New Honda EU 3200i generator

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adj2ent

adj2ent

DJ Extraordinaire
Oct 20, 2006
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Long Island NY
I found this very interesting, new Honda EU 3200i. 3200 watts starting at under 60lb. I watch one of the unboxing videos, you can pick it under with one hand. Supposedly quiet as hell. The unit has Bluetooth so you can control it and fuel injection. But of course there is the the Honda price, ouch. Eventually I’ll be replacing my powermate generators which weigh about 250lb ea which I need a ramp to get them in/out the van. I also had a Honda EB3000 which I pickup used to use for a couple of events, then sold. Right now I am just reviewing the possibilities but weight will a big be a factor.


The All New EU3200i | Honda Generators

Introducing the new Honda EU3200i Generator: more power and more convenience. The EU3200i delivers 3200 watts in a compact, portable package. Everything you need to run your RV A/C - plus lights, appliance, and more!
powerequipment.honda.com powerequipment.honda.com
 
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Honda inverters are pretty much all great units, but obviously you've noted the price. There are a bunch of EU knock-offs available. I bought a Champion 2200-watt unit from Tractor Supply, that was less than $500 and to me is virtually identical to the Honda (at twice the price).
 
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I’ve been eyeing a larger Champion 4000 watt generator too. The rating and price looks good. But I am trying to get lucky like I did the last time. I ended up originally with Powermates with Yamaha engines, even at over 14 years old they startup on the first pull. Ended up getting them for a crazy low price at Home Depot in Delaware plus no tax and a rebate. I still have time this years season is almost over. I know most guys also grabbed the Harbor Freight one too but I’m not too sure about them. I might stop by the guy who maintains my units and ask him, Nothing like asking a expert.
 
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adj2ent said:
3200W max.starting, then 2600W regular all at less than 59lbs. I haven’t seen it yet only the specs. It’s very expensive, list price like $2500. Honda aren’t cheap and rarely discounted.
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Let me ask this question. What setup could you use with that generator to DJ with?
 
That gen offers a great power to weight ratio. I wonder if someone will develop a tri-fuel kit for it like they did with the EU2000. I prefer using propane because it is much easier to store and transport. I just got a 3200W dual-fuel (gas/propane) Firman generator from Costco on sale for $600. It weighs around 100 lbs and is much bigger than this Honda. Then again, it cost a lot less than my smaller Honda EU2000.
 
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Harbor Freight has been running some sales on their knock-off versions of the Honda inverter style portable generators. I scrutinized the specs, and they are strikingly similar, however until I see one in action, skepticism abounds.
 
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Cap Capello said:
Harbor Freight has been running some sales on their knock-off versions of the Honda inverter style portable generators. I scrutinized the specs, and they are strikingly similar, however until I see one in action, skepticism abounds.
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That’s the feeling that I have to but when you actually look at the engine you see the differences. And the fact that with the Harbor Freight I see some people of had issue right out of the box. The people I know in the business use the Honda and so do vendors I see in NYC. Luckily this is in the decision I have to make right now.
 
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adj2ent said:
That’s the feeling that I have to but when you actually look at the engine you see the differences. And the fact that with the Harbor Freight I see some people of had issue right out of the box. The people I know in the business use the Honda and so do vendors I see in NYC. Luckily this is in the decision I have to make right now.
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I work in the Powersports industry I was recently at an outdoor event for Can-Am they were using Honda generators
 
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I was making a suggestion to assist those who prefer the lowest price as opposed to the highest quality. I've been using the Honda EU series for at least 10 years. The key for the longest life of any brand is non-ethanol gas. That is an inarguable fact.
 
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Quality and convenience will always cost more and often be worth more than the savings of a knock off, in my experience.
Thank you Honda for being the quality leader in this category. I hope it's immensely profitable for the company.

I do understand the temptation to want the lower priced option
 
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Scott Hanna said:
Quality and convenience will always cost more and often be worth more than the savings of a knock off, in my experience.
Thank you Honda for being the quality leader in this category. I hope it's immensely profitable for the company.

I do understand the temptation to want the lower priced option
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My experience is you can buy the knock off brand because you want to save money. What I find is in the long run you don't save money you wasted money. The reason is that the knock off usually doesn't work as good as the item costing more and eventually you will go out and buy the thing you should have bought to begin with.
 
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The product I sell in my day job, BioThane.us, has many knock off competitors, most from China and India. They try to say it’s “just like” BioThane, some try to use our trademark illegally, and some try to tell people that they make the product for us. All untrue. What is true is that they sell the product for sometimes half of what we do.
The reality is in manufacturing, there are many ways to cut corners. The result is a cheaper product. It’s always possible that someone may not notice a difference. But for the vast majority, they will notice a performance difference or longevity difference and will regret the cost cutting attempt.

