3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

[professor95]

professor95 wrote:
EDIT ADDED 45/5/2013- When this thread started in March of 2005, I never expected to see it survive this long or amass the quantity of information that has been shared here.

In the eight year run of this thread we have amassed almost 10,000 postings and surpassed a million views. This creates somewhat of a dilemma for anyone who has just discovered the forum.

Since the amount of information is virtually overwhelming, I suggest you set your preferences for this thread to read "newest first" and then begin to page backwards.

What you will find in these pages is a wealth of info on virtually any make or model of Chinese manufactured synchronous (non-inverter) generator in the 3,000 watt performance class. Info will include how to rewire series coils to parallel to obtain maximum wattage from a single 120 volt outlet. Tips on further reducing sound levels, how to care for these generators, which ones are "RV ready" and provide the best overall performance for the dollar invested. Which companies NOT to deal with, where the best prices are, how to safely wire the generator into a home or RV, how to check your RV for electrical faults, sources for generator accessories, which 20/30 adapters are safe to use and which are not. How to convert a gasoline generator to propane or NG. This is only the beginning. The forum has a life of its own with the focus sub-topic switching frequently. Still, the main topic of utilizing the amazing, inexpensive Chinese gensets is always there. The amount of creativity and innovation presented in these pages is indicative of the talents shared in the diverse backgrounds of the folks who make up our combined RV community.

Many of the original brands and models of Chinese gensets mentioned in the introduction and early pages of the thread have since disappeared. New EPA and CARB emissions requirements, company bonds assuring the emissions warranty will be honored even if the company goes out of business, and fierce competition in the industry have changed the playing field. Champion Power Equipment has become the apparent "trophy team" providing an ever expanding retail outlet, an ample parts supply, a strong warranty and excellent customer service. CPE has continued to improve their product and now offers a new model (#46538) with exclusive convenience, safety and performance features aimed at the RV market. Big names like Cummins/Onan, Honda and Generac all now have Chinese built open frame synchronous gensets available. Ironically, the prices often found on these gensets has not significantly changed during the past eight years - even with the devaluation of the American Dollar and new EPA/CARB requirements.

I also encourage you to use the search function and even the advanced search options to find information. Key works such as "rewiring", "PowerPro", "Champion", "Onan Homesite", "Duropower", "ETQ", "Jiung Dong or JD", "Tractor Supply", "Costco", "Lowe's" and "Home Depot" are all examples of keywords that will give you specific information on different models being sold by retailers today.

Or, you can fill your glass with your favorite beverage (keep more close by - maybe some munchies as well :D, sit back at your computer, tell your wife (or significant other) that you will see her in the morning and spend the next 10 or so hours reading through the postings.

No one on the forum gets mad if you ask a question that is a repeat. Please do not hesitate to post to the forum. All questions are considered important and those active on the forum will do their best to respond with a valid answer.

Also note we are not out to knock the Honda, Yamaha, Kipor or other brands of high end digital gensets. We recognize the quality of these products and their suitability for quite, efficient RV use. But, there is a flood of reliable, inexpensive and comparatively lower cost gensets coming out of China that are excellent alternative choices for the RVer wanting power to run an air conditioner, microwave, etc. without excessive noise or breaking the budget.

Oh, one last thing. The folks on this forum are true gentlemen. We do not flame one another or the product discussed - period. Ugly contributors usually have their comments and remarks ignored by our masses. It is not a forum to start arguments to obtain a clear win. We do disagree on many issues, but we have all agreed to do that in a respectable manner.

We now have the introduction of more and more inverter gensets. There is a rather extensive thread named "The Official Unofficial Champion 2000i Generator" on this forum. Today, I added info on the new Champion 3100i inverter genset. Discussion on this product may get moved to its own thread at a later date.

Many have looked upon this thread with distain saying Chinese is cheap and doomed to failure. I remember saying exactly the same thing about Japanese products a few decades back. But, over the past eight years the track record for Chinese built generators has shown otherwise.

Please, join us in a fascinating journey down the Chinese built genset road of knowledge.

This is the question I posted that got it all started back in March 2005.......

Randy

For a little over a month now, I have been somewhat intrigued by the availability of a 3000 watt, 6.5 HP generator at Pep Boys and Northern Tool for under $300.00. The engine on this generator looks identical to a Honda 6.5 HP OHV engine. Knowing that the Chinese have become very adept at “cloning” reputable technologies from other manufacturers, I was not surprised at the similarities. Neither store could give me any information on the generator nor did they have a “running” display model.

I have done a little research. This is what I have discovered:

Many of these generators are imported by ELIM International (www.eliminternational.com) out of Buffalo, New York from Jiung Manufacturing in China. (The unit at Northern is identical but carries the JIUNG name.)

The engines are indeed a Chinese knockoff of the popular 6.5 HP 196cc Honda Engine. “Supposedly” Honda has licensed the engine technology to the Chinese manufacturer of the product.

The Chinese company that makes the ELM3000 generators is a rather large, diverse, long-standing company with a reputation for “above average quality” Chinese made products (Jiung Manufacturing). There are many more Chinese companies making almost identical gensets.

