EU2000i Generator

[John W Simmons]

Any one have any experience with the Honda EU2000i generator?? Will it power up my 81 Trillium??

[Chester Taje]

I beleive that gen set would work very nicely.Other folks who have them will answere your questions when they see this thread.

[John Perry]

Any one have any experience with the Honda EU2000i generator?? Will it power up my 81 Trillium??

I have had a Honda EU2000 generator for 5 or 6 years years. When I take the grandkids camping it runs the TV/DVD and the Dish Network receiver quite nicely. It charges the deep cycle battery that I use for my electric trolling motor.
It has never let me down. There are cheaper Gens available but you get what you pay for. Honda is the largest manufacturers of engines in the world and they set the benchmark for quality.
If you have never had a generator before be sure to use fuel stabilizer in your gasoline.
Our fuels today go bad in a matter of weeks if you do not use a stabilizer.

John

[Pete Dumbleton]

Did he forget to mention that his Trill has a 15KBTU a/c, electric stove, monster microwave, and a complete welding shop with overhead electric winches? An EU2000 would be woefully inadequate to the task

Just kidding, but what you plan to power is the first step to deciding how big is enough when it comes to batteries, generators and solar panels! If an a/c has a very high starting load, the 2000 may actually not be enough from what I have read on various RV sites, including fiberglass sites -- OTOH, with no a/c and just some weekly battery charging, it may be overkill and a smaller inverter-based unit might be a lot less expensive, convenient and have fewer chiropractic visits

[Steve Rosenberg]

If you decide that you want to buy a generator I have one of these brand new never opened for $500. I've got 4 of these so if you buy more than one I'll give you $50 off each additional generator.

Thanks;
Steve

[BOBSMITH]

I own a Honda 2000. It's great. It runs everything in my 17' Casita. Including the microwave. Super-quiet, too. It can't be beat, as far as I'm concerned.

[peterh]

Knowing what electrical loads you want to support all at the same time is key. For our not-so-little Scamp 5th wheel our energy hogs are a 1500-watt cube heater, 700w microwave and a 900w coffee maker. (Someday we may add an air conditioner, but if we do it'll be a Coleman Polar Cub, which runs on 900w.) Everything else pretty much runs on 12v, and since we plan to install a solar panel to keep the battery charged when we go dry camping and we can easily forgo using these appliances when we don't have a hook-up, we may not need a generator at all.

Assuming we did run these appliances on a generator, if ran only one at a time and used the propane furnace instead of the 1500w cube heater our peak electric demand would be 900w. 900w is (conveniently) the sustained rated output of the Honda EU1000i genset and its two main competitors, the Yamaha EF1000is, and the Kipor IG1000. (All three have excellent reputations.) These smaller generators use less fuel, weigh less, make less noise, and cost less than the "2000" series generators, so they're probably our forst choice.

If, on the other hand, we wanted to run the A/C, coffeemaker, and microwave all at the same time even a "2000" generator wouldn't cut it. The Honda 2000 generator's sustained output rating is just 1600 watts.

Life with the appliances I'm suggesting and a "1000" genset would be complete if someone sold an automatic switch that prioritized the appliances used, shutting the A/C off if someone started the coffeemaker, and shut down the A/C and coffeemaker if someone starts the microwave, but I figure most of us can easily be trained to switch off the A/C or whatever if they want to use some other appliance. All it takes is a outside in your bare feet resetting the genset breaker after it blows and shuts all your 110v electrics off.

A little side note: Amazon sells this little generator for $90 + $40 shipping, but it's heavier, requires you to mix your gas with two-stroke engine oil, and is probably pretty noisy and harder to start. I thought about it but decided it's not worth the money.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...PV&v=glance

--Peter

[Loren G. Hedahl]

That little guy for $90 bucks probably uses a weed-eater engine, which is not altogether bad, but in my opinion a mis-application. Those engines are made for max. power - min. weight, with little or no concern for fuel usage and noise.

I used a Honda 3500 for powering a rooftop AC on a small cargo trailer for delivering fresh farm products. It was mounted on the tongue of the trailer, and would run all day on a filling of gas. It would shut down to an idle when the AC cycled off and rev back up when the AC cycled back on. It was quiet and started easily. I couldn't ask for more.

That was ten years ago. I would expect the newer units to be even better.

Loren

[Kurt & Ann K.]

A little more food for thought...
We have been using a 3000 watt Yamaha for 3 years. It's biggest use has been for "Nuestra Casita's" air-conditioning in the summer, but it will operate all appliances simultaneously except possibly the electric element for the hot water heater (always used propane). Since we can't imagine an instance when an electric heater would be used with the air-conditioner running, we've not tried that. We have run the water pump, all lighting, the microwave making popcorn, the Fantasic-fan, bathroom fan, stove hood fan and television all at once. When the A/C cycles under those conditions the generator slows momentarily then recovers. We've also not tried the refrigerator at the same time because we use propane when parked.
We usually travel with a dog who is quite content to spend time "indoors" as long as it's cool, which allows us to site-see without subjecting her to crowds.
Having had the generator converted to propane, has eliminated worrying about fuel capacity.
The initial idea behind 3000 watts was to also provide emergency power at home during the three or four times a year when we experience power outages. In practice we've only needed
it twice and it then kept our household refrigerator, television, and a few lights working.