The choice is simple. Quality or price. I’ve found much more peace of mind with buying quality and not having to pray it works or lasts. Always perfect? No. Much less anxiety? No doubt.
We’ve had major brands that have gotten tempted to use the cheaper materials. It’s certainly enticing to save 50%. Of course we shared our test data with them and they said they did their own testing, but they all have tried, and slowly but surely come back after enough failures, upset customers or inconsistent results.
 
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Scott Hanna said:
The product I sell in my day job, BioThane.us, has many knock off competitors, most from China and India. They try to say it’s “just like” BioThane, some try to use our trademark illegally, and some try to tell people that they make the product for us. All untrue. What is true is that they sell the product for sometimes half of what we do.
The reality is in manufacturing, there are many ways to cut corners. The result is a cheaper product. It’s always possible that someone may not notice a difference. But for the vast majority, they will notice a performance difference or longevity difference and will regret the cost cutting attempt.

The choice is simple. Quality or price. I’ve found much more peace of mind with buying quality and not having to pray it works or lasts. Always perfect? No. Much less anxiety? No doubt.
We’ve had major brands that have gotten tempted to use the cheaper materials. It’s certainly enticing to save 50%. Of course we shared our test data with them and they said they did their own testing, but they all have tried, and slowly but surely come back after enough failures, upset customers or inconsistent results.
Click to expand...

One of my first jobs, the owner was a ping-pong enthusiast and he designed a ping-pong robot (it actually just shot the balls at you, like a pitching machine). He contracted with a firm out of China, to produce his machines. About 6 months later, he discovered that in addition to building his machines, they were building more of the machines and selling them directly, in direct competition with him. In that case, the quality was identical but obviously they were robbing him.
 
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Here's the real truth. As the saying goes you get what you pay for. In most cases that's true. The ones that sell high quality products are the ones who are thinking. They do what they do because they want people to tell others about how good their products are so others will buy their products.

Look at it this way. A D.J presenting a high quality product and performance is likely to have people highly recommended them to someone else and those who get repeat business with a client says they are doing something right and that's why the client keeps coming back to them. Would any of you recommend someone that you felt did a lousy job or just plain sucked?
 
Scott Hanna said:
The product I sell in my day job, BioThane.us, has many knock off competitors, most from China and India. They try to say it’s “just like” BioThane, some try to use our trademark illegally, and some try to tell people that they make the product for us. All untrue. What is true is that they sell the product for sometimes half of what we do.
The reality is in manufacturing, there are many ways to cut corners. The result is a cheaper product. It’s always possible that someone may not notice a difference. But for the vast majority, they will notice a performance difference or longevity difference and will regret the cost cutting attempt.

The choice is simple. Quality or price. I’ve found much more peace of mind with buying quality and not having to pray it works or lasts. Always perfect? No. Much less anxiety? No doubt.
We’ve had major brands that have gotten tempted to use the cheaper materials. It’s certainly enticing to save 50%. Of course we shared our test data with them and they said they did their own testing, but they all have tried, and slowly but surely come back after enough failures, upset customers or inconsistent results.
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I see so many cases on the boards over the years of people who expect others to pay for them because of their quality but when they go to buy something it's a different thing all together and most times they justify their purchase with the same lines clients use on them.

One particular guy. very much high end and GWYW type, was in one thread chastising a guy to the point of being abusive about how little he charged and the very next post from him was about beating down a car salesman to the point he feels the guy "Didn't make a dime" on the sale. Within a week he was bragging about buying cheap XLR's and power cables.

It is a rare occasion you get more than you pay for and it's even rarer when it happens that you bought something cheap. In my situation I would never buy the Honda generator in question. It is rare I use one at a gig, like 3 or 4 times in 40 years rare, and that particular model isn't enough to power my house in an outage. If I was using it for boondocking in an RV that would be choice number 1


rickryan.com said:
One of my first jobs, the owner was a ping-pong enthusiast and he designed a ping-pong robot (it actually just shot the balls at you, like a pitching machine). He contracted with a firm out of China, to produce his machines. About 6 months later, he discovered that in addition to building his machines, they were building more of the machines and selling them directly, in direct competition with him. In that case, the quality was identical but obviously they were robbing him.
Click to expand...

In many cases that's how those factories work. They operate without non compete and non disclosure agreements bid the job slightly above cost to get the specs and put out their own version. To them it's all part of doing business and there really is no recourse suing them in the US isn't going to get you anything but a judgement and suing them is China is too costly
 
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