Portable Generator………

After not making any hits for quite a few years, I’m about to take the car to the track, but still have 1-2 small things to do and a few things to buy for the enclosed. My former generator was a Honda, but it was big and way more than I ever needed.

Portable Generator. What brands/models are out on the market today that aren’t super expensive, reliable, not huge and not super loud? Just need it to power the typical stuff, not an entire city LOL. Oh, and brands/models to stay away from would be nice to know also. Will look at new options, but will most likely buy a used one if I can find a decent one. Thanks.

Good question.
I asked myself the same thing 2 years ago.

I ended up buying a Honda EU-2200i inverter unit. And I love it. It cost a few hundred more than the Chinese copies. But they last forever, and the risk of a bad Chinese unit that dies in the first year (or goes many many years) was not worth it for me. Super low noise, easy start, reliable, etc. Yes expensive.

I have a big, heavy, wheeled, 7500 Watt "portable" generator with a Honda engine. But it is much louder, and more than I need at the track. It is my home back-up generator.

I have an older version of this Yamaha I like. It’s very quiet.
https://factorypure.com/products/ya...Y_9AsVAAfEO0MwWnEz4-5zyblMRoCyrgQAvD_BwE

I bought a 2000 watt Honda inverter generator years ago and it’s still going strong. Several years ago I bought a 3400 watt Champion inverter generator when I planned to run nitrous to have more power. I carry both and switch back and forth. I paid 700 something for the champion but it looks like they jumped up in price.


https://www.championpowerequipment.com/product/100233-3400-watt-inverter/

Honda EU-2200i and don’t look back.

I just sold my spare Honda EU2000. Still using my 20 year old unit as we speak . On the cheap I’d give the harbor freight quiet gen a spin, but I’m a huge fan of the Honda EU

I agree, Honda with an inverter or a clone.

Check with guys that race. The Harbor Freight Predator inverter style is very popular. I see tons of them. I used a friends Predator 2000 last year and was very impressed. It ran My camper A/C, trailer generator and charger with no issues. Very light, very quiet, easy to start, and fuel efficient to boot. I also have 2 friends with the larger 3500. One has 3500hrs on it with nothing but oil changes. No one at the track had a bad word about them. Since my trailer has a enclosed generator area I went with the larger battery start 3500. If you watch for specials you can get 20% off. Sign up for the Harbor Freight club and get an additional 5%. Sign up for their credit card for another 1st time use 10% off. Then never use the card again. Ended up with 35% off. The Honda is a good piece. But it costs twice as much.
https://www.harborfreight.com/2000-...46&product=62523&store=660&g
Doug

I bought the HF Predator last year and like it after years of using a big , heavy and noisy Coleman. I don't use it a lot but its good for what I need it is pretty quiet and light. I would have liked to get a Honda ( it is very similar in size , even the same color ) but for the huge price difference ( a little less than half the price ) I went with the Predator after seeing several fellow racers with the same unit.

Honda has the best resale value

I'm sticking with my big old-school 5500+ noisy generator also have used for house back-up. I have never used/tried anything else but it makes me feel strong/good that I lift it into the trailer or pick-up bed. Noise isn't so bad because, I can't hear the wife complain. If the noise does bother me I can always direct it towards my pit neighbor. I hope this helps!

I had a Generic and it was great but it was stolen. I've purchased 5500 w Harbor Freight and its been very good. I service it annually. Mine is a bit noisy. Harbor now makes some very good quite models too. I'd love to own a nice honda generator but I always seem to need race car parts more.
Be sure to buy one large enough to serve you well.

My two trailer we have a Honda EU3000Is and a Onan 4500. Both are very quiet and work great. Alot of folks like the predators and hard to beat for the $$ My Onan was only $999 when I bought it but they have gone up a bit. Bigger issues is the availability of them, all smaller generators for that matter.

Lol carry a spare set of brushes and an alignment tool. You would hate to keep that wonderful exhaust note all to yourself!

Maybe i need to start towing in the 20kw onan.

I'd buy a Honda EU2000 if I needed a small generator, my buddy has a 2000w inverter Yamaha and it's a nice generator, quiet and easy on gas.

I’ve been happy with my 2004 EU3000i. Chinese engines built on $875 a month irks me. (82,500 yaun, average Chinese factory worker annual income). Whatever. Flame away.

https://generatorrookie.com/where-are-honda-generators-made-best-models-to-buy/

Gents thanks for taking the time to give input and your experiences. I’ll consider everything mentioned and buy what will suit my needs. Thank you!

