Small generators

[roscoFJ73]

I bought a Yamaha 1000efis Blue Whisper generator to run my Waeco 50 litre fridge ,lights and recharge the landcruiser battery should it go flat.
(the fridge has a low battery cutout so it shouldnt happen)

I got to say the Yamaha is quiet ,I think 57dB. Im not sure what the Honda is but the Engals which is also a good unit is 58dB which is noticably louder.

The Yamaha is also extremely lightweigt and easy to start.

 

[78-FJ40]

I recently ran #4AWG to a 4000W peak / 2000W continuous inverter that is wired direct to the battery, and is mounted out of the way in the rear cargo area. Its quiet, dependable, and cheaper than a generator. Plus, I don't worry about gas for it. It has a battery minder that turns itself off if the battery gets too low, so I don't worry about draining the battery.

What brand/model? The auto-shutoff feature is nice. Have you used it to the point where it shuts off? Any problems starting afterwards?

 

[Walton]

Don't buy anything but a Honda....

 

[concretejungle]

another vote for the small honda unit.

Last two seasons i worked for a NASCAR team we had a small honda generator that ran our pitbox. It ran two t.v.'s, three flat screens, a satellite dish, hydraulic pump, and several other power tools. It was super quiet and always worked. Never ever had a problem with it.

 

[alia176]

FINALLY, I got to use the Honda generator today! We had a massive power outage beginning at 0400 hrs this morning to 2000 hrs. Somehow a high voltage pole came down (possible guy wire failure?).

I hooked up the generator to the house and backfed power through one of the kitchen outlets. Basically the whole house was hot minus all 230 volts and the main 200amp breakers. We were able to function semi normal until power was restored.

A big thumbs up for even a small 2kw generator for coming through on a crunch. I can't even imagine how mad my wife would be if all of the thanksgiving fixings went to waste in the fridge! The Engel held the turkey (in my 80) while the fridge kept everything else cold.

Ali

 

[CDN_Cruiser]

I hooked up the generator to the house and backfed power through one of the kitchen outlets. Basically the whole house was hot minus all 230 volts and the main 200amp breakers. We were able to function semi normal until power was restored.

Ali

Cool - how does this work? You literally plug an output line from the generator to any outlet and that energizes the 120V circuits? I didn't know that was a option (ie I thought you had to run power directly from outlets on the generator

 

[alia176]

Cool - how does this work? You literally plug an output line from the generator to any outlet and that energizes the 120V circuits? I didn't know that was a option (ie I thought you had to run power directly from outlets on the generator

First of all, please research this thoroughly before attempting what I've done! Basically, the premise is to feed the bus bars in your electrical panel through an outlet. Before you do this, you HAVE to make sure that you're totally disconnected from the power grid. You do that by simply turning off your main house breaker. That's the mondo 100 or 200 amp breaker located at the very top of your service panel or right below your power meter.

Once your disconnected from the power company, you can now power up your house on a very limited basis. Shut off the breakers to all of your 220volt appliances ie. electric dryer, stove, range, garage, furnace heaters, etc.. Also, turn off all other breakers as well for now.

Now, make yourself an extension cord, preferably as short as possible with male plugs at each end. Fire up the Generator, let it stabilize. Plug one end of the ext cord into an outlet, the other end into the generator. Depending on the configuration of your service panel, you may be able to "back feed" 120 volt power to the entire service panel.

Turn on only the important 120V breakers ie. fridge, lights, etc.. In my case, I turned on all 120v breakers and left all appliances/lights turned off. I simply turned on the lights as I needed to but kept the fridge running continuously. Most of the lights in our house is using efficient fluor light bulbs which take very little power. Effectively, you can have quite a few bulbs turned on w/o eating up the Honda's capacity. Also, a projector TV takes fewer watts to run than an old fashion tube TV!

Meanwhile, keep an eye on the neighbors to see when they get power. Once power from the power company has been verified and no more brown outs are ocurring, unplug the ext cord from the generator. Turn off the generator, go into the house and unplug the ext cord from the electrical outlet. Go to the service panel and turn on the main breaker and then proceed to turn on the remaining circuit breakers.

The Honda has an Econ feature which makes it super quiet as it simply humms along. I'm very impressed with what a 2000W Generator can supply in a pinch.

Cheers.

 

[Cabrito]

Will ths work work with a Honda eu1000

I'm very impressed with what a 2000W Generator can supply in a pinch.

I immagine useing a 1000w generator would work as well but with more limitations. Yes?
-Michael

 

[alia176]

I'd think so. Mine puts out 13 amps and you now have an idea of what it can run. Obviously the 1000W unit is half the amps so make sure to add up the load current ratings. Don't forget to take into accounts the starting inrush currents for all of your appliances.

Most Generator sites gives you an interactive spreadsheet to help you tally up your total power requirements.

Good luck,

Ali

 

[Cabrito]

Thanks Ali,

Yes I am used to doing the amp math from my a/v days (audio visual)
I am also totally aware of the start-up amps being higher.

