Honda's new Generator

jkidd":39rmri4j said:
If this is a closed fuel system then that might not work because the caps are not vented.
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I suspect if one of the check marks on the build sheet for this was to meet the 50 state emissions requirement then it may have a VOPR type cap as used on some boats. The tank must maintain atmospheric pressure(no pressure or vacuum). These caps only allow air in when a vacuum situation arises and air out when positive pressure begins. Negative or positive pressure in a gas tank is a dangerous situation. The old Evinrude 2 line tanks from the 50's which utilized a small amount of exhaust to pressurize them were taken off the market years ago.

I did not know of the cap/reserve tank combination that Bob mentioned. I wonder if that could be used with one of the small kickers that have the tank on top?

Regards,

Rob
 
I did not know of the cap/reserve tank combination that Bob mentioned. I wonder if that could be used with one of the small kickers that have the tank on top?
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Use to be a special cap Honda sold for about $30. Now I see several after market caps on Amazon. They appear to be nothing more than a cap that fits the generator, and in place of the vent screw on top, is a barbed fitting to place a hose coming from your gas can. I've always wondered just how strong the fuel pump on those little generators are, that can pull fuel from an outside tank...

Just found this. You can make your own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDkL593Wbt0
 
The Honda 1000 and 2000 generators in the past have had a fuel pump. It would pull fuel (via the cap) from abut 12" below the generator--but not from a Dory fuel tank.

We will just have to see if the new 3200 watt generator --if anyone buys one--works with this. I suspect that we will get information from the RV world much faster. These 3200 are going to be very popular with the RV crowd who were using two of the 2000 units tied together. The new unit will be cheaper and and easier to use. Some RV's with a load sharing/shedding system will run two 15,000 BTU air conditioners on 30 amps. Also the Easy Start system keeps the start up load at a reasonable amount--and the 2000 on eco mode will run a 15000 BTU AC .
 
thataway":jbsmyrwr said:
The Honda 1000 and 2000 generators in the past have had a fuel pump. It would pull fuel (via the cap) from abut 12" below the generator--but not from a Dory fuel tank.
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Mine kind of looks like this...
ReserveTank2.png
The only special part of this is the fuel cap. It is different, and allows fuel to be drawn from the reserve into the generator's tank. It can extend the run time of a generator indefinitely...I have a 12-gallon for my home generator. I can see no reason why the new Honda generator shouldn't work as the previous ones do...though the new fuel caps might be different than the old ones.
 
colbysmith":fxx12tw0 said:
... Just found this. You can make your own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDkL593Wbt0
Click to expand...

I did this and it works fine. I can connect my Honda gen to a 3 gallon portable tank.

FWIW, new portable tanks are designed to prevent vapors from escaping. So they have positive pressure sealing. I don't know if they have negative pressure relief. On a hot day your square Moeller tank can look decidedly round. I expect that when most people see a tank in that state, they rush to let the pressure out (I know I do), so I'm not convinced that sealing the tanks is that effective overall in preventing the leaking of gasoline vapors.
 
ssobol":nshiyi00 said:
On a hot day your square Moeller tank can look decidedly round.
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I don't know how well it would work with the Moeller tanks but when we used to go for longer trips on Lake Erie and had to carry extra jerry cans we would jam a knee against the side and crack the vent to let some air out. When you closed the vent it would leave the sides concaved. If this was done in the morning when things were cool - when it heated up in the afternoon the tanks wouldn't be under as much pressure. Portable plastic tanks should also never be toped up to leave some room for expansion. Then if you vent them when hot they will suck in and concave the sides when cool - no winning :?
 
smckean (Tosca)":2tbx0tw9 said:
IMHO, this KVA designation is just a marketing ploy.
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Disagree. There is a difference between reactive and purely resistive loads. Those differences need to be and are taken into account in any larger scale AC distribution system. The power factor relates to how reactive (capacitive or inductive) the load is. I agree it usually isn't a big deal for a small portable generator... but I definitely disagree that it's just a marketing ploy.
 
garyf":3e3rb2p9 said:
Disagree
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As I said......IMHO

As it turns out, I have changed my opinion on the marketing ploy comment.

