Well I guess I must put my 2 cents worth in the pot....so here goes. To start with I have a Champion 4000/3500W 30 Amp, RV Ready ,68db Generator. Notice the 30 Amp and RV Ready! It will run anything I want in my camper. Don't need to hook two together to get the power I need and it will pull the 30 Amps that the camper is set up to use. The brand X Generators only will handle 16.7 and 20 Amps (the ones listed previously)and cost a heck of lot more than mine.
Now........Generators are normally used for boondocking or emergency power. Boondocking, you are most likely with your family. Camp Ground you will have other campers around you, Oh,by the way......Last time I was in a camp ground we lost complete power because of a storm. The Champion Generator handled power to my camper and the one next to me with out a problem. No....they did not complain because of the noise, I have an extra 30 ft. cable which placed the gen. set 60 ft. away. They mostly likely would not have complained with only 30 ft. of cable. When the power came back on, the gen. set was shut down. You would be amazed at how many campers came at looked at the CHEAP OPEN FRAME GEN. and wanted to know where to buy one.
If the situation demands, I shut the gen. set down at quite hour when in a camp ground.
Well, that's my 2 cents worth
PS:
To keep the noise police away I will paint my Champion red and stick a Honda logo on it. It's now quieter that a 2000 Honda and produces twice the power.
* This post was
edited 04/07/08 09:16pm by subourbon *
2007 Chev. Silverado CrewCab 4x4
6.0L Vortex Max
3.73 Rear Axle Ratio
Prodigy Brake Control
Equalizer Hitch
Champion 4000/3500 30A RV Gen.
Garmin 7200 GPS
2008 31E Jayco Feather LGT
UVW6225 GVW7850
This thread on the decibels of the Honda vs. the Yamaha vs. the Champion vs. any generator really makes me laugh!!! It seems like a big pissing contest to say the least... Some of us are also made to feel inferior if we don't have deep pockets to buy a Yamaha or a Honda... We all have different situations!
I bought my Champion generator because it was with in my means, had an RV plug, seemed to be of reasonable quality, good service, good support and to camp alone in the woods or along the river away from all of you... It is great to get away and camp alone at times... I can fire up the Champion to charge my battery's, cook my dinner, power my AC, TV or many other things... I can walk 300' away and fish for a few hours and not hardly know its even running... 99.9% of the State and local parks I attend have power and I would leave the generator at home for those occasions...
Get a generator to suffice your wants & needs and use it responsibly...
Seriously? Can't afford a $1500 dollar generator to power your $60K+ setup?
It makes it a bit difficult to take the contents of the post at face value when you put stuff like that in there.
It's not hard to see his point I have to say.MY dad and I had to save for some time to get our honda's. and I already have a champion. (sorry I hait to stir the pot.)
I think the OP has plenty of opinions to his question.... funny how there are members who are either the weight or noise police who think they need to chime in and give their opinion on their professed expertise.
I think the best option would be to get a discounted/ inexpensive champion and give it a try, or better yet borrow someone's champion or construction type loud generator and use it either in the driveway or camping.
If you decide noise isn't an issue, buy the champion type and be $ ahead.... or buy a quiet generator- like my Yamaha 3000iseb, and be happy with that decision.
You guys that bicker about noise are making more WORD pollution than a loud generator.....LOL
Big_Johnson wrote: It seems like a big pissing contest to say the least...
It's the "my brother can beat up your brother" syndrome.
TV: Mint 1972 Ford F-250 XLT
TT: 1969 19' Excel; entertains 6, feeds 4, sleeps 2 You don't shoot to kill, you shoot to stay alive.
I don't carry because I have to, I carry because I get to. I like new things-
- when they're 40 years old! My pictures
If the only time you need your generator is when you are camping alone or you have the luxury of putting it 60 feet away without fear of it getting stolen or rained on, then an open box contractor type generator will be fine.
However, not all of us are like that. I can identify with the old ladies in the Honda commercial. I take my RV to college football games. I can't tell you how many times I am parked less than 10 feet away from someone with an open box generator (and sometimes even a class A with a 'built in') and have my TV all the way up to try to drown it out. Sometimes placing it far away or asking for some courtesy is not an option.
I went the cheap route before, and like most, I saved my money and got the Honda's. I stayed once at a place that put the hondas on one side and the rest on the other side, and one trip around walking the dog was all I needed to see the difference.
Dixonmatco..I'm a duck hunter and NASCAR fan, have plenty of ear plugs. Thanks anyway.
Big_Johnson said "Get a generator to suffice your wants & needs and use it responsibly...". I agree 100%. Don't normally get into a bickering contest, did just this time to stir the pot.
Offline
It will run anything I want in my camper. Don't need to hook two together to get the power I need and it will pull the 30 Amps that the camper is set up to use. The brand X Generators only will handle 16.7 and 20 Amps (the ones listed previously)and cost a heck of lot more than mine. 
