Do any of you have any thoughts on any of the really small generators on the market?

I am using a Honda EU2200i mostly these days. Its a fantastic unit - which is why I got it. However, between it and my open frame I end up running the Honda as its quiet and good on fuel. I'm using such low power off it most of the time I hate putting the hours on it. At the same time I can't get by with an inverter because I am pulling more amp hours than I can provide on batteries.

A buddy of mine has the Tailgator generator from Harbor Freight. It seems to work OK - but it is too loud. As for all the other ones out there - I have no experience with them. I have been on job sites where supervisors run the EU1000's out of their trucks, but that is pretty expensive option. Though, as with the EU2200 - maybe that is the smart way to go?

 

I have a Yamaha 2400 generator, but have considered getting something cheaper/smaller A) when less power is required, and B) to not put so many hours on the Yamaha. But I decided I've got enough things to store and maintain, so I just change oil a little more often in the Yamaha and let it run

A friend got one of the little Champion inverters (it might be a 2000?) and its very quiet like the Hondas/Yamahas - but it was 1/2 the price so I don't think he worries about running it all the time

 

Just run what you have until it dies and replace? Running a light load, its not even breaking a sweat. You are contemplating spending a few hundred $$$ for the small generator, which is upward of 25-50% of the cost of the Honda. That Honda will probably outlast all of us.... Unless of course, you must WANT a new generator thats a different story.

 

I have purchased 10 of these little inverter generators. Got very tired of the Hondas getting stolen off the trucks. We use these just to charge Milwaukee batteries and they work well. Noise wise it's very close to the Honda. I think all of them have 300+ hours on them so far and they still work just fine.

https://www.ebay.com/p/13034411900?i...4aAjVfEALw_wcB

 

It seems crazy to buy the Honda EU1000 model just to keep hours off your EU2200. I mean, if money was no object, that might be nice, but if money is no object, why bother keeping hours off the EU2200?
That thing ford390 posted is probaly okay, although, it might be louder than the EU2200 when it's in Eco Mode. And then you are carrying two generators most of the time.

So, if it's me, I'd just live with the EU2200, they are really durable.

 

Thats pretty much it in a nutshell. I like redundancy for backup. Its like a second car when you don't need your truck... Having the EU2200 has been great and brought a new level of convenience to a lot that I do, but I've found it is actually overkill for 90% of what I use it for. Thats where a smaller unit would be ideal.

I've never had the EU2200 come off of idle on eco mode. When I turn on a couple pieces of equipment you can hear it load just a bit, but settles right back at idle. I've tried other loads on it to see if it will run or not, but in practice I've never had the reason to run that way.

Heres an example. This one looks like its discontinued, though.
https://www.powerhouse-products.com/...product/500wi/

 

500 watts isn't even worth messing with. Only 4.16 amps, after losses, more like 3.75. Turn on a TV or a fan & it will be working hard. Meanwhile, your Honda would still be loafing on the same load. Save your money & keep running the Honda. They're bulletproof if maintained properly. There's no such thing as "overkill". The smaller one won't be as fuel efficient as the Honda, running the same load.

 

A smaller generator will never run a microwave or a hair dryer . . . .

 

Looking at it from the perspective of power supplied from an inverter (12VDC to 120VAC converter, not an engine-powered inverter generator) in a mobile environment - the amp-hours to keep the input voltage up high enough to run the inverter under load is the challenge. In a mobile environment (which is where I use my Honda most of the time) it is one thing to have an alternator running off an engine (car, truck, boat) to keep the battery voltage up that the inverter is drawing off of - so long as the current draw isn't taxing the current output of the alternator/voltage regulation circuitry too much.

However, when that vehicle is at rest with the engine off so as to not idle that's where the problem comes in. So again - from that vehicle environment running a mid-range (sub-1000w) inverter - a separate small power source that can provide that level of power would be ideal. All the "power packs" and other battery-generator doohickeys that claim to provide AC power without a fuel-driven engine are in the same boat as the inverter off vehicle batteries - amp hours to supply the AC is the limitation = run time is limited and requires recharging between use.

If there were an unlimited amount of battery capacity available that is a different story, same goes for house batteries in an RV. Then again even my bigger open frame generator would be easier to move around than a battery bank that could supply any reasonable length of amp hours to do what I am after with a smaller generator.

