Honda 2000 Generator

[gbmhiscoe]

We currently have a xantrex freedom 458-25 Charger. We are trying to use the Honda 2000 generator to charge our house batteries. When we turn on the AC power switch to begin the charging, the generator revs up and kicks out to overload.
Has anyone had this problem?
Thanks
Mike

[ol1970]

Hmmm....no I've got the Honda 2000 Generator and 80amp smart charger (intelliwizard maybe is the name?...it is not a marine brand, but made for the RV industry). Anyway the system has worked flawlessly since day one. Are you saying the Honda goes immediately into overload? Silly question, but have you tried using the Honda on its own to assure it is operating just fine stand alone?

[sailormed]

I am not an expert. but I would look into the ground connexion. The boat next to me had a comparable problem caused by a security on the grounding system. He solved it by disconnecting the grounding to the generator. Problem solved. It was not a Honda generator I must say.

[btrayfors]

The Honda EU2000i is much too small for that charger.

The Freedom 458-25 is a 2500 watt continuous (7000 watt intermittent) output inverter. It is rated for 130A output in the charging mode.

The Honda 2000 is capable of driving a battery charger in the 70-80A output range. For example, it will easily power an Iota 55A or 75A charger, a Sterling Pronautic 60A charger, etc. But nothing anywhere near as large as your Freedom.

Bill

[brianlara 3]

Try this.
With all of your AC and DC cables in good condition and connected, with the Xantrax turned to OFF , Honda eco throttle turned to ON, start the generator. Once gen is running turn eco to OFF. Now and only now, turn the battery charger ON.....give it time to boot. Just because it has electricity running to it doesn't mean it charges. It's like computer, need time to boot, to receive from your batteries SOC their requirements and how to respond. The charger will likely take up to 30 seconds to kick in.
If every thing is good = charging, turn the eco to ON.
Never connect an appliance to any generator unless the eco is OFF and it is producing full power by way of RPM's. Once booted turn eco to ON.
Smart chargers running off portable generators can trip the gen unless maximum current is available to the charger just as it is when plugging into an AC outlet on the wall.
Good luck.

[brianlara 3]

Btrayfors got in ahead of me but my advice is good, trayfors will concur, he is a professional in this field.
When I read your post my lame brain assumed that "25" was twenty five amps...not 2500watts !!.
Must be a lot of batteries. IF, the charger is appropriate for your needs then you'll need two Hondas in parralel.
Either a huge boat or you've stumbled upon the wrong charger for your little Honda.
You've not mentioned your battery bank nor the vessel. Might help.
At the end of the day, Btrayfors is the best and most helpful expert I've come across (free as well!!!) in my C. 60 years as an automotive professional.
"B's" advice is priceless and will hold you in good stead.
Curious....what is the installation?

[Schooner Chandlery]

We have three chargers that charge different batteries in a series (36V from 3 battery banks), a 50A, 30A, and a 20A charger --one for each bank in the series. Normally, the Honda EU2000 can do just fine when we use it to charge the boat but on occasion it will be overloaded if we also have other things running on the boat like say an air compressor, vacuum, etc.

You could use 2 EU-2000 linked together (some people do that for startup loads...) as the battery bank gets charged up you could turn one of the two off.

[Redline452]

On my xantrex (since replaced) the startup current when the charger first begins charging would consistently trip my Honda EU2000. I've also read that the Xantrex has a poor power factor which (without getting into all the details) makes the load on the generator appear worse than it is). The heavy draw lasts less than a minute (measured on shore power) but it's enou to trip off the Honda.

The Xantrex has a setting for IIRC "power sharing" meant to reduce its current draw (and output power) on limited shore power connections. I set mine to about 80% and the Honda was happy. In theory this reduced my available charging current, but in practice it never stays at max very long, so we never noticed any difference even on shore power.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[brianlara 3]

Redline. Thanks, useful info.
Cheers
Brian.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

The Honda EU2000i is much too small for that charger.

The Freedom 458-25 is a 2500 watt continuous (7000 watt intermittent) output inverter. It is rated for 130A output in the charging mode.

The Honda 2000 is capable of driving a battery charger in the 70-80A output range. For example, it will easily power an Iota 55A or 75A charger, a Sterling Pronautic 60A charger, etc. But nothing anywhere near as large as your Freedom.

Bill

Bingo!!

In bulk charge the 458-25 will draw somewhere in the neighborhood of 24-26A from the AC source.. The max continuous output of the EU2000 is 13.3A AC or about 1600W.

I do not believe this model of Xantrex I/C can be current limited or de-rated specifically on the charge side, like some other models can. Ideally you would have the option to de-rate the charge side to 60A or so in order to run it off a genset. I believe that unit can be set for reduced power share and that may solve your problem.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Mike.

[chowdan]

My apologies for highjacking thread, however i do feel it somewhat pertains to this thread.

I'm looking to get my little 27ft bristol a small generator as well. Been looking at the Generac IQ series and a few others.

How does one calculate the amps coming from a generator?

I know a = w/v, however if you use the formula for a 12v plug you'll see a simple 1000w generator will produce 83.3amps.

I've seen some generator/inverter setups that dont specify the amps on the 12v plugs.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by chowdan

My apologies for highjacking thread, however i do feel it somewhat pertains to this thread.

I'm looking to get my little 27ft bristol a small generator as well. Been looking at the Generac IQ series and a few others.

How does one calculate the amps coming from a generator?

I know a = w/v, however if you use the formula for a 12v plug you'll see a simple 1000w generator will produce 83.3amps.

I've seen some generator/inverter setups that dont specify the amps on the 12v plugs.

The power rating for generators is in Watts. Watts, in the very simplified version, is Volts times Amps. So to calculate Amps divide Watts by Volts.

So a 1200 Watt generator will produce 10 Amps at 120V AC which would convert to 100 Amps at 12V DC. Of course the generator is only producing AC and that 100 Amps DC would have to come from a battery charger you run off the generator. NOTE: Some generators do have a DC output but usually very low power and not related to the generator's actual max power rating. Also, due to losses, efficiencies, etc you will not be able to run a full 100 amp battery charger from a 1200 Watt AC generator.

DISCLAIMER!!!!!

YES, I know about the power factor issue calculating the efficiency of AC powered devices like battery chargers and the losses due to efficiency of the conversion from AC to DC, etc, etc, etc. The above is just to give Chowdan a close approximation so he can easily calculate tan reasonably accurate answer to his question.

[brianlara 3]

Question, clever people?
Is Mike's charger marine dedicated or otherwise?
Just interested, not seen by me in OZ.
Also curious to know Mikes bank capacity/configuration.

[brianlara 3]

Chowdan. FWIW, I will never again buy a gen which ISN'T called Yamaha or Honda.
My bank balance has, in the past, suffered from getting cheap generators.
Presently its Ryobi, six month, runs perfectly ONCE I can get it started. And mechanics usually can start things. Not my pig of a thing....that said, beautifully designed, engineered and assembled in my opinion.
Cheap is often seriously expensive.
Ditto chargers. Victron is king, next prob Sterling/Xantrax. IMHO.
Good luck, your Bristol deserves a gennie.