Champion 100396 3400W Electric Start Dual Fuel Inverter

Champion pitches the 100396 for “RVs, tailgating, your next project or backup power for your home”. It is the electric-start sibling of model 100263, whose product page now returns 404. It has no CO Shield; the page does not mention a CO sensor at all. Champion's description also mentions a 50-amp RV outlet that does not appear in the model's own outlet list; we follow the outlet list. If you want the CO shutoff in a similar size, see the 201319.

Running vs starting watts

Champion rates it at 3,100 running and 3,400 starting watts on gasoline, and 2,790 running and 3,060 starting on propane. The 3,400 W in the name is the starting figure, available only while a motor starts; continuous loads must fit under the running figure. On its own it can start a 1/2 HP sump pump or a French-door refrigerator and run a 1,100 W microwave on either fuel. It cannot start our 7-1/4 in circular saw, whose starting figure is 3,600 W.

Run time

Champion publishes 7.5 hours at 25 % load on the 1.6-gallon gasoline tank and 14.5 hours at 25 % load on a 20 lb propane tank. No 50 % figure is given. We show those points only and do not extrapolate. It is an inverter generator, and Champion states Clean Power (less than 3% THD) for sensitive electronics.

Safety

With no CO sensor, nothing on this generator shuts it down if exhaust builds up, so placement is the only protection: CPSC says outdoors only, away from the house, never on a porch or in a carport, with the exhaust pointed away from buildings. Our CPSC recall search found no recall matching this model.

Add your appliances to the calculator to check your own load against these figures.