Yamaha EF1000iS Inverter Generator.

[buickanddeere]

  Some of those Yamahas have a spark trap on the exhaust.  If lightly loaded, operated with a high ash oil etc. They can eventually run rough, loose power etc as they become bunged up.

[Henry W]

Yes it does have a spark arrestor. One of the maintenance schedules is to remove it to check, if it needs cleaning. They are not too expensive. I would just replace it. Most loads are around 400-500 watts. It seems to like these loads.

[dkeav]

We have the Yamaha EF2000is model, love it.  We use the crap out of it, had it on tractor cruise recently and used it with pancake air compressor, air jack and impact to change a flat for a guy.  One thing we have noticed is to make sure you disable the auto-idle mode and let it wind up before trying to start an electric motor.  Even if the motor draw isn't too bad, the low voltage situation there on trying to start the motor before the inverter picks up can cause some problems.  As long as we turn that off before kicking on the air compressor though it works great.

[buickanddeere]

Neighbour that camps at the old family estate on our road just had Yamaha 1000 problems.  There is 120V potential between the receptacle's ground and neutral . Did not even know it until he tried to power up the trailer which has a neutral bar to ground bar connection in the breaker panel.  The Yamaha would output 12 Amps for a few seconds and trip on the dead short.
   Have yet to open the unit up and have a look.

[Henry W]

The Yamaha EF1000 has been so reliable throughout the year. It's been used mostly for running fans at track and field events. But it also became handy around home and on some side jobs. It is enough to operate, a skill saw, 4" hand grinder, millwalkee right angle drill, Sawzall, electric impact gun and more. I can't say enough good things about it. No regrets purchasing it. It's the quietest generator I've purchased.

[SteveU.]

Very interesting new Board you have set up here Mr Henry.

I too am now going over to inverter/generator using.
It all started with wanting to buy for the Wife her very own "girl" generator.
Even though I can make/generate electricity three ways on three fuels none of my systems are really just fuel-up, pull-start and just plug-in use. Well the Miller/Kohler 12kW welder-generator is at 1/2 gallon gasoline minimum per hour. Then ~300 feet of cords. And IF the consarned battery isn't dead.

So did my due-diligence research. Found that ONLY the Honda EU2000's were being rented out. Paid $40 USD to rent an in-service 2 year old unit for four hours. Rushed it home and tried it on every TV, VCR, microwave. Operated all of these electronics. Then had it oprate both the Maytag washing machines: the newer electronic one and the old twisty dial controller one. Ran all of the refrigerators 1994-2014. Ran all of the big chest freezers. Old, old.
Critical - even ran the wife hair blow dryer! Coffee drip machines - of course.
Then I took it out in the shop and tried to kill it. Would power up usable and operate the skillsaw, metal chop saw, ect. Stihl electric chainsaw would kick it out under a sawing loading. My 15 amp airless Sear commressor would pump up but cycling and would kick it out of AC charging too. Expected. Expected.
It did not die. Recovered from me, and probably hundreds of other renter abusers.

So what I bought for her.
After two break-in initial oil changes I did cases split it and remove the Honda plastic link for the IG kill switch from the fuel shut off. Added in my own toggle snap switch so it can be "Yamaha" fuel shut off ran and all of the fuel lines, pulsator pump and carb ran out fuel dry now. Just fuel draining at the factory bowl screwdriver drain would not do all of this. Plus a teaspoon puddle of gasoline out the drain hose!

After ~50 hours added an hour meter. 156 hours on that now.
Operational lessons learned?
Pour in fuel through a paper painters cone filter. A plastic sliver from a fuel can tread got into the carb partial blocking the main jet. At only 0.09 gallons per hour at a 400 watt loading these carb orifices are tiny, tiny.
DO LOAD at least to a 400 watt output loading to get rid of the no-load burbling. This is actually misfiring. That cylinder full of non-combusted makes for exhaust smell and will slowing carbons up the piston top, combustion chamber and valves. Burn loaded hot to burn clean and most fuel efficient.
One hundred hours will be pushing the oil changes! Use oil coloring as a guide. Will depend on the actual fuel, loading and outside conditions. At 12 ozs per fill you can do 13 Honda inverter changes in the five quarts for a single common vehicle. Buy you at least 1300 operating hours, cheap. These run very cool-ish. So I am using now a 0W-40 synthetic.

WE had 9 Grid-down power outages in 2015 from one hour to 48 hours. Four already this year.
Experienced: these have never been a big deal to us. Woodstoving 250 days of the year, battery lanterns, LED headlamps, propane camp stove we know how to deal.

Ha! Now it is just go fuel up the Honda out on the porch. Cord in and truck-on with the day. Easy flip switch coffee, shower, hair wash and blow dry.

