Recommended portable petrol generator

B

Birvidik_Bob

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 Dec 2008
Messages
168
Location
Currently bumming around the Eastern Med.
www.sailblogs.com
Evening ladies & gents.

I'm looking for a portable generator to act as a backup for our liveaboard 12m boat. We're also coming up to switching to the inland waterways of Europe so it needs to serve our needs there as well. Ideally we'll need about 2kw, sine wave, compact and quiet.

It looks as if it might be a contest between the Honda or the Clarkes, which seems to have similar specs to the Honda but is considerably cheaper. We'll also need to get it shipped out to us in Greece.

Does anyone have any experience, comments, warnings or recommendations on these or any other models?

Thanks in advance

Bob N
 
I have a Clarke cheap and cheerful frame generator for use in the yard, which I'm very happy with - but I guess on board you'll want a suitcase one for less noise. By reputation at least, the Clarke ones are significantly noisier than the Hondas.

Pete
 
There's been several generator threads over the years, the usual winners being Honda at the expensive end, and Kipor at the cheaper end.

Have you considered a Kipor inverter generator and how does it compare to the Clarkes?
 
LadyInBed said:
As said Honda best Kipor affordable.
Make sure you get one that will give 2.kw continuous load and not just peak load.
Click to expand...

My Honda is rated at 2.0 kVA not kW continuous. AFAIK that is the universal way of rating generators. If you want 2 kW continuous you would need at least 2.2 kVA, though an immersion heater would use less kVA than (say) a pressure washer taking the same kW.
 
Birvidik_Bob said:
Evening ladies & gents.

I'm looking for a portable generator to act as a backup for our liveaboard 12m boat. We're also coming up to switching to the inland waterways of Europe so it needs to serve our needs there as well. Ideally we'll need about 2kw, sine wave, compact and quiet.

It looks as if it might be a contest between the Honda or the Clarkes, which seems to have similar specs to the Honda but is considerably cheaper. We'll also need to get it shipped out to us in Greece.

Does anyone have any experience, comments, warnings or recommendations on these or any other models?

Thanks in advance

Bob N
Click to expand...

I bought a Honda Eu20i from the Honda main dealer in Malta for about 2/3 the cost in the UK. Might be worth checking out purchase there, and delivery to Greece.... Or you could make a trip of it and collect. I was amazed that there was such a differential - same applied to their Honda inflatables aswell.
 
Another vote for honda, mine has taken more abuse than should be expected and has run happily on ethanol laden petrol which had 4 stroke outboards grumpy.
 
I have a 700W 4 stroke Clark at home bought around 20 years ago and it's still reliable. On the boat we have Honda 20i inverter genny which is brilliant and can be serviced/parts obtained virtually anywhere in the world, unlike the Clark.
 
As has been said, Honda is the best and quietest. Kipor (what I have) is a good cheap alternative. Had mine for three years still going strong - bit noisier than the Honda - but at one thrid the price of a Honda, I can live with that.
 
My Kipor 2600 (rated 2kw cont.) is still going strong 7 years on. Been battered, left out in the rain, massively overloaded (it self protects and just cuts the output) fed with 2 stroke (accidentally..) and keeps on truckin'. Smooth, genuine sine inverter, runs the most sensitive electronics.

Super cheap to buy compared to Honda, gets an annual oil change (0.75l standard Halfords stuff) and has had one new plug in that time.

Cannot rate it highly enough for the money :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top