The Yamaha gave us exemplary service for 14 years. Every year, for the first three days of our trip, the generator runs nonstop 24 hours-a-day to keep the refrigerator and furnace running, until we reach warmer temperatures where campgrounds are open. The Yamaha was originally installed on the back of our Class C motorhome, and when we sold that and purchased our Laredo fifthwheel, it took up residence inside a housing in the truck bed.
For reasons described in this post, we decided on a Champion generator as the replacement. The unit we purchased is a Model 100261, which produces 3100 watts continuous and 3400 watts short-term. We ordered it from Nationwide Generators in Illinois, and it arrived safely via UPS on January 23. Shipping was free, and there was no sales tax. I unpacked the unit, and filled it with 600 ml of 10W30 oil, and put in 1 liter of gasoline. I pressed the "Start" button on the included remote control, and after 3 starts, the unit ran smoothly. Because the generator was shipped dry, it had to fill the fuel system before it would run. Subsequent starts using the remote were almost instantaneous. The choke is electrically-controlled, and operates automatically to allow remote starts when the engine is cold. There is a manual choke lever to allow pull starting if the battery is ever dead.
The Champion unit is well-designed, with a clear and logical layout of the controls. Attention to detail is apparent, with small features like drip spouts to catch the oil when filling after an oil change.
The valuable feature for us is the wireless remote control, which will allow starting and stopping from inside our rig. Remote starting seems to work extremely well, with seamless control of the choke, which is the difficult part of implementing a remote control system with this type of generator.
Installed in the housing. The unit to the left is our compressor. |
Remote starting |
The Champion generator has a 3-year warranty, which hopefully will not be required. It is now part of our fulltiming equipment, and I look forward to years of dependable service, as provided by the unit it replaced. A generator is essential for our kind of travel, giving us self-sufficiency wherever we are parked.
Forced retirement for the old Yamaha. The hitch and cargo box have been temporarily removed to allow the new unit to be installed. |
Glad it all worked out, great write-up! It's too bad the Honda wouldn't have worked for you, they're supposed to be "super quiet". But with the new Genny being in the truck bed, like you said, I imagine it's manageable.
ReplyDeleteThe Honda is over twice the price we paid for the Champion, as is the Yamaha. This was also a factor. When we bought the Yamaha 14 years ago, Champion had a very limited range, and a poor reputation for quality. They seem to have fixed this quality issue in recent years.
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