You arrive at camp after hours but you still need lights for setting up, your phone charged, and your fridge cold. This generator runs quiet enough that you won't wake up nearby campers, and by morning, everything's powered and ready to go.
Quiet Performance: Runs at a low volume that won't disturb neighbors - perfect for RV parks and tailgates
Compact and Manageable: Weighs under 50 lbs, so one person can easily lift and carry it
Carbon Monoxide Shutoff: Helps protect your family by shutting down automatically if CO builds up
Safe for Electronics: Delivers clean power that won't fry your laptop, CPAP machine, or phone charger
Built for RV Use: Connects directly to your RV's power inlet - no extra adapters necessary
Burns Less Fuel When Demand Drops: Economy mode adjusts engine speed to save gas and reduce wear
Not sure if this generator meets your needs? The guide below walks you through how to calculate your power requirements and determine if 4,000 starting watts and 3,000 running watts is the right match for your setup.
When choosing a generator, you need to match the generator's starting and running output with the electrical demands of the equipment you want to operate.
Starting (surge) wattage is the power a device requires at startup. Running (rated) wattage is the power needed to keep the device running. A large appliance with an electric motor such as a furnace, refrigerator, air conditioner, or washing machine may require 2 to 3 times more starting wattage than running wattage.
It is always best to start your generator with no load connected, then add each device one at a time. Additionally, a good practice to consider is connecting your devices in order from highest starting watts to lowest starting watts. As you connect and start devices, your available wattage decreases. This order of operation allows you to start devices with the highest power demands when there is more power available.
| Appliance | Running Watts | Starting Watts |
|---|---|---|
| Air compressor (1/2 hp) | 1,000 | 2,000 |
| Air conditioner (15,000 Btu) | 1,600 | * |
| Air conditioner (13,500 Btu) | 1,300 | * |
| Air conditioner (10,000 Btu) | 1,000 | * |
| Blender | 400 | 850 |
| Cell phone charger | 11 | 0 |
| Clock radio | 4 | 0 |
| Coffee maker (high setting) | 1,066 | 0 |
| Crock pot (low setting) | 126 | 0 |
| Crock pot (high setting) | 374 | 0 |
| Desktop computer | 150 - 350 | 0 |
| DVD player | 14 | 0 |
| Electric drill (3/8" / 4 amps) | 450 | 600 |
| Electric space heater (high setting) | 1,450 | 0 |
| Floor fan | 100 | 0 |
| Hair dryer (low setting) | 160 | 0 |
| Hair dryer (high setting) | 1,300 | 0 |
| LCD television (32") | 68 | 0 |
| Microwave | 1,000 | 0 |
| Refrigerator | 800 | 1,600 |
| Washing machine | 1,150 | 2,250 |
| Work light (quartz halogen) | 1,000 | 0 |
* The starting wattage on air conditioners can vary greatly depending on several factors, including the assistance of built-in capacitors and cold starts. Because of this, we can't list a standard starting wattage as every application can be different.
The following section provides calculations for wattage estimates. This will give you an overall picture of your potential power usage and help you decide on the generator that is right for you.
The Industry Standard Calculation is a quick and easy way to determine your required wattage. It may provide some padding in your wattage requirements, which could give you more power than you actually need, but you shouldn't have to worry about not having enough power. The following steps will help you quickly calculate the correct size generator to meet your application.
As stated earlier, you should always start your generator without any load, and then connect each device one at a time. The following calculation requires this approach to work. However, using this calculation removes the worry of connecting devices in a certain order.
1. Determine the starting watts and running watts for the devices that you want to plug into the generator.
a. Find the starting (surge) watts and running (rated) watts for each device that you want to plug into the generator. Look for a sticker or plate on each device or check your owner's manuals.
b. If your device or manual only shows amps and volts, watts can also be determined through a simple formula. (Amps x Volts = Watts)
c. List all of your starting watts and running watts as seen in Table 1 below.
Table 1
| Example Devices | Starting Watts | Running Watts |
|---|---|---|
| Air compressor | 2,000 | 1,000 |
| Refrigerator | 1,600 | 800 |
| Microwave | 0 | 1,000 |
| Blender | 850 | 400 |
2. To find the total starting watts required, add the starting watts for the device with the highest value to the running watts of all the other devices from Table 1.
2,000 + 800 + 1,000 + 400 = 4,200 total starting watts
3. To find the total running watts, add all of the running watts together from Table 1.
1,000 + 800 + 1,000 + 400 = 3,200 total running watts
To run all of these devices simultaneously, you would require a generator with at least 4,200 starting watts and 3,200 running watts.
While the method for calculating your power needs outlined above will work, it isn't the most precise. If you aren't afraid of doing a little more math, you can use the Advanced, Precise Calculation to get a more accurate idea of how much power you will need and potentially save yourself some money. Because the calculation above pads in enough power to ensure you can start your devices in any order, it may point you to a bigger and more expensive generator than you need. However, by following the more regimented, order-of-operations calculation below, you'll get a much more precise idea of how much power you need, which could in turn point you to a smaller and less expensive generator.
