Cheaper brand generators

[bert56]

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a 1-2 kva generator and can't decide if it is worth buying a honda or a yamaha.
They are twice the price of the ones in BCF.

All advise will be grateful accepted.

Bert

[Symon]

I have a Kipor 2600, hasn't failed me yet and is half the price of the Honda's.

[griz066]

I have a Honda 2.0 and it is awesome but to be honest the amount I use it I wish I had bought the Kipor for $500 sitting instead of the Honda for $2000. The Honda will be easier to sell though when it is no longer needed.

[pauljygrant]

I have a 1KVa Kipor and for the small amount of use it gets, its okay.
Buying now, I would go for the new range of Ryobi - they are just starting to filter into Bunnings and they are very similar in design / quality / price to the Kipor, but have a much better warranty, ie 2 year replace rather than repair. Also with bunnings being all over the country, as long as you keep the receipt with the gen, then you have immediate replacement cover when you are travelling.
Paul

[GU_Thomo]

I have a Honda and love it because it is so quiet.
How do the Kipor and Ryobi compare with the Honda on noise?

Cheers
Parry

[D4D]

I would have bought a Kipor if I didn't get a ripper deal on a Honda.

[dooguss]

We have a GMC 950 kva gennie runs our fridge and lights when we are camped away from everyone  as it is a little noisy but for the amount of times we use 1 it will do

[offcampn]

We took a chance and bought a no-name syn wave 3.2kva geni from e-Bay , $430 delivered .

It's actually worked out pretty well , we can run the bread maker , fridges , lights , run the toaster , run the kettle ( i've only run them both separately )  . Running it on high is a little loud but the 20mtr extention lead sorts that out   

[jnik]

I also took the chance to get one off eBay ... I went for a slightly larger unit (3.7KVA) to cover some other needs I had, and it's worked out pretty well.

If I switch off the "economy" mode (so it runs at full speed) it'll drive my welder and the smaller of my two compressors (the larger compressor almost works ... the generator stops sometimes as the compressor kicks in).

Because it's a larger unit it is a bit louder than the smaller units (58dBA IIRC), so I wouldn't use it for long periods while camping if others are around, but the wireless remote and a long extension lead make it quite usable.

Only issue I have with it is the electric start ... it works fine as long as the small internal battery is 100% charged, but as it never is after it's been sitting unused for a while I've removed the small battery and replaced it with a cord with an Anderson plug ... plug it into the Anderson plug on my towbar or camper and it fires up immediately.

[bert56]

Symon how does the kipor compare for noise.

Bert

[Symon]

Well I think it's quiet.  Never done a comparison with a Honda though.

[Manjimike]

If I switch off the "economy" mode (so it runs at full speed) it'll drive my welder and the smaller of my two compressors (the larger compressor almost works ... the generator stops sometimes as the compressor kicks in).

What size welder do you run?

I have 3.5kVA and the welder won't even idle - I wonder whether the pure sine wave isn't.
Without an oscilloscope I don't know how I can tell

 
Mike

[jnik]

What size welder do you run?

It's an inverter combo unit: 160A Arc & TIG DC welder + 40A plasma cutter ... haven't run it off the generator at full-tilt, but IIRC I was running it at around 90 - 100A.

[Manjimike]

Thanks, mines 170A cigweld inverter stick/tig - will have to check again - maybe not holding tongue right 

[Tjupurula]

Hi Bert
I have a 6.5 kVa HTG (High Tech Generators) which, although quite noisy, pushes my MIG, lights and a fan all together when I am welding away from any power source.  I also have a small Honda gen set which I use in my trailer to run my 80 litre Waeco and 21 litre Engel together when out working.   That little gen set I can barely hear.
Regards
Tjupurula

[Tjupurula]

What size welder do you run?

I have 3.5kVA and the welder won't even idle - I wonder whether the pure sine wave isn't.
Without an oscilloscope I don't know how I can tell

 
Mike

Hi Mike
I would have thought that a 3.5 kVa would have a hard time running any welder, but I could be wrong.
Regards
Tjupurula

[Manjimike]

It is almost the same as a 15A socket theoretically, so I expected I could.
That was the sole purpose of buying the 3.5kVA Infocom and selling the Honda 2kVA  :'(

 

[bert56]

I think I will get a 2kva Ryobi from bunnings, $800. I will check the sine wave on it  before I use it.

They may be noisy though.

Bert

[Manjimike]

Bert, will you use an oscilloscope to check the sine wave or do you have another way?

 

Mike

[jr]

Kipor are cheapest on Bunnings website
Re noise, my experience says they are about the same
Cheaper versions tend to have the inverter fail as this is the weak point
My 2 kva Kipor has been no problems, difficult to start on occassion but run them out of fuel by turning tap off and they almost always fire up no problems.
Theres no doubt they are a cheaper copy with the quality and materials but how much are you going to use it?

[BigJules]

I grabbed an Aldi 1KVa genset. Nicely made, seems OK to me. $299 I think it was.

[paz12ht]

We have a GMC 950 kva gennie runs our fridge and lights when we are camped away from everyone  as it is a little noisy but for the amount of times we use 1 it will do

Same here, been using one for a few years.

I have a 20m ext lead we use ours with, normally find a log or something to put it behind and you can hardly hear it, only run lights with ours normally.

Paz

[rotare]

We have a GMC 950 kva gennie runs our fridge and lights when we are camped away from everyone  as it is a little noisy but for the amount of times we use 1 it will do

I'm glad you added "when we are camped away from everyone".  We  experienced our first "generator reliant" camper this weekend whilst camping at a popular spot near the beach.  This guy was running a cheap two stroke gennie all day and all night till about 10pm in a packed out camp ground.  It was a rediculously noisey gennie. I kid you not, when he finally turned it off at 10pm the cheers from the other campers was equivalent to something you would hear on grand final day when the winning goal was kicked.  I think this guy was lucky to go home with all his teeth and a operating gennie.

Whatever you buy, if you're going to use it around others when camping, make sure it's quiet!

[bert56]

I went and had a look at the local bunnings store and for $800 I can get a 2kva ryobi or a 1kva kipor. The 2kva kipor was $1750.

Bert

[tossie]

Just picked up a 1kva Ryobi from bunnings on Saturday. Filled it up and started it this morning, Yep it's louder than the honda's or yammie's but probably not that noticable on the end of a 30 metre lead. It is only for lights and the battery charger when needed. At 1/3 of the price of the before mentioned and a 2 year replacement warranty i think pretty good deal.

Cheers Shaun