Honda eu 2000 Generator

Hello I have a 4000 Watt Generator with 120/240 v. for misc. use, very noisy, am looking at the Honda eu2000 Generator, seems to have good reports and I guess they are really quiet , wondering if someone that has had real world experience with this unit could give some impute on the subject, would unit support a modern furnace, fridg, and freezer, not necessary at the same time , looks like a dandy gen. but if they are useless, I will forget about it. Thanks Phil L.

Reply to
Phil
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The Honda electronics have a bad rep. If the inverter blows out of warranty, the replacement parts are prohibitively expensive. The Yamaha units have a better reputation for durability, and pricing of replacement parts.

The engines in both models are beyond reproach. It's just the electronics that are cause for concern.

Reply to
Robert Morein

The Honda web site offers cables that combine two of their generators together. The not very good diagrams seem to me to be just AC plugs that are likely paralleled to the output plug. Does someone who has one of these please let me know if this is true? Does the control electronics figure out that it has been hooked up to an already energized AC circuit and automagically synchronizes itself to it? I have a situation where I have a smallish 24 hour load, and a larger load during work hours. Off hours security is a issue, so I can leave one small genny well secured overnight, and bring in the rest each day, and take them away at the end of the day.

--Dale

Reply to
Dale Farmer

I only have one EU, so have no direct experience with the paralleling feature, but the cable connects the two inverter's control circuits so that they operate in sync. Any attempt to simply parallel two AC sources without somehow syncing them together will yield smoke.

Sound like a good plan, except that the EU2000 is only good for about 10 hours on a tank of gas with a light load.

Vaughn

Reply to
Vaughn

Not so. No "control circuits" are involved. The Honda-supplied paralleling cable uses shrouded banana plugs for safety reasons only.

You can make your own. See:

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If you want to spend an outrageous amount of money, you can buy this:

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Reply to
Wes Stewart

paralleling

The "special" jacks for paralleling are indeed simply connected to the AC receptacles, hot and neutral. I have not paralleled these units but supposedly they synchronize themselves. I imagine it would be better to have the second unit already plugged in at startup. Any comments on that statement?

Recently someone made the statement that the eu2000 would be less effecient for the final stages of charging batteries. Since the little Honda varies it's engine speed and fuel consumption depending upon the load I think the effeciency probably remains fairly constant throughout the entire load range but actually may be MORE effecient at lower engine speeds. I have run one for over 13 hours on a tank of gas when using it to charge batteries only (initially 40 amps chargine 220 Ah of batteries).

As for OP's question I have run a 24 cu/ft refrigerator/freezer with an eu2000 while it was also charging batteries. Unless a freezer has an unusually large startup draw I think it would work just fine but probably not at the same time as the fridge. I would guess it could run a small furnace fan such as on a mobile/manufactured home but any large furnace fan might be questionable especially if it has a resistive type starter. I think those generally run from 240 VAC anyway.

Reply to
Ulysses

After reading lhiggin's description of how to parallel these Hondas, I wonder if we could easily plug one into a wall socket with a variac to control the backwards grid meter speed :-)

How do they synchronize to each other and share the load? If they can cogenerate without a grid-tie inverter, we might run the exhaust into the top of a $200 gas water heater to preheat water for the usual water heater...

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

You first!

Vaughn

Reply to
Vaughn

I don't own one, but it seems safe enough, with a variac hooked up as an autotransformer and 2 light bulbs in series. If it syncs, the bulbs should be dark. Viewed in a fixed font: --------------sC----B---B------- | | C wall | Honda | C socket | | C --------------------------------

Moving the variac slider s downwards should make the bulbs light again. Then short out one bulb, then the other, put a Kill-a-Watt meter into the Honda socket, and run the exhaust into the 1/2" gas pipe of a $200 upside-down water heater, after removing the thermostat innards.

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

Try it nick , be the test monkey for 3000$ worth of goods, 1/2 inch gas line wll restrict the motor to maybe 50% power.

Reply to
m Ransley

Would you have any evidence for this article of faith?

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

Sure nick call HONDA, and quit posting crap that can ruin a gen, yea call Honda on that to.

Reply to
m Ransley

m Ransley errs again:

Did that. Not much help.

Ah, so you DON'T have any evidence for your article of faith. Just more smoke out your rear end, as usual. Ever tried thinking when posting? :-)

Small Hondas have small exhaust ports. A 1/2" pipe would probably work. If it doesn't, removing the muffler and running the exhaust into the 3" top of a gas water heater should not be a problem. That would make more efficient counterflow heat exchange.

What's your cogen experience? I did my first system in Doylestown, PA

15 years ago. PECO took a year to approve my permit. It's still running. Just got a fax inviting Pine Associates, Ltd. to submit a proposal for a system for the city of Norwalk, CN. They estimate $800K, for 400 Honda EU2000s and gas water heaters? :-)

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Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

It sounds interesting, but I didn't see the front end. I did a google search, but came up with just this.

Reply to
Toller

OK, so you replied to an existing post, didn't quote anything _and_ changed the subject, and you expect anyone to know what you're talking about?

fwiw, having a newsreader that does real threading, it's related to Honda EU2000 generators - but since that was the subject of the message you replied to, you should know that.

Reply to
Derek Broughton

You have a point; those people who don't have the whole thread will find my post to be nonsense. But those people couldn't answer my question anyhow.

Reply to
Toller

It isn't all about you.

*plonk*
Reply to
Harry Chickpea

Running 1/2" pipe is to small, there is increased resistance with increased length of exuast, figure 4-7 elbows to pipe it through that will increase resistance, back pressure and increased head temps come into play. Increase back pressure and lower hp. The honda is already choked down so much you can hardly hear it run, lower hp on a 2000w unit, its already under powered for most users. Just hook up a pipe you say, what about water collecting at the low point and choking the motor off, or water dripping back into the cilinder, not good, you can ruin your motor. There will be water as the vertical rise cools. Just a few things to consider and why 1/2" won`t work.

Reply to
m Ransley

I looked at an EU200i today. The exhaust port ID is about 0.7" into the muffler, which attaches with a standard looking flange with two metric bolts. The pipe out of the muffler is about half that diameter.

It burns 1.08 gallons of gasoline with a fuel value of 123.1K Btu in 4 hours at the 1600 W rated load, so it makes 6.4 kWh (21.8K Btu) of electricity and

101.3K Btu of heat (another 29.7 kWh), ie 36.1 kWh total, if it replaces electric resistance heating. So cogen makes economic sense at a gasoline price of $2/gallon if electricity costs more than 100x$2/36.1 = 5.5 cents/kWh, in simple terms.

The ground isn't bonded to the neutral, with 60 volts from each pin to neutral, so a grounded plug into a wall socket would damage the inverter, so it needs to float or use an external isolation transformer.

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

Don't troll

it's related to Honda

the message you

Reply to
Solar Flare

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