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| Reviews Summary for Yamaha EF2800i Generator |
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Reviews: 2
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Average rating: 5.0/5
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MSRP: $1,599
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Description: 2800 VA inverter generator. Lightweight, compact design that combines the cooling fan for the engine and the generating unit-cooling fan in a single unit. The EF2800i only weighs 29 kg, making it the lightest generator in its class as well as the most compact
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More info: http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/index.html
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You can
write your own review of the Yamaha EF2800i Generator.
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W0KIE
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 19, 2006 09:02
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Fits in the trunk of my Honda Accord
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The generator arrived from a California dealer who sells on the Internet. It was shipped to me via DHS air. The shipping box was surprisingly small. It was hand liftable by the delivery man and by me as well. The instruction book is very well written with lots of pictures. The shipping box included the generator, a 12 volt car battery charging cable, a spark plug wrench, an oil drain plug wrench and the instruction book. No motor oil was included. The generator came with a taped on reminder that it needed motor oil and a reminder to pull out a foam spacer that was between the muffler and the frame. The first thing it needed was .6 quart of SAE 10W-30W type SE (or later) motor oil. I picked Castrol as my preferred brand. I found that filling the crankcase was a challenge because there is little room between the oil fill and the control panel. I used a mini funnel and it was still too big to fit. The next step is filling the 3 gallon gas tank with 86 octane or higher. I used 89 octane mid grade. The generator gas tank has a filter on top of the tank as well as a gas level gauge. The first thing I did to fire up the generator was to turn the econ switch off, turn the fuel cock lever on, turn the engine switch on, pull the choke knob out and then (drum roll) pull the recoil starter rope. My unit started with the third pull. I'm sure it will do better next time as the carburetor bowl now has gas in it. With the generator running you can definitely hear it with a sound somewhat like your lawn mower. Inside the house with the windows closed it could not be heard. I think this generator would annoy my neighbors if it ran all night but in a power outage I'll take that chance. The generator runs at 3600 rpm at full throttle which is recommended for compressor loads. The engine is rated for 7.7 operational hours with 3 gallons of gas or 13 hours at 1/2 load. I hooked up a 1500 watt heater for a dummy load in econ setting and found that the generator sounded like it went to full throttle. The rating of the generator is 2500 watts with a light bulb type load. With an electric drill type load the rating is 2000 watts, with a compressor type load the rating is 850 watts due to the lower power factor. I plan to exercise this generator one hour a month. Since it doesn't have an hour meter I attached a paper tag to the generator to keep a manual usage log. All power cords I've seen at the hardware stores have a 15 amp rating which this generator can easily supply, at least on one power cord. The same type generator with the Honda name on it would have cost me almost $1,000 more than the Yamaha. With this in mind I think I got the best quality bang for the buck in a small lightweight 2.5 KW generator. Because of its small size it fits easily along with two five gallon gas cans in my small outdoor garden shed. During my second hour of testing I hooked my Beckman VOM to the output to see how the generator would react to instant loading. My dummy load was a 1500 watt heater. In Econ mode the generator dropped momentarily to 100 volts before recovering back to 120 VAC. In full power mode the generator dropped momentarily to 110 VAC before recovering to 120V. The 12 VDC output under NO LOAD in Econ mode measured 24 volts. In full speed mode the 12 VDC output measured 28 volts. My dealer said this is normal for no load on the 12 volt output. I further tested the generator by hooking it to my new Lennox G60V variable speed two stage central gas furnace. My first test overloaded the generator. After the electrician's apprentice rewired the "load wire" in the isolation switch the generator started and ran my central furnace just fine in both econ and full speed mode.
This generator would be perfect for most field day applications setups. Not too loud, not too heavy and plenty of juice.
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G4AON
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 15, 2006 09:15
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Works perfectly, couldn't ask for more
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I was looking for a generator for some time and considered the Honda EU20i, but decided the extra power at little extra weight gave the Yamaha unit an advantage for me. I don't know what the difference is between the YG and EF models, they appear to have almost identical specifications.
My EF2800i is a UK version with blue "MK Commando" style 230 Volt sockets. It doesn't have a 12 Volt DC output which some versions appear to include.
I've used the generator for both portable radio operation and home standby use. I cannot hear either "hash" or ignition noise on either HF or 6m radio equipment. The output voltage measures almost exactly 230 Volts and is a very clean sine wave when examined on an oscilloscope.
Audible noise levels are quite a bit louder than I would like when running with the economise setting turned off (which is necessary when powering a linear on CW), while it is probably quieter than building site generators, the noise level at a quiet location is high. Switching to economy mode drops the engine revs and reduces the noise level by a significant amount.
I've powered an Acom 1000 linear amplifier at full output on CW into a dummy load to test the generator, the power consumption would have been around 2KVA and the generator didn't have a problem supplying the linear. At the UK limit of 400 Watts output, feeding an Acom 1000 from this generator is a piece of cake.
The generator is easy to start and usually starts on the first or second pull.
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