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Old 11-25-2022, 07:07 PM   #1
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Honda EU 2200i vs Champion 2500

We are looking at buying a small generator for use with our 2019 Escape 21 and around the farm. Our son has a Champion 2500, and he has been pleased with it. The Honda is approximately twice as much $ as the Champion. Is it worth the extra money?
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Old 11-25-2022, 09:40 PM   #2
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you're far more likely to be able to get repair parts for the Honda than the Champion, a few years after its made.
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Old 11-25-2022, 09:55 PM   #3
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Never owned the Honda, but it has a great reputation. We went for the dual fuel Champion based on our desire to use propane most of the time. You can pay more for a propane conversion on the Honda, if you’d like. We liked having that feature built in.

Have used it around the property, but not yet on the Escape. Very happy so far. Easy starts and ran smoothly.
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Old 11-25-2022, 10:57 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gbb View Post
.... The Honda is approximately twice as much $ as the Champion. Is it worth the extra money?
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Originally Posted by Keith3 View Post
Never owned the Honda, but it has a great reputation. ....
FWIW I've got a pair of early Eu2000i's, ~2005 and ~2006 vintage, long before there were many (any?) competing clones to consider.

Lotsa use with 3-5 day non-stop runs powering a Casita AC & microwave in motorsports race paddocks where such is the accepted norm (DIY extended run fuel tank), lotsa use around the rural acreage driving electric chain saws and other tools. Can't even guess at total hours, they don't have meters.

Sure, they've received maintenance (oil and plugs), some carb cleanings (finally obviated with installation of run-dry fuel valves which I think are now standard), but never had to get into the engines or electrics and they're still serving me faithfully. I did replace the timing belts on 'em ~6 years ago just out of caution, also replaced the pull-start cords that were showing a bit of wear.

The investments were not insignificant for me at the time, but they've long paid-back, no regrets.

Just FYI, make of it what you will.
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Old 11-26-2022, 07:35 AM   #5
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I’ve had a considerable number of Honda engine devices over the years. They don’t very often need parts and as mentioned when they do, you can get them.

The 2200i we have now we bought in 2020 after the derecho knocked out our power for eleven days. It ran our refrigerator and freezer, our hot water heater, our Speed Queen washer
fans, garage door opener, TV and lights in the house. We’ve used it camping to run the AC on our 21 with the micro air easy start and it worked well. I am sold on Hondas.
That said, my brother has a Champoon for emergency power on his home. It’s a little bigger, somewhere around 5000 watts or better. He’s had it for quite a few (10+) years and it’s not let him down either. I like the compact nature of the 2000i, the economy of fuel consumption, the weight, and the quiet operation.

If you’re in the situation where you might loose power to your house, need auxiliary power out in the yard etc, I have this advice: Heavy duty extension cords and plenty of them. A couple of dedicated 5 gallon gas cans with fresh straight unleaded gasoline, a neutral grounding plug and you’re good to go. Rotate your gasoline so that you have dress especially about the 15th of November for any winter outages if that’s a possibility where you’re going to be.
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Old 11-26-2022, 12:06 PM   #6
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Honda=Quiet

I chose the Honda 2200 i because it's whisper quiet. I can run it in a campground and it is the least disturbing of any generator I have heard.
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Old 11-26-2022, 05:12 PM   #7
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Hondas are as quiet as they come. In combination with a DIY rigid insulation “box” you can barely hear it. We have a 2000i. My father was 500 miles from home in cold weather and dependent on generator when it started to give him some trouble. Nice to know that any Honda small equipment dealer would have been able to work on it and likely have the parts readily available. I had called a couple places but he ended up cleaning the carb himself with my guidance and a YouTube video. The generator has quite a few hours and has been otherwise trouble free. Who works on Champion and are parts available? Most times you get what you pay for and it’s no different with Honda generators.

For anyone with a 2000i there is a Hutch Mountain fuel shutoff kit that allows you to run the carb dry. This is just like the feature built in to the newer 2200i. Very easy install.
https://www.hutchmountain.com/produc...000i-generator
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Old 11-27-2022, 12:53 AM   #8
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My brother in law has a Honda, and I looked at them real hard. But one of our camping friends had a Predator same size.

Side by side not much difference except Predator his half the price.
Been running it for two years now and starts up great every time and just as quiet on Eco setting. Lots of you tube video of the two side by side.

I see several in campgrounds being used.
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Old 11-27-2022, 06:41 AM   #9
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Predator

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Side by side not much difference except Predator his half the price.
Been running it for two years now and starts up great every time and just as quiet on Eco setting. Lots of you tube video of the two side by side.
Consumer Reports has reviewed a class of small generators a while back. The Predator was highly rated. Your local library has the old CR mags, annual review books or online CR information. Predators are distributed by Harbor Freight.

Generac & Yamaha are also good units. I have a 2 kW Champion, Costco purchase. For how little I use it, it's a good value. Near 1/2 the cost of a Honda, starts on second pull & has a "run dry" carb valve. For heavy use, a Honda would likely be a better buy.

