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We rented that Honda gen for son's wedding - and it's actually not that quiet. Also, I have a lawn mower with Honda engine, and it's about the worst POC I had in garden tools. On the other hand, my Coleman with Briggs and Strutton runs for 10 years by now not a sneeze, converted to tri fuel as of the last 3 years.
I bought the Yamaha EF2000is over the Honda because it has a petcock. If you're not going to be using the generator for a month or more it's recommended to drain the carb, so it doesn't varnish.
That's a lot easier to do when you can turn off the fuel and run the carb dry. Can't do that with the Honda, but IIRC the Honda can use an external fuel tank for extended run time.
4-stroke's are generally less sensitive to varying altitudes. At least that's how it is in the dirt bike world. That Yamaha worked at 10,000ft out of the box.
They are not that quite at full load, but they throttle down automatically when under a smaller load. They are pretty quite then.
Just found my old thread. I tried out the harbor freight style two stroke generator (although I bought it on amazon prime). For $120 it is quite the generator, ran my circular saw, charged my batteries and I ran it daily for months.
However I just recently upgraded to the honda eu2000i generator. It is super nice and really quiet. Ruled out the Westinghouse and went back and forth between the Yamaha and honda inverters. Read every website comparison and think both are quality units. Ended up choosing the honda mainly because it was $100 cheaper and closest service center for Yamaha was 2.5 hours away vs 15 mins away for the honda dealer.
Anyways couldn't be happier with my new upgrade, even though the two stroke is good for the money (albeit slightly louder than I hoped). I'll keep it for a backup.
How can you rule out the Westinghouse without giving it a try? Honda is "glossed over with" too much because of Brand reputation. I'm gonna take a bet on buying the Westinghouse. It seems better than the $500 Champion 2000W.
And now, there are other numerous websites with Westinghouse reviews.
The harbor freight generators with predator engines (4 stroke) are every bit as good as the hondas (and is just S quiet). If you google harbor freight coupons you can pick up the 2000w for $399. It is a Honda clone at almost half the price. I have the 8750 watt predator that will run my 250 amp welder or pretty much most of my house. It sips fuel and is relatively quiet for its size. There are quite a few U tube videos comparing the 2000 watt Honda to the harbor freight model. The 2stroke 900 watt generator is a bargain and can be picked up for $89.00 with a coupon but doesn't compare to the quieter four stroke 2000 watt model. I try not to waste money on inferior products that will just cost more in the long run but, the harbor freight generators are a very good product at a great price.
If powering electronics is not your concern, I would suggest the 900W Stormcat generator from Harbor Freight. This little guy can be bought on sale pretty often at $99--that's right, $99. It's a two-cycle generator, but is really pretty quiet. I carry one on my truck to power tools, etc. and it hasn't ever failed me. It's also pretty economical on fuel. I've started it at temperatures all the way down to 0° F. without problem. It's not an inverter generator and shouldn't be used to power electronics, but for tools, electric motors, etc., it does just fine. And, you can buy about 8 of 'em for what a Honda inverter costs. Put a UPS between it and your laptop charger, and it would likely not hurt it, either.
Noooooooooo! Junk! Recoil starter breaks in a few starts and its garbage power.
The harbor freight generators with predator engines (4 stroke) are every bit as good as the hondas (and is just S quiet). If you google harbor freight coupons you can pick up the 2000w for $399. It is a Honda clone at almost half the price. I have the 8750 watt predator that will run my 250 amp welder or pretty much most of my house. It sips fuel and is relatively quiet for its size. There are quite a few U tube videos comparing the 2000 watt Honda to the harbor freight model. The 2stroke 900 watt generator is a bargain and can be picked up for $89.00 with a coupon but doesn't compare to the quieter four stroke 2000 watt model. I try not to waste money on inferior products that will just cost more in the long run but, the harbor freight generators are a very good product at a great price.
Actually the predator 2000 is more of a clone of the yamaha. Its noticeably louder than an eu2000 but still quiet enough. Throw a moving blanket over it and they are equal. Think the honda is quiet due to its plastic valvetrain. Have had mine 13 months and ~100+ hours, hasnt missed a beat though in eco mode at certain loads the governor hunts. For $400 a ateal.
Actually the predator 2000 is more of a clone of the yamaha. Its noticeably louder than an eu2000 but still quiet enough. Throw a moving blanket over it and they are equal. Think the honda is quiet due to its plastic valvetrain. Have had mine 13 months and ~100+ hours, hasnt missed a beat though in eco mode at certain loads the governor hunts. For $400 a ateal.
The big difference is in the inverter/electrionics and it's quality. I've bought the "Chinese junk" sine wave generators and while the motors ran just fine the inverters failed several times and did not provide the clean power promised. Parts were damn near impossible to find as well.
Bought a Yamaha and had inverter problems, it was in the service department a few times so I got rid of it but never had any issue with a Honda.
None of the Sine Wave Generators I've owned were as quiet as the Honda, that is a fact.
I would never again risk the equipment I'm powering just to buy a cheap generator...
The big difference is in the inverter/electrionics and it's quality. I've bought the "Chinese junk" sine wave generators and while the motors ran just fine the inverters failed several times and did not provide the clean power promised. Parts were damn near impossible to find as well.
Bought a Yamaha and had inverter problems, it was in the service department a few times so I got rid of it but never had any issue with a Honda.
None of the Sine Wave Generators I've owned were as quiet as the Honda, that is a fact.
I would never again risk the equipment I'm powering just to buy a cheap generator...
I think youd have to hook up a pricey power analyzing meter or oscilloscope to its output to reliably determine how "clean" the output is, unless you have symptoms or it obviously breaks equipment.
I would agree that the honda is quieter and would expect better reliability. However $1000 for a generator was simply not in my finances at the time. In fact the predator 2000 was only $310 plus tax out of pocket. The other $90? Credit for that wretched StormCat which I returned on the 89th day of the 90 day return window.
As for Chinese junk well the honda eu2000 is now made in Thailand not Japan.
Pick your poison.
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