[mtlakejim]

I have a Champion 3500/4500. It would start the roof air on our old 5th wheel but would not restart it after it had built up pressure. A friends Honda rated the same powered his A/C no problem. The Honda's are built solid as a rock. The off brands are not built nearly as well (our Champion's fuel tank split after we towed it on a trailer just once). There is of course a hugh price difference between the Honda's and off brands but the old adage "you get what you pay for" definitely applies to portable generators!!


Perhaps, it is good that some lower priced competition is coming onto the market. Competition will hopefully drive down the cost of the Honda's and maybe encourage some innovation/improvements (like fuel injection for instance).


If your using the generator for something light duty and just on occasion then the off brands will proably suffice. If you plan to rely on it frequently and will be powering stuff near the load limit then better go with the name brand units!


I would also be very careful about buying stuff at Harbor Freight. Don't get me wrong my truck automatically turns into their parking lot every time I go to town BUT they do sell some stuff that is junk. You just have to judge very carefully what you are going to use it for and how high of a quality you need. For example: I bought a wet tile saw at HF that I have used to remodel a couple of small bathrooms. It worked well enough for that purpose but if I was laying tile for a living it would not have been suitable.


I am assuming your looking only at portable units and not an installed one. There are several threads on this website that go into the pros and cons of Onan generators but that is a whole other animal....