I've been useing a Coleman 15amp 1800watt running 2200 surge going on 10 years now and still running strong and it has not been treated well at all oil only been changed few times that can rember and running Little over 1600watts off it with lights very good genny for the abuse it takes from me and gets run at least once week

 

Thats good to hear!

 

I change my oil every 30-40 hours. I sold a 2004? 4600w Yamaha a couple months ago that had probably over 3,000 hours on it and it's still running like a champ. I ran 3,000w of lights on an uneven load for a while and then rewired it right and added more lights totaling approx 3,800-4,000w.

 

There are manufacture hour rating charts on some generators. The specifics of how that # is determined I can't say for sure. I did read that the Honda I was looking at was rated for 250 hours and the Yamaha was rated at 500 hours.

 

Surely both of those are severely under rated! thats just about a bowfishing season or maybe two for the honda! I was thinking more like 1000 hours for them......If thats all they last then I will be getting the champion inverters for sure.

 

If it's the oil sensor just unplug it. It'll still run. Oil sensor grounds the ignition when oil is low. Unplug it and it'll run fine. Just check the oil occasionally.

 

I would expect the Hondas and yamahas to run for decades. My best friend is a contractor, he's been using a 5000w honda for a decade 40-50 hrs a week, he aquire the genny for free from his uncle that ran it for years. His uncle replaces them every 3 or 4 years no matter the condition.

That honda has at least 10k hours on it. The gas enine runs flawless, he did replace a few electical components along the way.

I've got roughly 400 hours on my first 2000w yamaha, starts first pull every time.

 

This is the kind of info I was hoping to hear. If I knew for a fact that I could drop the coin on 2 yamaha /honda inverters and they would last 10 years I wouldnt mind to do that.

 

just paid 4k for a Honda EU7000, hoping it last for years and years

 

Surely you use this thing for something other than just bowfishing? lol thats a big genny!!!

 

Currently My hps setup runs 2600 watts (4 - 400watt hps and 4 - 250 watt hps all brand new magnetic ballast kits) . Based on ballast efficiency I believe that they are actually pulling a total of 2,950 watts and 34.5 amps. I have been looking into the inverter setups and I think I have just a little bit to much power to make any of them work correctly and last a long time.....

The champion 2000 inverters when run with a parallel kit are limited to 25 amps total, so I would be right at the limit if not over it.
The champion 3100 inverter 2800 continuous is slightly underrated for my needs also.
I'm unsure how the honda/yamaha's would do with my setup.....I would be interested to know if anyone has ran these with similar light setups.
The honda 3000 is out of my price range at the moment and slightly rated less than the 3100 champion.

I really want to go with an inverter so I am thinking about either changing out 2 of my 400s to 250s or changing the back 250's to 400s.

My layout (for the boat in my avatar pic) is 2 400s on the front, then a 250 on each side, then a 400 on each side, then a 250 on each side. I think If I dropped the 400 that is on the middle on each side then I wouldnt notice much. Or if I dropped the 250 that is on the back down to 150 I wouldnt notice much difference either.

I wonder if 2 champion 2000 inverters would be as quite as one 3100 champion inverter? Currently the Champion 3100 inverter is on sale for $699 shipping included.

 

My God that's a lot of light, I thought 8- 150w was plenty of light. Running that many amps seriously limits your options. Next time out unscrew every other bulb and see if you shoot as many fish, I'd wager good money you could get away with a lot less light and run the smaller genny.

I plan my light set up around my Genny, not the other way around. I knew I wanted to use a single 2000w and built my system working inside those limitations.

 

I think if you treat them right, they should last for years and several thousand hours unless your really pushing the limits. I know my contractor buddies have had there invertors for years and they still run fine. I bought two hondas this year and if they crapped out at 500 hours I'd be PO'd I don't think there is any way that's a right figure.

 

Hey Gary, I was running 8 400hps and 6 50leds at the open. It was bright as chit! Still couldn't hit anything!

 

Happens to all of us, even the guys that won't admit it.

I went from over 100,000 lumens of HPS to 56000 lumens of led's and stuck more fish this year than ever.

At first I couldn't stand it, I had to get 2 boats on the water for a.comparrison. my boat with 14- 48w led's and my buddies boat with 8- 150w hps over the same filthy water. Couldn't really tell much of a difference in shootable/usable light. However the color temp of the hps is better.