The generators at PepBoys do have a six month limited warranty. But, it is only on the engine (not the generator) and requires paying for shipping to and from Buffalo. Probably not a very practical thing to do if you have warranty issues.

ELIM does supply replacement parts (a PDF parts manual is available on the ELIM web site). No prices are given for replacement parts nor is there an “availability listing”.

The generator head itself is a brushless design. The only really significant wear parts in the generator are the bearings – most likely universally available.

The published dB rating is 67 at 23 feet. This is “reasonably” quite for a generator of this size as most comparabl.... The 67 dB rating is the same as Honda gives their 3000 watt CycloInverter with a “look alike” eng...

[DrBaker]

mdconvert wrote:
Nice price ($200)for a 3500W (peak) generator at Home Depot and includes free shipping. I tried to create link - didn't work. Internet item is 203064219

Here ya go....

[mdconvert]

Nice price ($200)for a 3500W (peak) generator at Home Depot and includes free shipping. I tried to create link - didn't work. Internet item is 203064219

[ol_Bombero-JC]

ludlow papa wrote:
Hi all

Found this site by accident and love it.

I don't have an RV but I do have a Champion Generator.

I bought it about 3 years ago from HD, it's a Model C40012 3000/3500 watt. Never really got to use it yet, I bought it because we were without power for a day and a half. Since then, only started it every month to keep it working.

Until the Northeast got pounded last week with an early snow storm. We lost power Saturday night at 6:00pm. I started up the Champion on Sunday morning at 8:00am and it ran until Friday afternoon 4:00 pm. The Champion ran for (6) six days without a hick up! I did shut it down from 10:00pm til 6:00am every night but other than that it ran the whole time.

We were able to power (2) refrigerators, Gas Furnace, 15" LED TV, (2) CFL Lamps and a hair drier all at the same time. In the morning we were able to brew a pot of coffee, the coffee pot draws a lot of power but the Champion never quit! Our whole town was without power and we felt really lucky to have the Champion up and running. Our friends and neighbors had to throw out all there food, they were sitting in the dark and had no TV for news updates.

The Champion ran great, we were getting around 4 hrs. per gallon of gas. It never needed oil and it always started on the first or second pull. It was/is worth it's weight in gold.

I was happy to find this web sight and spent the better part of this week going over the 900+ pages. There is a lot of great information here. One of the things I ended up getting is the "KILLAVOLT" adapter. My Champion does not have the over voltage protection and even though it ran without a problem, I ordered one for peace of mind.

Look forward to spending more time here. 🙂

Thanks

Refreshing - after the "usual" (un-informed) Champion Bashers over on the General RV thread..:B

~

However - there is a Happy Thanksgiving bonus there . . . :W

Cabela's has a special on the manual start 3500W Champion
$299. through 11/29/11. It should qualify for free shipping.

Google "Cabelas Champion Generator".

~

[tvsteve]

Thanks for all the tips. I'll work on it this weekend and post what I find. Thanks again.

Steve

[mdconvert]

Cox89XJ wrote:

tvsteve wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
sounds like the engine speed governor is sticky

try unbolting the gas tank, remove it, and do a thorough lube and clean of the governor lever at the top of the engine
also there is a very fine lite weight long spring connected parallel to the governor linkage to the carb throttle, that will cause "hunting" (speed variation) if the springs breaks

Inspected and lubed the linkage. It's free and not binding. Still, the problem persists. It's more of a slight misfire than a surging.

Steve

You might try disconnecting the low oil shutdown circuit. Mine failed.

One easy thing to check. I had the same symptoms - surging when the choke if fully opened, ran fine with the choke at the 1/2 position. I removed and cleaned the carb and reinstalled everything and the problem remained. While double checking everything I found that I had reversed the gasket between the filter carburetor, covering up some holes. Flipped the gasket around and it ran fine again.

You might double check that all gaskets are in the correct orientation.

[professor95]

tvsteve wrote:
Is there and source for main jets?

Steve

You can thank our EPA for killing that resource.

You might do a Google search on Honda GX carburetors for go-cart racing. Some "may" still offer main jets. Most of the on-line companies I have recently visited show the jets as NLA.

[Cox89XJ]

tvsteve wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
sounds like the engine speed governor is sticky

try unbolting the gas tank, remove it, and do a thorough lube and clean of the governor lever at the top of the engine
also there is a very fine lite weight long spring connected parallel to the governor linkage to the carb throttle, that will cause "hunting" (speed variation) if the springs breaks

Inspected and lubed the linkage. It's free and not binding. Still, the problem persists. It's more of a slight misfire than a surging.

Steve

You might try disconnecting the low oil shutdown circuit. Mine failed.

[tvsteve]

Wgeorge11 wrote:

tvsteve wrote:


Inspected and lubed the linkage. It's free and not binding. Still, the problem persists. It's more of a slight misfire than a surging.

Steve

I had a similar issue and after chasing gremlins and ghosts I went back to the carb and cleaned it again. This time I paid particular attention to the carb jets using pipe cleaners to ream out the ports. Walla, it ran smooth and without using the choke. If you're lucky .....

