Generators - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

NDgent · 01-08-2011, 04:57 PM

I just purchased a Lifan Storm Series ESI 2600iECA Inverter Generator from Home Depot Online for $829.00 (the normal price) and free shipping. It is advertised to put out 2800 Watt Peak/2600 Watt Load at 58 decibels ... good for campground use. It should power everything in our 2207T, especially since I put in the extra startup capacitor on the Air Conditioner. UPS managed to damage the first unit so I waited for the replacement which came in fine, I added oil to the crankcase (200ml), attached the battery interconnect cable for the electric starter, put in a little regular gas, turned on the fuel valve, pumped the primer 8 times and Vola ... it started right up.

I purchased the LiFAN over the DuroPower, Honeywell, ETQ, DIGITAL, Boliy and other Chinese look-alike inverter generator because I felt I could count on Home Depot backing up the warranty. Home Depot certainly worked to get the shipping damaged unit replaced promptly! Honda, Yamaha, and Kipor (Subaru) certainly make well respected units but they are about twice the price ... and most of them are made in China as well. So I will update everyone at my first opportunity to use it on the Hi-Lo ... it is too cold right now to fire up the AC!

boater454 · 01-08-2011, 05:38 PM

I like the 2800W over the Honda's 2000 also. Should be enough extra juice to run your A/C. Anxious to find out.

dirtfan · 05-29-2011, 08:54 AM

Did you ever get your generator running the air conditioner?

sam · 05-29-2011, 09:06 PM

Thanks for posting the information on the generator. I hope to be able to purchase a generator soon. We'll need one when we do some "serious" delamination repair on our HiLo. Let us know if you are able to run the AC. sam

NDgent · 05-29-2011, 11:35 PM

We are going to Bodega Bay for the week and I will test the genset then. I finished the repair to the awning bracket and added two work lights to the front of the Hi-Lo (connected to the Running Lights). Photos to follow after vacation!

campthewestcoast · 05-30-2011, 03:06 AM

NDGent,

We just spent the Memorial Weekend at 49er Village. Looks we traded places.

NDgent · 06-05-2011, 06:55 PM

How funny ... I guess the grass is always greener elsewhere!

Bodega Bay weather was great for this time of year, except for Saturday we had very little wind and in the high 50's, just what I like ... Saturday we got 25+ mph winds and lots of rain during the night but by the afternoon we were bask to good weather. The Spud Point Chowder, Tides Wharf Calamari, Salmon and Cod were great! Plenty of IPA from local micro-brews were the quintessential topper.

Tested the 13,500 AC just for grins on the LIFAN 2500 Watt Inverter Generator and it started and ran with no hesitation (actually tested only the fan not the AC), so I am satisfied with my purchase and start capacitor mod I made on the AC.

Update 6/16/11: I tried the AC on the Lifan 2500 generator again at Bothe-Napa State Park to test the combination further, and it wouldn't run ... that is correct the Lifan would overload when I tried to turn on the AC. The AC never ran on the Lifan ... I tried shutting everything off that I could and still the generator would not run the AC. So now I am confused and will have to trouble shoot the whole AC/generator system ... update to follow.

DebW · 06-05-2011, 08:26 PM

John,

So glad you're generator worked for you also. My husband had been wanting to purchase a generator for the Hi-Lo and other uses also so when you posted back several months ago about the Lifan we decided to check into it. We purchased the next step up LIFAN 3300 Watt Digital Power Inverter Generator with Parallel Port, Electric Start and Portability Kit. Used it for the first time this weekend with the Hi-Lo and love it. It was really nice to be able to run the air-conditioner since it was in the high 90's & humid this weekend. It's sure going to be nice when we go places that don't have electric. My husband was very happy with the generator.

PopRichie77 · 06-05-2011, 09:15 PM

NDgent,
I was waiting to see how the Lifan did with the AC, we have a Honda 2000 but as you know it won't run the AC, we had an old Homelite 2500 that ran the AC on the 95 but it was really noisy, was under national camp ground DBs, but it did bother some people. Originally was going to get another 2000 but one is getting to be to much to move around, Thinking of getting the Lifan and selling the Honda, The Lifan with battery start would be better for me, even though the Honda starts with one pull, my shoulder still doesn't like it. Thanks for the reply on the generator, this gives me something to think about.

