Customer Reviews

Kipor IG1000 1000 Watt Inverter Generator

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Mine mysteriously shuts off on me.. runs for about 15 mins, then just stops and won't restart unless it sits.. fiddled with the oil, the air-cleaner, cleaned the fuel-filter, gapped the spark plug.. it runs smoother for 15 mins now, but still shuts off! Had to buy another one, can't figure it out..
Also, it's not as quiet as the Honda of the same size.. it is significantly louder for the first hour or so..
Had it for one year and one months, used once per week, a total of probably 300 to 400 hours.. if you get lucky and get one without this mystery-problem, I would say it's an okay unit.

THIS REVIEW WAS first written Dec 22, 2006, I still have my KIPOR running as of March 2009, and thought I would UPDATE my review.

As of March 1, 2009, I have now had my KIPOR almost 3 years of heavy duty use. I run my office off of it, as well as the comforts of home, fan and lights etc. I live in the tropics with frequent power outages.

My KIPOR has always started on one pull and run like heaven on earth. I've changed the oil myself and cleaned the air filter. Matter of fact, I took it all apart per the manual, when I bought it new, so I could look at everything while it was clean and new. I am a lone female and don't have a hubby around to do these things for me.

For years it ran great, I left my housemate alone with it one day, and came back to find out she had been running the IRON, the microwave and the sewing machine on it, stuff I had never tried. I was surprised it would run an iron! Since then we have run the blender, mixer, food chopper, toaster, juicer on it as well as my entire office plus lights and fans. I just LOVE my 1kw KIPOR.

One day, it died! I was mortified. It was going to be very pricey to ship it round trip to America to be fixed, so I took it to a local mechanic, after I bought the Service Manual online (Paid to download the service manual). I also printed out the parts available and gave him the generator, the owners manual, the service manual and the parts listing plus a spare new spark plug. Well 2 months go by and I find out this guy is clueless and I had to fight with him to get my generator back (still broken). He wanted to charge me for his time but it still wasn't working! I was heart broken.

Then I called another mechanic, who had rebuilt alternators and starters and did alot of marine work. He was backed up but said he was sure he could get me running again. He called a few days later and said he felt really bad, (UT OH!) but that he had to charge me to fix it, and all he found was a clogged hose, which he replaced but he felt bad he had to charge me $75 for his labor and hose. I was THRILLED to get my baby back. I know he has to charge for his time and things aren't cheap around here.

I took my KIPOR home and an hour later, the power goes off again. We have frequent power outages in the British Virgin Islands where I live (about 60 miles east of Puerto Rico). My KIPOR fired up on ONE PULL and I plugged in my entire office and went back to work. Later that night, when the power went off, I felt bad for my neighbors. I now live in a house, in the review I wrote in 2006 I lived in an apartment building.

Anyhow, I am sitting here with my light on, my stand fan cooling me off, watching old episodes of SIX FEET UNDER on the DVD, while surfing the Internet. I look out around the neighborhood, and feel sorry for my neighbors plunged into darkness.

I added up my KIPOR cost, shipping, the local duty paid, and the recent repair bill and for the time I've owned it, that comes to $19 per month for emergency power. This cost will go down, the longer I own it. Now that I know there is a local mechanic who can fix it, I feel extremely pleased!

America has so many authorized dealers, the folks here that complained they had trouble, should have tried to get it fixed. I used a mechanic, who isn't even a dealer, and he got it fixed for me!

I recomend if you buy it, to also get the 2.5 gallon gas jug, the 5 gallon is too cumbersome to try to fill the little built-in gas tank. Also, refill your tank during daylight, as it's no fun in the dark with a flashlight to refill the gas tank. When buying gas in the 2.5 gallon, I only put 2 gallons in, so it doesn't overflow and stink up my jeep. You must fill the gas can on the ground, not in the jeep for safety reasons, having to do with static etc. If you need lots of gas, then buy two of the 2.5 gallon jugs.

Also, I bought a hevy duty 100 foot cord, and then I plug in a six way electrical strip and then plug in all my stuff. Now that I live in a house, I may buy a 2nd cord, since the Kipor comes with two outlets. I could then run a cord to a different part of the house. I have used it to recharge batteries for the jeep and a friends' boat too.

