Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

What attracted me to try this unit were two factors: First, Perceived value. What, a 2000w Inverter Generator, 'quiet style' - for $600 ? Yamaha & Honda are both at $ 1000 - making the Hyundai a bargain at a 40% discount ! And now that Hyundai is known as a 'quality brand' for their fine automobiles - probably their generators, too, yes ? (South Korea's Hyundai - are trying to outdo established Japanese brands. We consumers are the benficiaries of their rivalry. Nothing wrong with that !) Second, It's 'above spec' rating. What do I mean ? This unit is an actual '2000 watt - 16.7 amp output' - whereas both the Honda and Yamaha 2000 inverter generators, is actually only rated at 1600 watts - 13.3 amp. The other specs bear this out, too - CC's of engine displacement: Hyundai: 125cc Honda: 99cc Yamaha 79cc (!) Ok, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see which inverter generator should be able to muster more oooomph. Recall that saying popular when we were kids: "There's no replacement, for displacement !" Now, the weight of the units gives a clue: Hyundai: 70# Honda: 50# Yamaha 50# Being that my main goal was to run my Lance Camper's 13.5k BTU Roof A/C, (as well as the other typical RV loads), the slightly larger weight and thus power output, is a benfit, NOT a detraction. I've read some reviews where some Honda 2000 owners were successfully running an RV roof a/c, usually they were running 2 units parallel. Overly expensive proposition to buy & carry around 2 units, to me. So, my goal was to get a SINGLE, quiet style Inverter Generator that would run my 13.5 Roof A/C. I tried it - and with the right protocol, it very handily does run our Roof A/C !! It was important to have the 'Eco-Idle' switch off at first, so that the unit didn't stall - the rpm's are higher, thus the unit is ready for the surge required to start the a/c compressor. Once the a/c started up, I was able to turn on everything in the camper. My Kill-o-watt meter went over it's 15amp limit, ergo, this tough Hyundai 2000i must have been putting out it's max of 16.6 amps or slightly more. I ran it like this for 15 minutes, then switched off the ancillary loads, leaving the A/C running - in fact, switching it to coolest setting & high speed. After running two hours like this, the camper felt like a walk in freezer. How much fuel had it consumed ? I refueled it after a 5 minute cool down - it took about 1/2 gallon of gas for all that. Not bad ! Fuel tank is 1.5 gallons, so around 5-6 hours of runtime @ this output. Conditions were: Degrees were 95, high humidity, camper in full sun. I'm impressed with the performance of this high output unit. Even running with everything on in our RV the Hyundai didn't act like it was straining. I've enjoyed my smaller Yamaha EF 1000i for years, and the Hyundai seems very similar in design & build quality, on a x2 scale. If it has the long term durability the Yamaha has displayed, I'll be delighted. My next step will be to change out the OEM supplied oil with a good 5/30w Synthetic Oil. Keep in mind, my Lance Camper is 17 years old, so is the Roof a/c, and it's said they're harder to start as they age. The procedure to start the a/c unit, is to put it on 'max cool / low speed' (more than enough cooling for a 10' camper), start it with the Hyundai on 'high idle (eco off)' - then once started, hit the Eco switch, so that it maximizes economy. The reason for leaving the a/c unit on max cool (thermostat) setting is so the compressor stays engaged, and won't cycle & surge, which could stall the generator if the Eco-switch has been engaged. I think this unit would be very good for a small contractor guy who wants to have power at a construction site, and this should run any single large power tool (table saw, small 1 to 1.5 hp pancake compressor). OK, now any negatives ? A couple of minor ones: 1) Packaging - could have been better. I'd suggest Amazon use an 'outer-box'. The mfr did use a fairly tough 'pretty display box' with a inner stiffener layer, but this is a heavy unit. Mine came overnight & looked like it was bounced down the stairs on the way here. Amazingly, the shipping abuse only loosened the front panel screws a bit, which I easily re-tightened - but I was gratified there was no actual damage. Still..... 2) Gas cap location makes re-fueling tricky - not a deal breaker, though. The fuel cap / tank entry is directly above the electrical control panel. I found the 1 gallon can easier to be precise with - the 5 gallon can simply flowed to fast to not spill over & down the electrical panel. So, no big downsides. Now I've got 2 tanks of gas through it, 15-20 hours runtime, all is well. Noise level report: Quite acceptable ! Very quiet, about exactly the same level of noise as my Yamaha. It's significantly quieter than any 'open frame' generator, due to the sound attenuating design. I will update this review after the switch to Synthetic Oil & as the hours add up. It looks very promising, indeed ! Good Job to Hyundai for giving us yet another choice.... UPDATE: Ok, now about 10 tanks thru, some key issues: Unit started to act funny, like not willing to restart when hot. Would run AC & camper fully no problem, but when tank ran dry, would refuse to restart until fully cold. Perplexing. I suspected something was amiss. I checked the Spark Plug - it was totally loose, due to vibration. So, after fully tighening, problem was resolved, it ran much more smoothly and hot restart was MUCH better. Until...unit started spilling fuel out of the side of carb, pooling in compartment bottom. I'd press the primer bulb, and it would squirt out of what appeared to be a 'check valve hole' in side of carburetor. Now this all suggested a stuck carb float - not a hard thing to check. I simply loosened the 10mm bolt that holds the circular float bowl, and moved the float gently up & down. Sure enough, it was sticky in it's movement. The plastic float had a bit of flange flashing edge (left over from manufacturing the plastic float) that was contacting the metal carb body, preventing it from moving smoothly up & down. My 'big fix' was to move the float gently back & forth, expanding the modest range of it's operation, so that when float bowl was full of gas, it would function properly, and not flood engine. I put it back together & it stared flawlessly on the first pull. I then proceeded to run it for a full tank on a 1500w / 13amp load and it ran beautifully, no fuel leaks. Also, I shut it down hot & it restarted perfectly. As it turns out, it was so much simpler to observe & fix the fuel leak, as described, than to try to return the unit or order parts. All it needed was an adjustment ! Plus we use this Hyundai to power our Lance Camper, and the big weekend race event is in 2 days...this unit will be needed to run A/C. Hope this helps if anyone has a similar fuel flooding issue occur. Be sure to check your spark plug tightness, if nothing else. BTW, the Air Filter is just a 'sponge type' that was quite dry & in need of re-oiling - probably they all need attention. About ready for 2nd synthetic oil change......will update if any changes.