Honda EU2000 Largest Charger

[sv_makai]

eu2000i gen and the freedom 20. I haven't seen the eu20i. What is the difference??

I will say that after about 6-8 months of cruising we only pulled the gen out help out friends. We found the mix of solar, wind gen, and optimization of our power usage meant we really didn't need the gen but it was still good to have in case.

[chala]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"Why is it that you can’t use two charges on a single battery bank at once?"
You can, and you can also have two wives and live in perfect harmony. But like the two wives, the two battery chargers may have different idea about reality and contradict each other, and make your life hell. The "smarter" each charger is, the more likely you'll get hell.

well put, beats super conductor

[johnar]

I must have missed something here The Honda 2000 have DC output so why run a charger off of it?


Dutch

[sv_makai]

12 volt output is only 8 amps dc. You would have to run for a long time to charge.

[hellosailor]

johnar, Honda are very clear that their 12v output is not suitable for anything except battery charging, it is a very "dirty" dc voltage that would damage a lot of equipment if used directly. There is also a web site someplace, I have seen it but don't have the URL, that shows oscilloscope readings of the DC output from the Honda because it is also a popular charger for ham radio operators in the field. VERY DIRTY POWER. Honda could probably change the manual to read "Hook up anything besides a battery at your own peril" but these days...who reads the manual?

[jdoe71]

I'm looking at putting in an IOTA charger with IQ4, largely because many many people on this forum have recommended them as a good unit at very reasonable cost.

The 75 amp unit spec sheet says "Maximum AC Current @ 108VAC 17 Amps". The Honda website shows the max output of the 2000I as being 13.3 amps at 120 volts, which would lead me to believe that the Honda could not power this charger. They are rated at two different voltages and I'm wondering if in fact that has an impact on the resulting amps number? Multiplying the Volts X amps to get Watts the charger number is 1836 watts input while the generator number is 1596 watts output. So it appears the generator is not powerful enough to run this charger.

I'm not an expert on the math around watts/amps/volts, can anybody shed any light on this? Does anybody have an IOTA DLS 75 that they run with a small generator? I can go 55 amp charger but prefer the 75 amp unit if the gen can run it.

[hellosailor]

""Maximum AC Current @ 108VAC 17 Amps". "
That means that at full output, it will need 17 Amps of input. Depending on the design, that might mean it needs 1836 watts, which is only 15.3 amps at 120 volts. But the odds are it needs 17 amps regardless. If your charger can only put out 13 amps, you can use that inverter as long as you don't ever try to draw 75 amps from the output. You might be able to put a 55A load on it, but at that point you can expect something to blow a fuse, overheat, burnout, or simply crump. (Voltage will drop so low something stops working. If you're lucky, with no damges.)

So sure, the Honda charger can power that inverter--as long as you ensure the load is never above, say 50 amps. If your load is batteries and you are relying on them to self-regulate (so to speak) no, you don't want to do that unless you're sure your battery bank will never pull more than 50 amps.

You'd be safer using an inverter that can't draw more than some 1500 watts, if you are supplying it from a charger that puts out 1596 watts. (Bear in mind 12 volt chargers usually put out 14.3-14.4 volts when charging, 13.8 minimum, not just 12.)

[btrayfors]

I think Hello Sailor misread the question. It's not an inverter. It's a battery charger...the Iota DLS-75/IQ4.

Yes, others have had success running this charger with the EU2000i. However, it's a "just barely" situation.

Note that the Iota puts out near maximum charging current for much longer than many chargers; therefore, it draws relatively high amperages for a longer period.

Depends in large part on your batteries, too. Their type and their state-of-charge matter a lot.

With flooded batteries, they won't take a high charge rate for very long, and it will only be 25-30% of their rated AH. AGMs, by contrast, will take just about all the juice you can throw at them. That's why they love to burn up alternators which weren't meant to put out so much current for so long (unless they're properly matched in capacity AND have a good external regulator running interference for them). Similarly, one would expect the DLS-75/IQ4 to put out near maximum amperage for much longer with AGMs than with flooded batteries.

Bill

[lucseawalker]

I have a Honda 2000i and I run a Magnum MagnaSine 2500W - 100 Amp charger. The generator can handle the 100Amp charging. I have a 900 Amp/h bank so I can charge with higher amp than you can. But I only run it long enough to get my battery bank to 90-95% full. Afterwards, it just take too long for waht you get. I only use that system when my solar/wind cannot keep up (rare!). Hope this helps!

Originally Posted by phiggins

Hi,

I know this has probably been asked before but after searching 20 pages in the archives I still don't have a clear answer.