I can't wait to try this out.
Thanks,
Michael

 

[890man]

I have an old honda ex650 that was my grandfathers that he used in his fifth wheel. I dont know how old it is or how many hours it has on it but he sold his trailer about five years ago. After cleaning some crud out of the fuel bowl, it will start on the first pull every time. I have a friend with an eu2000 which is the same physical size as mine but puts out much more power and is also pretty quiet. The 650 will run my fridge/freezer and thats all I really care about at this time so no upgrade yet but I will get a honda again.

 

[LoveTractor]

First of all, please research this thoroughly before attempting what I've done! Basically, the premise is to feed the bus bars in your electrical panel through an outlet. Before you do this, you HAVE to make sure that you're totally disconnected from the power grid. You do that by simply turning off your main house breaker. That's the mondo 100 or 200 amp breaker located at the very top of your service panel or right below your power meter.

Once your disconnected from the power company, you can now power up your house on a very limited basis. Shut off the breakers to all of your 220volt appliances ie. electric dryer, stove, range, garage, furnace heaters, etc.. Also, turn off all other breakers as well for now.

Now, make yourself an extension cord, preferably as short as possible with male plugs at each end. Fire up the Generator, let it stabilize. Plug one end of the ext cord into an outlet, the other end into the generator. Depending on the configuration of your service panel, you may be able to "back feed" 120 volt power to the entire service panel.

Turn on only the important 120V breakers ie. fridge, lights, etc.. In my case, I turned on all 120v breakers and left all appliances/lights turned off. I simply turned on the lights as I needed to but kept the fridge running continuously. Most of the lights in our house is using efficient fluor light bulbs which take very little power. Effectively, you can have quite a few bulbs turned on w/o eating up the Honda's capacity. Also, a projector TV takes fewer watts to run than an old fashion tube TV!

Meanwhile, keep an eye on the neighbors to see when they get power. Once power from the power company has been verified and no more brown outs are ocurring, unplug the ext cord from the generator. Turn off the generator, go into the house and unplug the ext cord from the electrical outlet. Go to the service panel and turn on the main breaker and then proceed to turn on the remaining circuit breakers.

The Honda has an Econ feature which makes it super quiet as it simply humms along. I'm very impressed with what a 2000W Generator can supply in a pinch.

Cheers.

And just to make sure some aren't jumping to the end of the thread to read this, I will STRESS that you have to turn off your main breaker before attempting the above mentioned procedure. If you keep your main breaker on, the power of your generator gets pumped back into your neighborhood's power grid. An unsuspecting power company worker may accidently try to work on a supposedly dead line that YOU are unwittingly generating power to and KILL him/her. TURN YOUR MAIN BREAKER SWITCH OFF TO PREVENT A BACK CURRENT THAT COULD KILL A PERSON!! It has happened and shouldn't.

Sorry, just felt like the issue cannot be over-explained.

 

[Campfire]

And just to make sure some aren't jumping to the end of the thread to read this, I will STRESS that you have to turn off your main breaker before attempting the above mentioned procedure. If you keep your main breaker on, the power of your generator gets pumped back into your neighborhood's power grid. An unsuspecting power company worker may accidently try to work on a supposedly dead line that YOU are unwittingly generating power to and KILL him/her. TURN YOUR MAIN BREAKER SWITCH OFF TO PREVENT A BACK CURRENT THAT COULD KILL A PERSON!! It has happened and shouldn't.

Sorry, just felt like the issue cannot be over-explained.

I'm going to sound like an echo here. Here on the west coast Pacific Gas & Electric ( PG&E) puts on classes for emergency responders and have taught us that all lines are considered live because of this happening. If you have a meter above your panel box, this is what MUST be "pulled" to fully disconnect from the grid.
If you really need to do this, have a certified electrician install a switching box next to the panel. Or build yourself an extension cord that tees off for your fridge and lights. Just keep it separate and don't kill the poor guy just doing his job.

AND HONDA ALL THE WAY!This little suckers was for the house, but sold it to buy the EU3000.

And this ones for the trailer and trail runs. It fits right in the back of the Cruiser.

 

[alia176]

Holy Cow Them are some generators!

Your "small" sized generator could run my house, I think.

 

[Gold Boy]

is there a better generator than this EU2000iC in its class, dollar for dollar, watt for watt?

 

[450 DUDE]

is there a better generator than this EU2000iC in its class, dollar for dollar, watt for watt?

If you are concerned about db's No.
At work we have 4 of these units, they perform with no worries all the time.

There is something to be said about reputation.

ken

 

[rusty_tlc]

First of all, please research this thoroughly before attempting what I've done! ....
Now, make yourself an extension cord, preferably as short as possible with male plugs at each end. ...

This is call a suicide cord, you figure out how it gets the name.

 

[bjowett]

From what I've read, you won't go wrong with either Honda or Yami. Both tend to be pricey for the output, but are extremely quiet.

 

[Gold Boy]

the EU2000iC seems to be the smallest for the watts.

 

[450 DUDE]

Bring out ur dead...........

Does anybody remember the name of the place they got their Honda's from through Hull Truth ?

The sad thing is I ordered 4 of them a while back but I cant seem to find the info.

(tech content: @ work we have 5 EU 2000 and they work perfectly.)



Thanks,
ken