When I cleaned the carb I didn't remove the main jet. I'll do as you said and give it a try. Is there and source for main jets?

Steve

[Wgeorge11]

tvsteve wrote:


Inspected and lubed the linkage. It's free and not binding. Still, the problem persists. It's more of a slight misfire than a surging.

Steve

I had a similar issue and after chasing gremlins and ghosts I went back to the carb and cleaned it again. This time I paid particular attention to the carb jets using pipe cleaners to ream out the ports. Walla, it ran smooth and without using the choke. If you're lucky .....

[ReverendCharles]

tvsteve wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
sounds like the engine speed governor is sticky

try unbolting the gas tank, remove it, and do a thorough lube and clean of the governor lever at the top of the engine
also there is a very fine lite weight long spring connected parallel to the governor linkage to the carb throttle, that will cause "hunting" (speed variation) if the springs breaks

Inspected and lubed the linkage. It's free and not binding. Still, the problem persists. It's more of a slight misfire than a surging.

Steve

I had the same problem, move the governor spring 1 hole tighter and see if this helps. These generators are set to run lean due to emissions, to fix this pull the fuel bowl - remove the main jet with a screwdriver - take the jet to a motorcycle shop and ask them to port it 1 size over then try it. You will most likely need 2 sizes over and don’t want it to run too rich. I did this to all of my Chinese engines, they start first pull and don’t surge. The local shop charges me $1.50 per port or you can buy a set to do this yourself.

[tvsteve]

MrWizard wrote:
sounds like the engine speed governor is sticky

try unbolting the gas tank, remove it, and do a thorough lube and clean of the governor lever at the top of the engine
also there is a very fine lite weight long spring connected parallel to the governor linkage to the carb throttle, that will cause "hunting" (speed variation) if the springs breaks

Inspected and lubed the linkage. It's free and not binding. Still, the problem persists. It's more of a slight misfire than a surging.

Steve

[MrWizard]

sounds like the engine speed governor is sticky

try unbolting the gas tank, remove it, and do a thorough lube and clean of the governor lever at the top of the engine
also there is a very fine lite weight long spring connected parallel to the governor linkage to the carb throttle, that will cause "hunting" (speed variation) if the springs breaks

[tvsteve]

Greetings, first post here but started reading years ago. Having a problem with my 46540. It has 60 hours and last time I had to use it I noticed a fast voltage fluctuation. I replaced the AVR and it remained. Upon closer inspection it's the engine causing the problem. By slightly applying the choke the engine smooths out. Pulled and cleaned the carb still the same. I didn't get to the pilot jet. Problem? Some other things I tried; dumped tank and refilled with fresh gas, checked valve lash, checked plug, oil level ok. I saw a thread on surging but the post on cleaning the pilot jet was not clear to me. Any help would be appreciated.

[ludlow_papa]

Hi all

Found this site by accident and love it.

I don't have an RV but I do have a Champion Generator.

I bought it about 3 years ago from HD, it's a Model C40012 3000/3500 watt. Never really got to use it yet, I bought it because we were without power for a day and a half. Since then, only started it every month to keep it working.

Until the Northeast got pounded last week with an early snow storm. We lost power Saturday night at 6:00pm. I started up the Champion on Sunday morning at 8:00am and it ran until Friday afternoon 4:00 pm. The Champion ran for (6) six days without a hick up! I did shut it down from 10:00pm til 6:00am every night but other than that it ran the whole time.

We were able to power (2) refrigerators, Gas Furnace, 15" LED TV, (2) CFL Lamps and a hair drier all at the same time. In the morning we were able to brew a pot of coffee, the coffee pot draws a lot of power but the Champion never quit! Our whole town was without power and we felt really lucky to have the Champion up and running. Our friends and neighbors had to throw out all there food, they were sitting in the dark and had no TV for news updates.

The Champion ran great, we were getting around 4 hrs. per gallon of gas. It never needed oil and it always started on the first or second pull. It was/is worth it's weight in gold.

I was happy to find this web sight and spent the better part of this week going over the 900+ pages. There is a lot of great information here. One of the things I ended up getting is the "KILLAVOLT" adapter. My Champion does not have the over voltage protection and even though it ran without a problem, I ordered one for peace of mind.

Look forward to spending more time here. 🙂

Thanks

[Beach-Rat]

professor95 wrote:
I would add one additional piece of steel bracing. There is a considerable amount of stress from the "bounce" that will be experienced. IMHO you need a connection between the top and bottom steel "arms" other than the vertical pieces. Also, use grade 8 bolts where you attach to the pin box.

Sorry for the delay.. we were "snow camping" at Endless Caverns this (Halloween) weekend..

Thanks for the "bracing" advice.. it's now "on the list".. also was advised to brace for "rack".. so a plate will be added for side to side twisting..

Yes.. onboard with the bolts.. there is great debate on the grade 5 vs grade 8 requirement.. but I go with grade 8 when I can find them ( grade 5 minimum)..

Off to blow out waterlines..