Generators

Hi Scruffy,

As you say, there can be some good bargains out there.
But there can also be some risks too, not the least in the area of personal safety.

$699 is very cheap compared to the brands of high reputation and I wonder what enables such a low price. It is usually achieved by low build quality and little attention to quality control. In some products it may matter little, other than loss of your investment, but with 230 volt electrical appliances it could be a risk to your life.

In order to achieve low manufacturing costs corners are often cut in material quality and care of assembly. A simple failure of electrical insulation could produce a lethal situation to yourself and family.

It is not so much a matter of cost saved on the purchase, but the price you put on personal safety. For myself, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

As a matter of interest, Jaycar are offering a 2kW sine wave gennie at $899.
In general, Jaycar offer quality products and certainly stand behind their warranty with nation-wide stores.
Not a Honda but I would give it a run.

In my experience I've always found that it you buy good quality camping gear it can last a life time. Yes there a some bargains to be had but they still dont last. I bought a 1k Honda generator about 10 years ago, it has only had spark plugs and regular oil changes and it's still going strong. Never had a problem with it. Yet mates of mine who buy the "bargains" seem to always have problems with reliability.
The last thing anyone wants is to have problems with gear when their away on their hard earned holidays.
Bazza

The first question one needs to satisfy with any cheap no name generator is who does the repair/warranty servicing and what is the cost to return the unit. I believe this are made by Powermax . Is their a service agent in your area who has parts? If you have the answers to these questions and are happy then go ahead.

If I didn't have a honda I would have bought a ryobi, good products with good warranty and only $899.

Hard to beat imo.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-2000w-petrol-inverter-generator_p6210345

Hey guys - I wanted a 3.5kVa generator for when we want air con, washing machine and power tools BUT it had to physically fit into our generator box on the van. None of the big names even came close - and I certainly didn't want to spend $5k. Eventually came across a "no-name" for $899 - free freight. 2 year warranty, remote start and stop and runs our kettle, microwave and air con. It even has a digital screen.

Being a sparkie, I had "HUGE" doubts about it - but it does the job. Used it to run my pressure cleaner to clean the family graves up on the Atherton Tablelands in August.
Had a couple of issues - rang them up, and they sent me to a repairer in Cairns - all fixed and no more problems.

I have since seen numerous versions of the same unit - and nobody has had any issues. Again - being a sparkie with 45 years experience - issues of insulation breaking down and killing you on the cheaper brands - unfortunately that is just ridiculous.