I suggest you read the forum "Chinese Portable Generators" on this website. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tools/msg0900581628028.html?46 China-built engines,some of which are referred to as "Honda clones" or "Yamaha clones" are built under license and are identical to the original designs. Read the thread which describes a mechanical breakdown and parts comparison in both a Honda engine and its China version. This person talks about engines used in go-cart type races and the mechanic who fixes and interchanges parts from these engines. Someone also mentions how Honda dealers are not allowed to use Honda parts in the China "clones". Although this might raise a few eyebrows, its about liability/business and not quality. Here's a generator I was looking at and it sold out and is not available until the end of January. It has a "Lifon" licensed built engine made in China. I'm not sure if it's Yamaha or Honda. http://www.generatordepot.us/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=30&HS=1 I bought a Cummins Onan (China built engine) through Costco. Onan is one of the largest and most respected generator companys in the U.S. (Although bigger doesn't always mean better)

the chinese made engines are made from the dies that honda sells to other companies. they have a proven track record, and even have their own class among small engine racing applications. i dont belive their is any reason for anyone to call them "junk" as you WILL NOT find any reviews on premium engines or generators that have not had problems or failures. GENERAC, which is a company that ONLY makes generators, now use clone engines. you will not walk into any home store, and find a snow thrower, pressure washer, or lawn mower with a honda or briggs and straton without ann insane price tag attached to it. might i also remind you, that with a labor cost of $95/hr these small engine mechanics charge you these days, is it worth it to fix a 10yr old honda when you can replace it with a new engine for the same money? lastly - there would not be a demand for these, which there obviously is, if the american companies were not trying to suck every last dollar out of the public. a company oversea's can reproduce and SHIP all there engines here for less than half what a honda cost - which i might also remind you - is made in china.. lastly ill bring up one more important point - the people that knock these are the people that dont own them. when you want a good review - ask the people that actally own one - not the people that want to belive their stuff is better just cause they spent more money. if you have the money to spend, and its for something you need your life to depend on - then yes its probably a better idea to go with a honda. the actual motors are very similar, but honda does use better carbs, better qualtity tanks and will have metal lever and switches in place of the clone's plastic. - but prepared to spend. nobody is saying the clones are "better", but they are far from junk. if you have an old mower or snow thrower that you kept good care of, but the b&s or honda finally gave out, can you justify spending all that money to replace it? for the price of replacement honda these days you can buy a new 2 stage troy bilt thrower with a clone.

Hi Chris, I think the issue that you are trying to solve is to have a generator for backup power for your house. You mentioned portable was there any particular reason for that? I installed a generator for my home in New York about a year ago so have some experience in home backup systems, at least from the home owner point of view. The way I see it there are roughly three ways to go: 1) Lower cost. Gasoline powered portable generator. Up to 7,500 Watts. Exepcted to pay $US 700 to $US 4,000. Instalation wiring setup from $US 1000 to $US 2000. 2) Mid price. Propane powered. Up to 12kw to 15kw. Genset cost from $US 2000 to $US 3000. Instalation cost from $US 2000 to $US 4000. Lawn mower engine based, air cooled. 3,600 rpm. Auto start on power fail over. Permanent instalation on a gravel base. 3) High Price. Propane powered. from $US 20kw and up. Genset cost from $US 10,000. Instalation cost from $US 4000 to $US 8000 and over. Truck / car engine based. Liquid cooled, presssured oil system with spin on filter. 1,800 rpm. Permanent instalation. Concrete pad. Heavy lift required for instalation, the genset is over 1,000 lbs, and too heavy for even a four man crew to lift. Auto start on power fail. The decision as to the best route is really I think family dependent. If you or a member of your familly are pretty abled bodied and can wheel about a generator then then option 1 will work. Note generators are heavy even portable ones in the 7.5 kw capacity. On a power failure you will need to wheel out your generator and start it up outside. Keep the generator in a sheltered position away from rain and snow (water and electricity dangers), but NOT in a garage or basement due to Carbon Monoxide poisoning dangers, which are serious,fatal and sadly happens alot. This spot also needs to be away from your house a bit due to fire risk. You will need to fill your generator about once every five hours or so. A 7.5kw generator will need about once gallon of fuel an hour. Gasoline fule storage is usually limited to 20 gallons by town fire codes. Gasoline should be stored away from your house and will keep up to one year using a fuel stabilizer like STABIL (Home Depot). I recommend that you have the installation wriring done too with a transfer switch. The alternative is to run power extension cords all over your house for power which can be problamatic The best portable generator out there IMHO in the 7.5 kw portable range is the Honda EM 7000 AB. This has inverter electronics that allow the engine to run at a different speed depending on power demand. So this means lower noise, less wear and lower fuel consumption. Non inverted generators in this class usually run at 3,600 rpm to give you 60 Hz power. Yamaha also make Inverter generators. Note you will have to run your genset once a month to maintain it. For most home owners I would recomend the mid price route. The contractor who installed my genset said most people went that route. The main advantage is that you have propane for a power source. You can install alot ot it in a tank near your house I have 400 gallons. Or if you have mains gas you do not need a tank at all but yo run the risk that you mains gas may fail in a storm. Propane also will keep indefinately and be fine to use. These genesets also will auto run twice a week to for maintenance purposes. The instalation is housed nicely and when the storm hits there is no need to run about in the dark getting wet and cold. In the end I ended up going for a 20kw Cummins Onan genset (High Price) because I wanted some Air Conditioning to work. The car based engines run typically at 1,800 rpm, lower speed and hence less noise and wear. Usually there is only a limited number of circuts that can be powered due to the capacity of the genset. Usually people put on the following: 1) Well pump for water (if you have one) 2) Sewage ejector pumps (if you have one) 3) Furnace blower and furnace electronics (hot water for your house) 4) Air handlers and blowers (heat for your house, no frozen pipes, unless you are in Florida) 5) Fridge / Freezer 6) Lights (some) 7) Television 8) Other stuff, alarms etc. garage doors. 9) Air conditioning compressor units, these require high power and have even higher starting power requirements. Usually a cheaper solution is to purchase a small "Window" A/C and use that for one room during blackouts. Good luck with your installation. Warmest regards, Mike.

Actually, a simple tear down shouldn't be that difficult. That Wen looks like a Honda clone engine. I have the Honda. The carb is right behind that retangular black air cleaner box. The worst part may be removing the back of the air cleaner box but if you have a drill with a nut driver or whatever, it is easy to remove all the bolts. Perhaps take a picture after it is off to get things back together right. I suspect everything else may just slide off. You may not need to do a total replacement of gaskets etc. Just get the bowl off, shake carb and bowl around in some gas; remove the main jet and blow air thru anything that looks like a hole. Look for crud around the housing of that jet and clear out any hole that appears to be there with a wire. Entry to the main jet often messes things up. The only snag with this approach is that you have to put it back together to see if it works and you may just need to take it apart again; but you will be an expert then. You can probably buy a new carb for $60 and put it on now that you are an expert ;-)