Take time to consider the racer that pits next to you. Nothing worse than listening to a Brigs n Stratton engine in the pit-next to you that sounds like a rod is about ready to come through the case.

I bought a firman from costco 3000 watt inverter seems to be good so far - but the Honda is probably the best out there

We work on hundreds of these , from all manufacturers.
Honda is the absolute gold standard.............from noise to durability , they are simply the best portables out there.
Yes , they cost more.
Generac is pretty good and we are a dealer.
But getting inventory is a challenge these days too.
What ever you buy , buy a brand you have heard of in the past.
Because if you ever need parts for it , this is where the fun starts.
Some of the no-name sets we have encountered have no national parts distribution network , and I have had companies pull parts off of units in their warehouse for warranty repairs because there was nothing else out there.............for them or me.
Those warehouses were in the U.S.
If not , we'd still be waiting.

Yes there is... a Tecumseh powered generator.
"back in the Day" I had a Colman 4000w Tecumseh powered generator as a track power supply. it from the day it was new sounded like a cement mixer full of hammers. It was so annoying I would walk away when it was running. I was about a dozen or so trailers away talking with a friend and the engine on my genrator let loose... my friend said "thank God, I hope the A** H*** that owns that thing dosnt buy another one" (not knowing it was mine - although he would have cursed me anyway). But you are correct, as a now much older and wiser racer my generators are quieter and less obtrusive.Not me but you'll get the point

X3

I have an older Yamaha 5500 watt 4 stroke electric start commercial generator mounted on my race car trailer tongue, it is loud but it works real well
I don't leave it run when I'm not using it in consideration from my pit neighbors

I had a 25+ year old Yamaha. Still works great. Fixed an oil leak at the case halves and the choke. That's been it besides oil changes. But it was NOISY. I insulated the trailer box but the outside noise next to me was bad. That's why I researched and bought the Predator. Now the Yamaha is for emergency use at home.
Doug

Doug,

Thanks! A few people have hit me up saying the Predator is a nice one. I’ll definitely consider one or a Honda. Thanks for the HF sign-up tip as well.

Thanks for everyone’s input on the subject.

Yes most definitely! I know what you mean LOL

That’s me …. “Top fuel” generator

I’ve got a 12 year old harbor freight “Chicago electric” finally replaced it with another harbor
Freight one , but hey BES and Rossler is a little pricey so I get the non inverter one lmao 😂
Yearly oil changes keep them running well

On old customer of mine used to go to a lot of nascar races and camp. If they got next to someone who was disrespectful with a loud generator he would adjust the mixture screws on the carb when they were away so they wouldn't be able to get it to run for the rest of the weekend lol.

i know someone that took a hammer to the spark plug, in the middle of the night, to a generator... He had enough of the loud POS...

We were at a party over the weekend, and people brought their campers. Neighbors had a Honda, and we had a Predator. The Honda was louder.

Sounds like a TVD moment….


and on your comparison with Honda and predator…. EU 2000 vs Predator 2000? Noise at idle? I know my EU 2000 revs up pretty good when the kurig gets lit up in the am, but it’s still in our pit area and very tolerable. The worst load was the electric heaters I used to use. For those we had both gens running.

….and look into the Berg gas tank set up. Great for multi day races.

https://generatorbible.com/compare/p-9053/p-12054/

….just more info. I’m a Honda guy, but I bought my EU when they were the only quiet game on the block. Another key area it’s come in handy is running an extension cord into the house and keeping the fridge and satellite tv going during power outages.

I also found it “interesting” that my 2nd EU 2000 (a good 10 years newer) seemingly always had carburetor issues. Had to remove and clean it quite often to maintain idle quality. I’m a Stabil fan and use it even though I do run the gen for at least a 1/2 hour every month.

We were in my motorhome at the Halloween Classic years ago in my motorhome and some jerk-off parked beside as at 3:30 am. At 4am he tried starting his 50.00 generator and it would run for 5 minutes sounding like a 747. Then it would quid and he would gently tap it with a hammer. This went on for an hour and a half. We usually get up between 7am-8am for the coffee, tea, Orange juice, and donut lady going around on a golf cart. Well I got up and unloaded my Duster and backed it in between sheapskate and myself, got out with the car running and wiped the whole car down. Alcohol and open headers make a point real quick and I think he takes ok the hint. My friends were 5-6 cars down almost rolling on the road laughing when my son told them what happened.

