At the risk of starting a flame war here guys, I know that the Champions and their clones are noisier than say the EU2000i or Yamaha, but on a recent visit to California, I visited with another of our Moderators, LLeopold and he had a Power Pro 3500 (Champion equivalent) on his back bumper in an insulated box...
I asked him for a demo and I gotta tell ya, that little puppy was QUIET - - - at least as quiet as my Honda and perhaps quieter as it was running wide open...
I don't know how much he has into it but I can guarantee it isn't the cost of 2 Honda Eu2000i's...
If I ever need additional power I'll seriously consider something like LLeopold's setup - it was indeed impressive
Les
2000 Ford F-250SD, XLT, 4X4 Off Road, SuperCab
w/ 6.8L (415 C.I.) V-10/3:73LS/4R100
Banks Power Pack w/Trans Command & OttoMind
2006 Nomad 3150 Double Slide (Bunkhouse)
Hensley Arrow
Jordan Ultima 2020
LAdams wrote: At the risk of starting a flame war here guys, I know that the Champions and their clones are noisier than say the EU2000i or Yamaha, but on a recent visit to California, I visited with another of our Moderators, LLeopold and he had a Power Pro 3500 (Champion equivalent) on his back bumper in an insulated box...
I asked him for a demo and I gotta tell ya, that little puppy was QUIET - - - at least as quiet as my Honda and perhaps quieter as it was running wide open...
I don't know how much he has into it but I can guarantee it isn't the cost of 2 Honda Eu2000i's...
If I ever need additional power I'll seriously consider something like LLeopold's setup - it was indeed impressive
Les
Any chance of overheating?
Fred & Jodie, dogs, Zoey & Bella
2010 F150 5.4, 3.55, 4x4, Equli-z-er Hitch
2007 Forest River Salem 27RB LE
And he also gave me permission to post the photos I took of his setup while we were out in California... Bare in mind now that the enclosure box on the back of Lou's 5er has been out in the weather for a few seasons so it may need a little paint again, but look at the gen set setup... Lou's article states that he measured the noise level of his setup at 52db at FULL LOAD - that's 1 db better than the EU2000i running at 1/4 load!!!
Here's the pics - if you have any questions, PM Lou (Beginning RV'ing Moderator)
Here's the gen set and box sans cover - the aluminum car carrier that houses the lower part of the box and gen set is a Harbor Freight item...
Exhaust pipe detail - muffler was relocated externally to the underside of the box (see photo #1)
Intake fan detail
Cover insulation detail
Cover detail showing various cooling air exhaust vents
Yeah, I've been using it for a couple of seasons, and many miles, now and it's time for a little TLC, but it definitely serves its purpose. It's really nice to have that A/C when we're in the hot desert areas while boondocking.
If you want to see what it looked like when originally done, and will look like again, you can click here.
I'm still planning to cover the exhaust section with exhaust tape (the kind used for motorcycles) which should bring the internal operating temperature from the current 140 degrees F to less than 100 degrees F.
Lou Leopold
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel Quad, SWB, 3.55:1, Rhino Lining
2000 25' Mallard M-23 5M 5th Wheel
Husky 15K w/EZ slider
Wen PowerPro 3500 Generator in a sound box
And I continue to tent camp!
Dixonmatco wrote: One question. It appears to have two 15A outlets. How do you get 30A out if it? Many A/Cs require more than 15A to start.
The Champion has a 30A outlet.
I rewired the generator head using a wiring diagram from the link I mentioned earlier. Looking back at the thread, the wiring diagram is no longer available, so I'll scan the wiring diagram from my book with the mods and post it on my web site, then post it here.
Basically, there are two coils that produce electricity from the generator. The two coils each have one hot and one neutral lead. The hot leads from one of the coils are wired 180 degrees out of phase from the other coil, resulting in 240V@30A (120V@15A on each leg) or 2x120V@15A (each going to a separate outlet).
What I did was take the hot lead from the second coil (red) and bond it with the neutral of the first coil (white). I then bonded the neutral lead from the second coil (blue) with the hot lead of the first coil (brown).
This results in 120V/30A since the two coils, each producing 120V, are now in phase and are bonded together. Needless to say, I "beefed" up the wiring from the generator head to the 30A circuit breaker and then to the outlet (a total of about 4 feet) with 12/2 with ground Romex.
At the 240V receptacle, I have the new hot lead running to the "Y" terminal, the new neutral wire running to the "N" terminal, and the ground (chassis ground) running to the "G" terminal. The "X" terminal is not used.
I then wired a short cord that has a standard trailer 30A receptacle on one end connected to the plug that came with the generator on the other so that I could plug my trailer in (as seen in the photos) with hot, neutral, and ground wired accordingly.
I understand that later models of the PowerPro now have a 240V/30A receptacle with a switch that switches between 240V and 120V making my modification no longer necessary (can anyone confirm this?).
Click on the image to get a full-screen version.
Hope this helps.
* This post was
edited 10/07/09 09:39pm by LLeopold *
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