Looking for large, quiet generator for Burning Man 06

Faux Forêt · Post by **Faux Forêt** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:26 am

We need to power 6 slide projectors, 2 large fans, and small sound system.

We need a generator that can handle this load and is reasonably quiet.

Please contact:

[email protected]

Post by **trilobyte** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 6:03 pm

Any idea on how many watts you're talking? To me, a small sound system could be anything under 2,000 watts. And I think projectors can vary on their energy consumption.

In general, though, I'd recommend you look at either Honda's or Yamaha's super quiet generators. On the pricey side, but really very quiet and overall they're very easy to work with.

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/gen.asp

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/

Faux Forêt · Post by **Faux Forêt** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:45 pm

Small sound system, for us, is a couple of microphones, a 4 channel mixing board, and a couple of small guitar amplifiers.

Slide projectors are the old fashioned kind (probably).

We're focusing on used equipment (if we can find it).

I'll check out the sites you gave me to educate myself a bit.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:35 pm

There's a lot of ways to save money. But when it comes to generators you do get what you pay for. I have 2 Coleman units, a Powermate 1850 and a 6250 model. They're noisy, not that easy to start and they produce "dirty" power that causes problems for some electronic devices.

On the other hand I have a Honda EU2000i, and while pricey I love the thing. Flip the choke, one pull, it's started. Let it warm up for about 2 minutes before putting a load on it and you're good. Also it puts out VERY clean power. For my work it's the only generator I can run my testing equipment off of without fuss. It's also clean enough to keep a finicky Kyocera laser printer happy.

Two more things to mention...the units are so quiet that if you've run anything else after running the Honda you'll cringe when the other units start up. And on the playa mine has kept running through all kinds of dust storms while my small Coleman kept dying on me. I hope you can find a way to get the Honda or the almost identical Yamaha units...and if you buy a Honda check out this link to Captain Goddammit's site on extending the runtime....it works. http://ilynne.com/captaingoddammit/

Post by **trilobyte** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:54 pm

Faux... odds are you guys will be good to go with a 1,000 watt generator. If you want to have some headroom, go for a 2,000 watt gene.

Unfortunately, the "super quiet" or "whisper quiet" class of generators is pretty new, which means that there aren't many manufacturers (only Honda and Yamaha for the most part). And being really amazing generators, people aren't parting with them so easily (so there aren't many used models to be had). However, if you hit ebay looking for the EU200i (Honda's model) or the Yamaha equivalent, you might may wind up having some luck.

The other option is to build what's called a "generator baffle" to reduce the noise. There's a thread around here on the boards somewhere that's worth reading on the subject.

We took a couple generators out to the playa last year to power the sound and lighting on our art car (we had a ventilated generator box). One was a Honda EU200i, the other a Coleman PowerMate. While the Coleman was significantly cheaper, it was more than double the size and we ran into all kinds of problems with it all week long, where the Honda just kept running.

If I were shopping for a generator right now, I'd definitely scrimp, save, and scrounge to get the Honda EU2000i (new or used, whatever I could get), over either a lower priced or higher wattage model.

Good luck!

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 9:36 pm

I've got to second what trilobyte says...

The EU generators are worth every penny.

Burp! · Post by **Burp!** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:39 am

We've used a Honda EU3000 the last few year. It's a great generator and totally quiet under standard BM noise levels. We powered lights, projectors, computers etc all from the same gen with no problem. What's nice about the EU3000 is the fuel capacity and fact that you only need to fill it up very rarely. We had it running almost 24x7 for 10 days last time. We had people come into our dome and with all the powered up stuff ask us where the generator was and when we pointed it out about 20 feet away they were surprised that they didn't hear it.

Highly recomend the Honda EU series!

T.

Post by **trilobyte** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 1:16 pm

Yeah, the 3000 was what we wished we could have afforded last year.

Another cool thing about the 2000's is if you at some point get a second one, you get get a kit that will let you link the pair together to provide a shared load, as well as an external fuel tank that will provide additional fuel to both.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 1:45 pm

I looked at the Honda EU3000i and the 127lb weight was a bit much. I like the EU2000i because it weighs about 1/2 of the 3000 series and if you need more power you can buy a second one and either buy or make an intertie between the two. Also the size of the EU2000i makes it easier to transport...it can ride in the back seat floorboard without much trouble getting it in and out while the EU3000i is like a big cube that doesn't fit in too many spaces....

I stayed away from the EU1000i ones because it didn't cost that much more to double the power, IMHO. YMMV.

Rusted Iron · Post by **Rusted Iron** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 7:49 pm

We learned the hard way, with our eu3000, that they tend to run hot, so leave lots of air space around them. One year we put it inside a trailer that was closed in three sides, open on the top and had the tail gate down, was too enclosed for it.

Also, raise them off of the playa. We thought just putting a large sheet of plywood under the generator would be okay, but it still sucked in too much dust and needed a major cleaning before it'd run again.

The last few years we put it up on a flatbed trailer and it has worked just fine.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 7:56 pm

I didn't bother with any fancy schmantzy stuff with mine. I sat it right beside the trailer tire, set the extended runtime fuel tank up on the trailer fender, fired it up and except for the occasional fillup 7 days later I shut it off. No fuss, no muss, it just got the job done.

I've bought a lot of things over the years but I have to put that generator on the top of my list as one of the best things I've ever bought. I absolutely love it.

