I am planning on using a Honda EU2000i generator as backup to solar and
wind sources on a sailboat with outboard auxiliary. The Honda will
power a 110 volt 50 amp charger. Somewhere I read of problems with an
inverter generator used with a battery charger. Does anyone have
experience with this use?

"gaffcat" wrote in news:1141113906.198482.238960
@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

I am planning on using a Honda EU2000i generator as backup to solar and
wind sources on a sailboat with outboard auxiliary. The Honda will
power a 110 volt 50 amp charger. Somewhere I read of problems with an
inverter generator used with a battery charger. Does anyone have
experience with this use?



It'll power a 14V 50A charger, which is what you meant I suppose. Leave
it in Econo mode so the engine runs at very low speed. Speed on inverter
gensets has nothing to do with their rock-solid 60Hz output frequency and
rock-solid voltage.

Your information on them running a battery charger is dead wrong. I have
both the EU1000i, the walkie-talkie of gensets, and the EU3000i, the
much-better, quieter model I suggest everyone buy, instead of the
suitcases. Both of them run a cheap Schumaker SCR charger, the
computerized Vector 40A charger (now labeled Black and Decker at Wally
World) and the old 40A manual charger out of the Amel ketch...just fine.
All these gensets were designed with "computer" in mind. They also run
audio equipment fine in outdoor venues. I know a 4-piece rock band using
an EU2000i whenever they play outdoors and there's no power for all their
amps/boards even stage lighting that's Triac-controlled. Other than the
mechanical noise of the engine, none of the amps makes a buzz you can
hear, even when the boys aren't making that grinding noise their fans
seem to crave.

Before you buy the 2000i, be sure to run it under a 1500W electric heater
load you bring to the store, alongside the EU3000i and compare them.
Yeah, I know the 3000 is much larger and heavier, but there's a reason.
The 3000i is hardly breathing at 1200 RPM until you hit about 1800W on
econo mode. Even at full load, 2800 watts, it's only turning 2200
RPM....much quieter, slower speed and LONGER LASTING than its suitcase
little brothers. My biggest regret about it is Honda screwed up the
exhaust on the 3000i. I welded a pipe nipple to the 1000i's little
exhaust outlet so I could pipe the fumes away in any installation. The
3000i's exhaust pipe breathes into the cooling air supply inside the
damned case and is very hard to get to, very unreasonable.

Other than that, pulling two 8000 Btu Korean window A/Cs all summer and
powering my stepvan electronics shop, chargers and all, the 3000i has
been rock solid since the day I bought it....

On 28 Feb 2006, Larry wrote:

. . . . I have both the EU1000i . . . . much larger and
heavier [than the 2000i] . . . .

How much larger and heavier?

The 3000i is hardly breathing at 1200 RPM until you hit
about 1800W on econo mode.

O.K. - but assuming that the generator would not be used to charge two
4D batteries batteries in an inverter-based system that includes air
conditioners and, instead, just, if you will, "normal" use (e.g.,
reading lights, listening to the radio, maybe occasional microwave
oven use to boil a cup of water or warm up pre-cooked/dehydrated
meals, etc.), is the 2000i still likely to be inadequate?

My biggest regret about it is . . . . [t]he 3000i's exhaust
pipe breathes into the cooling air supply inside the
damned case and is very hard to get to [to weld on a
nipple that would enable exhaust outlet elsewhere].

So where do you keep it (or did you install it permanently) and what
did you do to solve this problem?

wrote in message
...
On 28 Feb 2006, Larry wrote:

. . . . I have both the EU1000i . . . . much larger and
heavier [than the 2000i] . . . .

How much larger and heavier?

The 3000i is hardly breathing at 1200 RPM until you hit
about 1800W on econo mode.

O.K. - but assuming that the generator would not be used to charge two
4D batteries batteries in an inverter-based system that includes air
conditioners and, instead, just, if you will, "normal" use (e.g.,
reading lights, listening to the radio, maybe occasional microwave
oven use to boil a cup of water or warm up pre-cooked/dehydrated
meals, etc.), is the 2000i still likely to be inadequate?

