I think the Harbor Freight one uses a reed valve. With that thing slapping all the time it puts out a high frequency noise on the intake as well as any noise out the muffler. So you get it from both sides. But they actually run well just limited capacity and noisy.

Have you seen or heard the little $89 generator(with coupon from AMA mag) from Harbour Freight? A guy at one of the meets down here in Fl, had one on the flight line. It was actually quiet, but not sure how it took electrical loads.

Hi Mark. A buddy of mine gat a ryobe generator at Home Depot. Super quiet! As quiet as any Honda generator. According to him. Hondas patient on their muffler technology has expired! So others are copying it. I will get the model number from him later today. I think he paid in the 700 dollar range! Hope to see you in Hamburg!
Btian : )

P.S. I have the 89 dollar HF generator. Great for the price... But not quiet at all and puts out very "dirty" power. My smart charger often goes into safety shutdown when I try to use it . But it did keep my fridge running for days during a power outage!

Hi Mark Brian agian. The generator is the Ryobe RYI2200 super quiet 549 at Home Depot. I may get one myself.

Usually a "deal" from a family member only leads to anger in the family.

I have a Generac 800. Starts easily if the directions are followed exactly. Fairly quiet, not as quiet as a Honda.

I agree.


Unless they are GIVING it to you... it's not a deal.

I Have the Honeywell and use it for remote power at our ranch. The first one was allways very hard to start, and finally was impossible to start. Honeywell replaced it under warrenty. The replacement is not too hard to start, it's a bit cranky once in a while, but it is loud compared to a Honda, and does tend to trip the breaker on loads that it should carry. last time I tried to use it the pull cord broke (bad design), and I am thinking about dumping it and getting a Honda rather than fixing it. Bottom line they do cost a lot less, but you get what you pay for.

+1

I just purchased this subject Ryobi 2200i as well. On the "quite scale" if a Honda is a 10, this Ryobi is a solid 9 and at 25% of the price of a new Honda 2000i and nearly the same warrnaty period on the engine !! here is the link to Homedepot. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-220...2200/203617901 See everyone next week at the Hamburg Jet Rally.

We had an electric guy that brought a small generator to our field on sunday and we finally told him to shut it down due to many people getting a headache from the noise, including me! Other than noise from engines and talk, I DO NOT want to hear a radio or a generator, I want to have peace and quiet and hear the sounds of NATURE, not a stinking GENERATOR, no matter how quiet "they" say it is!

I have a Honeywell 2K generator and it works well, not too loud, sometimes just a little cranky to start but have figured out how to do it correctly. It has been worth what it cost.

+1

The price at Home Depot is $600, that is 60% of the price of a Honda. The Ryobi is rated at 63 dB while the Honda is 53 to 59 dB, depending on load. That means the Ryobi would sound 2 to 3 times louder than the Honda (every 3 dB doubles the energy), but 63 is still pretty quite. The Ryobi does have about 10% more power output than the Honda. If I do replace the Honeywell I'll have to take a hard look at the Ryobi.

I have a honda 1000 and a honda 3000 handi, both have been great. The 3000 stays in the trailer while the 1000 comes along with me when I go the field with just my truck, the 1000 is able to run 2 400 watt power supplies so I can charge big bats at 2-3c. The 2000 is not much more, but the 1000 was able to handle all the charging I needed so I save a couple of bucks and also its only 27 lbs.

Don't go cheap, the knock off kipor/otc/pepboys break within the first couple of months.

Yes Honda is even better than yamaha, I had a yamaha 1000 and problems started 2nd year...

Steve

i wonder if you could rent one from a HD with tool rental to check it out for a weekend.

They're going to "give" you a deal so they can go buy a honda!

LOL

One of our flyers has a Honda Generator and it was really amazingly quiet. So quiet you almost had to touch it to see if it was running. That is the way to go.
You have to design the generator from the ground up to be quiet, as everything makes noise with it. Honda did their homework really well.
I have a large 6,000w generator and it is really noisy. I put on a muich better muffler and that didn't help it much at all.
I do have one of those little small generators from Harbor Freight too, but I haven't tried running it yet.

Since this discussion has (expectedly) branched out beyond the thread starter's request, I must say that, in the 2kW class, the Yamaha has an edge over the Honda. They are both the best generators in that class, but the Yamaha is noticeably quieter, lighter, and sips less fuel - that's all because its engine is a 79cc, vs. a 99cc for the Honda. Because the Honda's engine is larger, the Honda has a longer surge (2kW) time, but they are both rated at 1.6kW continuous. Other advantages of the Yamaha: its inverter alternator is brushless, while the Honda is brushed - this gives an EPA certification (which is also a surrogate for durability) twice as long on the Yamaha, compared to the Honda; the Yamaha has a geared cam shaft, the Honda's is plastic, with a timing belt; the Yamaha has a stopcock to allow for convenient emptying of the carburetor, the Honda doesn't (for storage of the Honda, you have to remove the fuel from the tank, or run it until it dries); the Yamaha has a fuel gauge, the Honda doesn't (on the Honda you have to guess how much fuel is left, or open the fuel tank to check visually); the Yamaha ships with a DC cable, the Honda doesn't; the Yamaha is slightly less expensive. The Honda has been around much longer, so it is more popular, but these differences should not be overlooked.

Go to wisesales.com and you will see both generators (and many others) there, along with some useful accessories. It's a great site, the best price I've found, and shipment is "free".

As you might have guessed, I've bought a Yamaha. It's been flawless so far.

Good luck,

I have a honeywell 2000 that I've run for a couple years now.... the first start of the day is hard, but after that it's fine.
I've had it next to husafreaks honda and it's mine is louder but not crazy loud. I run my PL8 at 40 amps and it does just fine... in fact I've run two small chargers at 5 amps each while 40 on the PL8 and it did fine... it was running full bore but did the job.
I'm cheap so it's been a good buy for me.... if it dies I will find a honda or yamaha

Yeah that is true, Ron's Honeywell works good, that is why I originally bought one after seeing his, but I wasn't so lucky and mine wouldn't do the job. And now Jack's is acting up so I know he is pisd he has to deal with it... I got the Honda for 950 out the door, Yamaha would've actually cost me more, it has great features and is just a quiet, high quality, as Honda. But there is no replacement for displacement!

Ryobi 2200 w inverter generator from Home Depot does everything the Honda does, is 2 db louder and half the price of the Honda.

Don is right Mark, it might catch fire and also ignite your navigator and all your jets! Anything less is not JPO approved -- :-)

The higher displacement of the Honda is helpful only if one needs to start a larger than normal fridge (a regular fridge can be easily started by the Yamaha), or a big microwave oven, or some other heavy machine. For our use, 1.6kW is a lot more than enough. Also, the surge power to 2kW only lasts a few minutes, what matters the most is the continuous power rating, which is the same for both the Honda and the Yamaha.

We'll see if that's the case after you have had it for 2-3 years. Most of the Honda clones are great for 1-2 years and then the problems start happening, fuel leaks, worn out o-rings, stiff fuel lines, bad bearings. I had the ETQ 1800, ran awesome for the first year, and then it became a complete POS.

And Home Depot's warranty is useless unless you pay an additional 115 for instore replacement. All in all, buy the Honda and avoid the issues.

I've had a Honda generator for about 14 years. The only thing I have done to it other than regular maintenance was replace the carburetor. A rebuild kit for it was $58 and a new carb. was $74 so I just replaced the complete carb and it is still running strong. Still the original pull rope to start it.