Again, you should always start your generator without any load, and then connect each device one at a time. The following calculation also requires that you start your devices in order from highest starting watts to lowest starting watts. When you connect devices in this order, you can start high demand devices when there is more power available.
1. Determine the starting watts and running watts for each device that you want to plug into the generator.
a. Find the starting (surge) watts and running (rated) watts for each device that you want to plug into the generator. Look for a sticker or plate on each device or check your owner's manuals.
b. If your device or manual only shows amps and volts, watts can also be determined through a simple formula. (Amps x Volts = Watts)
c. List out these devices from highest starting watts to lowest starting watts as seen in Table 2 below.
Table 2
| Example Devices | Starting Watts | Running Watts |
|---|---|---|
| Air compressor | 2,000 | 1,000 |
| Refrigerator | 1,600 | 800 |
| Microwave | 0 | 1,000 |
| Blender | 850 | 400 |
2. To find the total running watts, add all of the running watts together from Table 2.
1,000 + 800 + 1,000 + 400 = 3,200 total running watts
3. In Table 3, shown below, the values from Table 2 are used to calculate the highest total starting watts required as devices are connected and running. This number represents the highest power requirement you will encounter as you connect all of your devices to the generator. To find this, add the starting watts of each new device you connect to the combined running watts of all connected devices. The highest of these numbers will be the total starting watts required. And again, remember to always connect devices in order from highest starting watts to lowest starting watts.
Table 3
| Device | Starting Watts | Running Watts of All Connected Devices | Total Starting Watts Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Air compressor | 2,000 + | 0 (nothing connected) | = 2,000 |
| 2. Refrigerator | 1,600 + | 1,000 (air compressor) | = 2,600 |
| 3. Microwave | 1,000* + | 1,800 (air compressor + refrigerator) | = 2,800 |
| 4. Blender | 850 + | 2,800 (air compressor + refrigerator + microwave) | = 3,650 |
* Even though the microwave does not have starting watts listed, you have to account for the power needed to actually run it.
850 + 2,800 = 3,650 highest total starting watts required
In order to run all of these devices simultaneously, you would require a generator with at least 3,650 starting watts and 3,200 running watts.
Alternate Instructions
California residents: click here
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi everybody. Andy here with etrailer. Let's take a quick look at this Champion 4,000 watt portable inverter generator. Now if you're looking for a portable generator that's gonna be strong enough for camping or RV trips, but still quiet and easy to use, this Champion Generator is gonna be a great option for you to consider. It puts out 4,000 starting watts and 3000 running watts, which is going to be enough to handle most common RV appliances like your lights, fans, TVs and microwaves, or even a small AC unit depending on your setup. Now, what makes this model especially nice is it does use inverter technology and what that means for you is that the power it produces is going to be clean and stable.
That matters if you plan to plug in sensitive electronics like your laptops, tablets, or phones. So you're not gonna be damaging or risk damaging anything like those sensitive electronics. Now, for something this powerful, this does run surprisingly quiet, right around 64 decibels from 23 feet away. That's quieter than most traditional generators of this size, which makes it campground friendly and far less annoying during use. So what that 64 decibels compare is compared to is like a normal conversation from a few feet away.
Background music or light chatter at a cafe, something like an office environment with people talking or like a dishwasher running in the next room. Another big plus is the built-in CO shield, Champion's carbon monoxide, that's Champions carbon monoxide safety system. So if the CO levels rise to unsafe levels, this generator's gonna automatically shut down. Now that's not a substitute for proper placement, but it is a great extra layer of protection that this gives you. This also comes ready for RVs straight out of the box with the TT 30 R outlet, and it is parallel capable, so you can connect it to another compatible Champion inverter generator if you ever need more power.
And it's also pretty lightweight for what it is. It weighs right under 50 pounds. So I had really no problems moving this around. I'm not necessarily a strong guy, but I really didn't have any problems getting this on my table. If you notice, the outlets here do have covers that snap shut, so that's great because that'll protect the outlets from debris, moisture, the elements.
So that's a great addition that I like, a great feature that I like. Fuel wise, this does run on regular gasoline and you're gonna be able to get about 10 hours of runtime at 25% load on a one and a half gallon tank. This also has helpful features like cold start technology for easier starting in chilly weather and low oil shutoff to protect the engine. As you can see, obviously this is where you fill your oil and this is going, I'm sorry, don't put oil in there. That's where you fill the gasoline. And then we have a gas gauge there as well. So it's gonna be very easy to see where you're at level wise. So we went over some of the features here. It has a great control panel right here and then also your turn knob here and your pull to start. It does also include a bottle of oil. Let me give you some measurements so you have a good idea of the size. Overall length, we're sitting pretty close to 17 and seven eights inches long. Overall width right at about 11 and three quarters inches wide. Then the overall height about 19 and three quarters inches tall. I just wanted to show you how easy it was to pop this panel off. Give you a view of the inside there. So if you have any other questions, whether it's about this great generator or anything else that we carry here at etrailer, don't hesitate to reach out because ultimately we do wanna be sure that you're getting exactly what you need. Well, again, my name is Andy. Thank you for joining me.
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