MacGregorSailors.com

Well, with the first tropical system already having Tampa in its sights, and with a new baby coming soon, the wife thinks its time for a generator...who am I to question this logic.

I searched up a few old posts on this Chinese Kipor generator and it doesn't seem like too many people have traded the Honda or Yamaha brand names for the Kipor.

I had pretty much already made up my mind to get a Honda. But looks like about 300 bucks less for one of these compared to the Honda eu2000i so that is a substantial enough savings for looking into it a bit further.

Anybody own and use one of these or know of any good comparison info:



Looks like this one you can get around $539+50 shipping on Ebay but from what I can see it does not have the smart throttle feature which I expect does save a lot of fuel.

Sorry I have no info about those units but IMHO you might well want to see it in person and hear it in person . I say this because we have several of the Coleman 2000's at work and For The Love are they loud ! You can hear those little Colemans over the 35 KVA Wisper Quite Diesel Gen-set!You cannot carry on a conversation within 15 to 20 feet or more of the Coleman. Tiny light weight and LOUD !
Did find this as no doubt you have too.
http://www.kipor-generator.net/

I have 3 generators now. Haven't run the 3rd one yet, but I think it might be the best thing since sliced bread for the house. 4000 watts 4 stroke chinese unit with long run tank.

First one was a generac 2500 watt screams mega loud. 300 bucks before Y2K. runs 45 minutes on a tank

2nd one was for the boat, chinese 2 stroke, 800 watt. very quiet, very lightwieght, compact and transportable. under 200 bucks . long run tank lasts about 5 hours. dead simple controls.

3rd one was 300 bucks, mounted on a frame. 4000 watts continuous, very similar muffler to the little quiet one so I think it will also be quiet. Bought on sale at Atwoods in Oklahoma. I think they are about $380 normally.

The one that you have in the picture would not be my choice for a house, but might be OK for a boat. looks too small to have a long run fuel tank, and 2000 watts is not a lot for a house. I would want to run a couple window A/Cs, some lights, a fridge and a freezer, plus a little TV. 2000 watts would not cut it when you factor in the inrush amps to start the various motors.

I would look at the specs on it - I suspect it is much noisier than a lot of the others, and uses more fuel because of the lack of the load sensing network.

I like the size of a 2000 though. I have the Honda eu2000i, and I can use it for the boat, for the fifth wheel, and for home. For home, you are obviously limited to the smaller wattage, but you gain versatility with a fairly low weight and quiet running motor.

I wouldn't discount the Kipor models that have the auto load sensing, though. Again, look at the db sound ratings. My brother-in-law bought the Kipor 3000ti, paying about what you'd pay for a Honda 2000. His runs quiet, is auto load sensing, but is about 20 pounds heavier.

Dimitri,
I don't have a genset, but it's on my 'maybe list.' I read a magazine shoot-out review of portable generators just recently. It included Honda, Yamaha and several others - included comparisons of weight, noise & power, of course. Maybe someone had posted it here, or maybe I found it on a magazine rack. Sorry but a quick search didn't turn it up again. Maybe Pop Science or Mechanics, maybe even Sail or Sailing ????

This is a generator buying guide that turned up over at eBay.

Thanks for the info. To clarify, I would like something that could be used on the boat if need be. Not really looking for a whole house type generator because of the simple fact that I am only 8 feet above sea level and will be evacuating for most hurricanes that come off the Gulf. This is another reason portability is important, I may want to pick up my generator and take it 20 miles inland to my father's house for example. If I did want a total house generator, I would consider getting one that runs on propane since I always have 70-90 gallons of LP available in a tank at the side of my house.

I would probably just be interested in running an 8000 Btu window A/C and keeping my 26 cu foot fridge/freezer cold (and probably a little TV and computer which should be pretty trivial loads). I'm pretty sure one of these 2000 watt jobs could run either of the big loads by themselves, but maybe it wouldn't handle both compressors on at the same time in which case I would need to alternate the loads...which is feasible.

I can certainly see the advantage of a long run tank for a house unit, plus I suppose that the noise factor isn't quite as critical as in close quarters with a boat. Another advantage the Honda has is that you can hook two together to get a 4000 watt generator, of course, this is a pretty expensive one when you can get something like that at Home Depot (I think they carry the Coleman ones) for like under 20 percent of what it would cost for 2 Honda's. But at least there is an expansion path.

The Kipor 2000ti model which has the load sensing runs about $730 on Ebay so presuming Mayberry's still has the $875 deal going on Honda, then there is about a 150 buck difference. Looking at the specs, it seems that the Kipor may have a slightly smaller motor, so that may mean that it is a bit louder than the Honda. It sure looks like a knockoff though, pretty much identical dimensions, etc. The Kipor apparently does not allow hooking two up in parallel and of course, Honda has the stellar reliability which takes decades to establish.

I have now found some more reading at the rv.net forums so I can hopefully find some user opinions on these specific models (looks like people may in fact be saying the Kipor is louder than Honda). Apparently, Kipor is well used in Europe for many years but is only more recently entering the U.S. market.

Craig, are all your "Chinese" generators of the Kipor brand (or rebranded Kipor) or are there other manufacturers that should be looked at? If I remember correctly, the Yamaha only competes in the 1000 and 3000 watt categories, not 2000. Although you could probably get a 3500 watt "portable" Kipor for a couple hundred bucks more than a Honda 2000, these things weigh more than twice as much as the 2000 so their portability is in question. I can handle 50 lbs, but trying to single handedly monkey around with a 132 lb generator on a boat would be near impossible I'm pretty sure.

Both the chinese units are not branded. The small one I bought at bargain jims, and it is very quiet. Takes a lot of pulls to start it though. LIke maybe 8 pulls. But a very pleasant sound. even standing next to it.

The old 2500 that I had got used a lot at the house in NJ, where I had a few 1 day power outages. so freakin loud that inside the house it was still very loud. I was on a 15 acre property, and I felt like it might even disturb the next nearest neighbor that was about 200 yards away.

The one that I just bought is still transportable, but about all you want to lift. it is mounted in a little roll cage with about a 4 gal steel tank on top. pretty sure it will be quiet, since the muffler looks the same as the other little chinese unit.

If I was going to put thousands of hours on a generator, or power computer equipment directly without power conditioning, I would shell out the big bucks for one, but for occasional usage, just can't see the point.

The 2500 would run 1 5000 btu window A/C, plus a fridge, and a lightbulb. at the same time. I had a 2nd fridge a freezer and a sump pump that I would alternate on it during long outages.

Atwood is a really neat store around here, but I think they are only in a few states around Oklahoma.

I think Home Depot has a home generator for around $2000 that is automatic... It's built into your system. this would be my choice if I didnt already have a 5000 watt gen that we bought after Charlie.

To make things more complicated, I see that Kipor has a 2600 watt version of the "suitcase" inverter type generator that weighs in around 10 lbs more (60 lbs) and sells for a few dollars more than the Honda 2000. I wonder if that extra power margin would be worth it or not.

I read a bunch of posts on the rv.net forum and it looks like if I wanted a Kipor, I should have bought one a couple months ago when the prices were much lower. Most of the RV types have 12-13K btu A/C's so they like the 3500 watt type better (just sits in the back of a truck though).

Looks like Kipor entered the U.S. market in late 2005 with every intention of competing head to head with Honda so their prices were lower. Apparently now they are putting in a dealer network which has higher costs of course. Of course, if costs are in the same ballpark, I'm gonna buy a Honda. Decisions, decisions....sometimes its better when there is no real choice.

Frank,
I believe the review was in Practical Sailor.