Below is my original Review from Dec 2006:

WRITTEN December 22, 2006
I live in the British Virgin Islands where we have frequent outages. I use my generator often. It is GREAT. It's not very loud, I have it on my balcony in the fresh air and I am inside with the door open and playing a movie on the TV and I can hear the movie OK.

Even though I live in an apartment house, my neighbors have never complained about the noise. I tell them to come over, enjoy some light, fan and movies while the power is out and my KIPOR is purring.

Other people are begging me to sell them my generator, and I have to keep it locked up so it doesn't grow legs and walk off. I keep telling folks to BUY A KIPOR. I will never sell mine, it's nice and lightweight and runs my office, TV, lights and fans, all the stuff I want when the power is out.

The manual is straight forward, READ IT. I took mine apart before starting it, to identify all the maintenance parts, like the air filter and so on.

It's cheap on gas and quiet and VERY LIGHT WEIGHT! It starts on one good pull. This is a great product, good value for the money!

I am and electrical engineer who researced portable generators for months before deciding which one to buy including the popular ones like Honda and Yamaha. This Kipor is a high quality unit, not like the cheap no-name brands that you see on eBay for $200. This generator gives no problems: it starts every time, is great on fuel economy, is relatively light and is relatively quiet. One note on "quiet" is that it is louder than a casual conversation (as all generators) but the smart throttle lets is idle very low for small loads. Parts are also easily available and I bought spare air filters and spark plugs to ensure years of trouble-free service.

I have powered my computer, lights and fan during a power outage without any problems and a 5 gallon gas container would keep it running for days! I have checked the output voltage with a CRO display and it is very close to sine wave as advertised, and allows dimmer lights to work!

The generator needs to be kept preferably outdoors due to the exhaust (as all generators), which is also fine because it keeps down the noise: I use mine with a 50-foot 12AWG extension cord. All-in-all this is a very good generator for almost half the price as a Honda. Excellent product.

This is a very good little generator for the price. It runs very smoothly if you give it good gasoline. I've found that adding a little STP gas booster makes it run really great. I recommend this for any generator. I also use Mobile 1 synthetic oil (5-40w)which you can get at Wal-Mart in 5 quart jugs. It is truck/SUV rated oil and will keep your generator running smoothly a long, long time. Great on gas under low load. If running near full load in cold weather you'll need to leave the choke on for awhile with the smart throttle off.

I bought the Kipor IG 1000 as backup for a larger generator, and to have a little bit of power from as little gasoline as possible in case of a long outage. In addition, I wanted a small amount of power for weekly use in an outbuilding. Key features for me were (1) Very low light load fuel consumption, (2) reliable, (3) low price, (4) quiet, and, (5) light weight.

I ordered from Amazon using their free 'super saver' shipping which promised 5 to 9 working day delivery. The generator was shipped on Sunday after my Friday night order and arrived Wednesday AM -- EXCELLENT service by Amazon and FedEx.

Amazon's outer box was not well packed or padded but the generator was secured by foam pads in the very sturdy Kipor box inside; it arrived undamaged. The generator comes with an oil fill bottle, spare spark plug and plug sleeve (seal), 12 volt battery charging cable, and spark plug wrench. Also of course an "Operation manual of generator set." Everything on the packing list was there and in good order. I was surprised to see that my unit was manufactured in February, 2007.

My first impression was of a sturdy, well made unit, from people who have built a whole bunch of small generators. 'Wuxi Kipor Power Co., Ltd' is the maker. There's an oriental 'feel' to the thing and it's important to read the manual before first starting, because several features are unlike the usual 'oil-gas-pull the cord' first start up of most U.S. made products.

The manual does not contain a complete all-in-one-place list of starting instructions -- a small black mark. Things you might miss are:

1. Multi-grade (like 10W-40) detergent oils should be used.
2. To fill the unit with oil the first time, you fill the supplied measuring oil bottle all the way to the '2' (200 mL?) mark. The manual doesn't tell you this.
3. Vent on fuel tank cap must be 'ON' to run.
4. Unit should be started with no electrical load.
5. After first fueling, the unit should be allowed to stand for a few minutes, I assume to allow fuel to fill the plumbing.
6. During a break-in period of 20 hours, half load should not be exceeded.

