Bought a new Yamaha Inverter Generator

I bit the Bullet and got a NEW YAMAHA EF2000ISV2 Inverter Generator. I think I got a good deal from a company in Washington State. $689 and free shipping. Should be here in 7 or 8 days. I could have gotten a Honda EU2000i for $50 more, But my brother in law has a Yamaha and swears by it. Lots of good reports on the new Yamaha. I almost bought a WEN 2000 watt inverter generator, but didn't because I was worried about parts and service. Hope I didn't make a mistake. I did not want to spend this much money for a Generator, especially since it will not be used that much. Oh well might as well get what I hope is one of  the best.
Mel

mhbell said:

I bit the Bullet and got a NEW YAMAHA EF2000ISV2 Inverter Generator. I think I got a good deal from a company in Washington State. $689 and free shipping. Should be here in 7 or 8 days. I could have gotten a Honda EU2000i for $50 more, But my brother in law has a Yamaha and swears by it. Lots of good reports on the new Yamaha. I almost bought a WEN 2000 watt inverter generator, but didn't because I was worried about parts and service. Hope I didn't make a mistake. I did not want to spend this much money for a Generator, especially since it will not be used that much. Oh well might as well get what I hope is one of  the best.
Mel

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I have the Yamaha and am very happy with it. I like the fact that it has a fuel gauge, cables for charging and a fuel shut off going to the carburetor. Honda does not.

Hello mhbell,

From what I've seen of Yamaha prices, I think you got an excellent deal. Congrats!

And the Yamaha has a great reputation, I think you will be happy with it as long as you take good care of it (don't let gas get stale inside it, change the oil at the prescribed intervals, etc).

Cheers,
--
  Vall.

I service some generators for a local customer.  They have several each of the Yamaha and the Honda 2000 watt inverter generators on their service trucks.  The Yamaha is much better built and is totally made in Japan.  The Honda is made in Malaysia with parts from China and Malaysia.  The case on the Yamaha is also more ruggedly built.  Both are quiet but the Yamaha definitely seems to be a better built unit.  The fuel shut off valve is another plus my customer loves.  It keeps fuel from spilling and keeps the ethanol gas from clogging up the fuel bowl in the carburetor.

Nice to see no Honda snobs on this post thus far. I think Yamaha rocks as the Powermate genny that I have is an alleged 'clone' of same. Apparently, Generac (via a Chinese manufacturer?) totally ripped-off the design and component layout from Yamaha to produce the WalMart product that I obtained over 2 years ago for $450. This genny has served me VERY well and even runs my 9.2K AC when needed - about 2 or 3 times per summer. Not too loud either when just recharging my twin GC batteries.

Remember that these kinds of machines require regular maintenance with regard to oil changes. Inverters run hard and need good oil changed on a regular basis. Do this and you'll experience a long and trouble-free experience...

Both Honda and Yahama have advantages Honda has more service centers,, And a genuine fuel pump which enables it to "Suck" gas out of an external tank.

Yahama is better built.

Generators for us show heavier than normal use in an off grid retreat.

My Brother and I bought identical Yamaha EF2000IS generators and both failed with a catastrophic oil leak at about 1500 hrs while under warranty.  I took mine in to a certified Yamaha dealer for repair and waited 6 months for them to finish.  When I got it back the case had been put back on and not aligned properly, the fuel  shut off was almost impossible to turn, a cover was left off the connection to the electronic carb control, the weather cap on the ON/OFF switch was missing and it appeared the screws used to reassemble the case were just whatever was laying convenient on the workbench at the time.  I did a test run and it still leaked oil.  IMHO,  it is in WORSE shape than when I took it in.  I sent a certified letter to Yamaha USA and received no reply.  2 months  later, with oil still leaking, the engine seized and now it is a useless 40lb brick in the corner of the shop. The hour meter shows 1583 hours.

My brother took his generator to the same dealer since it is the only one withing a reasonable distance - and it is STILL 75 miles away.  He voiced some concerns over work quality and length of stay in the shop based on my experience and yes --the service manager remembered me.  The service manager flat out told him his generator would be the lowest priority of anything in the shop and he would be LUCKY to get it back in 6 months!  I was absolutely astounded by the poor attitude!  He asked to speak to the General Manager and was told he does not get involved with issues dealing with these "smaller units." My brother declined to leave it with that shop.  He also sent a certified letter to Yamaha USA with no reply afterwards.

It is my opinion Yamaha USA has little profit margin on these generators and it is throwing bad money at them to have to do warranty service on them.  As such,  they basically ignore you after the sale.

I am not a complainer by nature but I made myself a promise that I would relate honestly my experience with the Yamaha EF2000IS generators at every public opportunity after we had these near identical horrible experiences.  When we bought the Yamahas we ***ASSUMED*** we were getting quality products while paying a premium price and would be assured of stellar warranty support.  We were wrong. Forum reviews of the Yamaha are generally good but when you dig deeper, most of the units mentioned only have a few hundred hours on them.

FWIW,  Both of us bought the Honda EU2000i generators as replacements and are well pleased.  He has about 600 hrs on his and I have about 150 on mine.  It is more than equal to or better than the Yamaha on most counts.

We've had several post here about various generators and I've never heard any complaints about the reliability of a Yamaha. If you get one, I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

I have seen other complaints about poor warranty service on small Yamaha gensets. It appears that the authorized service centers make their money from servicing industrial grade products and that retail market customers get little attention, and that Yamaha corporate condones that attitude. Or simply that they have no alternative to the independent dealer shops.

It also appears that 1500 hours may be the useful life of even the better brands of small portable gensets.  That's not insignificant runtime for a small gas engine, let alone the power producing components. If it was a lawnmower, would you expect 20+ years of useful life?    The fact that industrial grade gensets cost 3x more ought to be a clue.

If you use the generator periodically and it sits for extended periods unused, I would suggest running only gas without ethanol in it. I will not run ethanol gas in any of my small  engines anymore. Im sick of having to take off carbs and clean them due to the ethanol clogging them up. Stabilizer helps, but for what it costs a year to just run better gas, its worth it.

mhbell said:

I bit the Bullet and got a NEW YAMAHA EF2000ISV2 Inverter Generator. I think I got a good deal from a company in Washington State. $689 and free shipping. Should be here in 7 or 8 days. I could have gotten a Honda EU2000i for $50 more, But my brother in law has a Yamaha and swears by it. Lots of good reports on the new Yamaha. I almost bought a WEN 2000 watt inverter generator, but didn't because I was worried about parts and service. Hope I didn't make a mistake. I did not want to spend this much money for a Generator, especially since it will not be used that much. Oh well might as well get what I hope is one of  the best.
Mel

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Sent you an email through the board earlier today (about your generator purchase).  Please let me know if you didn't get it.

Daz

muskoka guy said:

If you use the generator periodically and it sits for extended periods unused, I would suggest running only gas without ethanol in it. I will not run ethanol gas in any of my small  engines anymore. Im sick of having to take off carbs and clean them due to the ethanol clogging them up. Stabilizer helps, but for what it costs a year to just run better gas, its worth it.

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Totally agree.  On the few machines I have that are not diesel powered, I use only non ethanol gas.  All mine are two stroke (three Yamaha G1 golf carts, three Stihl chain saws, two Echo leaf blowers and three Echo weed whackers), so I just get it by the 5 gallon can.  Never have had any carb issues with non ethanol gas.