HenryJ
Expedition Leader
Today I came across a real bargain on a larger generator. One that could provide emergency household power. Might make a good addition to a RV trailer sometime in the future.
This reminds me of the $99 Offroad HID bargain earlier this year. It probably will not last long as the local store has sold seven of them since yesterday.
I just bought a Champion 4000 peak / 3500 watt continuous generator for $161.75
Shucks Auto supply (Shucks/Checker/Kragen and Murray?) are selling the Champion C46540 4000W generator for $399. It is currently on an unadvertised mark down to $349 and offers an additional $100 rebate. Add to that a 25% off coupon for another $87.25 off.
It is a Chinese knock off of an older Honda generator. I had one of the Honda's like this when I worked construction in the early nineties. It is not huge, but really did a great job and was bullet proof.
It is a 6.5 hp OHV 4 cycle engine. This has a foam washable air filter. Low oil protection. I am told that Honda parts interchange so parts availability is good. The muffler is different. Champion has used a automotive style muffler. Other than that and the air cleaner, everything looks very close to the old Honda I had.
With a four gallon fuel tank running half a day is pretty easy. This will make a very handy tool to have around. It comes with cables for battery charging, a funnel , spark arrestor for the muffler and sparkplug wrench.
This unit is yellow. I see the same generator , painted blue, available on Amazon.com for $240. That is still a good price for a unit this size. I have been watching for quite a while. A back up for power outages is my main concern. This is big enough to power the pump for my well , should the need arise. With water we can do pretty well in an outage.
Reviews are very good for this unit in moderate use.
Thought I'd spread the word. $162 for a 3500W generator is half price of any unit I have seen thus far. $1 per 10 watts seems to be the best price I had seen. This cuts that nearly in half.
Now the good news and bad. Not so bad really.
I put a lifetime of wear on the pull rope. Came real close to taking the POS back and asking for one that runs.
I did everything I could think of. Pulled the plug, checked the spark. Checked the needle valve and float. Pulled the main jet and blew compressed air in the bottom of the carb. WD-40. Choked with fuel. Fuel off in case it was flooding.
I did find a tiny piece of plastic flashing in the float bowl. It must have come from the float. There must have been a piece in or under the main jet too. It finally started after the removal of the main jet and a good blow job.
It is slightly louder than the old Honda IIRC. Really pretty quiet for a inexpensive generator of this size. Much quieter than the Briggs powered versions this size.
I gave it the 10 minute run in and cool down. Started up after a couple pulls. Remembering to turn the switch back on helps.
Barely a burp in the engine to power a 1/2" drill. I have no doubt that it will do all I need. It will come in handy haunting the corn maze this year!
This reminds me of the $99 Offroad HID bargain earlier this year. It probably will not last long as the local store has sold seven of them since yesterday.
I just bought a Champion 4000 peak / 3500 watt continuous generator for $161.75
Shucks Auto supply (Shucks/Checker/Kragen and Murray?) are selling the Champion C46540 4000W generator for $399. It is currently on an unadvertised mark down to $349 and offers an additional $100 rebate. Add to that a 25% off coupon for another $87.25 off.
It is a Chinese knock off of an older Honda generator. I had one of the Honda's like this when I worked construction in the early nineties. It is not huge, but really did a great job and was bullet proof.
It is a 6.5 hp OHV 4 cycle engine. This has a foam washable air filter. Low oil protection. I am told that Honda parts interchange so parts availability is good. The muffler is different. Champion has used a automotive style muffler. Other than that and the air cleaner, everything looks very close to the old Honda I had.
With a four gallon fuel tank running half a day is pretty easy. This will make a very handy tool to have around. It comes with cables for battery charging, a funnel , spark arrestor for the muffler and sparkplug wrench.
This unit is yellow. I see the same generator , painted blue, available on Amazon.com for $240. That is still a good price for a unit this size. I have been watching for quite a while. A back up for power outages is my main concern. This is big enough to power the pump for my well , should the need arise. With water we can do pretty well in an outage.
Reviews are very good for this unit in moderate use.
Thought I'd spread the word. $162 for a 3500W generator is half price of any unit I have seen thus far. $1 per 10 watts seems to be the best price I had seen. This cuts that nearly in half.
Now the good news and bad. Not so bad really.
I put a lifetime of wear on the pull rope. Came real close to taking the POS back and asking for one that runs.
I did everything I could think of. Pulled the plug, checked the spark. Checked the needle valve and float. Pulled the main jet and blew compressed air in the bottom of the carb. WD-40. Choked with fuel. Fuel off in case it was flooding.
I did find a tiny piece of plastic flashing in the float bowl. It must have come from the float. There must have been a piece in or under the main jet too. It finally started after the removal of the main jet and a good blow job.
It is slightly louder than the old Honda IIRC. Really pretty quiet for a inexpensive generator of this size. Much quieter than the Briggs powered versions this size.
I gave it the 10 minute run in and cool down. Started up after a couple pulls. Remembering to turn the switch back on helps.
Barely a burp in the engine to power a 1/2" drill. I have no doubt that it will do all I need. It will come in handy haunting the corn maze this year!
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