Now to get her off my case for almost daily using her Honda for this and that (packed to JD tractor/Miller/idled trucks batteries  charging; lighting, and Honda geberator shed off Heats in the greenhouse ~60-80,000 btu's oh-my!) I am saving up for my own Yamaha EF2800i unit.
MO-Power for the electric chainsaw and air-compressor. And an open frame design, friendly to be woodgassed fueled.

Enjoy your now commercially available inverter generators as proof everything does just not have to be such a big elaborate "projected" deal for daily usable CHP.
Steve unruh

[SteveU.]

Good Morning All
Henry I hope you do not mind that I tag on my experneces with my new Yamaha EF2800i onto your Yamaha topic. Ha! It is a Yamaha too.

I've had this now for 6 days and have put ~100 variable RPM/loadings hours onto to it now. On it's second mineral oil change. Synthetic oil next.
Been some real pleasant expectations fulfilled by this unit. Some great surprizes. And only one disappointment so far found.
This has a larger 171cc engine versus the Honda 2000's 98.5cc engine. So the 400 watt loaded gasoline fuel consumtion is a bit higher at 0.13 gallons per hour. Pleasnat surpize it this Yamaha versus the Honda or my Harbor Freight 2-stroke Yammer-clone does NOT need a 400-500 engine stabilization loading to burn NOT-misfiring burbling. The unloaded 2820 Economy (Yamaha Smart Throttle) switched RPM is clean and smooth.
It will power everything I listed above (with one exception) easier, smoother than the wife's Honda 2000. Ha! Including her power gobbling, demanding vacuum cleaners.
This unit is factory rated as a max 2800 watts; with a continuous 2500 watt rating. At 120 vac this is 23.3 & 20.8 amps.
This is what I wanted was a unit that could supply a full normal household 20 amp circuit substitution.

Once broken in well, and with the un-needed exhaust spark arrestor restriction pulled out I was able to added load by load get it up with resistive, inductive and electronic (a CFL and a Sony tabletop AM radio) to 3540 watts without it overload shutting down. And held this loading for 1/2 hour. Was 50F, and I am at 675 feet. The self ramping RPM speed stepped  up to a max of 3820 RPM. The Honda 2000's rpm ranges are 3300 to 4300 RPM.
I am sure with loaded inverter heating up it would have eventually thermal heated, sensed and shut down at some point. Count only on the 2500 watts continuous.

Powers the 120vac Shihl chainsaw loaded fine. A variable loading.
WILL NOT Power up my oilless 15 amp air compressor to build up to 185 PSI.
This EF2800i was an original 2004 design and does not like lower PF rated motors at all. The newer designed, lower watts rated Honda 2000 at least tried on the air compressor.
Solution? Use both. The Honda will sync with the pre-running Yamaha.

At 66 pounds I can Solo carry this around to need-musts areas still.
My own lawnmower engine/truck alternator/inverter/deep cycle battery DIY fabs come out to ~130-180 pounds. Need wheels. Or a dolly. And Will not just solo person jump up into the back of a pick-up truck, Ute, or SUV. Hurts! I am just to damn old now.

Geat thing about this open framed EF2800i is the accessibility over one of the super quiet four panels clamshell suitcase jobs.
Four bolts and have the valve cover off for valve clearance/wear adjustments checking. PITA on the Honda 2000!
Four screws and the whole side control panel lays aside for full that side unit accesses.
Two more bolts and then off with the full tank for full across the top accesses.
Then down to just six bolts more for the cylinder head to be off for decarbonizations, modifications.

Life is grand now.
16 daily hours of on demand 400-2500 watts of "No Batteries Required" clean AC power on just 2 gallons of gasoline. Or: ~44 pounds of wood chunks. Easy? No. Cheaper than Grid-addiction power? Of course not.
Freedom loving please-me? You betcha'!!

Regards
Steve unruh

[SteveU.]

 Ha! Well my two gallons of gasoline that should have powered the Yamaha EF2800i for 16 hours only lasted for 12.7 hours.
We had a regional high pressure day driving the Inland Empire continental interior air down the Cascade river valleys past us. The downslope compression air effects drove up yesterdays temps to a record breaking for this date of 89F.
Chest freezers just took more energy.

I have real good conversion number now worked out on the Honda EU2000I unit now.
Within it's best power out generating range of ~900 to 1600 watts it is over 50% fuel heat energy to electrical power out eficient.
At the low stand-by outputs of 400 watts that I have used it of course this conversion percent rate is lower.
As Mobile Bob has said for years your systems BASE energy needs/consumption must to always be paid first before you can ever claim a net benefit.

