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Old 21-11-2008, 16:37   #31
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All Charged Up On The Honda 2KW

Can't say anything bad about these units. Have had mine for 4 years and no problem (knock on wood). We fire it up each morning when the wife want's to make her coffee and toast the bagels. Much better than drainin the house bank plus you get to charge the house bank a bit with the internal inverter/charger. The fastest way to charge the starting and house banks are to start them engines and let the alternators to their their thing. Nice if you're motor sailing. But these Honda generators are awesome. Just lock them up if you're leaving them outside.
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Old 23-11-2008, 22:16   #32
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Honda 2000

I own and use a Honda 2000i (cost about $1,000) as does a friend of mine. I have a 40 amp shore power charger that I drive with my Honda to top up the batteries. The Honda makes the charger run at full capacity if the battery bank is down enough to warrant this level of charge. I can heat my water tank at the same time. My friend has a larger boat, larger shore charger (100 amp) and a larger battery bank. His Honda 2000i will allow his charger to put out about 90 amps per hour, but no more, and will not heat water at the same time. He can get away with about one hour or so of run time for every day on the hook and keep the batteries fairly charged.
As has been stated, store gasoline safely, outdoors away from ignition sources. Ensure that the gas tank vent is properly closed and the generator itself is safely stored. Install a CO detector inside the cabin, close up the hatches near the generator when running, and vent the boat after using. I would not run the generator when we are planning to go to sleep. If common sense precautions are followed, this is relatively safe. After all, a large number of boaters have gasoline engines and propane stoves, both of which are relatively safe if safety precautions are followed.
Good luck with your plans,
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Old 24-11-2008, 05:13   #33
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[quote=also, these do not produce a pure sine wave.[/quote]

I could not find a model H2000i in the current US Honda web site but they list an EU2000ia. Apparently "i" models are inverters and not regular generators and, according to Honda, make a perfect sine wave. If you go to the link below and click on the sentence "Advanced inverter technology" it will show you a real pretty picture of sine wave, just like one in you trig text book.

Wonder if the real thing looks the same? Has anyone hooked one of these us to a oscilloscope to see what the wave actually looks like?

Also, perhaps the H2000i a differenct or older model?

Honda Power Equipment - EU2000i
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Old 11-12-2008, 13:19   #34
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Reverse Polarity?

I carry a Honda EB3000 on my stern with the thought of using it to keep my batteries charged on my new(old actually) boat. Beats using the diesel. After hooking it up to the main connection to the boat and letting it run for a while, the "reverse polarity" light shows up on my main circuit board. I called my electrician--just had her rewired. He says that because I don't have the ground on the generator looked up to the ground on my boat, it throws the power signal off and over to a reverse polarity mode. He has urged me to not use it until I wire it into the circuit correctly--hook it up to the ground circuit.

Any truth to this or is he just blowing smoke? I sure don't like having that little light come on.
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Old 11-12-2008, 14:12   #35
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Been running my Honda for three years or so. The reverse polarity light comes on. First time I saw it, it freaked me out but in checking found out no harm comes of it. I don't understand a lot about electricity, apparently it's a floating ground or something.
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Old 11-12-2008, 15:13   #36
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Honda Generator

My reverse polarity indicator does not come on when I use my Yamaha generator. However, it seems like the more I use it, the faster I go through zincs---I am not sure if I am dreaming about this. I do not have any ground connected, but probably have charged 500 hours with it over the last couple years.
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Old 11-12-2008, 15:31   #37
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The reverse polarity issue is often raised when asking about the Honda gensets. It is nothing to be concerned about - next time you ask an electrician for advice, make sure he is a marine electrician as there are some fundamental differences.
In this case, the H has what is mistakenly called a floating ground. In point of fact, the generator isn't grounded but is wired such that 60V is present on both sides of ground. The resultant 60V potential is what lights up your reverse polarity light but can be safely ignored.
The only way this can cause zinc problems is if there is some underlying problem which this exacerbates.
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Old 11-12-2008, 15:56   #38
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This has been a very interesting thread to say the least. I use the Honda EN2000I and installed the 20 amp plug a sealed shore power cord that goes to my 120 30 AMP shore power plug. Basically I bought a new 50 foot cord from west marine and installed the proper marine waether sealed 20 amp plug. I only used enough cord to run from my generator to my ships plug this way I'm not loosing volts or amps due to too long of a run. I can heat my hot water, charge up my batteries from my true charge 20+. I built a locker for it on the foredeck in front of my cabin and installed 8 inch deck plates for the exhaust, forward vent and the electrical access area. This works well at achorage because your bow always stays in the wind which helps vent the locker to keep the fenerator cool. Also be advise that since you don't have a earth ground when running your EU2000I you will most likely get a reverse polarity light. The light was very dim and all my AC systems worked fine. The last thing I will mention is to change your oil frequently, 10 hours the first run and 25 hours after, this will give your EU2000I many happy years and it will be cheap cruising insurance for you.
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Old 13-03-2019, 07:37   #39
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Re: Honda generator for charging batteries

