Amperage from Honda 2000

[robertrwolfe]

I have a Honda 2000 generator that I use occasionally when I am anchored out. If my house battery bank (500 amps) gets low, 11.5 volts, I plug in my shore power cord to the generator, the amperage spikes and shuts down the battery charger. I don't have this problem when plugging in to regular 30 amp shore power. Any ideas?

[JimsCAL]

The Honda is good for about 15 amps of 120 VAC power, so about half your 30 amp shore power. Even so, I would think it would easily handle almost any battery charger. Is something else running at the same time? Have you tried shutting off all AC loads but the charger?

[robertrwolfe]

Yes, i tried that. I recently installed a Go Power charger,
Go Power! 3000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger

Inverter Input: 12 Volt DC, Inverter Output: 115 Volt AC / 3000 Watts
Charger Input: 120 Volt AC / 18 Amps, Charger Output: 12 Volt DC / 125 Amps
Inverter AC Output Connections: Split Phase In / Dual Out, Dual In / Dual Out
Model Number: GP-IC-3000-12.

Don't know if any of these specs help. Pretty much out of my element here, thanks for your assistance!

[JimsCAL]

Big inverter chatger! With an input of 18 amps of AC power, the Honda is not going to handle that. Any way to limit the DC output as that will reduce the AC input. Or get a smaller charger just for when you need to run the Honda to charge the batteries.

[Riggerman]

You will get 15 amps out of it. I have one and run it regularly to use power tools, charge the boat batteries ( once or twice a week for 2 hours) Yes you can have a surge at start up. I used to blow a 30 amp fuse on My charger. Now I turn off My charger for the first few minutes of starting the generator and flip the breaker back on. No more fuse blowing.

[robertrwolfe]

Thank you both, just talked with the GoPower folks, seems there is a way to limit the DC output through the control panel.

[donradcliffe]

With the Xantrex inverter chargers, there is a way to limit the AC demand from the charger through the remote. GoPower probably has something similar.

[landlockedgm]

Make sure the eco mode is off so the generator is at full speed. If you have remote panel go in and change the shore power max to match the generator output.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by robertrwolfe

If my house battery bank (500 amps) gets low, 11.5 volts, I plug in my shore power cord to the generator, the amperage spikes and shuts down the battery charger.

Did you mean "shuts down the generator" as in the generator goes into overload protection mode?

I assume there is no other AC draw on the system?

11.5v is <= 20% SOC. That seems very low. What is the frequency and duration that you're running the generator? What is you average draw?

[LLCoolDave]

I'm no battery expert and you don't mention what type batteries you have installed but I'm assuming it's a 12v system. At 12.2v your batteries are 50% discharged. 11.8v is a near fully discharged battery. It looks like you are doing some serious harm to your batteries by discharging so low.

[john61ct]

Honda 2000 can support charging 12V at 90-100 amps rate continuously, depending on the voltage setpoint.

Startup spikes can be a problem though.

The ideal is an AC-DC charging source where the amps current rate can be reduced when needed.

[lvictorlucas]

If it shuts down within a second the problem may inrush current. There are several ways to prevent this so I suggest you just Google the term. If it takes several seconds then the draw is too large. There are again several solutions depending on your abilities such as placing a resistance in series until the battery is mostly charged.

[robertrwolfe]

Thanks, I have 4 Lifeline 125 amp, 12V batteries. Usually my solar panels will keep them at 12.5 or above, the 11.2 was after waking up and the previous day was a bit overcast. My fault for not keeping better track. Thanks for your input

[Stu Jackson]

Heart Interface (the good guys) and Xantrex (ugh) call it Power Share:


Power Share Feature for Link 2000 Controlling Honda Generators
Very helpful hint to control generators and 20A shorepower
Power Share feature on Link 2000

[Valmika]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Honda 2000 can support charging 12V at 90-100 amps rate continuously, depending on the voltage setpoint.

Startup spikes can be a problem though.

The ideal is an AC-DC charging source where the amps current rate can be reduced when needed.

I have a Magnum 2000 inverter charger and I was told by Magnum to dial down the charger to under 50 amps when running on the honda 2000