RV generators are a necessary evil. They can be cumbersome, depending on size, and mostly noisy, again depending on size. In order to run systems in the RV size matters. And when you need one, you need one.
Some years back, I can't remember when, I purchased a Champion generator for camping. At 3500W and with a 30amp RV plug it ran everything. It was seldom used, however did come in handy on a few occasions. Over time it has been stored in the barn here on the farm, except for a several days power outage when we sought refuge in the camper. The $299 generator paid for itself that time.
The Champion does have two drawbacks. It is heavy to move around at 100 pounds and it is noisy vis-à-vis a Honda or Yamaha. With that in mind and the advances in generator/inverter technology I thought I'd try a lighter and more portable generator. The Honda is the leader, however simply out of my price range. After some research I decided to try the Westinghouse brand.
At $499 with free shipping it seemed to be a pretty good deal. What really sold me was that it came in at 2550 watts, had a 30 amp plug, was lightweight and ran on either gas or propane.
It arrived safely in a nicely packaged box. I checked the spark plug gap, added oil and premium gas to begin the break in process. I first tried running it on propane and it ran for a while then shut off. Thinking it was the newness I next tried running it on gas. Again it ran for a while and shut off. Over a period of a couple of days I tried to get it to run. Keeping in mind that I've restored a VW Beetle and six Model T cars I do know a little about engines, but I could not get this bugger to run. Phoning their service line was also futile as I could not get through the messages and being on hold. Turns out it was too good to be true. The one upside was that I ordered it through Walmart. I took it back to the local store and was issued a credit with no questions asked. I'm glad I didn't order it through Amazon and have to deal with their returns hassle.
After all this aggravation I've decided revert back to the Champion. I dug out the owner's manual to go over some of the maintenance recommendations. It seemed to me that one area of concern may be the carburetor and spark plug since it hasn't been run for some time. Likely it will be fine, but just in case I ordered a tune up kit with carburetor. At a reasonable $16 it seemed like a good back up to have.
Now I have just have to wait for the weather to warm up enough so I can go to the barn, move snow out of the way and revive the Champion.