading system produces higher-quality and cleaner electricity. Results in pure sine wave as clean or cleaner than commercial power and can operate products with built in microcomputers.

Exclusive Dual Coil Alternator Stator Lower engine speed. Reduced noise, fuel consumption and engine wear.

Centralized Control Panel Control panel enables easy access to controls.

Fuel Petcock Reduces carburetor contamination by turning off gasoline flow and allowing the carburetor to run dry.

OHV 50cc Engine
(overhead valve) Provides improved efficiency, increased reliability, low oil consumption and noise-reducing operation.

Large Fuel Fill Access Wide mouth fuel fill reduces spilling and overflow during refueling.

I would only use the "DC" output on ANY of the small generators to charge batteries in an emergency if there was nothing else available.

The "12 volt DC Charging" outputs on ANY of the small generators are neither 12 volt, nor DC, nor acceptable chargers.

"12 volts" - NO - they are a simple winding with diodes and the output can vary between 6 and 24 volts, depending on the generator RPM and the electrical load on this output.

"DC" - NO - it's simply rectified AC with an extremely high level of ripple which will damage devices needing DC.

"Charging" - NO - it's totally unregulated, so it'll damage your battery by overcharging them once they're full. All battery manufacturers specify a maximum ripple in fractions of a volt - the high ripple on unsmoothed rectified AC will shorten your battery's life.

G'day Ross and Cushla

If you don't want to run an airconditioner either the Yamaha or Honda are excellent choices. If you do end up running an aircon at some time in the future, the Yamaha 2400 is superior to the Hond 2.0 for that purpose. There has been much discussion about this on various caravanning fora.

While the Honda will start a typical caravan aircon unit, it will only do so if every other AC appliance (including your battery charger) is switched off. The Yamaha does it easily. These two units are a close match so far as price goes, so many people are going with Yamaha these days.

Kedron Caravans used Hondas but have changed to Yamaha in a response to customer difficulties with Hondas starting aircon units. As I say, none of this is relevant if you NEVER intend to power an aircon, but maybe it will pay to look to the future as the gennies (either) are going to last a long time, possibly even outlast your current outfit.

One thing we have noticed though....the Yamaha fuel tank breather is very efficient (read...emits lots of vapours), so if enclosing in some sort of box, the box needs to be well sealed to avoid "leakage". I spent a fair bit of time sealing our generator "cubby" with silicon to stop the fumes getting into the van.

Cheers

Russ

As an aside, has anyone seen that little Cummins P1100 generator that is on ebay at the moment? Same sort of deal as the small Honduh and Yamaha gennies with same Db rating...didn't know Cummins made gen sets...

Hi Rosco

Without wanting to start ExOz War 3, if you don't want to antagonise your neighbours, the Honda is the go. It is not just the decibels. Honda sort of purrs, and is barely audible and not at all annoying to camp next to (some may disagree and say that no genny is good to camp next to). The cheaper units may not be much noisier, but the rythmn is somehow most annoying. We camped near someone with a Yamaha (only a small one), and i was surprised to find it seemed noisier to me - it probably wasn't any louder, but it was not 'purring' like a Honda. A 1 kva should do what you want, and as aforesaid, use it to charge the battery at times when people won't notice, and run the lights and television off the battery in the evenings.

Motherhen

Hi Ross & Cushla,

I have a Honda 1KVA and it works fine for me. IMHO there isnt mutch of a difference between Honda and Yamaha and the argument will continue for years to come.

I believe (If you can never see yourself running an A/C with it) to get a 1kva of which ever brand you can negotiate the price.

They dont like running lightly or heavily loaded for extended times. I run a light to put some load on the generator whilst using it.

Cheers Wilko

Hi all,
I just bought a Honda EU20 at the Penrith show and it comes with 5Yrs warr 4 from manufacturer and 1 from the Generator place I received a cover,trolley, locking cable all for $1600 I thought that was a good deal,I would like to know what is common practice with Gennies in a free camping ground do people pull up for the night and have a sort of unwritten rule that the gennie only goes on to charge batts for a certain period then its all gennies off and out comes the the bottle of red ??

Just remember which ever one you buy isnt rated to continously run what is written on its side, ie 1kva or 2kva.If you want a 2kva genny, you need a yammy 2.4kva which is rated to cont. run 2kva, the honda 2kva is only 1.6kva.Most 1kva gennys are rated to cont. run .85kva or less.

WOW, Thanks for all those comments,will now read and digest!!! Seems if Honda fitted a fuel on of it would be a no brainer! Thanks again.Rosco