How do you keep your beer cold in summer when out riding the trails or track? Do you leave it in your portable fridge and hope the shaded tree does its job? What about your phone battery, camp lights, portable television (for instant race replays of course), radio, camera gear, power tool batteries … and the list goes on.
We spent the summer camping and riding and desperately needed power to charge all of the above as we were regularly in very remote parts of this great country. So we enlisted the help of the Yamaha EF2000iS generator to keep our phones charged and our millions of Instagram followers entertained.
The EF2000iS uses a 79cc four-stroke OHV engine and generates a total of 2000 surge watts and 1600 running watts. It’s an inverter system, and comes with Yamaha’s Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control.
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Quiet Despite burning fossil fuels the EF2000iS is surprisingly quiet. We hid it behind our dirtbike hauler and ran an extension lead into the campsite and could hardly hear it when on the quiet Eco mode. When using full power, it was a little louder but not obnoxious or annoying.
Safe The Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control system monitors power surges, just in case the generator gets a little excited. This means you don’t have to worry about it overloading and blowing up whatever you’ve got connected to it.
Power Despite the EF2000iS falling mid-pack for generator spec. it produced an impressive amount of power. We were able to hook up two portable fridges, camera gear and a phone all at once while still on Eco mode and it didn’t struggle or stall!
Fuel efficient The Eco mode helps the generator run more fuel efficient than the full power mode. We managed to get two days out of the four litre fuel tank. We didn’t have it on the entire time but would run it for about 2-3 hours and then rest for the same time. At night we turned it off.
Smart The EF2000iS has a built-in Smart Throttle that varies engine speed based on load to improve fuel economy and reduce noise. So if you forget you left it on Eco mode and it needs more power it will do that for you!
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Transport Moving it around takes up space and is a pain in the arse. But it’s better than not being able to check our Instagram feed.
Cost Nowadays you can setup a solar system on your roof for less. But they’re far more fragile and if you live in Victoria or Tasmania finding sunlight may be a little tricky.
VERDICT
Generator’s like the EF2000iS may seem old-skool with it’s lawn mower-like pull start and combustion engine, but they’re basic, easy-to-use, and reliable. In some cases, you cannot be without power so the EF2000iS might be a necessity. It only weighs about 20 kilograms (which is lightweight for a generator) and is the size of a block of XXXX cans making it the perfect weekender, ideal for camping and running small appliances.
GET IT HERE
Bill $1699
Browser www.yamaha-motor.com.au
Blower 02 9757 5800
