small quiet generators?
 

ok, I am looking at 2 generators I have access too. and only 2. Generac 1600 and the Honetwell 2k.

Between these 2 generators. which one is the quietest one?

any pro's or con's between the 2?

Any issues to keep me away from one or the other?


please DO NOT tell me to go by a Honda, NOT an option......

Thanks for the help....

Mark

You are going to hate me, but, if you want quiet like you say in the title, go buy a Honda :) :) :)

I bought a Honeywell 1400 and saved 400 vs a honda 2000.. Even thought it is a chunck of change, I regret the purchase every day I use it. The noise is unbearable. I usually put it at least 2 to 300' away. It is the only way I can manage it. It is weak, I can barely take the inital load of my charger (eventhough is supposedly rated for 1600 peak). Other than that. It works well, but it is the noise what will drive you insane

I'm about to sell mine in craigslists for whatever people give me for it

i can't insist enough on not buying any of these (generac and honeywell are both the same machine, built by generac).

You will hate paying the extra money only the day you write the check (or you pay the CC bill), after that, you will be so happy you spent the money on quality.

Trust me on this one

Later
Jack

My honda 2000 is put at the end of my trailer 10-15' away and the sound is fairly innocuous.

Listen to the man he knows what he is talking about.

Honda all the way..... use to have one and the noise is so low that you even forget that it is running.

I can't speak to the Generac, but I've owned two of the Honeywell and I wouldn't spend your money to acquire another one! Extremely difficult to start after the initial breakin period. Junk!

David S

HI, I have had 7 generators, buy a Honda.
Rcpete

If you are charging packs sooner or later a junk gen will cost you an airframe. Bum off a buddy until you can afford a honda.

Honda 2000

Yep... I'm with the majority of the guys above. The Honda's are great !!! The 1KW is SUPER quiet.


If you read the reviews on the Generac and the Honeywell both kind of suck. They are hit-or-miss. (You may get a good one, or a bad one) And neither will actually put out the rated power without tripping themselves. The Honda will put out full power 100%.


Personally... I have a little Yamaha (EF600) They don't make it anymore, and it's from the day's before inverters. It was one of the original "Breifcase" sized generators, and it's almost as quiet as the new Honda's. I keep thinking about upgrading... but that old Yamaha just keeps running. (it's almost 25 years old now)


Anyway... My vote is for the honda. Spend a few $$ more now... and have it for a life time.

Im selling one cheap, it does make a lot of noise but if you put it away (anyways the fumes will kill you if it is too close), run a long extension cord and wallla. Charge happy

I had the Generac for a while. It did not take me long to sell it at a loss to get a better one. The Generac was always hard starting and VERY LOUD.
If quiet is a primary concern, Honda and Yamaha are your only options, they are about equal in sound level, power output, cost and quality. If you shop around you can get them online with free delivery and some less bad pricing.
I now have a Baldor industrial generator. It is not quite as quiet as a Honda or a Yamaha but still acceptable. But is also not as expensive as the Honda or Yamaha.

Our local volunteer fire department has a Honda on it's truck. It's been completely reliable and it's almost silent.

I also bought a Honda 2000. Bought it used from Craigslist to soften the blow. $750. runs great and is quiet.

Before you kill the messenger, I actually bought one of those 89.99 Harbor Freight generators for emergency use around the house in case the power went out. While it was relatively quiet compared to others I quieted it down further by adding an extra muffler similar to the slimline snuffler. Most lawn mower shops sell the unit for use on B&S engines and after brazing the unit to the outlet of the stock muffler it was quiet enough to keep running on the deck and you could barely hear indoors.
The only down side to that was the limited output, it was fine running a 15amp power supply but the 12 volt side was not properly filtered unless you used a battery in the circuit to run the chargers (only good for about 4~5amps).
I'll look and see if I still have pics (generator was stolen a few month's ago)

After writing this, I realized life is too short to use crappy stuff. So, just put it on craigslist for sale and a new honda will be ordered soon haha.... thanks Mark for pushing me :D :D :D

Mark if you show up with anything less that a Honda , Scott and I wont let you pit with us. The no name generators your looking at have been known to catch fire at night, just sayin.

well, the reason I asked about the two, Honeywell and generac, is a family member has those two and willing to "Give " me a deal on either one of them.... so not wanting to say NO, not sure which one to take.....so at this time, Honda and Yamaha's are not an option.

Mark

Look for an older used Honda- I have an EM650 that had maybe 3 tanks of gas through it.. It is 30 years old but like new.. And because it is not an inverter generator it was cheap.. Usually when I go flying, I use my motorhome coach batteries to charge my stuff but after a day of flying/charging they will be dead.. I use this to run a battery charger hooked to the house batteries...in lieu of running the 5000kw generator on the motorhome that will only put a 4-5 amp charge on the house batteries. And I can stand to let the Honda run( and listen to the low hum) all day on 1/4 gallon of fuel.. It will run a 500 watt output DC power supply ok, but I prefer to have a battery as a buffer in case I plug in another charger.. The inverter ones are great if you want to run high end electronics but for running a DC power supply they are fine.. Note that most of the DC outputs on the generators are generally not suitable to run anything electronic and are limited to about 100 watts maximum on an intermittent basis.. If you look you can probably pick one up for 150-200 that runs fine..

Yes... they do work... but they are CRAZY loud. It makes our turbines seam quiet. (lol)


Then... take the cheaper of the two.

if you HAVE to pick one (i mean, if your life depends on it haha) flip a coin. They are both generac. It is a balance of weight and charging needs. if you are just charging your receiver batteries and small electrics, get the lighter one. If you are doing high power stuff (12s helis, high power edf) go 2000

Or better yet, get the one that has the highest resale value on craigslists :D

Can you tell I hate my generator???? :) :)

I have one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Kipor-IG2000-2...or+gegenerator

not quite as good as a Honda 2000 but for 1/2 the price pretty damn good!

there's lots of posts on the net about comparisons. If I had my choice, I would go Honda but for what I need it for, the Kipor has been great.

paulD

In the case a great opportunity to lend them for a week and try them out.

Honda or Yamaha are quiet, the others aren't. I bought whatever brand Walmart sells (Honeywell 2000?) and it kept dropping off line so I returned it and got a Honda 2000. PITA really. So try your friends geny's to see if they both carry the load.
Remember that if you have a big charger like a PL8 it can put out 1400W at 40 A, which I do to charge my Electra and heli packs, but you realistically need a 2000W generator to run it. Huge losses are the norm when you convert AC to DC and then run big chargers.
If you go Honda or Yamaha call all the motorcycle shops around you for the best price. I was racing dirt bikes for awhile and the real reason for the quiet geny's is so everyone can get some sleep. You wont see anything but Honda's in the pits and staging (camping) areas. But at a loud flying field you can get away with a louder generator, but it has to work too. You can find guys doing sound meter tests for all the brands on the net, search Youtube.

I have had a Kipor for many years. Looks like a Honda in a yellow package. Same noise specs and it is quiet. Price is a lot lower than Honda.