30 replies to this topic

[micasita_17]

We have decided to buy a small light generator to use with our Casita that hubby can lift without triggering his siatica, so about 50 pounds is the limit.

We'd like to keep our Casita all-American, so want to buy a generator not made by foreigners. That leaves out Kipor, Yamaha, and unfortunately Honda.

Unlike our Honda car and future Honda Truck (which we know are both 100% American made), I was told the Honda generators are made in Japan and imported.

I've looked at Coleman (generator is actually made in China) and some others carried locally in TSC, and they are all too heavy and have foreign made parts in them.

Onan and Kohler are American made, but either very heavy, or in the case of their small "RV" series, pretty expensive ($2500 or so), and are made to be installed inside a camper or motor home.

Can SOMEONE point us to an American product like the Honda 2000i? If it costs a little more, that is fine, but it should be as quiet and reliable as the Honda if possible.

20% noisier (63db rather than the 53db of the Honda) would seem OK since we've heard the Hondas and they are very quiet. Lots of generators now seem to be only 65-68db, but so far they all weigh almost 100 pounds vs. 46 pounds for the Honda, and are way too big to take along with us.

Thanks,
Paula

Edited by micasita_17, 29 September 2007 - 07:06 AM.

[Ben Idle]

...Unlike our Honda car and future Honda Truck (which we know are both 100% American made), I was told the Honda generators are made in Japan and imported....
Paula

Paula,
I feel a lot like you, John Ratzenberger (Made in America), Lou Dobbs (of CNN, if you can believe that?), and Sam Walton (may he rest in peace) feel/felt about trying to preserve American jobs and American products. However, I make a difference when it comes to Japan and Western Europe especially when I don't have much of a choice in buying a product made in the United States. We have a special relationship with Japan and several reasons to consider Japanes products above other global products since events of history melded us together and I won't bring up any similarities with today's events to prevent getting too deeply embroiled into a political debate.

I suppose you have already "fudged" a little when you are buying American made Honda vehicles which are produced with Japanese capital. I would go for the Honda generator without any guilt or remorse, if I were going to buy one.
Ben  

[CC-John]

Paula,



Good luck with your search!!!!



There are no US built portable generators comparable to the Honda or Yamaha models.. Even the "US Made" Onan I installed ( see HERE ) on my 17SD has a Kubota engine made in Japan.. Kohler RV & Marine gennys use Honda or Kubota industrial engines made in Japan and/or China..



I really don't care where something is built, as long as it meets my needs for the price I'm willing to pay for it..

[Robert Brummett]

I think you're gonna be chasing your tail looking for an American made generator to meet your needs.

If you're really worried about supporting American business/labor, take your new Honda back to the local dealer and ask him to take it completely apart, check it out, put it back together. You'll have done your part!

[Fireballsocal]

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Productgroup....topnav=&s=1  

Cummins Onan makes a 45lb. 59DB portable generator, comparable halfway between the honda 1000 and 2000 watt generators. It's an inverter model so it can run sensitive equipment no problem. It appears these came out in the market relatively recently as I have only seen them for sale at costco online. I do not know if they are made here in the states but the quality should be very good.

[Robert Brummett]

If it's less than 2000 I doubt it will run the A/C. I suspect, but do NOT know, that the engine is foreign made.

[Don in OKC]

20% noisier (63db rather than the 53db of the Honda)

Paula:

63db is not 20% noiser than 53db (unless you just like to juggle numbers) It's MUCH noisier! Do your research.

Good luck on your venture, ridiculous as it is.  

[Ben Idle]

...
Paula:
Good luck on your venture, ridiculous as it is.

Don,
Why would you follow Paula over to this forum just to slam her? I guess it IS ridiculous unless you, your children, your relatives, or your friends are losing their jobs because plants are moving overseas. We also have had two children to lose good jobs because of H-1B visas where their replacements were brought into the United States to work for $12,000 less per year. There's more to be considered by a country (or should be) than getting cheap goods and services. Promise yourself that you won't yell when food goes on the world's auction block with the resulting sky high prices like petroleum has done!
Ben

[Bill & Karen]

Bite the bullet and buy the Honda, it'll go ducky with your tow vehicle and you'll have quality to boot

Edited by Bill & Karen, 29 September 2007 - 05:58 PM.

[frosin]

Unlike our Honda car and future Honda Truck (which we know are both 100% American made), I was told the Honda generators are made in Japan and imported.