I bought a Predator 2000 three years ago. Actually got it on sale...open box clearance. It is the single best thing I have ever bought to take to the track, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another tomorrow. It will run all day on a tank of gas. It has zero issues running my trailer lights, phone and car battery charger, and an electric compressor simultaneously. The best part? It's been maintenance free. I change the oil at the beginning of the season and add fuel.

The Honda was noisier all around. Wasn't bad, but you could tell the difference, and they were 10ft from each other. Yes, both were 2000 models.

I run Seafoam in all my small engines. The best thing I've done for them is to shut the fuel off and let them run out of gas and if they are going to be sitting unused for a while I'll drain the tank. I like many others bought a generator when we had a bad ice storm in 2012 (I think), yes, one of the noisy ones. It only gets used at the cabin in November for deer season. I've always put it away as mentioned above and when I get out to use I'll fill it up with gas and it'll start on the first pull.

The biggest issue you will find these days is finding one. Seems they are yet just one more thing in a persistent state of backorder. I want a Honda EU700IS but they have been on terminal back order, and the prices keep climbing because of it.

The Honda EU2200i I bought in 2019 has a fuel shut off position just before the "OFF". Let it run the carb out of fuel.
If a longer storage, there is even a simple screw to loosen to drain any carb fuel down a tube out of the generator.

Well, the Predator 2000 is on sale this week.
https://www.harborfreight.com/2000-Watt-Super-Quiet-Inverter-Generator-62523.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiMTU0MTgwMDgiLCJza3UiOiI2MjUyMyIsImlzIjoiNDk5Ljk5IiwicHJvZHVjdF9p%0D%0AZCI6IjExNzg4In0%3D%0D%0A

Joe

.

Thanks man!

Thanks again gents for all the info and input. I bought a new Predator 2000 last week, set it up, pulled the cord to fire it up and the cord broke on the first damn pull! And NO I didn’t Hulk-Hogan the pull. LOL. I read a lot of negative reviews about the pull cord doing that, and a few other things I was skeptical about as well. It happened! So, I took the Predator back to Harbor Freight. Today I bought a new Honda EU2200i. I hope it gets the job done. Again, thanks.

Wes

I really think you’ll appreciate the quality in the long run. I’ve had a EU3000i since 2004. 100% satisfied.

Interesting read.....I also need one for my new trailer. I will start with...Do not buy a Champion. Mine died in the first couple months. Awful little unit.

I am looking at the HF Predators, the Honda 3000, and a Cummins 4500 with electric start.....Anyone tried one?

https://www.norwall.com/products/Cu...msclkid=57b2e05747c11954db8182fbbb6689e1

My champion inverter generator is on year four (3400) and my 2000 watt Honda is so old I can’t tell you when I bought it. I rotate using them throughout the year. A lot of guys don’t practice good care and think you just use them and forget about fuel care.

I've used the Predator 3500 for 3 weekends now. Runs nice. Extremey quiet. My buddy powers his motorhome with a Predator 2500 instead of starting the diesel generator. It's quieter and uses less fuel. Runs everything except the Microwave. Even the hot water for the shower.
Doug

My 2000 watt Honda wouldn’t run my microwave either because it’s an infection microwave or whatever they call it so I bought a small 80.00 Walmart microwave for when I’m running my small generator.

I have the 4500 Onan, quiet, and the remote start FOB is nice if your sleeping in the trailer. I had an issue with that little 3 LED module on front panel of it failing in first year, but they gave me another one. Jim.

Another good reason to have a reliable generator. We had bad storms and lot power at 5:15pm. I called it in and they first said 9:30 then 10:30pm. This morning they texted me that it will be 11pm Friday Igbo at the earliest. So going without tv, refrigerator, or Cpap I fired up my generator at 9:45 this morning. My little Honda is running my big screen tv, cable, one fan, and refrigerator. I leave it run tonight powering the refrigerator and Cpap. Guarantee you I will sleep better tonight. Ohhh I unplugged the refrigerator long enough to use the microwave too.

Earlier in this thread, I endorsed the Cummin/Onan 4500 generator. It quit on me halfway thru last weekend's racing. Not so keen on it now. If it burns up one more TIC module, its going, I'll get a 4500 Predator. Dealer up here is great, just can't make a purse out of pig's ear.