Yamaha EF2000iS - 1600 Watt Inverter Generator

Jim Baugher,
Product Expert
Electric Generators Direct

My first 2000 watt gen-set was a Honda. It was a nice generator and served the intended purpose on our boat to charge batteries, run small appliances and heat water. The only problem with the Honda was it didn't know how to swim and now is in the bottom of the lake somewhere.

After throwing that $1,000 bill into the water, I decided to purchase a cheap $500 "throw away" 2000w genset (just in case it tried to be an anchor like the Honda). WHAT A MISTAKE!!! After 20 hours it no longer would start and no parts or service were available. I wanted to purposely drown that piece-o-junk. A $500 lesson in "you get what you pay for".

I was all set to purchase another Honda but then I read the Generators Direct's recomendation about the extended bearing and service life on the Yamaha units. I also own a 1991 Yamaha Waverunner that I have never had a problem with, so I bought the Yamaha EF2000IS.

I was totally amazed when the Yamaha unit started on the first pull, right out of the box!!!! (and every time after) I thought the Honda was easy to start but the Yamaha has it beat. Performance is very good and comparable to the Honda. I don't baby it and have pushed it to the limits with power tools many times with good results.

After owning both of the top quality gen-sets, I find the Yamaha to be the one I would buy again!

My first 2000 watt gen-set was a Honda. It was a nice generator and served the intended purpose on our boat to charge batteries, run small appliances and heat water. The only problem with the Honda was it didn't know how to swim and now is in the bottom of the lake somewhere.

After throwing that $1,000 bill into the water, I decided to purchase a cheap $500 "throw away" 2000w genset (just in case it tried to be an anchor like the Honda). WHAT A MISTAKE!!! After 20 hours it no longer would start and no parts or service were available. I wanted to purposely drown that... more

Thanks to Connecticut's politicians and Northeast Utilities in failing to trim any of the State's trees through which the power lines run, an eight inch snowfall put more than 50% of the state off the grid from between four and ten days. After the power went out, I ordered a Yamaha EF2000 is from Electric Generators Direct on Monday and it was delivered with free ground shipping on Thursday which allowed me to save a freezer worth of food and provide some entertainment during the hours of (otherwise) darkness.

The Yamaha is so quiet, I could barely hear it ten feet away through the window. On its economy mode, its 1.1 gallon tank lasted eleven hours but still kept the fridge, freezer, lights, TV, DVD player, computer and cable powered. It is light enough to pick up with one hand which is why I wisely kept it secured to a wrought-iron railing with a Kryptonite bicycle lock.

Set up was a breeze right out of the box and only required 10 minutes to read the instruction booklet, put in 400 ml of 10-40 oil, fill the tank with gas, set a couple of switches and pull the starter cord once. I put about five gallons through the generator before power came back on. I finished running out the tank and put the generator up on a shelf in the garage ready for the next time a gentle snowfall shuts down the entire State.

Thanks to Connecticut's politicians and Northeast Utilities in failing to trim any of the State's trees through which the power lines run, an eight inch snowfall put more than 50% of the state off the grid from between four and ten days. After the power went out, I ordered a Yamaha EF2000 is from Electric Generators Direct on Monday and it was delivered with free ground shipping on Thursday which allowed me to save a freezer worth of food and provide some entertainment during the hours of (otherwise) darkness.

The Yamaha is so quiet, I could barely hear it ten feet away throu... more

A big fan of this one. Quiet, light, portable. After thinking about for a year, I bought as a standby for a few key items in my house (lights, refrigerator, space heater). Wanted something quiet as live in a tight residential area. Was debating Honda vs Yamaha - very happy w/ purchase. Luckily I bought a week before a crazy October Northeaster and used for a few days along with 3 other families as each of us got power back and handed off to next! Started first pull every time (except twice when we forgot to put switch to "on"!) and revved up and down effortlessly to handle changes in power demands.

What I learned:
- Could always use more watts so don't have to switch between appliances, but like that it is quiet and small (for storage)
- ran about 5 hours per tank under heavy load.
- Was able to explain how to use in a few minutes over phone as some of our friends handed off the generator to next ones in need.
- Light enough to carry and throw in backseat of car -- others don't seem like I can.
- I am putting in a transfer switch for my house (just got - Reliable, 4-15 amp) -- so I can run furnace blower and easily switch begin areas of house
- one-time oil fill a little of a pain (unscrew two screws)

A big fan of this one. Quiet, light, portable. After thinking about for a year, I bought as a standby for a few key items in my house (lights, refrigerator, space heater). Wanted something quiet as live in a tight residential area. Was debating Honda vs Yamaha - very happy w/ purchase. Luckily I bought a week before a crazy October Northeaster and used for a few days along with 3 other families as each of us got power back and handed off to next! Started first pull every time (except twice when we forgot to put switch to "on"!) and revved up and down effortlessly to handle ch... more

Last year I bought an 1000-watt ETQ (cheap generator) from Northern Tool, but the brand is sold by various distributors. It lasted less than a year with only occasional use. Since it was under warranty, I traded "up" to the Inverter ETQ genset which croaked under the first 400-watt load plugged in.

Taking it back, I traded up again to the All Power America 1200 watt, four cycle unit. Took it home, put the oil and gasoline in, it never would even try to start. Took it back to Northern, got my money back so I could go home to "cool-off" and research the quality of small generators.

I would have bet money on Honda getting the best reviews, but NO, actually the Yamaha did, so I ordered the Yamaha EF2000is. When it arrived, I put in the recommended oil & gas, set the switches to ON, and thought I'd pull the rope a couple of times to get gas into the carburetor ....... I gave the rope a wimpy little pull and it started immediately !! I let it warm-up, put a load on it and it ran quietly, just as advertised.