Seems like all that extra HPS light simply lights up the hill side. My LEDs are much more directional, more of the light is in the water.

 

Don't get rid of any lights just deal with the noise.... Your shooting partners will be much happier

 

That makes sense, but with that much light you simply won't be able to use the small invertors. That many amps requires a large construction grade genny.

 

I typically run my 6 400s on 2 2000yamahas. When I run the converter and the other 2 400s I also run the 3000eu.

 

You have a lot of money tied up in generators lol. How do the inverters handle the 6 400s? digital or magnetic ballast? If I dropped one of mights down a size I could be at the same power level as you.

 

I have a eu3000 that needs a $1700 electrical part I can't remember what it is called but it went out one month after the warranty went out. When it went out I just died, took it to the shop, you can un plug this thing and the motor cranks right up but makes no electricity... so I bought a new one, it got stolen 3 months later, then I two eu 2000.
What can I say they are Honda's they are bad ass.

 

I usually run the 6 400s on the 2 2000s and it does fine. Lumitek digitals. Btw no more lumiteks! They piss me off! Sometimes I'll switch 2 lights to 250s just to quiet things down a little. When the 3000eu is on the boat I run 6 400s on it. 2 400s on 1 2000 and interior lights, converter, LEDs and troller on the other 2000. It is a fairly heavy setup but they just sit back there and purr. Crank up the Neal diamond and roll on. Lol!

 

how would you compare the 2 inverters with the 6 400s to a champion 3500/4000 non-inverter type genny ?? I know that seems like a stupid question but it is my understanding that inverters are very quite with a smaller load because they can throttle down, however, I wasnt sure how they sounded when there were running 3/4 throttle or more.

 

I feel like im a decent candidate to answer that. I am running two champion 4000s right now... They are loud. i have them on each corner of the back of my boat and have been leaning a piece of 1/4" sheathing up against the generator, it helps a lot. But obviously still loud.

I fish out of a buddies boat quite often. He's got 7 80 watt seelites running of a honda 2000 on eco mode. It is ridiculously quiet. To the point that i myself would never consider running silent because i'l take the light hum in the back over the inconvenience of charging 37 batteries and waiting for them to die.

Fish off another buddies boat. He's got 2 honda 2000's pushing halogens. His honda are about maxed out. They are not whisper quite. I would honestly say they are about inbetween the champion 3500 and a honda 2000 on eco mode. So your assumptions are pretty close I would say.

That being said I personally would be very happy with the noise from a honda on full throttle. Especially on my boat where i can get them up and out of the way and use sheathing to direct some of the noise back.
the 3500 champs work good. Im a big believer in champion products. When i crank the tunes i can hear the music just fine. But they definitely leave room for improvement in the noise category lol.

 

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someone deleting these fake accounts?

 

Honestly, if I were you guys, I would never buy anything but Hondas. A 6000btu a/c unit, later upgraded to a 8000btu unit that sees very frequent use. A medium-sized freezer/refrigerator unit -twice as big as a mini-fridge but smaller than a regular freezer-fridge unit. Two flood lights. Three overhead LED lights. A florescent bar. Two regular lights for the front and the generator. An LED bar for the storage/cooking shack. The powertool battery chargers. A car battery charger. Two desktops. An 11"x19.5" tv plus Xbox 360 and occasionally a Black and Decker tabletop convection oven.
The generator is run 24/7 and only turned off once a week to change the oil. We've had it for a year and a half and it only now gave any indication that it knew what breaking down was. Did the troubleshoot. Adjusted the little plastic screw controlling the idle to where it said i should have it. It's up and running again, perfectly fine.
Seriously, I live in Hawaii, this thing, plus the A/C, is the only thing keeping me from dieing in the summer.

 

I have the two Champion 2000s with the parallel box too. I use the 30 amp connection to my trailer. I'm running them on propane so I don't get the rated 28 amps. It'll run the AC, microwave, and frig no problem. But when my wife turn on the Keurig, it trips if the AC and frig is running. The stupid coffee maker takes 1650 watts to heat up the water.
I have only been using them for camping trips a year now. Not sure how many hours.
I think one of the key things to do to assure the longevity of the engine, at least, is do the breakin. I remember doing the breakin oil changes and all the metal fillings which was in the oil. Miss that step and engine wear would go thru the roof.

-Keith