Rich

captbobster · 06-06-2011, 06:17 AM

I also bought a Lifan from Home Depot, but it was the Storm 3500 electric start for $400 on sale and no shipping. Have broke it in and changed oil and test ran on our 2807 with air and fridge on. With gen sitting and back corner of camper, I could not here it running over the air on low from the living room. I did a lot of research on this company and they also were one of the only ones with a two year warranty. When I received the package info said one yr. but when I emailed the company they said their packaging info had not caught up with their change. The voltage regulation is very good and has good response on load starts. I was planning on using in during the day to recharge everything and then use the inverter and batteries during the evening.

PopRichie77 · 06-06-2011, 02:44 PM

NDgent,
I read in your post above that you started the generator on battery power? I have been checking and all seem to say recoil start for the Lifan 2600, with no mention of battery start. Did you buy an extra feature or did I miss understand?

NDgent · 06-06-2011, 03:10 PM

The Lifan Storm Series ESI 2600iECA Inverter Generator can be started via the pull rope or via the battery start. The other benefit is that it (unlike the cheaper Lifan Storm 3500 which is a general use/purpose generator) runs VERY QUIETLY under the N.P.S. standard of 60 db.

PopRichie77 · 06-06-2011, 03:23 PM

Thanks John for the quick reply.
I wasn't sure how soon you would answer, so I thought call the company, I had a few other questions also, which they answered, and they said it starts either way, battery or recoil start.
This is looking like a good generator (2600). I was thinking maybe bigger but if you don't need it, it's just something heavier and would use more gas. Also I read on the internet that the next size that is not a suit case type makes much more noise.

PopRichie77 · 06-06-2011, 03:41 PM

I guess my old Homelite 2500 generator was way over the 60 db rating, However I asked many rangers, who heard it running, if it was ok to run and they said it was as long as I only ran it at the specified time.
Guess I asked nice rangers. We camped in many National Camp Grounds and not one ranger ever told me it was to loud.
The 2600 Lifan at 58 db is the same as my Honda 2000.

DebW · 06-06-2011, 07:31 PM

PopRich,

LIFAN 3300 Watt Digital Power Inverter Generator with Parallel Port, Electric Start and Portability Kit Model # ESI3600iE is 59dB. We ran it over the weekend and it is very quiet.

We didn't purchase the one that Captbobster did. Ours is basically the same as John's just a size up and has all the same features. I don't know how to post a picture of it but here's the link.

LIFAN 3300 Watt Digital Power Inverter Generator with Parallel Port, Electric Start and Portability Kit - ESI3600iE at The Home Depot

We also didn't pay what they're wanting for it now. Got a steal of a deal. Husband isn't here right now and I can't remember exact price but it's on another post on here in regards to generators that I posted several months ago. I also had found a Homedepot 20% coupon code on line for the Lifan generator from Homedepot. You may still be able to use that coupon code if you look here on the forum as I did post it for whomever wanted to purchase a Lifan.

NDgent · 06-06-2011, 07:57 PM

Deb

You stole it for $799.00,

I think plus the 20% off ... $630.00 ... I"m still jealous.

DebW · 06-07-2011, 12:27 AM

John,

I'll be honest with you I really felt bad when you said how much you paid for yours vs how much we paid for ours. I wish I would of been able to share that coupon with you but after you posted what a nice generator it was is when we started looking into Lifan. We had been looking at the Hondas. I think we both got very nice generators. Husband is very happy with purchase.

NDgent · 06-07-2011, 01:05 AM

Deb

You are right ... I really like the Lifan and compared to the "premium" Inverter Gensets it is still a bargain ... let me know the next time you go shopping, I'll ride along.

PopRichie77 · 06-07-2011, 05:53 AM

DebW,
The generator you got seems even better than the Honda 3000 and for a lot less money. I wasn't referring to this one when I said noisy.

NDgent · 07-10-2011, 03:07 PM

Hi everyone,

I'm adding an update on my LIFAN ESI2600iE-CA 2800 Watt Digital Power Inverter Generator.

Even with the Hard Start Capacitor upgrade to the AC (that I documented in another post) the LIFAN ESI2600iE-CA does not reliably run the AC ... evidently 22 Amps is not enough!

Also the extendable handle which makes it transportable without lifting the 65 lbs (aka suitcase handle) broke off. It is a plastic unit when it should be made of some kind of metal.

I'm considering returning it to Home Depot ...