Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsNot the best of generators
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2020
I purchased this generator because I saw many good reviews about it and it seemed a perfect fit for my 30ft Travel Trailer with a 30 amp plug.
Packaging... is left to the imagination. for a box that weighs over 100lbs you think it would have handles or something, no. Delivery left it on my doorstep and I could only move it with a hand truck because not even hole cuts to pick it up with someone. Not having wheels it isn't easy to move, especially for one person.
After unpacking it I had high hopes because it didn't need a lot of stuff done before running. Remove some packing braces from the bottom of the generator with a 10mm socket, fill with .6L of oil, and I MEAN .6L, not a drop more or it pours out of the dipstick and that's about it.
Starting it. Filled the tank with about 3 gallons to begin. Flipped it to on and did a light pull as advised in manual, then a regular pull, didn't start right up like other reviews, then turned off choke as it was a warm day, two more pulls and started up.
Boy was this little thing LOUD! I mean, it says 68db at 30 feet but even 30 feet away the db meter I have showed 76db, and about 4 ft away from it showed 90db! This is WAY louder than the reviews say.
Began to wonder if I must have sensitive ears, nope, even two friends that were with me stated it was a lot louder than models they have.
Let it run by itself with no load on it for about an hour. Champion claims you can put a load on it from the first start.
After connecting my 30 amp plug I noticed (aptly so) the engine rev up a step or two, now a bit higher db's than advertised. No real load on the generator other than the battery charging system for the trailer.
It REALLY got loud when I started up the AC on the trailer, the generator bogged down a bit and then the Rev got higher and an even noisier generator. I figured maybe it would go down like others once the ac ran a short while, Not the case.
Well I gave it the benefit of the doubt and let it run for 5 hours then changed the oil as you should.
Started it back up and low and behold, SAME ISSUES!
VERY Loud and didn't seem to produce the power it advertises, would notice the motor would bog down, rev up, bog down, rev up, with an even load, full load, no load, it just didn't want to stay quiet and at one speed.
Even in the house over 50 ft away you could hear the generator as if it was right outside the door.
Maybe I got a bad one? or maybe its this generator.
Had to request a refund and send it back.
I sucked it up and just got the $900 model with wheels, is still duel fuel and has a MUCH lower sound.
Definitely read the bad reviews on this before you buy it, seems its NOT for everyone!
Ive owned a few different generators over the years and the sound is comparable to ones from the 90's before people cared about noise.
It doesn't seem very sturdy at all, the framing is light weight but has a "cheap" feel like metal from the bottom of the scrap, pretty sure if I were to bump it into something it would've broke the frame (Thankfully didn't).