Everything is a compromise. If you have deep pockets, buy the best. If not, buy the best you can afford.

I'm guessing there are a small (2-4?) number of the Chinese made generator manufacturers and many names are re-badged, slightly different versions or different colored cases & configurations from just a couple of makers. Just a guess.
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Old 11-27-2022, 09:48 AM   #10
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IF one happens to be interested in 'extended run' capability look for a genny that uses a vacuum fuel pump. That facilitates an easy system 'sucking' gasoline from an external tank (e.g. tank for boating outboard motors), a passive and safe self-regulating system (fuel only flows on demand from the generator).

Some small gennys use gravity fuel-feed which doesn't lend to that at all (one reason the Honda Eu2000i was more popular than the competing Yamaha in the racing paddock long ago).
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Old 11-27-2022, 08:21 PM   #11
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thanks everyone for the interesting replies. Any more info and opinions anyone is willing to share will be appreciated.
I really enjoy and appreciate this forum for everyone's knowledge and willingness to share it.
Thanks again
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Old 11-28-2022, 11:09 AM   #12
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I bought a Hyundai 2000SI 7 years ago. IIRC the attraction wasn't only costing about half of the Honda but that it has a couple of hundred extra usable watts.

The thought was that I might or could take it with me travelling if I was going in a cold time of the year and also as a standby power for the house.

Never felt the need to take it with me but I have provision to just plug into the house in the event of a power outage. That's happened several times in the last 7 years.

The run dry feature is interesting but I take the opposite approach. I want my generator ready to go, no refueling by flashlight if there's a power outage. So I use premium fuel, no ethanol, and warm it up every 4 months.

Maybe one day it'll go camping but the older I get the less I like cold weather camping.

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Old 11-30-2022, 10:10 AM   #13
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You want to get tossed out of campgrounds, buy a Champion. Noisy!
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Old 11-30-2022, 10:33 AM   #14
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Not as noisy as a contractor type generator. Sort a bad joke being in a campground the generator and non-generator loops and still hearing the noisy generators from the generator loops.

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Old 11-30-2022, 10:36 AM   #15
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look at it this way, would you buy a Champion parachute ?
They are good for the price while they work and then POOF, they don't work
Up in northern Ontario, off grid, the argument was, a Honda that last many times longer than anything else over say 5 years OR a cheapo that you replace often. Over the time you spend as much on a few knockoffs. The question is can you deal with the downtime when your cheapo breaks down ? Honda's are reliable, quiet, efficient.
A lot depends on how much you need versus would be nice to have power source
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Old 11-30-2022, 10:36 AM   #16
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Generac GP2500i invertor

We purchased a Generac GP2500i after a strong storm blew through our village and took out trees and powerlines for a few days. Our intent is that we can use it for home power back up as well as when we are down south camping.

I do not plan on off grid camping all that much so the investment in solar and lithium does not make sense for our needs. The GP2500i runs everything in the trailer including AC.

As far as noise, I hear louder campers than the 60dBA that the Generac generator makes.

Average Decibel Level of Human Speech
The average decibel level of human speech is estimated between 55 and 65 decibels.

I gallon of gas will run this for 8 hours. I am thinking of the propane conversion for $250 so I do not have to bring separate fuel.
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Old 11-30-2022, 10:50 AM   #17
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Generac and Honda are on par, Champion is a whole different game.
If you buy Champion buy two so when the first one quits, you just fire up the second and always have one in the box. Depends a lot on much you need a trusty generator versus a tailgate party one
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Old 11-30-2022, 11:03 AM   #18
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The Honda is very very quiet and easy to start. Great reliability.
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Old 11-30-2022, 12:03 PM   #19
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you're far more likely to be able to get repair parts for the Honda than the Champion, a few years after its made.
I have an Ipower generator with a Yamaha engine. I bought it at Costco 4 years ago, it works great, $449.00. Price might have gone up, highly recomended
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Old 11-30-2022, 12:42 PM   #20
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I have an Ipower generator with a Yamaha engine. I bought it at Costco 4 years ago, it works great, $449.00. Price might have gone up, highly recomended
I have one of those I bought 5-6 years ago at Costco. Turns out the '2000VA' generator is only good for a sustained 1300 watts, and not the 1600 or 1700 watts a Honda EU2000 could do. I think the later models improved on this.

only the engine is Yamaha, which is good as far as that goes, Yamaha makes excellent small motors for power equipment, on a par with Honda, and has nearly as large a parts and service organization (although many Yamaha repair places are in fact Motorcycle shops, rather than power tool shops).

re Champion being noisy, they make both open frame contactor generators, and quiet DC inverter generators. They, Generac, and a bunch of other 'off' brands are all basically disposable. They'll probably work, maybe even for 5+ years, but there's no fixing them if they break, just go buy another cheap generator.

(I'm aware Generac is a primary manufacturer of large industrial/commercial generators, but the consumer DC inverter stuff they sell comes off a boat like all the other generic brands and is built to a price point, rather than to specific designs).
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