My biggest regret about it is . . . . [t]he 3000i's exhaust
pipe breathes into the cooling air supply inside the
damned case and is very hard to get to [to weld on a
nipple that would enable exhaust outlet elsewhere].

So where do you keep it (or did you install it permanently) and what
did you do to solve this problem?



I have been looking at these as well and believe the EU2000 is plenty large
enough for most boat applications. I think it will easily power a 50 amp
battery charger and thus recharge a days battery use in 2 hours.
I believe the EU1000 is about 25 pounds and the EU2000 about 49 pounds.
The cases are nearly the same size.

Has anyone used the new Kipor inverter generators? They might not be up
to the quality of the Hondas but are much cheaper. Kipor sell 1000,
2000, 3000,3500 watt inverter generators.

On 1 Mar 2006 12:23:01 -0800, "gaffcat" wrote:

Has anyone used the new Kipor inverter generators?

The Honda "i" series uses an inverter also. That is how they are able
to use variable motor speeds.

wrote in :

On 28 Feb 2006, Larry wrote:

. . . . I have both the EU1000i . . . . much larger and
heavier [than the 2000i] . . . .

How much larger and heavier?

Here's a good page with picture and specifications:
http://www.hayesequipment.com/eu3000is.htm
At 134 pounds, without the 3.4 gallons of gasoline in its STEEL fuel tank
with proper metal cap, notice it has TWO carrying handle for TWO people.
The cabinet is also steel with plastic end caps, very heavily
constructed. A lot of the weight is the large AGM starting battery and
the electric starter, in addition to the pull starter.

It's not a lightweight, this 6.5HP OHV engine. It wasn't intended to be
backpacked....(c;


The 3000i is hardly breathing at 1200 RPM until you hit
about 1800W on econo mode.

O.K. - but assuming that the generator would not be used to charge two
4D batteries batteries in an inverter-based system that includes air
conditioners and, instead, just, if you will, "normal" use (e.g.,
reading lights, listening to the radio, maybe occasional microwave
oven use to boil a cup of water or warm up pre-cooked/dehydrated
meals, etc.), is the 2000i still likely to be inadequate?

It will run AC units up to 16,000 BTU. I'm running two 8000 Btu
Goldstars I paid $89 each for from Lowe's, mounted in the starboard
bulkhead. They don't stick out beyond the truck mirrors. This allows me
to lighten the load to one AC except on the hottest days, reducing fuel
usage a lot. She'll run 18 hours straight on one AC plus 10-12A from the
Amel charger to the house batteries and 12V loads in the shop....on one
tank of fuel. I no longer have to carry "gas cans". The tank on it has
a LARGE fuel inlet with built-in filter to trap particles and keep the
tank clean. It fills very easily from any fuel hose at gas stations
without spilling. The tank also has a mechanical fuel guage that's
fairly accurate. You have 7.2 hours at 2800 watts under maximum loading.
The voltage difference from no load to 2800 watts at the generator's AC
outlet is less than 1 volt. It drops from 124 to 123 on my DVM. Large
capacitors in the inverter absorb load shifts until the engine recovers,
all electronic...even in econo mode.

The 2000i uses the same technology. Its little engine, like my 1000i,
just isn't as powerful and must turn lots more RPM to produce it. Up to
the overload point, and beyond, voltage and frequency are very stable.
Slight overloads, where the status LED turns yellow, warns you of
impending automatic shutdown. Overload simply trips out the inverter,
without a brownout, I might add. To reset, you MUST shut down the engine
on all three of these units, then restart to get the inverter to switch
back on, once again. I don't think you can destroy them unless you were
to do something really stupid like plug them into the power
company....but, as the inverters are self-synchronizing so you can
parallel two gensets to double the output power available, I'm not sure
the set wouldn't lock onto the power company, either. I'm not willing to
try it. I HAVE paralleled my EU3000i with another one owned by someone
else to see what happens with the paralleling kit. I found the beat
notes caused by the engines both running different speeds unnerving like
"Washing Machine Charlie"'s twin engine plane in WW2 purposely set at
different RPM to keep our troops awake all night. The engines don't
sync....the inverters do. We loaded the pair up to 5200 watts, SUDDENLY,
to see what happens. It was a non-event. The hotplates just got red and
the light plugged in to see the surge was near steady. The two gensets
simply throttled up to full speed...but not the same speed...and down
again when the load was removed.