My battery bank is about 400ah wetcell. I want to buy a Honda EU2000 to charge the batteries. My charger is currently a Xantrex TrueCharge 40. My Link 20 indicates that if I have discharged the batteries by 50%, 200ah, it only charges them at a maximum of 37amps so it take over 5.4 hours to recharge them.

The Honda EU200 in theory could sustain a charge rate of 16a on the 120V side or 140 amps at 14v on the output of the charger without tripping so if I had a 100amp charger I could charge the batteries in 2 hours. But on one thread I found someone said that wetcell batteries need at least 5 hours to recharge properly, True?

Be interested to hear from anyone who has 2000w genset. What size/kind charger do you have and how fast can you recharge the batteries?

Thanks Paul

[Zydeco]

Originally Posted by jdoe71

I'm looking at putting in an IOTA charger with IQ4, largely because many many people on this forum have recommended them as a good unit at very reasonable cost.

The 75 amp unit spec sheet says "Maximum AC Current @ 108VAC 17 Amps". The Honda website shows the max output of the 2000I as being 13.3 amps at 120 volts, which would lead me to believe that the Honda could not power this charger. They are rated at two different voltages and I'm wondering if in fact that has an impact on the resulting amps number? Multiplying the Volts X amps to get Watts the charger number is 1836 watts input while the generator number is 1596 watts output. So it appears the generator is not powerful enough to run this charger.

I'm not an expert on the math around watts/amps/volts, can anybody shed any light on this? Does anybody have an IOTA DLS 75 that they run with a small generator? I can go 55 amp charger but prefer the 75 amp unit if the gen can run it.

We have an Iota DLS 75 w/IQ4 and a Honda eu2000i. Works fine. We have a 440 ah house battery bank made up of 4 Trojan T-105s. When we first got this set up, it was a little slow to charge the batteries from 50%. I posted about it here, and the advice I got was that after a few cycles it would work better and also to take what the Link 20 says as an estimate rather than gospel. It was good advice.

Now, with the batteries down about 200 amps, running off the Honda the Iota will put out 75 amps for a bit , then slowly wind down as the batteries charge. Takes about 3.5 to 4 hours to charge from 50% to 85-90%.

[hellosailor]

Yes, Bill, I misunderstood that. I read charger but said to myself, now why would anyone use a charger when the Honda genset already has a DC output? (I know, the AC output is rated for more power.) Still...double conversions and all that make it an inelegant kludge, at best.

If the Iota is just a charger...I'd just start out with a genset that had enough power and use one box rather than two. Or use the charger when you're on a power cord, versus the genset when you're not.

Zydeco-
How long have you been getting away with that? Actually pulling a 100% load for how long? My own experience, and I'd expect others' , is that you can abuse mismatched equipment that way, sometimes for years, but sometimes the mismatch is going to make the Gods of Magic Gray Smoke suck all the magic gray smoke out of one box or the other, and you never can put that right again. Overloads are generally a bad idea.

[Zydeco]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Zydeco-
How long have you been getting away with that? Actually pulling a 100% load for how long? My own experience, and I'd expect others' , is that you can abuse mismatched equipment that way, sometimes for years, but sometimes the mismatch is going to make the Gods of Magic Gray Smoke suck all the magic gray smoke out of one box or the other, and you never can put that right again. Overloads are generally a bad idea.

We've used the honda/iota combo since last spring. We can go about 4 days without charging so that covers even long weekends on the hook. So we only need to charge if we are on the hook for for more than 4 days which has been maybe half a dozen times since last spring. It really has not seemed to be a problem. As I mentioned, the Iota only puts out 75 amps for 15-20 minutes at best before the amps start dropping. In any event, JDoe71 wanted to know if this combination works and all I can say is it has worked for us so far.

[fullkeel2]

Does anyone have any experience with the ProMariner ProTech i series chargers. I like the idea of the Honda 2000 genset but would like to have a single charger that I can power through both shore power and the genset.

[sailingmonica]

Using a Magnum MS2812 inverter/charger and very happy with it. Can charge the batteries both from shore power and Honda 2000 generator. It takes a few hours to reach full charge because of the size of the battery bank we have. If you ever use the Magnum, you must always adjust input current on the charge controller (30A when on shore power, 15A when using the Honda generator to charge). If you leave the charge controller on 30A while using the Honda which only outputs 13A, the demand for higher amperage will kill the Honda.


http://www.magnumenergy.com/Literatu...20Rev%20F).pdf

[fullkeel2]

the magnum sure does look solid but is way out of my price range. I was hoping to get into a charger i could use for 4 group 27 lead acid bateries and not spend more then $450. Any thoughts?