Paula-

Unless you have updated news concerning the manufacturing of the Honda Ridgeline, you may have been misinformed. According to Wikipedia:

The Honda Ridgeline is a mid-size crossover vehicle produced by the Japanese automaker Honda. The Ridgeline is Honda's intended first foray into the North American pickup truck market. The Ridgeline is built in Alliston, Ontario, Canada alongside the Acura MDX, Honda Civic, Honda Civic Si, and Acura CSX and was released in March 2005 as a 2006 model. The Ridgeline was awarded Motor Trend's Truck of the Year for 2006.

As for the generators, I believe that Honda's quality and performance are tough to beat. Regardless of where it is made, it's a great generator. I don't have one yet, but plan to buy one soon.

I think that it's a good idea to weigh the pros and cons on any significant purchase. If there was that was as reliable and well built as a Honda that was American made and cost maybe just a little more, I would consider it. But on a purchase like a genset, I would take reliability and performance ove place of manufacture any day.

Fred

[Fireballsocal]

The honda vehicles are made with Japanese parts, just like Toyota, but might be assembled here. I think it's awesome your trying to buy American. At 30 years old right now, I find myself leaning towards buying American when I can. I don't go to extremes to buy American if Domestic items are hard to find and would pick a better built foreign item of any nationality over a poorer quality domestic item any day. When it comes down to it though, I would prefer to buy everything American if possible.

  I do work for a Japanese auto company and own many Japanese items however.

[cdsmith]

I once drove an Isuzu pickup. It was made with mostly American parts. If fact it was built on the same production line in Shreveport, LA that the S-10 pickups are made on. I don't think they had different parts for the different trucks on the production line, some from the USA and some from Japan.

[kmfosterk]

Paula, I'm not wanting to get into the foreign verses domestic issue since most everything with motors, wheels etc. have at some level American and foreign parts mixed together.  Most people are unaware that allot of the furniture or kitchen/bath cabinets we buy today are assembled overseas.

I have the Honda EU2000 and it is a great Generator.  I use it camping and at storage shed when working on the Casita.  If your weight has to be 50 lbs or less then the Honda 2000 is your Generator.

If I were to buy a new Generator for the Casita it would be the Yamaha EF2400.  This generator weighs in at 70 lbs though.

One option that you might want to explore is running the generator in the back of your Ridgeline.  This way you would not have to move it once loaded.  You can run the cord from the generator to the Casita and run the generator from the back of the Ridgeline.  They make aftermarket hardtop covers for the bed area for security but you could open it up when running the generator.

[frosin]

Fireballsocal & Paula-

Just to clear this up about the Ridgeline, here is the press release that I got from Honda-

Fred

Attached Files

•  Honda___Press_Releases.pdf   18.85K   256 downloads

[micasita_17]

...
Paula:
Good luck on your venture, ridiculous as it is.

Don,
Why would you follow Paula over to this forum just to slam her? I guess it IS ridiculous unless you, your children, your relatives, or your friends are losing their jobs because plants are moving overseas. We also have had two children to lose good jobs because of H-1B visas where their replacements were brought into the United States to work for $12,000 less per year. There's more to be considered by a country (or should be) than getting cheap goods and services. Promise yourself that you won't yell when food goes on the world's auction block with the resulting sky high prices like petroleum has done!
Ben

Thanks, Ben. Many Americans have not encountered HB-1 visas, but I have TWO nephews (one in NJ and one in AZ) who have lost their computer engineering jobs when their companies obtained HB-1 visas.

These visas are issued by the Government to allow foreigners with skills NOT available here to come and work for American companies who cannot find qualified American employees to do the job.  

BOTH nephews' last act before being "downsized" was to train these folks to do their jobs (one was even made to spend his lunch hours for a month teaching a group of 6 Indians to drive in the company parking lot so they could get drivers licenses to commute to work.).

The "last good" jobs (paying $100,000 or so) are disappearing to folks happy to come here under false pretense (the companies have to sign sworn statements that they have been unable to have the work done by Americans) to work for a fraction of the wages. In both cases, the HB-1 folks are working for 1/3rd what their replaced Americans were earning.

I have NO desire to divert this thread to immigration policy, but I did want to address the point you brought up.

Now...back to generators!

Paula

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Productgroup....topnav=&s=1  

Cummins Onan makes a 45lb. 59DB portable generator, comparable halfway between the honda 1000 and 2000 watt generators. It's an inverter model so it can run sensitive equipment no problem. It appears these came out in the market relatively recently as I have only seen them for sale at costco online. I do not know if they are made here in the states but the quality should be very good.

Thanks!

I went to the Costco site, then did a Google to find the company, and emailed Cummins/Onan (a new company formed only to make generators) to see where these new entries are made. I'll lt you all know what they say.

The 1700i is MORE expensive than the Honda 2000i, but if it will run our roof air, I will buy it if it's made in North America.

Paula

Edited by micasita_17, 30 September 2007 - 06:41 AM.