DustMeOff · Post by **DustMeOff** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 2:55 pm

I have 2 honda eu1000's and they power everything. I was going to get one 2000 but I don't need that much power all the time but just when the A/C is on. If something goes wrong while I am out on the playa I still have a second for a back up. Not alot of honda repair shops out there. I made the gas thing for one of them and never have to fill or start it for ten days. I have the link cables to make them into 2000. I just start the other one when I want to use the A/C. Remember the altitude makes the generators power less than what it is rated at. I found this out when I tried my a/c on one generator at my house and it worked. It kept tripping the circuit breaker out on the playa. Thank god I had a big heavy duty old noisy coleman for a back-up.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:38 am

Last night we linked up 7 generators. 5 EU2000i's and 2 EU1000i's and put them under load to make sure they worked....and they did. Now we need to figure out a way to get all of the units setup with extended run time fuel tanks that can be made relatively portable and life will be good.

One other quick note about the EU1000i, it fits nicely in the front storage area of a kayak too.

zorro sings · Post by **zorro sings** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 2:43 pm

[quote="Rusted Iron"]We learned the hard way, with our eu3000, that they tend to run hot, so leave lots of air space around them. One year we put it inside a trailer that was closed in three sides, open on the top and had the tail gate down, was too enclosed for it.

quote]

Will echo this.We finally sold our eu3000 and went to the eu2000.First couple of years it would stop frequently when over heated.Last year the unit quit working entirely twice.Trip to Reno for emergency repairs always a drag.Seemed the spark plug mechanism(via dust) was to blame.Maybe a very understandable design flaw but would not trust this model again on the playa.Have never heard of the 2000 having this sort of thing happening to it.The eu3000 is quite heavy but we bought a wheel kit which made it easy to get around.In any case they ARE both quiet and appreciated for that!

Token · Post by **Token** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:22 pm

Kinetic IV wrote:Last night we linked up 7 generators. 5 EU2000i's and 2 EU1000i's and put them under load to make sure they worked....and they did.

So you need 100 amps so you can arc weld with that power strip ...

Now I understand your comment in the generator thread. I'll just state the obvious here, not that I think I need to, but just in case:

Current: [A] / Gauge Cu
10A / 16g
20A / 12g
30A / 10g
40A / 8g
55A / 6g
70A / 4g
95A / 2g

For that much current, you should get a breaker box and terminate all your connections there.

If not,I really want to see that cable! Where are you camping?

DustMeOff · Post by **DustMeOff** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 10:25 pm

Seven generators is alot. More power to ya. (pardon the pun) Wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy a really big whisper quiet unit? Or rent one? I see them at the really big camps and they are really quiet for all the power they put out.

Steven bradford · Post by **Steven bradford** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:38 pm

I can see an advantage to seven generators. Seven separate camp members buy them, bring them to camp, have a little generator to use individually the rest of the year, plenty of power at BM as a camp wide system.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:26 pm

The idea behind linking so many up was just to see if it could be done. The gennies are owned by several people who get together for float trips around here. Usually 2-3 is all that's together at any given time.

As for welders I love my small Miller MIG, I avoid arc welders unless I don't have a choice.

M Joe Boss · Post by **M Joe Boss** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:34 am

There are some fantastic comments here and so I thought I would put in my 2 cents.

I own or have owned more than 14 generators in the last 5 years and they have all been to burning man.
I buned up 4 Generacs in one year (2002), the next year I took 2 brand new colemans, didn't burn them up but the 4000 didn't like the playa a bit and was soo damn loud we had it 200 ft away and it still drove our camp nuts, plus it didnt want to stay runningworth a shit. the 1850 faired better as far as run time but not much better as far as noise was concearned.

I have also had the extreme pleasure of all 4 Hondas the 1000i the 2000i the 3000i ( I just bought my second one today

And the 5500( also a whisper quiet) these are the best damn line of gennies in the world. I finally stepped up to the plate in 04 and bought my 1st 3000i and loved it soo much I have been saving since then for a second one to link up when extra power is needed. I had one tiny problem , which war that a tiny bit of sand got into the choke mechanism and made the choke stick on and kept fowling the spark plug out. the choke looked like it was pushed back in but on the inside it wasn't moving. I spent a couple hours on it before I figured out the problem,once i did it was way simple to fix. I leave in the bed of my pick up under the shade of my goose neck trailer and it has never given me any problem.

As for a cheaper genny that does the same thing, there is one and a buddy of mine bought it last year and I was truly amazed!!!!!!! It is obviously a honda knock off But it is called Kipor, and they were lots cheaper a year ago, but they have closed the gap a little since then. Anyhoo I was very skeptical at first but his little unit was every bit as reliable, user friendly, quiet, and efficient as the hondas . So I say if the name isn't important, look em up. Ebay usually has alot of them

Token · Post by **Token** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:02 pm

For the purpose of completeness, we should also list the excellent Robin-Subaru generators. The inverters are all under 60dB and are available in larger sizes. They also tend to be a bit cheaper than the Honda or Yamaha lines.

rycaldwell · Post by **rycaldwell** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 1:46 am

they seem comprable to the honda's and i was looking to get a 2000watt...
anybody?

rycaldwell · Post by **rycaldwell** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:25 am

it s may not be clear because the topic is up in fine print, but i'm curious about the KIPOR 2000...
it seems similar to the eu2000....
anybody?

Looking for large, quiet generator for Burning Man 06

Looking for large, quiet generator for Burning Man 06

Thanks for the tip!

careful with EU placement

Re: careful with EU placement

I have used all the gennies here, let me tell ya.

any experience with the KIPOR generators?

KIPOR