Champion Generators

[Smilingreen]

Does anyone have a Champion generator that the inside cowling have broken into pieces and has long cracks in the plastics? I bought this 3100 watt unit new back in 2017. It has had very light use, maybe 30-35 hours on it. It has always ran perfectly and I love how quiet it is. But, this year, it would only run on choke and would die as soon as you turned the choke off. I knew what the issue was. Old gas. So, about a week ago, I put it on the bench and started taking the covers off of it so I could get to the carb. I was surprised to see long splits in the plastic cowling that goes around the generator section and around the exhaust muffler. The top fastening point for the cowling going around the generator was completely broken off. As I cleaned and disassembled, I kept finding more and more pieces with cracks or completely broken off. This is a 75537i model. I can find parts diagrams for them with part numbers, but it seems no one carries any parts for these units. Did Champion flood the US Generator market with cheap Chinese throw away generators, to cut into Hondas bottom line?

I removed all of the broken cowlings, broken screw tabs and one outer housing and cleaned all the pieces, took 200 grit sand paper to the surfaces, roughed them up and the applied liberal amounts of high temp JB Weld epoxy to them. I am going to let the epoxy sit and cure for another 24-48 hours before I attempt to re-install these parts. Hopefully, the epoxy holds. Otherwise, when this unit mechanically fails, I am going to purchase a bigger Honda to replace it. I have a 10 year old Honda EU2000i that I just serviced. I had to change out the rubber hoses. I can easily get parts for the Honda. The Honda runs like a new one.



Cowling main mount completely broken off.



Broken screw tab.



Completely broken off screw tab.



Main cowling epoxy repair.


About a 3" crack epoxy repair on the muffler bottom cowling. 2 separate cracks in one piece.



Epoxy repair on the exhaust top half of cowling.



Crazy Glue mounting tab repair.



Another crazy glue mounting tab repair.



Another mounting tab I still need to glue back on.

 

[bczoom]

Don't have that exact generator but none of my Champions have had this issue.
Did it ever take a good fall (like out of a truck)? Seems like it either took some hard impacts or has vibrated itself to death.

 

[Smilingreen]

Don't have that exact generator but none of my Champions have had this issue.
Did it ever take a good fall (like out of a truck)? Seems like it either took some hard impacts or has vibrated itself to death.

Well, no. It sat on my covered back porch with the cover on it for 99% of it's life. When it did run, it was in econo mode, as the loads on it were very lite. I never dropped it. Can't say what happened to it in shipping before I got it. I dunno. The parts I needed to rebuild it back to factory spec are not available. To me, the plastic formulation was in incorrect for the temperature environment it was going to operate in or they screwed up the plastics formula when the parts were molded. The plastic cowlings almost have a feel of 3D printed plastic, even though it is moulded. Also, every place that cracked was where the plastic should have been thicker for structural support. Maybe their engineering and manufacturing quality has improved since 2017. I hope it has. I won't chance it again with another purchase. I know that model has been EOL for several years. I'll go Honda next time. I have 2 Honda generators that have seen a much harder life than the Champion ever has. None of their plastics have cracked or broken off. I can still get parts, even for my 20 year old Honda EB3000c construction generator.

 

[bczoom]

I have a couple Champions. Bought them because they're cheap, small, quiet and get the job done. I also have a couple other cheap ones (Harbor Freight?). I use these little ones for small things and to pass out to the neighbors when we have extended power outages. I don't fret if they poop out or get damaged.
If I need power for my home, I have a 7500W Honeywell with Honda power or 15000W Generac. These are for me only.

 

[Smilingreen]

Today is re-assembly day and a test run. We'll see if the plastics hold up or if they will crack right next to where the epoxy repairs have been done. I should have applied the epoxy on wider and put small strips of fiberglass cloth embedded in it. I did apply it wider than the cracks and breaks were, this is just an after thought. We'll see.