Some research has shown me that in the USA small generator output is usually stated in KW (kilowatts); hence the EU2200i claims to output up to 2200 watts. However, in most of the rest of the world, generators are usually rated in KVA (kilo-volts-amps). So the exact same EU2200 is sold by Honda overseas as the EU22i (as it is in the UK and in New Zealand for example). So it would seem that when Honda sells this new EU32i in the USA, it will be called the EU3200, and I assume it will be rated at 3200 watts.

P.S. I presume that with these small generators the "power factor" (PF) that technically relates KW to KVA is assumed to be 1.0 (which probably isn't exactly true).
 
I sure would think so - that's a lot of power and I have heard from the RV folks the 2200 runs an AC unit reliably depending on the factors. Some AC units, like the one on top of my RV, have a big capacitor to help with start up energy requirements. Mine has a second one for the fan as well. Anyway, it hardly even pulls a 4k genset down on startup while running a litany of other loads.
 
cdory25":tcz90jyf said:
But will it run my roof top air conditioner?
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There is a pretty good chance that the 2200 Honda will run you roof top RV air conditioner, if you put an EasyStart kit on the Air Conditioner. (Cost about $300.). This avoids full locked rotor amps at initial start up. No question with the EasyStart, the new 3200 Honda would run it.
 
What about the new Li ion battery inverters (Yeti Goal Zero, Bluetti, etc);
lighter in weight, shore power (120V) rechargeable, solar rechargeable,
car chargeable (auto is DC, OB engine is DC) and seem to be ideal for
marine use avoiding hazards of gas/propane?

It's said "Lithium is the new gasoline". Consider environment, pollution...

If you're insecure, you can even carry along one of those little outdated
Honda dual (gas/LPG) fuel chargers for a quick recharge, or, just to make
you feel better.

Aye.
 
Foggy":2xu8m83t said:
...It's said "Lithium is the new gasoline". Consider environment, pollution...
...
Click to expand...

Gasoline still has about 100 times the energy density of lithium batteries.

If you add in the energy requirements and carbon cost of actually mining the lithium and manufacturing the battery, are you actually ahead if you use a Li battery?

Only immediate advantage is that you move the source of the pollution (electric generating plant) somewhere away from the end user if you are using a battery vs. a generator (if you have access to shore power to charge the battery). It is possible that some or all of the energy used to charge you Li battery comes from renewable sources.
 
You would have to have a mighty big "inverter generator" to power an air conditioner. Every once in a while we have a C brat show up at a gathering, with his new "solar charger"--it is not even enough to run a refrigerator for 24 hours. In the real world of powering items, these are basically toys for people who have very low loads.

To run a RV roof air conditioner for 9200 to 13,000 BTU would for 8 hours at night would require a bank of about 500 amp hours usable. I did this with golf cart batteries in about 2002 for an express cruiser with a 5000 BTU Water cooled 120 V AC air conditioner. The 400 amp hour battery bank (Golf carts) would run bout 4 hours before it was "out of juice".

We are not there yet. Even though I had a 5,000 BTU air conditioner in the C Dory 25, with usable 200 amp hours of usable Li battery power, and a 2000 watt PSW inverter, I would not consider running the air conditioner on it.
 
thataway":quf4w3xf said:
You would have to have a mighty big "inverter generator" to power an air conditioner. Every once in a while we have a C brat show up at a gathering, with his new "solar charger"--it is not even enough to run a refrigerator for 24 hours. In the real world of powering items, these are basically toys for people who have very low loads.

To run a RV roof air conditioner for 9200 to 13,000 BTU would for 8 hours at night would require a bank of about 500 amp hours usable. I did this with golf cart batteries in about 2002 for an express cruiser with a 5000 BTU Water cooled 120 V AC air conditioner. The 400 amp hour battery bank (Golf carts) would run bout 4 hours before it was "out of juice".

