PatJ
WA
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Joined: 05/03/2005
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greenrvgreen wrote:The only disagreement I have is with the 1200--I feel that it is as loud as the 3500, and somewhat more obnoxious.
I must agree with you. During my testing, I was very surprised to see such a significant difference between the 1200 and 3500 - especially at idle. Having used them for years now, I expected them to be almost equal. For the sake of that page I have left all of my personal opinion out and maintained scientific method, but if I allowed myself comment, I would state that the difference between the two Champions was my biggest surprise.
I do have the capability to do octave filtering with the Quest 215 decibel meter as I have the add-on module, but I decided that at this time it was outside the scope of the web page. I have considered actual sound clips and study of the sound wave produced to try and isolate the most "offensive" sounds, but for now that is just more time than I can invest in this project.
Patrick
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Wayne Dohnal
Banks, OR.
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The biggest surprise for me was the Champion comparing so well to the Honda with the heavy load. Being an open-frame model and presumably costing less to build, the Champion should be louder, but I'm impressed by how small the difference is. I would expect that one of the larger Honda or Yamaha inverter generators would come out better than the eu2000i with the heavy load. A really interesting comparison would be the Champion with the open-frame Yamaha 2800 watt inverter generator. If the Champion did as good as ef2800i, which it might, that would be even more impressive. What would be really great would be for the Champions to go to inverter technology without a big price increase.
Not the subject of the test, I was shocked to see how far off the eu2000i's frequency was. Then I saw the kill-a-watt in the picture. Assuming that's where the reading came from, they tend to read a tenth or two low, which is well within their published specification.
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MrWizard
Van Nuys, Ca
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I gave away the 1200/1500 (2) years ago when i got my 3500
but it was quieter at idle than the 3500, an the tone a little softer, but hey, the engine and genny head have less metal to resonate and uses less fuel
i've been very happy with all my champion gennies
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bill h
el segundo
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My compliments on an accurate and well-controlled test. Far better than my on-location readings with a Radio Shack meter.
Looks like the 3500 might be legal running a Lakewood heater in national forests if the Ranger stands on side A or D.
I wonder if the generally quoted air conditioner amp draw of 13.5 amps would make the generator a little louder. I also wonder how much the compressor noise would add to the reading.
* This post was
edited 05/28/08 01:43am by bill h *
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Hurricaner
Hurricane Utah
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Joined: 02/17/2007
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Well it's pretty obvious the clear winner is the Crown Victoria, to bad it's so darn big and heavy although with the gas crisis you should be able to pick them up pretty reasonably.
Sam
Sam & Kari
Hurricane, Utah
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Hurricaner
Hurricane Utah
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Quote:Looks like the 3500 might be legal running a Lakewood heater in national forests if the Ranger stands on side A or D. No problem as that requirement is 68 decimals at 50 feet not 21.
Sam
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Mikeyxx
Hamilton, Ontario
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Joined: 02/24/2008
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I wish I could understand the db and loudness gauges. I know the whole double volume after so many db etc. But that doesn't really help me understand if 68 is a lot better than 71.
Of course, the above mention of running the air conditioner at the same time... would that add a lot to the noise, or just fill in a little more white noise (running the crown vic next to the generator...would you hear an increase in overall noise?)
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WaltinColo
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Cool test!
Certainly shows that the Crown Victoria wins! 
But the Honda wins at idle in the gennie world.
Course everyone already knew an invertor model at idle would be quieter then a gen running at 3600.
Most interesting point to me is that under a 1400 watt load, the Champion and the Honda were basically the same. But take note... thats approaching the max the Honda puts out.. the Champion isnt even breaking a sweat, able to go way beyond the Honda, up to 3500 watts.
Quote:Looks like the 3500 might be legal running a Lakewood heater in national forests if the Ranger stands on side A or D.
Ya, as Hurricaner pointed out, these numbers are as 21 feet. The NFS uses 50 foot and says it cant be louder then 68 at that distance. If i remember it right, someone on here did a test at 50 foot, and the Champion was at 60db. Not an issue.
So there ya go!
As expected, the Honda is quieter at idle, but under full load the Champion and Honda are the same. Plus the Champion can run your a/c. Something that the Honda2000 more often then not, can not do.
At a fraction of the price, im happy with my Champion.
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Hurricaner
Hurricane Utah
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I think the inverter generators can be a little deceiving as this test shows. They are incredibly quite at low loads but just reasonable at high loads.
Sam
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wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
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racefan1965 wrote:I question the champion specs at medium load and high load. I am under the impression that these units have to run at a set 3600 RPM's no matter the load. Why would the specs be different? Isn't 3600 rpm's 3600 rpm's? Since the honda ramps up speed as load increases one would expect the decibel changes but why would they change when the engine stays at the same RPM's no matter the load? I must be missing something or not understanding something.
Champion makes both "Traditional" generators that run at a fixed speed (1200 rpm for big ones, 1800 for medium and 3600 for small) and Inverter Generators
I suspect the OP tested the Inverter type
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
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