How many of you have a generator for camping ... or for anything for that matter?

I am looking for a decent generator for extended camping. One of the most important features is that it is fairly quiet.

I have experience with Honda's line of Super Quiet generators and they are very quiet, but expensive. ~$2000 for 3000 Watts.

I found a Champion 3500 Watt generator, but I am wondering how quiet it is. It's only ~$350.
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/400/b0/b065f086-dec5-4ef1-8606-79905c32b5d0_400.jpg

Does anyone have any experience with this brand, or other recommendations?

Saw them at Costco. I don't believe they are any particular shade of quiet. Here's the manual:
http://www.cpeauto.com/man/gen/CSA40015%20Manual.pdf

I have a honda i1000 and I love it. Super quiet and only 24 lbs. How many watts do you need?
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I just read some reviews on Home Depot's website. There were a few that said it was kind of quiet.

I have a honda i1000 and I love it. Super quiet and only 24 lbs. How many watts do you need?
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At least 2000 Watts

I also want one of these (http://www.earthtechproducts.com/p2008.html)to keep my other electronics charged.

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-99239380869547_2034_22721308

:dontknow: If you camp ALONE, in the wilderness, that Gen would be OK, but

If you camp within 500yds of any human beings-Don't get it

The only Acceptable Gens for campground use are the HONDA super quiet

Nobody has been killed because of a HONDA

:iconbiggrin::iconbiggrin::geek::geek: JIMBO

:dontknow: If you camp ALONE, in the wilderness, that Gen would be OK, but

If you camp within 500yds of any human beings-Don't get it

The only Acceptable Gens for campground use are the HONDA super quiet

Nobody has been killed because of a HONDA

:iconbiggrin::iconbiggrin::geek::geek: JIMBO

I will be camping with a group of friends, some of whom may end up "borrowing" some of my power. If I pass it by the rest of them, I should be OK. I just need to make sure it won't be so loud that it will bother the next campsite down.

Now, if I could just go to a store and have them demonstrate one for me...

If Home Depot carries them, they likely have one in their rental department you could fire up...

Can you get an add-on muffler to quiet it down?

Also... if you have a big 'ol generator, its not much like camping is it.... I have a 1000watt inverter for the occasional stuff, but running a big gen. all the time just seems like camping in the backyard.

If Home Depot carries them, they likely have one in their rental department you could fire up...

Ooo, good idea!

Ooo, good idea!

Make sure and put a load on it to get the real effect - anything to just bring it off idle, a drop light will even do it in most cases. Lots of them are quiet as a mouse idling...

I've got a Yamaha 3500 that was designed for RV use. EXTREMELY quiet, and has clean enough power to run electronics off of too. Electric start and auto-idle, but I think they are close to 2 grand now.
Stay away from the real cheapies, as they are noisy and the sine-wave and voltage specs are too lousy to run electronics off of (my neighbor found out the hard way trying to run his bigscreen during a power outage).
You get what you pay for....
The little Hondas are awesome for camping in the 1k to 2k sizes.
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x2 on the little Honda's

But I gotta ask what do you need 3.5kW for?! Do you bring your big screen and electric stove/oven?

x2 on the little Honda's

But I gotta ask what do you need 3.5kW for?! Do you bring your big screen and electric stove/oven?

Close, a toaster/convection oven and microwave. (The wife is doing most of the cooking soooooo....) We will be there for eight days and some nights we will be doing a community dinner.

x2 on the little Honda's

But I gotta ask what do you need 3.5kW for?! Do you bring your big screen and electric stove/oven?

For me, the 3000w ISEB (3500 at boost) yamaha runs my AC and microwave at the same time in my travel trailer, as it was designed to be able to supply the start surge current needed on the AC.

Linky to Yamahas here: http://yamahagenerators.com/home.php

Has also been real helpful during power outages to run the furnace and fridge.

I've also got a Coleman 4000w that's so noisy, burns a lot of fuel and weighs a ton. Just good to run power tools, etc.
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what engine is on it? if its a briggs & stratton, expect it to be loud. i have a 5k watt troy-bilt generator from lowe's with a 10hp briggs i use for emergency power at home and itll wake the dead.

i sell these things, and even the lower HP ones are loud. spend the money and get a honda. look second-hand if you can. sometimes you can find "refurbished" ones (that what mine was) and you can get a deal on them.

We recently found a Cummins Onan inverter generator, 4300 watts, at costco.com. It's pretty quiet, but I'm not sure how it compares to the Honda generators.

I don't think they're available any more, though. It looks like they have smaller Cummins Onan inverter generators, though.

I think the quiet generators all use the inverter technology.

The Quietest small Gens on the market are the Honda's. We have over 100 of the Honda 3000s that we use for work.
We use them for our Golf jobs and have them with-in 50' of the Green and no one is the wiser.
They are a little pricey but they last forever.

The Quietest small Gens on the market are the Honda's. We have over 100 of the Honda 3000s that we use for work.
We use them for our Golf jobs and have them with-in 50' of the Green and no one is the wiser.
They are a little pricey but they last forever.

I have experience with the 1000's and I agree they are great. Just a little too pricey for me. I found the Yamaha quiet ones and they were roughly the same price.

if you just need it for this one time and don't have the cash to buy a good one then I would suggest renting one for the week.

my dad is currenly buying and fixing generators off of craigs list in south florida, he has one for me that i need go to get, its virtually new porter cable 5,500 watt surge to 8,000
he got it for $100 and it was all in seperate boxes, my dad assembeled it and found out it was missing a fuel line, quick trip to the local small engine shop fixed that as it has a B&S motor on it.
long story short, it was noisy, turns out an early 90's honda civic muffler is almost a perfect fit, my dad has one of the quite yamahas and he said its pretty comparable under load, much quieter than before
I would recomend hitting up craigs list to see what they have, when I am down in FL this weekend ill take pics so you guys can see what he has, I think he's up to 9 or 10 that he has working and he hasnt spent $700 on everything parts included to get them working again

I found a Champion 3500 Watt generator, but I am wondering how quiet it is. It's only ~$350.
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/400/b0/b065f086-dec5-4ef1-8606-79905c32b5d0_400.jpg


They were selling those out the back of trailers everywhere after Ike hit. Although it was for quite a higher sum than $350, price gouging. Our neighbor bought one just to keep his fridge and deep freezer going, its loud under load. Not horribly loud, but loud enough where I wouldn't want that thing in the campsite next to me.

Hit up pawn shops and see if you can find a Honda. The way the economy is these days, people are pawning some pretty cool ****.

I've been looking on Craig's list. Hadn't thought about a pawn shop though.

Thanks!

No problem. With the growing popularity of Craigslist, people are forgetting about the original way to do things...pawn shops.

I once bought a nice Snap-On impact for $50. Then it got stolen...probably ended up back in a pawn shop.

[QUOTE=Peck;
I once bought a nice Snap-On impact for $50. Then it got stolen...probably ended up back in a pawn shop.[/QUOTE]

:laughing3: Now that's funny! I don't care who you are.

Have you looked into the Generac / Champion brand?