Champion Tri Fuel Generator, 12,000W/15,000W

This is my 4th Champion — upgraded from a #201075, a 500cc single cylinder gasoline-only. We have a 40amp Generlink, and this unit produces 42amps on natural gas. Here in southern Ontario 🇨🇦, Mar 30th 2025 brought us a wicked ice storm. The worst part of the 55hr outage was obtaining gasoline, so we’re going to natural gas and needed a tri-fuel. My break-in procedure may not match yours ….but I’ve watched the gospel of Lake Speed Jr, the Motor Oil Geek….and I start loading it up as soon as the oil is at operating temperature. Those rings need to seat before they harden, and get various loads on & off. So I filled it with the supplied oil, cycled loads up to about 50% for 10min, little bursts to 85% for 5min, unloaded cool-off, then change the oil and crappy OEM filter. With only 20min of run time, the oil looked awful. Greenish in colour (assembly lube?) with lots of glitter, and bigger ferrous metal flakes. Filled with Amsoil break-in oil, and repeated the 10%-50%-85% for an hour this time. Changed the oil & filter again. Not quite as nasty looking, but again…..glitter. Lots of wear metals in the drain pan. Filled again with break-in oil, repeated cycles for another 3.5hrs (now 5hrs total). Not as much glitter. Replaced filter, and filled with Amsoil Small Engine 5w30. It’s now ready for whole-home back-up. I used four 1500watt space heaters, and two 1850watt hairdryers for “bursts”. The garage felt like Miami. I used propane for this procedure, and seem to be burning about 7.4lbs/hr. I started out using a 20lb tank which lasted about 2.7hrs. PROS: -V-twin is less raspy than the single cyl’s -huge power, less drops when load hits -pressurized oil system with automotive filter (!) CONS: —Still very loud, but less bothersome than single —fuel gauge installed upside-down (donkey!!!) —inhales fuel at heavy load —oil drain plug is awkward, maybe a drain tube? —Mike Tyson installed the OEM oil filter FFS —‘Intelligauge’ is dated compared to market

Big V-twin engine is much quicker to respond to loads .vs the single cyl’s. Still very loud, but less annoying with a deeper tone. Break-in saw an average propane burn of 6-7lbs per hour with an average 50% load. This is my fourth Champion generator, and very impressed — i finally have one to backup the whole (most of the) house when the next ice storm hits. 100% recommend.

Put oil in and started right up. I used propane; it came with fancy natural gas and propane hoses, so I hooked it up to my 30-gal tank. I have it in the shed covered up now, waiting for a power outage, might do a test run when I have time, but for now, it runs as it should.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Bought as a backup generator for my house after having tons of outages. Super easy setup, affordable for the power output it provides and powers my entire house in the summer with AC running no problem. CO Shield can be a little finicky at times but overall works great. I enjoy being able to use the different fuel types. I always have spare propane tanks laying around so its nice to be able to use that in a pinch until I can get to the gas station.

Just bought this generator last month . Great generator did my 5 hour break-in and was able to run everything I needed to in my house. It will be great to have running water, hot showers , and A/C next time the power goes out