Champion Power Equipment 46515 4,000 Watt 196cc 4-Stroke Gas Powered Portable Generator
Reg.$349.00 / $327.00 Saved: $22.00 & 2-Day * Free Nationwide Shipping! (* details)

Works Great - Could use a few improvements

Home » Champion Power Equipment 46515 4,000 Watt 196cc 4-Stroke Gas Powered Portable Generator

Works Great - Could Use A Few Improvements

Champion Power Equipment 46515 4,000 Watt 196cc 4-Stroke Gas Powered Portable Generator

$349.00/$327.00
I bought this generator because I have a sump pump in a high water table area with no battery backup. Box is heavy but I was able to lift it and move it from my basement to my detached garage when the power went out. I turned it on its side to fill the oil, filled the tank, opened the fuel line, choked the carb, and it started right up. I waited a minute before opening the choke. I kept the garage door partly open to vent the fumes. The generator is loud (like a lawnmower), but I could barely hear it inside my house. I ran a heavy duty extension cord which ends as 3 outlets into my kitchen and branched that out to 3 regular extension cords for my basement and 2 floors. I have a fridge/freezer, a chest freezer, a sump pump, microwave, toaster, gas dryer, space heater, gas furnace, washing machine, some lights, laptops, and phone charger. In general, I tried to not run too many of the power hungry ones at one shot. For example, I had a space heater, a sump pump, a fridge/freezer, and some lights on at one time and it worked well, but I was afraid to trip a breaker in the generator (in case it would actually break and I would be left with no power) so I was conservative. I only ran the microwave and toaster on their own with nothing else connected. Washing machine worked but drier turned on for a split second but then cut out.

Take note: On many gas furnaces, you can rig up a "suicide cord" to connect the furnace to an extension cord running from the generator, thereby saving precious watts by not having to use space heaters. It is pretty easy. Overall, this was a great buy, as it kept my house dry, warm, lit, and connected during a 52 hour blackout. It took about 4 gallons every 10 hours on the load described above. Here are some suggested improvements:

1) Make the gas gauge more accurate and better marked. It gives you only a rough estimate of where the tank is up to but has no gallon markings and can be off by 20% up or down. It almost looks like it was take off of my 4 year old's fischer price toy.

2) Put the gas tank opening at the corner of the unit (rather than in the center) to make it easier to fill. You need to lean over the generator to fill it, and leaning with a 5 gallon tank hurts my back.

3) When the engine is warm, starting it in choke position doesn't work. I didn't read the manual, but the quick-start guide says to start it in choke. When the engine is warm, you need to start it in half-choke or no choke.

The following three points are an update after prepping the generator for long term storage:

4) It is almost impossible to remove the spark plug. Removing the plug is required maintenance before long term storage, because they ask you to remove the plug in order to pour a little oil into the cylinder. I needed to remove another piece of the generator in order to use the provided spark plug removal tool. Even after removing the plug, it is almost impossible to access the cylinder because it is stuck so deep into the unit. In order to inject oil into the cylinder, you would be best served using a long syringe.

5) In order to drain the oil, you need to prop the generator up high enough in oder to use a funnel, because the oil plug is put in such an awkward position, that if you don't use the funnel, the old oil would drip onto the piece below it instead of
onto the floor.

6) The quick start guide doesn't mention that you need to install the spark arrestor before using the generator. I used the quick start guide to get it up and running and assumed that it would include all essential steps. I only installed the arrestor after running the unit for 50 hours and finally reading the manual.

                                       - by Deem @ 11/03/2011

See all customer reviews...