My wife and I are full time RV'ers in a small motorhome without a generator and this Yamaha powers-up on the first or second pull and runs the RV (but not the Air Conditioner, which I don't expect it to).

Anyway, I'm very satisfed with it so far the warranty is three years if I remember right I had to buy an extended service contract on the other units to get this much protection. It's a great looking genset and is performing as it should so far.

Last year I bought an 1000-watt ETQ (cheap generator) from Northern Tool, but the brand is sold by various distributors. It lasted less than a year with only occasional use. Since it was under warranty, I traded "up" to the Inverter ETQ genset which croaked under the first 400-watt load plugged in.

Taking it back, I traded up again to the All Power America 1200 watt, four cycle unit. Took it home, put the oil and gasoline in, it never would even try to start. Took it back to Northern, got my money back so I could go home to "cool-off" and research t... more

My wife and I live off grid in southern Arizona. In September, 2009, we bought our first EF2000is. Despite the heavy use it's had--and a bit of unfortunate abuse due to my carelessness--it's been running now for an average of 20 hours per day for more than 17 months...and it's still going.

It's using a bit of oil these days, though, and is starting to "miss" enough to indicate the need for a carburetor job or a thorough fuel line cleaning, probably both. Since we power two TV sets, one computer with printer, and two 40 watt lights--plus charging the 840 amp battery bank I use to run power tools--I'll be ordering a second, identical model after posting this review. (Then we can power down the first unit, take it to our favorite gennie-fixer, and see what's what.)

The problems we've had with all that heavy usage are minor IF you know the score:

1. After a bit more than a month of running hard under low load but in high heat conditions, the machine "died hard" (clearly choked to death) and would not restart. Turned out the problem was the in-muffler, cone shaped wire spark arrestor screen, which I had not cleaned regularly as should have been done. Bigger problem was that carbon (or whatever) buildup made it impossible to remove the screen by normal methods. So I drilled it out (snagged the drill bit, but hey), then ripped the remaining shreds away with a pair of needle nosed pliers. In RV situations, this could be spooky, but we're set up so that sparks are not a problem. Since that day, the EF2000is has never failed to start and run unless the oil was low.

2. It had a tendency to wear starter ropes out, up next to the pull handle. We solved this (on about the 3rd or 4th new rope) by "sheathing" that section of rope (prior to installation) with rubber (electrical) shrink wrap, just making a bit of a "rubber baby buggy bumper". Since then (about 8 months), the rope has not broken once.

3. The side panel that you remove to check the oil (and service the air cleaner, etc.) is normally fastened with two screws set into metal receivers. One of those receivers (the one on the left side) tore loose from its seating one day--allowing the screw to and receiver to spin in place together without accomplishing much. I eventually ripped the entire thing out and have since been fastening the panel in place with only ONE screw...which of course has allowed the panel to warp noticeably.

But those items are "no big deal". It was only a few months ago that I changed the spark plug for the first time. There was so much carbon accumulated on the plug that the spark gap had closed to almost nothing...and yet the machine simply refused to die. I'd never before seen ANY engine that could run with a plug in that condition.

This will be our 4th Yamaha generator purchase (the first 2 were 1000 watt units) Yamaha is the ONLY brand we'll consider buying until further notice.

My wife and I live off grid in southern Arizona. In September, 2009, we bought our first EF2000is. Despite the heavy use it's had--and a bit of unfortunate abuse due to my carelessness--it's been running now for an average of 20 hours per day for more than 17 months...and it's still going.

It's using a bit of oil these days, though, and is starting to "miss" enough to indicate the need for a carburetor job or a thorough fuel line cleaning, probably both. Since we power two TV sets, one computer with printer, and two 40 watt lights--plus charging the 840 amp batter... more

I've been running a small acoustic band on a 700 watt battery powered inverter. Which works fine! But you have to charge the battery, and if it goes down the whole show is off til you charge it again.

I got the EF2000iS, and now we're on. I run a 300 watt PA head and a few other guitar amps off this thing. I charge the battery while we're jammimg and when the band is done and we only need some recorded music, we switch back to the battery powered inverter.

Not that we need to or anything- this unit is quiet as well. Plenty of power for my needs.

It's a great piece of equipment for the music community!

I've been running a small acoustic band on a 700 watt battery powered inverter. Which works fine! But you have to charge the battery, and if it goes down the whole show is off til you charge it again.

I got the EF2000iS, and now we're on. I run a 300 watt PA head and a few other guitar amps off this thing. I charge the battery while we're jammimg and when the band is done and we only need some recorded music, we switch back to the battery powered inverter.

Not that we need to or anything- this unit is quiet as well. Plenty of power for my needs.

... more

I bought this Yamaha based on a couple weeks research and concluded that you get what you pay for. In this case it was money well spent.

We used it the first time while dry camping on the Oregon coast with family. This little guy ended up charging batteries on two other RVs, powered an ice cream maker and coffee maker (no there wasn't a Starbucks nearby) and all on a single tank of gas!

Needless to say, it was a huge success and the envy of the entire family.

It starts on the first pull, never stuttered or faltered, and is easy to move around. Controls are easy to use and clearly marked.

It was very quiet, particularly in economy mode, and would automatically adjust to full power if the need arose.

This llttle beauty has earned a permanent place in my RV for emergencies and occasional dry camping needs. I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants dependable power for light duty work.

I bought this Yamaha based on a couple weeks research and concluded that you get what you pay for. In this case it was money well spent.

We used it the first time while dry camping on the Oregon coast with family. This little guy ended up charging batteries on two other RVs, powered an ice cream maker and coffee maker (no there wasn't a Starbucks nearby) and all on a single tank of gas!

Needless to say, it was a huge success and the envy of the entire family.

It starts on the first pull, never stuttered or faltered, and is easy to move around.... more