anyone have any good/bad experiance with champion portable generators?

[armand_c]

I have a pair of 17 year old Honda EU2000i generators that we've always taken on our camping trips. We ran them in parallel with a gen-tran parallel kit which enabled us to run our a/c and lights. On our last trip (we mostly boon dock) I had an issue with the generators not charging the batteries or running anything. I know its a generator issue because when we got home, I plugged the trailer into an extension cord and everything lit up and worked. RV also runs fine on shore power with no issues. I believe that the parallel kit has failed and when I searched for another one, I noticed that they are pretty much obsolete nowadays as Honda has shifted over to a master/slave unit or companion unit and boy, are they sure proud of them! $1300-1400 each. The generators run like new with no problems. I googled GenTran and saw that the kits are discontinued and the company itself must have been sold off and morphed into manufacturing other types of electronics and some home electrical panels. I am looking at just purchasing a new generator and saw the champion 4500 watt one. I saw it also was inverted which was a plus and it was only $985 vs $2800 for two Honda's. It has great reviews, but in today's day and age where businesses can and will buy reviews and pay people to post positive reviews, I am skeptical of believing reviews. I was hoping anyone with any experience with these units can comment. Your real life reviews would be a great idea if I should seriously consider one of these units, as we mainly want it to power our a/c unit and a few lights. I am in California unfortunately and apparently the Honda's aren't CARB compliant and cannot be sold here (good thing I am only 2 hours away from the Nevada border, lol) and the Champion is CARB compliant and looks like it will meet our needs. Thanks in advance and I looking forward to reading all your comments

[MoonShadow_1911]

I have a pair of 17 year old Honda EU2000i generators that we've always taken on our camping trips. We ran them in parallel with a gen-tran parallel kit which enabled us to run our a/c and lights. On our last trip (we mostly boon dock) I had an issue with the generators not charging the batteries or running anything. I know its a generator issue because when we got home, I plugged the trailer into an extension cord and everything lit up and worked. RV also runs fine on shore power with no issues. I believe that the parallel kit has failed and when I searched for another one, I noticed that they are pretty much obsolete nowadays as Honda has shifted over to a master/slave unit or companion unit and boy, are they sure proud of them! $1300-1400 each. The generators run like new with no problems. I googled GenTran and saw that the kits are discontinued and the company itself must have been sold off and morphed into manufacturing other types of electronics and some home electrical panels. I am looking at just purchasing a new generator and saw the champion 4500 watt one. I saw it also was inverted which was a plus and it was only $985 vs $2800 for two Honda's. It has great reviews, but in today's day and age where businesses can and will buy reviews and pay people to post positive reviews, I am skeptical of believing reviews. I was hoping anyone with any experience with these units can comment. Your real life reviews would be a great idea if I should seriously consider one of these units, as we mainly want it to power our a/c unit and a few lights. I am in California unfortunately and apparently the Honda's aren't CARB compliant and cannot be sold here (good thing I am only 2 hours away from the Nevada border, lol) and the Champion is CARB compliant and looks like it will meet our needs. Thanks in advance and I looking forward to reading all your comments

Are you asking about the Champion Dual Fuel inverter generators? I have the 3400 watt Duel Fuel generator. It weighs about 100 lbs without gasoline, and will run everything in the coach, without the soft start on the AC units. BUT, only one AC unit, or the microwave, or the Keurig, or the hair dryer, etc. It's fairly quiet, and will run everything on propane, although it sometimes went full throttle when the AC compressor kicked on. I've never run mine in gasoline, just propane, and I can get about 12 hours of 25% duty cycle running time on 1 20 pound propane tank.

EDIT: Correction, I have the 3400 watt Duel Fuel inverter/generator, not the 4500 watt one.

[robmcqueen]

I have had a champion 3100 for about 6 or 7 years i love it. Get one with the remote start/stop it is a great feature. I Love not having to go outside to start or stop it. I did have to replace the carburetor because i let it sit for about 6 months with gas in it. It ran but was surging. I called Champion to buy one and they sent it to me for no charge even though it was out of warranty. Great customer service.

[Capt Bob]

We have the 4000w open frame inverter. It's 4+ years old. Not duel fuel. I bought it to power several circuits (6) in our home when we lose power. It has operated very well and is expected to get some use here within a few days. I say this because if I do buy a small model for the MLE, I would not hesitate to get another Champion.

[Stealth13777]

Have the Champion 3500W dual fuel inverter. It’s been great so far, and their customer service has been great (sent me a high altitude jet and replaced the starter battery in year one). I bought because a friend had (still has) the 3100 and loved it. Runs my whole 30A trailer and I’ve carted it all across the country.

Only ever run ours on propane.

[markandkim]

Have the Champion 3500W dual fuel inverter. It’s been great so far, and their customer service has been great (sent me a high altitude jet and replaced the starter battery in year one). I bought because a friend had (still has) the 3100 and loved it. Runs my whole 30A trailer and I’ve carted it all across the country.

Only ever run ours on propane.

Exactly what I was going to say.
Especially their customer service.

In fact, even without a warranty they will go out of their way to help you.

I've owned them for 10+ years. My 3500 dual fuel is awesome. and it will start both ac's one at a time. (on liquid fuel)

[avf100]

Another thumbs up for champion. We have the 3400 gas with the remote start. Going on 3 years now and no issues. It is heavy though at 100lbs.

[Johnww]

I have the small 2k watt Champion, currently 4 years old. It starts with one or two pulls and runs great. No problems so far so I can't comment on factory support.

[ksbowman]

I have a Champion 3500 that I have had for at least 8 years and it has work great. Had to replace the carb once and that was a piece of cake. About 20 minutes and a $20 carb off Amazon. Always starts on one or two pulls and has more than enough power to operate the AC and other items.

[TerryH]

We have the 4500 gas only with remote start. Love the thing. It had a loose wiring connection when I first got it that caused an issue with the remote start. I called Champion tech help and I must say it was one of the best tech help experiences I have ever had. They emailed me photos and stayed on the phone until we got it solved. 2 thumbs up for Champion.