Champion Generators From Costco

[PeteZahut]

Has anyone purchased or used the 2000 W Champion generator from Costco? We just bought a new travel trailer and are considering buying a gen. Specifications are really close to the Honda 2000 W generator and for less than half the price.

[Weedy1]

I know nothing about the Champion Gen's but if you have AC in the trailer you will probably want to go with a higher wattage. Start-up draw with a typical RV AC unit (I think most are 13,500btu) will be a problem with 2000w.

 

RV people I talked to said to go with a Yamaha or Honda for least troubles and long term ownership. Resell value is also good. I went with a Yamaha 2400i and have no problems with any appliances or AC.

 

Edit - you may want to watch this video.They appear to be the same generator as the Champion 2000w from Costco.ca

 

[LastBoyScout]

I don't own a gen. But from what I know the Hondas are super quiet and the yams are also reported to be good.

[PeteZahut]

Thanks for the info. I doubt I will use my air conditioning as over the past 7 years of using a tent trailer we never once said we wished we had air conditioning.

[Tungsten]

You get what you pay for.

Honda 2000 for 4 years now,wife can run a hair dryer or a curling iron.Happy wife = more fishing time.

[eagleflyfisher]

Dumb question, do all generators run at full throttle all the time or do they idle down when not much current is being drawn.

Mines always wide open. It's loud .

[kritofr]

Picked up a Champion 3500/3000 watt fom Costco two years ago. It is still going strong with no major hiccups thus far

 

From what I have read, Honda's are the best, but my logic was that what I paid for the champion, I could go through 8 of them for the price of the equivalent Honda. Or as often as I use it I couldn't justify the price of the Honda.

[Tungsten]

Dumb question, do all generators run at full throttle all the time or do they idle down when not much current is being drawn.

Mines always wide open. It's loud .

 

The 2000 or bigger have an econo mode.The Honda 1000 for instance needs to run at full throttle to run a battery charger where the 2000 stays at idle to charge the same battery.

[Sean84]

Dumb question, do all generators run at full throttle all the time or do they idle down when not much current is being drawn.

Mines always wide open. It's loud .

They Idol down, many of them have an economy mode now as well.

[hopdrop]

I bought a used 1000watt Yamy off Kijiji a few years ago - it has the eco mode. Zero issues so far. Buy quality once and be done with it.

[bigalcal]

Don't camp beside me at RHC!!!

[Tungsten]

Don't camp beside me at RHC!!!

LOL! i'm the same way,before the chepos came out not to many had gen sets all was quite, but now that you can get a cheap one every body has them.

I run mine in the back of my covered truck,leave the topper door open pointed towards the bush and its barely noticeable.

[PeteZahut]

Don't camp beside me at RHC!!!

What site will you be set up at? I will make sure we cozy right up next to you. All kidding aside, I hope to get out that way this summer, usually camp at Dutch but like RHC as well.

 

Still not sure about getting a gen. Need to see how much battery we use over an average weekend and how often we feel the need to use the microwave. Doubt we will ever use the air conditioning. I don't like the noise either.

[noahtrout]

I have had a champion 2000W inventer/generator I bought from Costco 2 years ago. No problems so far. I am sure it is not as quiet as a Honda gen but I random camp and the noise factor is not a problem that it might be in a campground with a neighbour 10 feet away. All in all the generator is fairly quiet and I use it mainly to charge my batteries full to keep my furnace going on the cooler nights. The 2000w does not have enough power to run my microwave or my air conditioning but is great for charging batteries and running my toaster at breakfast. At $500 cost it is only about a third the cost of a Honda which would make half the noise but still would not run my air conditioner. Thinking of getting a second champion 2000W if I can hook it up in tandom to supply enough power to run my microwave and/or power my air conditioner on the few summer days I need it.

[slingshotz]

I've had the 2000W for the past 3 years, no issues and on ECO mode it's pretty quiet. Not enough for the AC but we've never needed it. I only use it to attach a battery charge to top off the RV and trolling batteries. For the price it's hard to beat. I noticed that this year it looks like they changed the design a bit and I think it's even smaller. I love Costco!

[PeteZahut]

The 2000w does not have enough power to run my microwave or my air conditioning but is great for charging batteries and running my toaster at breakfast. At $500 cost it is only about a third the cost of a Honda which would make half the noise but still would not run my air conditioner.

So the 2000w can't even run the microwave? That surprises me, I thought a microwave would be 1000w or less which should be handled at least when out of econo mode.

[Weedy1]

Even though a generator may be rated for x watts the inrush current of some appliances/devices when turned on can exceed the generator wattage rating by several multiples.

 

Check this out: http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outdoor/generator/sizing.aspx

[126barnes]

_{If you are looking to charge batteries, depending of the generator you may have a problem. I don't know what the problem is but my generator (King Canada el cheapo much like the champion) that I bought for construction of my cabin will not charge the batteries (litumium) for my cordless tools. Do you need an invertor to charge these batteries.}

 

_{As for theh rating on the generator they have two, start up and continous rating the start up wattage is lower that of the continous rating for expample the one I have is a 2800/3500. Tools such as chop saws or anything with big motors turning on quickly will cause a surge and trip your breakers.}

[Tungsten]

My 2000i Honda will charge my lithium tool batteries,I have 2 12V group 27 for my trailer hooked up in series.I have to charge them one at a time.Maybe its my charger but trying to charge them together it won't go any higher then 67%.One at a time and I have no problem getting them to 100%

[Ricinus]

Are you using the charger built into the generator or a separate one??

 

Mike

[slingshotz]

I use a dedicated intelligent charger (http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0111577P/nascar-nascar-advantage-battery-charger-with-express-start-reviews/reviews.htm) that can handle deep cycle and regular batteries and it has no issues getting my batteries to 100%.

[TerryH]

...................I have 2 12V group 27 for my trailer hooked up in series.

 

If they're in series, then your trailer's electrical system is seeing 24V. Did you mean to say "in parallel?"

[Sean84]

Even though a generator may be rated for x watts the inrush current of some appliances/devices when turned on can exceed the generator wattage rating by several multiples.

 

Check this out: http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outdoor/generator/sizing.aspx

This is very true i have a 3500w inverter generator, i once trid to start it with my AC already turned on by accident and it kept over powering the generator, I needed to start the generator then turn on the ac.

[reevesr1]

If they're in series, then your trailer's electrical system is seeing 24V. Did you mean to say "in parallel?"

Electrical geek!

 

(this coming from an Electrical Engineer, which means if I tried to wire it myself, I'd blow it up!!)

[ginger]

I have an off grid cabin with a solar system which was down for a long while so I relied almost completely on my Honda 2000i for a couple years.. I'm a complete believer mostly because of the reliability- it always starts first pull hot and third pull cold. On at least two occasions black bears have treated it like a beach ball but it still goes. With the eco throttle on it is quite quiet on idle but I wouldn't say super quiet. One thing I would note is that under a big load it will throttle up a lot and get kind of noisy which might be an argument for getting the 3500 or going solar.