From the RV perspective - I understand the thoughts of a 500w unit not being worth it as that size range doesn't have any headroom, and even a 2200/2000w class unit has limited headroom when you start getting in to running appliances and AC's. The wattage I end up running most of the time is very low though - 2-300 watts, but for hours at a time.

 

In the world of RV's, I've been continually impressed, and maybe shocked, and how much power some people use, and how little others use. The spectrum is incredibly wide. I don't think anyone looking at these tiny generators is thinking of running the fridge on AC. If there was a cheap inverter generator that put out ~500w quieter than my Honda EU2200i, I would be interested for sure. Just seems like you can have cheap, or quiet. For now, I'm happy enough chaining my Honda to a tree and running it a couple of hours every second day or so. I could probably stretch to every third day if I bought some newer batteries, but I'm trying to delay that expense too.

 

I am going to derail my own thread here... but you got me really curious.

Can you detail your power set up on the RV? If you are using a generator every couple days or so it sounds like you are running off house batteries for those in-between days. In that case - you can't possibly be running anything that would pull any respectable power unless 1/2 the RV was batteries. At that rate - the EU2200 would be far from enough power to recharge. Are you combining solar? Then using the generator to top off? If you have the numbers I'd be curious to see the watt hours and/or amp hours that you can store, draw, and recharge with (what ever charging method there is).

Going back to a smaller generator - the EU2200 has a DC charge port on it, about 8 amps or so (not much). I've thrown it on my boats when going out on the lake for the day. I don't have separate batteries for trolling - I just throw on a couple extra starting batteries from our portable outboards (charged, of course). They are older, though, and don't hold a charge all too well. The generator has been there as a safety net just in case. When running I parallel batteries to charge (I know, you're not supposed to do that...) then separate them to keep draw off the primary. If I get down to running off the primary and don't have power to start I can boost it with the generator - no problem.

When I put one of my skiffs away last fall I stripped it and was going to use the trolling motor to push it around to the spot it gets pulled out. While I was at it I thought it would be interesting to see if the trolling motor would run off the generator. So I hooked a 60 amp 12VDC power supply up to the generator, clipped the leads to the trolling motor to the power supply, and gave it a try. The generator never came off of idle then, either, at full throttle. So that became another means of back-up, save thy ****, get-home-if-I-have-to power if a motor bites the dust, I loose a prop, or I loose a lower unit.

Before I had the Honda generator my brother and I did kill the batteries trolling while fishing about 4-5 miles out. At the time I had a 4hp motor as a backup. It got us back, just no alternator to charge off of to get the main up and running. I'd rather have the generator in the boat than a spare outboard. With electricity I can boost a starting battery or power the trolling motor (already there in most cases, unless I am exploring and not fishing). With anything under a 25hp motor I don't have electric start - which means all the portables I could grab as backups - so there is no way to get electrical power without a generator if a main motor isn't operable. I have small solar panels also, but they don't have near the output to get a low-charge lead acid battery to any respectable voltage in any respectable time. Even a couple hours in full sun won't be a whole lot of charge, unless the batteries were new and didn't have much self-discharge, whereas a couple hours at trolling motor speed might be enough to get me back. Yes, the obvious point is to replace batteries also. Getting there....

 

Yeah, I enjoy thread derails too.
My setup is pretty basic. No solar, and a one pair of Trojan T105 6V batteries, which are about a decade old and no long operating at 100% capacity by my estimation. That setup is rated at 225 Ah if my memory serves. I usually camp in the summertime, so long days mean very little need for lighting. We do run our stereo 3-4 hours a day, but I don't expect it takes much power. No TV. Fridge runs on propane, and I cook with propane. Furnace often kicks in once or twice overnight for a few minutes, which is a big draw, but doesn't last long. If it's colder weather and I'm running the furnace more often, I need the generator every day for sure. That furnace fan is my largest DC power draw.

 

The above confused me... then I saw you are in the Calgary area. Gotcha now. Our place is near Kenora and it can get cool even in August. So yeah, if you run very little that makes sense you can get by on the batteries for as long as you do.

 

I've got kids in school, so my season is quite short. If I get out to the mountains in the fall then it's either a site with power, or running the generator much more.

 

I think my stereo might draw more than the LED lights. I have no numbers to back that up though. It has five or six speakers, I've never really counted all of them. LOL!

Woot.com had the WEN inverter generators for a good price recently. If I was looking for a cheap generator I might have picked one of those up. My on-board Onan 5500w generator does good and makes a heck of a grey noise generator.