Thread: inverter generator

We use the Yammy inverter gens at work, and I can't recall having an issue with any of them, and they get used and abused (they are a hire fleet of machines and don't get treated particullaly well) As the inverter style generators rely on thier electronics to produce a smooth, pure sine wave output, I personally would go for a brand name that can be supported locally. Having said that, the cheaper Chinese gear is coming along in leaps and bounds, so I wouldn't count them out. If it comes with a warranty, and thy have someone locally to support the product, I may be tempted to give them a go...

The other units we are starting to use are Subaru units - better priced than Yamaha or Honda, and seem to work well.

Either way, keep it clean and dry, like you would with any electronic appliance.

Cheers, Gav

Have a look at the Kipor brand ones at Bunnings... I have heard they aren't bad for a cheap chinese jobber. If you like and want one then try looking them up on e-bay you will probably get one cheaper there than bunnings (and still with warranty).

Ive got a cheap Chinese job sitting in the carport with a buggered inverter after less than 2 hrs of light usage, Motor works fine but the inverter is cactus and no one is willing to look at it, or will charge more than I paid for it.

My advice BUY LOCAL at least you'll have after sales support.

IMHO the Honda and Yamaha are worth the money as we use both for emergency power and they start easy, use bugger all fuel and are quiet.

You will get what you pay for and if you buy one of the cheap ones and it is not as quiet as touted, you may be in for some harsh conversations when running it. I know on our last trip we had words with one guy that thought it was OK to run his POS import all night.
Kipor or Genquip would probablly be the lowest I would go.
A lot depends on how much money you have and what you want to spend.
I bought a Honda EU20 about 2 months ago from the generator shop. We bought 2 (my BIL and me) so we got them for $1949 each delivered and then $300 cash back from Honda so paid $1649 with 5 year warranty, cover and cable lock delivered.
Personally I would buy in this order : Honda, Yamaha then maybe Kipor / Genquip.
Dont buy the Engel, though they tought a Honda motor they are noisy.
The Honda's are pretty much what we use for emergency services applications.
Cheers
CraigE

Honda's got the cashback deal on until the end of september.

DON'T buy a kippor ... when it breaks, getting parts & service is non-existant. We won't touch them.

We sell the Honda's at work, and see plenty of the Ebay jobbies that people buy thinking they're saving $$, only to find out that when something goes wrong, they are on their own.

You can get Honda parts & service anywhere Australia wide, Yamaha to a lesser extent ... none with Ebay chinese knock off's. Makes them a real expensive unit when they only las a few years and you can't get them fixed.

Buy cheap ... buy twice

I have a Subaru (Robin) 1700 inverter geny. Starts easy everytime, fairly quiet and great on fuel. A mate has a similar size Yamaha and it seems to be a bit quieter than mine. I have had mine for about 3 years now and it gets used once a month or so to charge my cordless gear on (greenfield) building sites. As suggested, buy local and get backup and service when (If) required.

A big thanks to those that helped with advice, I bit the bullet and brought a Honda EU20i
got it for $1899 incl free freight with the $300 cash back it was too good to pass up on, and with a lot of feed back saying Honda, So thanks to the Midland honda shop WA, the 4.4 kva did the job camping the last 4 days but it will just be used for the house now during black outs, or i swap it for another Honda EU20 and join them up ..thanks.. Gary

Hi Gary.
You wont regret it,they are very good,and quiet,they use very little fuel.
I also got mine from the Honda Shop,helpfull mob.
Im down in Albany thu/fri/sat/sun putting my boat in the water for the first time,can you sort some nice weather??????
Andrew