I bring this up intnetionally for those who would slam me for being pump gasoline dependent.
I'm not.
I have a three cylinder JD/Yanmar tractor that can direct PTO a 10kW 120/240 brusheless Mecc-Alts gnerator head anytime I would want it.
Baseline fuel on that is .6 gallon pump diesel at a PTO min 2200 RPM an hour before any electrical watts could be harvested. IDI engine.
I also have a sweet little DI 7.5 hp JaingDong hopper cooled China Diesel still uncommitted to any generator head.
So I can swing the compression fuels way as I wish.
I wish there were not so many local boys with big mondo diesel pick-ups locally monopolizing all of the vegetable oils sources. More of them with more "needs" (and guns) than I ever want to fuel stocks compete against.
And as an life long engine mechanic I refuse to go the waste engine oil as a motor fuel source. Space heating burner only for this crap. It's done it first job already getting combustion's craps and metallic's wear particles out of a finely machined engine. This stuff is acids three different ways!

MY free fuel source is off of our 21 acres of woodlot growing trees. We get average of 122 inches of rain a year here. Amazon basin said to average 88 inches. We have less than 100 clear sky solar days here. PV investing hard to justify without Gov'mint hog-trough subsidies. And here those only for Grid-tieing. Not me.

What I also have is a fuel injected Kohler 25hp V-Twin in a Miller Trailblaser welder. 12kW single phase generating. Three phase welding.
Ha! Same .6 gallons an hour dino-fuel base line just to hum along at 3600rpm before usealbe power made.
Woodgassed fueled a 20 pounds an hour system. This is from actual V-twin woodgasing experiences.

SO. . . .this small inverter-gnerator useage is to see the validy of 21st tech inverter going back to an engine based "no battries required" running, stand-be, on-demand AC power system.
I can get these 171cc Yamaha engines for $199. The same block 200cc engine complete is $299 USD.
IMO an engine a year is far less hassle and cheaper than snow clearing, wind/hail damage replacing PV panels. Long term-use cheaper/easier than battery banks watering fussing/equalizing and cell by cell cluster replacing. Done that. Too much in the 70's and 80's.

Besides as an engine guy I like IC engines putzing around, optimizing.
And with our own. owned trees then have on-location the fuel source to support a daily engine "fuel-hog" habit.
No shipping pallets out scrounging for me. I've seen fist-fights over those now too.

Regards
WoodenHeaded Steve Unruh

[Henry W]

Hi Steve,
It's been a while since I been at this topic. I just read your posts and it is fine to write about your experiences with your Yamaha.
One thing I can honestly say about the EF1000iS is it's been a very reliable generator. It's used quite often weekly. I just gave it another oil change and there was just a very light trace of metal powder on the magnetic fill cap. The fuel consumption is very good. Some day, if I have a chance I should figure out the fuel consumption of the unit. All I know it ran close to 10 hours on .6 gallons of fuel. Overall it been the handiest genset to date.

[SteveU.]

Handy these are, I agree.
Today, I will wheelbaroow up my Yamaha 2800 to power the good drill for south-15 acres drilling a 6x6 trated replacement gate post.

The Honda and Yamaha (and others) 1000 and sub sized machines all use aluminum cylinder bores. Their larger 2000 and above machines are all cast iron bores.
ALL do not use connecting rod bearing inserts. But use the machined aluminum rod directly against the machined steel crankshaft. The connecting rods are considered a rebuild replacement item.
Youtube look at a lot of small aircooled engine tear-downs. Shed metals can come from these two areas. Some of the Chinese units have terrible blown-dirt bypassing air filter systems.
Or metals shed from the crank/cam gears. Or from the cam/valve train.
One of the worst aircooled engine series are the single cylinder's with concentric to the crank shaft counter balance units. Some Kohlers and B&S's. These too often wear shed metals at the balncer units killing the whole engine.

As long as you keep oil changing out. Have good starting and useable power you are still O.K.

SHMBO's do object to running smoking though. Leaves a not-BBQ taste on the tongue too.
Steve Unruh

[Henry W]

It's been a long time since I posted about the Yamaha EF100is.
Its been one reliable generator. I lost track of how many hours are on it. Still used every week.

[Henry W]

Another year went by and the generator is doing fine. Just oil changes and still running ethanol free gas. Will be taking it out to for loose fasteners. It's been trouble free since purchased.

Henry

[Henry W]

First hiccup happened. DC charging keeps tripping the breaker.
Other than that it's been a good portable generator. Wish I put an hour meter on it. I have no idea how many hours are on it.

[Henry W]

Just used the Yamaha this afternoon. Its pretty much my go to generator for projects that don't require much power.

[Henry W]

Lost power last night at around 11:30. Filled the Yamaha up and fired it up. Been running over 9 hours on the fill up. The fuel tank only holds 6/10th of a gallon. I would say this little generator earned rights to get a little praise. The little generator is keeping the battery charged, heat, lights, water and refrigerator going. I switched the water heater to run on propane. Just got done checking everything out and everything is fine.