We are not there yet. Even though I had a 5,000 BTU air conditioner in the C Dory 25, with usable 200 amp hours of usable Li battery power, and a 2000 watt PSW inverter, I would not consider running the air conditioner on it.
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The only "modest-sized" unit I've seen that is capable of sufficient overnight air conditioning is the one used in the Storyteller compact RV, based on the small Sprinter van.

https://1rm4pw3qup7umqlqkbggk81c-wpengi ... .28.20.pdf

Various units are available, but the Storyteller is usually outfitted with about 12 KW hours. About 350 lbs. All proprietary.

You could create the equivalent with LiFePO4 batteries and a large inverter, but after you depleted the cells with 8 hours or so of use overnight, how would you recharge them with outboard motors? At 35 watts for the new Honda 90 that would be 400 hours or so of running the motor for one night of air-conditioning. Even 1000 watts of solar won't completely do it under perfect conditions, and where would those panels fit on a C-Dory? The Storyteller Van has a second alternator that charges at 8000 watts, full output only >2500 RPM. Yes, we certainly aren't there with battery-powered air-conditioning for a C-Dory. Gasoline still holds an awful lot of energy in a compact form. Damn how that math constantly limits my hopes and dreams.

We looked at a Storyteller (and a Winnebago Revel) earlier, but towing wasn't great in case we wanted a 25 or Tomcat later, seating was limited, it'd be hard to get canoes and kayaks on top, and it cost about $200,000. Gas mileage wasn't that great either, similar to a 3/4 or 1 ton diesel truck. We opted for a truck and a pop-up camper.
 
Seems a Yeti Goal Zero 3000X would work for some. Then there's the 6000X, at
36 lbs heavier but with about 2X the below stats on run/charge time.
Want more juice, add Li ion batteries; lighter than lead-acid and pricier.

www.goalzero.com
Yeti Goal Zero 3000X
Capacity: 3032 Wh (10.8V, 280.8 Ah)
Wt: 69.78 lbs
400W solar charge time: 9 - 18 hrs

Hours of Runtime
Light-a-Life 350 (4.5 W): 674
Light Bulb (11 W): 276
CPAP (65 W): 47
TV (42" LED) (100 W): 31
Pellet Grill (60 W): 51
Microwave (1000 W): 3
Portable Fridge (25 W): 122
WiFi Router (25 W): 122
Mini Fridge (35 W): 87
Full Size Refrigerator (66 W): 46
Circular Saw (13 Amp) (1500 W): 2
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Aye.
I have zero vested interest in this company.
 
Foggy":2zyf3ncj said:
Seems a Yeti Goal Zero 3000X would work for some. Then there's the 6000X, at
36 lbs heavier but with about 2X the below stats on run/charge time.
Want more juice, add Li ion batteries; lighter than lead-acid and pricier.

www.goalzero.com
Yeti Goal Zero 3000X
Capacity: 3032 Wh (10.8V, 280.8 Ah)
Wt: 69.78 lbs
400W solar charge time: 9 - 18 hrs

Hours of Runtime
Light-a-Life 350 (4.5 W): 674
Light Bulb (11 W): 276
CPAP (65 W): 47
TV (42" LED) (100 W): 31
Pellet Grill (60 W): 51
Microwave (1000 W): 3
Portable Fridge (25 W): 122
WiFi Router (25 W): 122
Mini Fridge (35 W): 87
Full Size Refrigerator (66 W): 46
Circular Saw (13 Amp) (1500 W): 2
Click to expand...

Aye.
I have zero vested interest in this company.
Click to expand...


I use a Yeti 1000 in my boat and yes it can run a lot of things and the bigger ones can run even more. The problem is if you use up the capacity in a day you can not reliably put that capacity back with solar in 1 day. Most of the time I can put back what I use the next day cruising around for a few hours. This generator will meet the new emission standards that are being set. It's weight is even with the Yeti 3000. It doesn't need to be charged just add gas. My outboard runs on gas so I already have it on board.
 
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