I'm looking to pick up a Champion Generator today and I was wondering from the people who own them, how many hours of use do you get out of a tank? (On avg of course, I know there are a lot of factors that play into it as well.) Thanks.
How many hours per gallon might be a better question. The Yamaha and Honda 1000 generators can run almost 10 hours on a very low load like many RVers use. I was looking at the numbers for the Champion and they state 12 hours run time on a 4 gallon tank at 50% load. My guess is that the burn rate is close to that on low load. The Champion is a contractor generator and unless you plan on running an A/C its going to use fuel at 2.5X to almost 4X the rate of either the Honda 1000 or Yamaha 1000. With fuel cost as high as they are now the Champion is not the bargain it was two years ago when everyone was touting it. The Honda 1000 or 2000 can pay for itself after 700 hours or less of run time with the Champion plus you dont have to listen to something noisy.
Oh Boy...here we go again. We have the Champion RV ready generator and love it. I'm not sure how many hours you get on a gallon of gas as we only use it for short periods to re-charge our battery when dry camping. It was a great buy for us and what we use it for.
JJ & Sandie
Li'l Jack, Pickles & Bunny the chihuahuas...Chewy, poodle 6/15/95-7/4/08 We will always love you Chooch.
2003 Chevy 2500HD,LT,CC,SB,4x4,Duramax/Allison
2007 Starcraft Homestead 262RKS
Well, although Keith wanders OT when he gets to thinkin' and thinkin' about that darn yellow gennie, I can confirm several of his pre-rant suppositions. I have a Champion 3500 (and also the 1200) and my only complaint is tying to decide which one I love the most.
--With its 4 gallon tank, the 3500 will run 10 or 12 hours on half load.
--Run time with light load (500 watts or less) is not worlds different. I saw 14-16 hours, depending on the load.
I boondock and am a heavy user of the generator. Even with gas prices such as they are, I still don't see the economics of buying a Honda 3000 or a pair of the 2000's. For an infrequent user I would say the cost advantage of the Champion is overwhelming.
Keith M wrote: How many hours per gallon might be a better question. The Yamaha and Honda 1000 generators can run almost 10 hours on a very low load like many RVers use. I was looking at the numbers for the Champion and they state 12 hours run time on a 4 gallon tank at 50% load. My guess is that the burn rate is close to that on low load. The Champion is a contractor generator and unless you plan on running an A/C its going to use fuel at 2.5X to almost 4X the rate of either the Honda 1000 or Yamaha 1000. With fuel cost as high as they are now the Champion is not the bargain it was two years ago when everyone was touting it. The Honda 1000 or 2000 can pay for itself after 700 hours or less of run time with the Champion plus you dont have to listen to something noisy.
Of course a smaller displacement engine is going to burn less fuel.
Many of us bought the Champion so we COULD run our A/C (and in my case, the microwave, and also for emergency use at the house).
With your logic, you better sell your truck or SUV because a Honda civic will pay for itself after just a few hundred hours.
greenrvgreen wrote: Well, although Keith wanders OT when he gets to thinkin' and thinkin' about that darn yellow gennie, I can confirm several of his pre-rant suppositions. I have a Champion 3500 (and also the 1200) and my only complaint is tying to decide which one I love the most.
--With its 4 gallon tank, the 3500 will run 10 or 12 hours on half load.
--Run time with light load (500 watts or less) is not worlds different. I saw 14-16 hours, depending on the load.
I boondock and am a heavy user of the generator. Even with gas prices such as they are, I still don't see the economics of buying a Honda 3000 or a pair of the 2000's. For an infrequent user I would say the cost advantage of the Champion is overwhelming.
I completely agree, with the cost of everything these days on TT accessories, I think spending 2k on a generator is just plain silly. I don't care who makes it, how quiet it is, how long you've had it or what mpg it gets, the price is just ridiculous. I could buy 6 Champions and still not have paid for one Honda. No sense in arguing to defend your 2k purchase to make you feel better at night, I honestly don't care. This post was just to find out from "Champion Owners" what kind of hours of use they got out of a full tank, Thanks.
i have went as long as 16 hours on my champion best item i bought for dry camping and as for noise it has been certified by a electrian for the club i use to camp at 65db at 15 feet and all that had to be done was idel it down by 3 full turns on idel control at no loss of power go for it there a great deal especialy when the honda 3000watt sells for about 1650.00 compaired to the average 300.00 for the champion 3500watt
Dan
2006 GMC Long Bed
2001 Jayco 23B HTT
19?? WIFE AS YOUNG AS ALWAY
explorer72 wrote: I think spending 2k on a generator is just plain silly. I don't care who makes it, how quiet it is, how long you've had it or what mpg it gets, the price is just ridiculous. I could buy 6 Champions and still not have paid for one Honda. No sense in arguing to defend your 2k purchase to make you feel better at night, I honestly don't care. This post was just to find out from "Champion Owners" what kind of hours of use they got out of a full tank, Thanks.
Thanks GreenRVGreen for the info btw.
Here Here. I find it amazing that people have such a hard time accepting that a low cost genny could possibly be any good!
I am really tired of the Champion is not as good as my overpriced Honda argument.
Anyway, I got 10 or so hours out of mine last time I was out with some AC usage.
2007 Starcraft Antigua 305QSB
2005 Ford Superduty Lariat V10
2000 Ford Expedition
Well I guess I must put my 2 cents worth in the pot....so here goes. 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 and cost a heck of lot more than mine. 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. NO..by golly I think I will take the muffler off my Champion Gen., painted it Orange, put a number 20 on the side, and made it NASCAR ready. BOY IS IT LOUD!!!!!!!!! Happy Camping
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
Offline
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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 and cost a heck of lot more than mine. 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
Happy Camping