Old thread but wanted to add my experience. I have a honda 2200 on a 43 beneteau with sugar scope transom and swim platform. On anchor I sit the gen on swim platform and connect to my on board 80 amp charger/2000 watt inverter. I charge every morning for a little over an hour to top my batteries. They are typically down 70 to 120 AMPS. Then I let the solar panels finish off the charge. I typically stop the generator when the charger is only putting in 20 amps. I have 610 AH Wet LEAD Acid bank, so an 80 AMP charge is OK. If you have a smaller bank, an 80 amp charger may be too big depending on battery chemistry.
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Old 16-03-2019, 10:36   #40
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Re: Honda generator for charging batteries

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Originally Posted by S/V Illusion View Post
The reverse polarity issue is often raised when asking about the Honda gensets. It is nothing to be concerned about - next time you ask an electrician for advice, make sure he is a marine electrician as there are some fundamental differences.
In this case, the H has what is mistakenly called a floating ground. In point of fact, the generator isn't grounded but is wired such that 60V is present on both sides of ground. The resultant 60V potential is what lights up your reverse polarity light but can be safely ignored.
The only way this can cause zinc problems is if there is some underlying problem which this exacerbates.
A marine electrician will tell you that you are in violation of abyc and that gen should be left at home where it Belongs. Not on-board risking the lives of the boat owner, his family, other boaters, and coast guard crew members.
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Old 16-03-2019, 10:38   #41
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Re: Honda generator for charging batteries

Omg people don’t bring back 10 year threads.
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Old 29-11-2019, 08:05   #42
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Re: Honda generator for charging batteries

adding one more point here: the Yamaha ef2000 (or ef2200 now) inverter charger. I bought the Yamaha over the Honda because I found it more than $200 less, with the same specs as the Honda. Honda's are good too, but $200+!
I've used my Yamaha for 2 years now. I ran computers, lights, and fridge during power outage in a blizzard, electric chainsaw in the woods behind my house, buffer on the boat. Economy mode is really smart. quiet too.
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Old 29-11-2019, 09:06   #43
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Re: Honda generator for charging batteries

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adding one more point here: the Yamaha ef2000 (or ef2200 now) inverter charger. I bought the Yamaha over the Honda because I found it more than $200 less, with the same specs as the Honda. Honda's are good too, but $200+!
I've used my Yamaha for 2 years now. I ran computers, lights, and fridge during power outage in a blizzard, electric chainsaw in the woods behind my house, buffer on the boat. Economy mode is really smart. quiet too.
I have a Yamaha 3kW inverter/generator at home and a Honda EU2000 on the boat. Love the Yamaha but for the boat I see one problem.

I can use my standard shore power cord with a 30 amp Marinco twist lock plug to connect the Honda Companion generator directly to my shore power system or use the same cord to connect to shore power. The photos I see of the Yamaha show a different style (RV maybe?) 30 amp connector so would have to use an adapter or a different cord.
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Old 29-11-2019, 09:17   #44
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Re: Honda generator for charging batteries

my Yamaha has two normal US 15A receptacles, plus the DC output, plus the Sidewinder ports.
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Old 29-11-2019, 12:58   #45
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Re: Honda generator for charging batteries

This Yamaha 3KW - EF3000iSEB inverter / generator appears to have a 30A Twistlock receptacle (NEMA L5-30), to me, but it could be a 15 or 20 (same configuration, but smaller)



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