kibor generator?

[reynmts]

can anyone advise on these generators?  I'm thinking of buying a 1000 watt to help with the pu. Thanks for the help

[mike4947]

It's Kipor. They are Chinese clones of the very popular Honda inverter gensets. They are not capable of parallel running and the major problem seems to be in warranty repairs or replacement parts. You can check out the tech forum at http://www.rv.net/forum/ for several dozen threads on gensets in general and Kipor's specifically.

[TheViking]

It's my opinion that it is an inexpensive way to get power.  How often do you use a generator?  I would rather spend a small amount of $$ on something I use every now and then than a huge amount (Honda) and watch it collect dust in my garage.  I do know a guy that bought one and is really happy with it.

[wavery]

I never heard of Kipor until now. I just looked them up and I don't think that they are cheap enough to take a chance on buying some cheap Chinese alternative to a proven Honda Generator.

Personally, I'd far rather buy a second hand Honda for the same price as a new Chinese substitute. That's exactly what I did. I have 2- Honda EU2000I gen-sets and I paid $750 for each of them. They are both low hours and are "Like new". One of them came with the harness to tie them together for 4000w.

I ended up not needing 2 of them so I let my brother have one. If I ever go on a long vacation in the heat of summer, I may borrow it back.

[LBRATT]

CHEAP is good for some things but i have had my Honda eu2200 since 1985 and have been very happy with its service, just add gas. in 1994 it ran for about two days straight after the earth quake to keep the frig cold and run a small tv we used for news. It was VERY pricy back then, but amertized over these last 21 plus years i think it was a good purchase. When we purchased our PU in 2005 we also got a new Honda i2000 because it is much quieter and lighter. I am not doubting the Kibor, you can buy 3 for the price of one Honda, but i tend to stick with the things that have a good rep.

[brainpause]

It's Kipor. They are Chinese clones of the very popular Honda inverter gensets. They are not capable of parallel running and the major problem seems to be in warranty repairs or replacement parts. You can check out the tech forum at http://www.rv.net/forum/ for several dozen threads on gensets in general and Kipor's specifically.

Mike...I had heard for a long time that they were Honda clones, but then somebody actually cracked both open and found that the Honda and Kipor were very different....Maybe this is all debatable, until somebody can post some reasonably believable pictures. Can you shed more light on this?

I have also read, like Mike, that replacement parts are hard to find. Wouldn't this NOT be a problem if it were a Honda clone?  :confused:

I have wanted a generator, and can't bring myself to buy the Chinese stuff.

Larry

[6Quigs]

I do know a guy that bought one and is really happy with it.

:-()  :-()  :-()
That's me being happy!!

I followed the thread over at RV.net, and went out and bought this 3,500 watt generator for $200 from Kragen auto parts.

Generator
It's rated at 65 dB, which is not as quiet as the 'quiet' Honda or Yamaha generators, but for the dry camping we do, it is fine to run during the day, and has never bothered any camping neighbors. It is not a Kipor, but a Jiang Dong
Last winter we were able to lend it to some friends who live in the mountains, and were without power, and they ran it for 3 days till their power came back on.

For the little time I use it, $200 is not a big investement, and if something went wrong, I'd buy another one, and then have all the spare parts I need.

[mike4947]

Larry, I can tell you at least the engines are identical as the company that assembles the Kipor clones makes engines under contract for Honda. They even offer a 3KW model in China that is parallel capable. They just can't export it without a license from Honda for the software/hardware for the inverter controller.
There are other "Chinese" gensets on the market that are not Honda type inverter gensets, but rather regular generators that use a generator, not an inverter to supply the electricity.

[brainpause]

Larry, I can tell you at least the engines are identical as the company that assembles the Kipor clones makes engines under contract for Honda. They even offer a 3KW model in China that is parallel capable. They just can't export it without a license from Honda for the software/hardware for the inverter controller.
There are other "Chinese" gensets on the market that are not Honda type inverter gensets, but rather regular generators that use a generator, not an inverter to supply the electricity.

Thank you.

Larry