Other non-obvious instructions include:

1. Both DC (battery charging) and AC outputs may be used at the same time but the 1 kVA output limit is TOTAL.
2. When using the DC output, 'smart throttle' should be OFF.
3. The unit should be run every month for at least an hour at half load.
4. The IG 1000 is not to be run in the rain, etc. Since it also can't be used indoors, it's effectively limited to either fair weather or operation in some kind of unmanned shelter.
5. The generator should not be run at the maximum load of 1 kVA for over 30 minutes at a time. For continuous use, load should be limited to the rated power of 0.9 kVA.

There are also all the usual safety and other considerations: Carbon monoxide is a silent killer, the unit is shipped with no oil, and so on.

My IG 1000 started on the fifth pull; the engine speed went up and down a bit for the first 30 minutes (with no change in output voltage) but then steadied out. After an hour's first run, I shut it down; several hours later it started on the first compression stroke of the first pull.

The unit is a little louder than I remember the 1 kW Honda being, but it should quiet down some as it gets broken in. I could hear only slight spark noise in a small AM radio near the generator or extension cord and only when between stations.

The five star rating is based on a couple of days of experience: I'll update this review in a few months or as developments warrant.

The 1000 Watt Sinemaster will blow the $200 circuit board if you approach 800 Watts...not even the 1000 Watt. There is no fuse/breaker...just a 5 second warning with a flashing light only...if you are watching it :-) Exciting products will not answer warranty claims. There is a very poor dealer network.You will be stuck witha $500 pile of junk. DO NOT BUY !!!!

This year will be the 3rd football season to use this at the tailgate. It is great for powering our tv, dish receiver, and stereo. We even plug in a crockpot every once a while. We replaced a Coleman powermate and the noise difference is night and day. We can usually make it about 6 hours on a tank of gas, so it is very efficient.

I just bought one of these second hand on ebay. It came with a fouled spark plug and it also had stale fuel varnish deposits in the carb, which had caused the throttle plate to become stuck and blocked the main jet so it wouldn't start. Well, after a little TLC, replacing the spark plug and carburetor cleaner, I was able to start it up, adjust the idle and mixture. It ran rough for the first hour or so, now it runs smoothly and clean. Any generator will have these problems if people forget to start them once a month or so, or if they forget to store them properly. Considering that it was so neglected and poorly maintained, and the fact that it still runs well is a testament to the quality of this product. Feels well built, runs as quiet as advertised and is fuel efficient. another thing: look at the spare parts and compare to the Honda EU1000i.... this generator appears to be an identical clone of the Honda. All pats, except for the electronics and exterior case, appear to be identical and can probably be interchanged without problems. Also, spare parts for the Kipor cost half as much. Highly recommended, but I can't stress enough that anybody that buys a generator has to be familiar with basic maintenance for any generator to run reliably at the time of need.

First part(Kipor IG1000 tested)

I am a retired electrical engineer and I bought this KIPOR IG1000, for my wind generator grid-tie system with an Aurora inverter included, and I needed a small power plant to simulate the grid frequency and voltage when the grid is off to start again the Power One inverter, as it shuts down the whole system when the grid is off, to protect the utility company workers during that power outage.

I have already tested my Kipor without the wind turbine generator connected, and its frequency(59.7 to 59.9hz) and voltage is perfect so I hope today, I will test the whole system; in my system there is a transfer switch for the grid on and off.

Another thing is that I live in a place 2,580 meters(8432 feets) high, and in spite Kipor people had told me what to do(they have good service on line), we just adjusted the iddle-speed to reduce emissions and everything worked ok; I use premium gasoline too. Just as with the wind generator I cannot expect more than 75% in power because of this altitude so my Kipor was tested with 750watts and worked as said quite good!

Second part(Kipor tested with the Aurora inverter)

Finally after I made some improvement in my electrical circuits regarding ground or earth, I tested the Aurora inverter and it really entered quite good, the only thing is that the ideal solution is to have a Kipor with enough power, so much as the maximum power of the wind generator; this is affordable because of the good price of Kipor products.

Although it lacks the Amperage to power heavy duty items like circular saws, it easily powers my speaker system, 2 CD decks and a mixer, as well as a blender - perfect for a Sunday afternoon DJ party with frozen drinks! While I've only been using it for a little over a month, I can definitely say that it uses very little fuel, just as the manufacturer claims: when in Power Saving mode (which I just leave it in at all times) I have definitely gotten upwards of 14hrs of runtime on one tank.