My biggest regret about it is . . . . [t]he 3000i's exhaust
pipe breathes into the cooling air supply inside the
damned case and is very hard to get to [to weld on a
nipple that would enable exhaust outlet elsewhere].

So where do you keep it (or did you install it permanently) and what
did you do to solve this problem?

A friend of mine, who has since died of a massive heart attack, built a
custom aluminum cover with a steel frame for it. The genset is mounted
on the portside rear door with a couple of 1000# angle brackets that came
with welded supports from Home Depot. I simply bolted the "legs" the
genset normally sits on to the angle brackets with some stout bolts that
would take a thief a couple of hours to dismantle. The brackets bolt
through the big steel door and through a matching channel bracket to
stiffen the door on the inside of the van. It's rock solid. The box is
completely open on the bottom and hinged at the aft end so it swings down
out of the way for fueling and maintenance. Two Stanley locking gate
latches lock the box into the operating position. A slot to match the
genset's hot air outlet in the port side of the box allows the heat to
escape and even causes a draft throughout the box when its running. The
cabinet hardly gets warm. The installation is fairly permanent. I can't
get to the manual starter handle as it's against the door. Maintenance
is all from the aft end of it, in the maintenance door. Oil drains from
the end where the hot air outlet is. I would need to remove it to
overhaul it, I suppose. Even in the offseason when I don't need to run
the AC units, it follows me around. If the power fails at home, I simply
plug the house into the truck's 30A electrical outlet with a special "Man
Killer". This cable parallels the two "hot" sides of the 230-0-230 house
power so all 115 VAC circuits in the house are hot to neutral with the
truck plugged into the dryer outlet near the back door. Just pull the
main breaker and crank her up, to the dismay of the neighbors sitting in
the dark with their candles. I swore after being in the dark for MONTHS
after Hurricane Hugo tore Charleston apart, I'd never be in the dark
again.

I'd think the 2000i would suit your purpose just fine, up to the 1800
watt limit. The 1000i runs great and has, probably, 1800 hours on it,
here, with little trouble. It did have a starting issue that was cured
with a new ignition module at about 1100 hours. It ran crappy and
hesitated when the load was added. I can't stand an engine that doesn't
run right...drives me crazy.

"Gordon Wedman" wrote in
news:tTlNf.9542$vC4.1272@clgrps12:

I have been looking at these as well and believe the EU2000 is plenty
large enough for most boat applications. I think it will easily power
a 50 amp battery charger and thus recharge a days battery use in 2
hours. I believe the EU1000 is about 25 pounds and the EU2000 about 49
pounds. The cases are nearly the same size.



By the way, guys, Hayes Equipment has some really neat, but pricey,
looking accessories to many of these gensets. I'm especially interested
in their wireless remote starting kit for the EU3000i in my van. The
hackers started working on a wired remote starting system for the EU3000i
as soon as it was released. The big drawback is the engine runs SO lean
it will NOT start without pulling the manual choke knob. The hackers
solved the problem, easily, by removing the choke knob and installing the
12V choke solenoid out of an outboard motor with a push button choke,
like the outboard motor has at their remote starting station. I know
someone who built one and it works fine. To crank the genset, he simply
parallels the circuitry of the keyswitch on his 3000i to the remote
station in his camper. The 12V DC from the 3000i starting battery also
powers his choke solenoid circuit. Flip the on-off switch to ON, press
both START and CHOKE pushbuttons and she fires right up. Release the
start button immediately, then release the choke button 15 seconds later
or when you hear the engine load up choked and she's running for as long
as the gas holds out.....

I think he had $25 in his remote station installation, not the $399 this
neat wireless system from Hayes costs. Still, I have this vision of
cranking the 3000i from inside the house an hour before I leave in the
truck so it will already be cool all summer...a cool idea!

http://www.hayesequipment.com/portab...emote_start_ki
t.htm