# Generator



## z-family (Oct 2, 2004)




----------



## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

That would work, but you'll hate the noise the thing puts out once you hear somebody running a honda.


----------



## z-family (Oct 2, 2004)




----------



## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

I have an older Coleman Powermate 2500, and it's anything BUT QUIET!
It will vibrate the fillings out of your teeth!

I don't know if these new ones are quiet, but they are half the price of a HONDA generator. I'd listen to one b4 I bought onem however. (if quiet is important...and it usually is to campers!)


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

The Coleman Powermate 1850 is not too bad but you wont make any friends with the people camping next to you. They are 10-12 db louder then the Honda 2000.

I have the 1850 and would only use it during the middle of the day. Once the sound carries about 100 feet it is hardly noticeable which is about 50 feet more then the Honda. So if you only camp where there is a lot of space you can get by with the 1850. If you camp in closer quarters you may want to reconsider.

Maybe I can make you a deal on mine (only used 4 hours this past season) then I can justify getting the Honda.


----------



## z-family (Oct 2, 2004)




----------



## vdub (Jun 19, 2004)

I believe the sound level that the national parks will allow is 60 db at 50'. Even the Honda barely meets the requirement. I would question whether the Coleman would. An old 4k Coleman that I had was probably 60 db at around 300 yards. If you really want quiet, then go with the Honda. Wise Sales http://www.wisesales.com/ or Mayberrys http://www.mayberrys.com/ are both good sources. Honda's are expensive, so be prepared. A 1,000 watt gen would do the job for what you describe, but a 2,000 watt is just a little bit more.


----------



## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Chuckle chuckle! My Coleman is louder than a lawn mower at full speed!


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I guess some of you may not know what the Coleman 1850 looks like. It is a small generator with the same kind of foot print, sizing and similar styling as the Honda 2000. It is not as quite as the Honda (but then who is) but it also is not in the same frame or engine class as the monsters everyone is commenting on.

Even Honda makes 3500 watt and bigger generators that are loud and hard to listen to for very long but that is not what is being compared or considered.


----------



## Parker Outbacker (Dec 17, 2004)

z-family-

I had a coleman 1250, I think. Just wasn't worth it. Very loud. I then picked up a honda e2000 ?? I love it. it has a variable speed on it, so if you are not drawing a lot of power, it will not run at full speed, barely an idle. Very quiet, and the power is stable enough to run a laptop. The coleman does not have the stable power to run laptop devices (Just something to think about.)

Another nice thing about the Honda 2000, if you decide at a later date that you would like to run more AC items, you can purchase another 2000, and a link kit that wil link the 2 Honda generators, and give you 4000 Watt, 30 Amp output. Chekc out the Honda, you won't be disappointed!!


----------



## vdub (Jun 19, 2004)

Yeap, the 1850 is different than my old square tube 4k. I did some research on the thing and I don't think it would meet NPS noise levels, tho. It produces 73 db at 4m when under 75% load. Not sure what it might be at 50', but may come close to NPS. It weighs 73 pounds, has a 1 gallon tank that will run it for 3.5 hours. Lowest price I saw was at Wal-Mart -- $394 with an estimated shipping cost of $34. Another link I saw was also selling a spark arresting muffler for it as an accessory. This type muffler is also an NPS requirement. Believe those are about $30.


----------



## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

the Coleman line will produce power but at a cost of something other than money... namely noise. If you camp at all around other people I beg of you to either vow you'll never use it or buy one of the Inverter style (see below). The Coleman and others are fine for the contractor crowd who doesn't care about noise, but when your camping and appreciate the solitude of camping the buzz of a loud generator is a horrible experience.

Now for the better news. Both Yamaha and Honda make a line of generators called Inverter that run very quiet, between 59-65db for most units as I recall. They come in sizes from 1000watts to 3000watts. I won't go into all the details here, but I would encourage you to do a lot of reading before you buy one. Some of the options you have are the
Honda EU3000 or the Yamaha 3000iSEB, both can power your camper and your AC. You can also buy two Honda EU2000 and hook them up in parallel to run your system. Advantage of the dual is they are both light weight around 50lbs, but they have small gas tanks so you'll refill more often. The 3000's come in around 150lbs, but can run around 8 hours on a full tank.

I opted for a Yamaha 3000iSEB which comes with a boost feature so when it needs extra power for starting of AC units while other devices are drawing power it pulls the juice for a few seconds from the on-board battery. Price was a bit cheaper than the Honda, but not a huge difference. The Yamaha came with features standard that Honda charges extra for (wheels and 12v charing cable).

Overall I have been very happy with the Yamaha, its very quiet - you can carry on a conversation normally with it close by, though I keep mine on the other side of the camper and from there I can barely notice it. When camping in a group site though I run it out of the back of my truck with an extra 25' 30amp extension cord. This allows me to keep it locked and to keep the noise away from my neighbors.

Both Honda and Yamaha have good websites for more information and RV.net is full of thoughts on generators, can be difficult to surf through it all but it was very helpful when I made my decision. Many people order theirs on-line, so its worth checking around. Mayberry's is one good online dealer that sells Honda's very cheap.


----------



## johnp (Mar 15, 2004)

I have the 1850 in my work van it will not run the ac and I would never take it camping it is very noisy!!!! I bought a Yamaha 2600 used on good ole Ebay its very quiet and runs everything.

John


----------



## z-family (Oct 2, 2004)




----------

