Honda Generators

[Dave455]

With all the uncertainty in the world right now, I just thought I’d share my experiences of Honda generators.

I have an old Honda EX800 generator. My Dad bought it, at least 30 years ago I reckon. Now, I admit it doesn’t see a lot of use. It get’s used in power cuts to run the boiler, heating pump and TV, and occasionally to run power tools on a job site.

With a cold winter and a bit of time at home I thought I’d give it a check over. Good job I did as I forgot to drain the carb after I last used it, some years ago.

No problem though. Drained the tank, cleaned the carb out, refilled it, and it started on the second pull.

Now, I can buy a Chinese generator of similar output for about £150 here in the U.K. I can buy a Honda “powered” generator for a bit more, but I don’t reckon any of ‘em would start easily and still produce power after 30 years, so the results of this particular “long term test” indicate the Honda is worth the extra money!

 

[gahrajmahal]

Are used to work for U-Haul about 30 years ago, and this is what they rented there. They held up through many knuckleheads using them and we never had to maintain them with the exception of oil change, spark plug and fresh gas. Enjoy your dad’s equipment! I am still using my dad’s stihl chainsaw from about the same vintage.

 

[zendriver]

800 W is on the light side for an American household, but yours looks like a very nice well cared for model. The Chinese equivalent probably doesn’t last forever but it’s only $125

I have a larger Chinese Predator model that starts and runs great but time will tell how long it holds up.

I purchase a 600 W Honda a few years older than yours, atan estate sale that looks to be near perfect condition. Never did get it started discovering that the stator was melted on it. Either from overloading, or improper ventilation. I resold it but if I got it running I would’ve kept it for my collection because it was beautiful The same gold flake paint as the Honda minibike

I agree they were built like only Honda could build them.

Enjoy yours!


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[gizardlizard]

Don’t forget noise or lack thereof. Don’t know about the older Honda generators but the newer ones are crazy quiet even at full load. Blows my mind.

 

[redmondjp]

These older "suitcase" generators are very well built, but for their weight they put out a very small amount of power in comparison to the new inverter units.

I have both a 600W and a 1000W unit, both built in the 1980s in Japan. They are better than nothing, but today there are better options out there and most of them I see for sale are way overpriced ($200-300 range, I would only pay <$100 for one of these even if it makes power).

 

[Dave455]

800 W is on the light side for an American household, but yours looks like a very nice well cared for model. The Chinese equivalent probably doesn’t last forever but it’s only $125

I have a larger Chinese Predator model that starts and runs great but time will tell how long it holds up.

I purchase a 600 W Honda a few years older than yours, atan estate sale that looks to be near perfect condition. Never did get it started discovering that the stator was melted on it. Either from overloading, or improper ventilation. I resold it but if I got it running I would’ve kept it for my collection because it was beautiful

I agree they were built like only Honda could build them.

Enjoy yours!

800 W is pretty light for a British household too, but back in the day a 2 kw Honda was an industrial machine and getting to be costly. You can get a quiet 2 kw machine now, that’s little bigger than mine.

Of course, we always thought that the power drain of houses was only ever going to go up, and never thought we’d have LED bulbs burning 15W Max.

I’ve noticed with Chinese stuff generally, that it’s a bit of a lottery if you get a good one or not. If you do then you can do O.K. I think that’s why the reviews on this stuff are so variable. Well, that and all the Chinese students writing the fake 5 star reviews...!

Yes, glad Dad left me with some good equipment. It’s all been useful, and I’ve even got some stuff running that had died.

My next task is to try and get his old Alpina chainsaw going. Got to be similar vintage to the generator, but it was a lightweight saw for the time and I can always use another. I reckon spares are going to be non existent though. I like a challenge...!

 

[Rinspeed]

Honda has always built the best small engines in the world, anyone who disagrees is a fool. Yamaha and Kawasaki come pretty close. The older Kaw that JD used for years in their small lawn tractors is pretty bullet proof.

 

[Steve_P]

I worked at a small engine shop in the 80s-90s. We sold hundreds, if not thousands, of Honda Generators and I can only remember one or two repairs where there were problems with the generator portion. Like snow blowers, generators have problems with people not running the gas out of the carburetor . Or running them enough to keep fresh gas in them. If you do that, they'll run forever with limited household use. Besides ancient gas, I can't remember any engine issues. And we also sold Honda mowers and snow blowers. They really took over the market when they arrived in the 80s