Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

tl;dr: All the other positive reviews are spot-on. Great genset for the modern house full of sensitive electronics. However, here are some things you must know not all mentioned elsewhere: 0. READ THE FULL MANUAL FRONT-TO-BACK BEFORE ANYTHING. DO NOT RELY ON THE QUICK-START GUIDE AS THE HURRICANE IS HITTING. 1. The “12V” DC output: Keep in mind per the manual, the schematic, and in actuality, this is *totally* unregulated. Under no-load it measured 24V, 22V in Eco mode. Likely to come down under load, but might easily fry low-load sensitive 12V electronics. To its credit, the full manual warns about all this and states it should not be used other than with the supplied 12VPlug/BatteryClips cable, so effectively only to (carefully) charge up 12V automotive batteries. So why is it an automotive cigarette 12V connector likely to be (mis-)used with other things? One small peeve about the 12V cable: The clip ends should have been made unequal length, to avoid them touching. See the pic of how to avoid this. The other accessory, a nice auto/USB “2.4A” dual charger plug, should be used in a car, not on this generator since doing so would, well, contradict the instruction manual. Did not test it, but it features FCC and CE marks, so likely of decent quality. If you want to charge your USB cellphone/tablet/electronics, better to simply plug their AC chargers into the generator’s AC outputs. 2. Much has been said about the ergonomic miss of having the oil filler blocked by the control panel. Fair enough, but the genset comes with a small funnel and hose, and I had no trouble with my initial oil fill. Pour very gradually from your partially-needed second quart bottle to avoid excess oil spillage when full. The permanently mounted oil drain hose is a welcome feature. 3. You *will need* 2 quart bottles of conventional (not synthetic) 10W-30 motor oil. This is your 5-hour break-in oil. After that, Synthetic or conventional oil of specified grades are acceptable per the manual. Note the engine has no oil filter, so do hew to the manual's change intervals at the very least. 4. You’ll also *want* a ratchet handle, small extension and 8mm, 10mm and 13mm sockets to remove your droid’s restraining bolts and to fasten its feet and handle. 5. Yes, the Quick-Start guide neglects to mention the necessary removal of the shipping restraining hardware, or any mention of a break-in period, or the 12V issues. 6. Now for the AC output: Intelligauge display shows a constant 246V regardless of (fairly low) load or Eco setting. Actual measurement with a DMM was 244VAC and 122VAC on each leg. So within an acceptable 2%. Shows a constant 60Hz, and DMM-measured a perfect 60Hz spot-on, again without regard for load or Eco. Nice! 7. Impressive AC output quality. Had a look at the AC output waveform distortion on an analog oscilloscope through a transformer. See the three pics. The one that looks like a near-perfect sinewave is the Champion’s. The one with slightly flattened (“clipped”) tops is actually my utility’s supplied AC, for those who think utility AC must be perfection. Finally, the one with the “jaggies” is from my 20-year-old Generac XL4000 non-inverter generator, and was better than I though it would be, but not good enough for all my UPSs, instrumentation, electronics, etc. This is why I chose this Champion. 8. Noise: I had reasonable expectations. This unit is not whisper-quiet, but, then, there’s not much choice in the 240V + inverter + >4000W space. If you want really quiet, fuel-injection, soundproof enclosure, well it’ll cost you 4x the price. 9. Overall very satisfied. One pull on full choke, starts on next one on no choke. Nice! Remember, ground your generator, only run it outdoors, and never backfeed your house! In the event Champion Power Equipment actually reads these reviews, here’re some suggestions: a. Fix the Quick-Start Guide. b. Consider some kind of 12V regulation, or at least a different 12V output connector. c. Wishlist item: Have the Intelligauge show the load on each AC leg, to help one in balancing the load between the two. ——