Hi Garrett -
I bought a Honda EU2000i 2KW genset several years ago,
& enjoy using it occasionally. Starts with 1 pull. I
thought of getting TWO of the Honda EU1000i [1KW] +
'Y' cable that allows you to sync them when 1 won't
handle your load.
The EU2000i lacks less than 1" fitting under the
removable board in the center rear EVC luggage space.
TWO EU1000i MAY fit, but I know one will, lashed to
seat belt anchors.
You can power your converter/charger to charge bats,
as well as use the Honda [6A?] DC for charging. The
Twin-Bullet DC charging cable w/bat clips is an option.
Also, there is an optional 'Running time meter' that
picks up high V from ignition, which is handy. Sears
has a similar meter on sale at my local store [$5],
but not sure if it is national or local.
One yachting site you may want to look at is:
genset-suggestions-10529.html
They have some warnings about the "Chinese copies" of
the Honda units - w/cheaper price, poor parts & service,
+ a tale of woe.
FYI, I was at a Ham Radio flea market about 8 years ago,
& after talking to a guy at his display table for about
10 minutes, I asked him where he was getting his power
from. He laughed, & pointed to his Honda under the table,
with his feet on it! We had been talking at normal levels.
After running mine for about 30 mins, I looked at the
thimble-looking exhaust port, & swiped it with my finger.
It was warm, but I was able to touch it w/o pain. I had
wondered why it was so close to the plastic.
The sine wave output wave-form is so clean, & precise,
it is said to be cleaner than some USA commercial power.
I ran my home refrigerator/freezer for 24 hours during a
power outage, & was running an ext. cord to next door
neighbor's house when the power came back on. I'm sure
it would have run his, as well. I was standing over the
Honda while it was idling in 'Economy Mode', when the
'fridge came on. It burped up to speed to take the load.
When I first ran the genset for about 30 minutes, & shut
it off, I touched the tiny,thimble sized exhaust port. It was
just a bit too hot to keep my finger on it. My old 1939
Onan 1KW had a muffler that would heat a room for 30
mins after shut down. It had a starter - thankfully.
I ran out of gas once, made a paper funnel, & poured the
Honda into my EVC tank. I was wishing for the 1KW model,
instead of my 50# gas can.
One Honda source in NJ, with free CONUS shipping, is
www.Mayberry.com/generators. They supposedly have good
service, but most of us never need it. They had mine at my
door in 3 days, & have been around for many years.
A handy Honda accessory is their elapsed running time / RPM
dual purpose meter [$49]. My local Sears store has a similar
meter, running hours only, on sale now for $5.00.
Regards,
Jack_son
================
--- In ev_update@..., "Garrett" <garrett.elists@...>
wrote:
Hi,
Am in the intial stages of considering a portable generator to
operate a small window-A/C unit (about 6,000 BTU).
I had read that any generator used for an A/C unit would require a
200-percent (or more) reserve wattage requirement to help any A/C
unit on intial start up. I don't know if that is accurate or not.
I thought that A/C units have a capacitor that will send a jolt of
higher wattage through the A/C circuit to get the initial jump
going
on the electric motor. The idea being that you don't want to suck
your entire house current down to zero for five seconds every time
the A/C unit kicks in, so the capacitor supplys this intial hit for
the unit instead of the house. If this is true, doesn't that
counter
the previous paragraph about needing extra capacity for a generator?
The A/C units I looked at (Home Depot and Lowe's) all were pretty
straight forward. It seems that roughly 1/10 of the BTUs equals
the
rated wattage. (i.e. 5,000 BTU is about 500 Watts... 6,000 BTU is
about 600 Watts) Unless these manufacturers are just blowing
smoke?
500W seems awfully LOW to me. What do you say?
The small, portable generators all seem to start at around 1,000
watts and go upward to 3,000 or more.
Here is a nice looking Yamaha (2400 watts peak/2000 continuous):
Here is another Yamaha (1000 watts/900 continuous):
My question to the electrical engineers (or electrically smart
folks)
is this: will a small generator like the Yamaha and Honda units
(around 1500 to 2500 Watts) run a small window A/C unit easily and
comfortably? (Window A/C unit around 5,000 BTU to 7,500 BTU,
Wattage
requirements about 500W to 800W)
Somewhere in Yamaha's website, it explained that their 3000W
portable
unit was large enough to power a small home A/C unit. That made me
wonder why they didn't say the same thing in the verbiage for the
smaller wattage units they sell? (i.e. 2400W machine)
Is anyone on this list using a small generator to power a small A/C
unit? How's that working for you??
Thanks!!
Garrett
1999 EVC, "DolphinJazz"
2002 EVC, "Serenity"