Purchasing a pair of the 2000 watt Honda's would accomplish the same goals except worrying about running out of fuel.
Kurt & Ann K.

[Steve Rosenberg]

No I have a Mitsubishi 950w which is close to the Honda just cheaper. If you'e interested let me know. Here's the web address if you want to see what other people are selling them for.

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/ca...products_id=438

Thanks;
Steve

[Dick & Joanne]

If you decide that you want to buy a generator I have one of these brand new never opened for $500. I've got 4 of these so if you buy more than one I'll give you $50 off each additional generator.

Thanks;
Steve

If you still have one available, I am interested.

Dick

[Sharon Herman]

I bought a Honda EU2000. I bought it to have for a critical sump pump we have at home. I did some research and decided to go with the Honda for a few reasons. It is lightweight at only about 35/40 lbs. Easy for me to move around. It is easy on the gas, runs about 8/11 hrs (as I recall) on a one gallon tank. It is really, really quiet! It will be handy to have for my Trill if needed and Brian can take it for repairs on his boat if needed. I am cutting and pasting a handy wattage chart I found for running normal household/trailer appliances. Hope it is of some help.

John, I would love some additional info on the fuel stabilizer you were talking about.

Thanks, Sharon


GENERATOR WATTAGE CALCULATOR
Depending on how you will use your generator, there are different categories to meet your needs. This can include recreation, home standby and construction. Honda also offers Inverter Generators. Inverter generators are smaller and lighter as power is created electronically and not through a conventional alternator. Inverter power offers the cleanest power output, ideal for sensitive electronic devices.

If you want a generator for home standby, for example, if you want to run your refrigerator, you’ll need at least 2500 watts or more. And if you want to use a transfer switch so that power can go directly into your home, you’ll want a generator with at least 3000 watts.

You’ll also need to consider the maximum and rated power of the generator. This is important depending on what items you want to run off of your generator. Items such as toaster, lamps, and coffee makers are resistive, or constant loads and their total load can be calculated at amps x 1. Items such as saws and drills are reactive loads and while the running load may be small, the starting load should be calculated at running amps x 3. Remember, after the intial start less power is required for actual operation.

Always remember that simple power management will allow a smaller generator to do a big job. Very seldom are all tools or appliances operating simultaneously. When calculating power requirements, consider the starting requirements are only for the initial start and then additional tools may be operated in addition.

Remember Ohm’s Law from High School Physics?
Watts = Volts x Amps
Amps = Watts/Volts

So if you have two of the numbers (e.g. volts, amps) then you can find out the other (e.g. watts). This can help you to determine the rated power that you’ll need from your generator.


AVERAGE WATTAGE REQUIREMENT GUIDE
(AMPS X VOLTS = WATTS)
Household
Approximate Wattage RequiredFor Starting ApproximageRunning Wattage Requirements

Coffee Maker 600 600
Dishwasher Cool Dry 540 216
Electric Fry Pan 1500 1500
Electric Range
8-inch element 2100 2100
Microwave Oven 650 watts 1000 1000
Refrigerator or Freezer – Energy Star 1200 132-192
Automatic Washer 1200 1200
Clothes Dryer
Electric 6750 5400
Furnace Fan, gas or fuel oil
1/8 Horsepower 500 300
1/6 Horsepower 750 500
1/4 Horsepower 1000 600
1/3 Horsepower 1400 700
1/2 Horsepower 2350 875
Incandescent Lights as indicated on bulb as indicated on bulb
Radio 50 to 200 50 to 200
Sump Pump
1/3 Horsepower 1300 800
1/2 Horsepower 2150 1050
Television - Color 300 300
Air Conditioner
10,000 BTU 2200 1500

[John Perry]

I bought a Honda EU2000. I bought it to have for a critical sump pump we have at home. I did some research and decided to go with the Honda for a few reasons.
John, I would love some additional info on the fuel stabilizer you were talking about.

Thanks, Sharon

Hi Sharon,
You can find the fuel stabilizer at any auto parts store. Most boat supply stores have it also as does Wal-Mart. It comes in a very easy to use plastic bottle with the directions.
If you think your gen is not going to be used for any great length of time it is best to let it run out of fuel.
I did not use mine for about a year and I ended up removing the carbuerator and cleaning it. The fuel had turned to green jelly. Now I never fill any of my gas cans without adding fuel stabilizer.
Smart choice buying a Honda, they are the best.
John

[Donna D.]

Now I never fill any of my gas cans without adding fuel stabilizer.

Pretty cheap as far as maintenance issues go. I fill a 5 gallon jerry can for the lawnmower...use stabilizer. My weedwacker is a two cycle...use stabilizer in the fuel can there too. And I let both yard implements run out of gas for storage over the winter. Since I started doing this, I've had no problems in the Spring!

Now back to your regular scheduled programming about generators

[Pete Dumbleton]

BTW, Stihl 2-cycle oil now comes with fuel stabilizer already in it.

One nice thing about using an EU2000 (US, not CA version) is that if needed, a second one can be put in parallel at home but not taken on the road. Same thing can be done with the EU1000, however only like for like can be paralleled; an EU1000 can't be paralleled with an EU2000.