EU1000 Versus EU2000

Concerning Wise sales- I'm leary of mail order, always like to kick the tires and fondle the merchandise before laying out the money but Wise had by far the best prices on the Honda EU2k so I took a shot. One call and four days later there was a nice little gen set at my door as advertised...good outfit, two thumbs up.

I debated 1k vs 2k gen sets and decided that the 2k was only about 14# heavier than the 1k (what the heck is 14#? most folks pack more than 14# of beer onboard). Another consideration is that with, say, an 8oo watt load that 1k machine is going to be running hard wheras the 2k is going to be just loafing, less rpm, less noise....mind you, ideally for the health and efficiency of the generator, loafing isn't a good thing so when I fire up the hot plate and the heater it gets loaded...that little $14 electric hot plate is sure a handy item, you'll be surprised at how many otherr handy electric items you'll run into once you have juice onboard (that's where the weight comes in)

Sea Wolf Joe and I where fiddling around with generator gas caps the would allow you to hook up to the main fuel tank for extended running. I purchased a Honda fitting and installed it into a gas cap from a Harmony mower, this allows one to unhook the fuel line from the outboard and hook it to the generator....aint field tested it yet, should work.

don't forget to get a CO detector
 
Joe, did you ever figure out where your air leak was coming from ? Was it the cap itself ? If I copy your setup, do you think that I'll be able to lift fuel from my Racor up to my Yamaha w/o starving her. Yamaha_Generator_2_sized.jpg
 
Joe, if we can't talk you into making the fuel suction system for us......is there any chance you would be willing to make a specific listing of ALL items needed to make this project. Maybe even best place to find the items, Home Depot, etc. I know I'm not the only one interested in this project. Your photos are great by the way.

Speaking of CO detectors, I got the best one out there for boats this Christmas, at least that is what I've read about it. It's the "CO Experts Model 2004" from www.aeromedix.com I plan on running the generator on the rear swim step after installing a couple eye bolts to hold it down.

John
 
Definately do not run the genset in the cockpit--I agree that the Aero-medix CO detector is the best for the boat--even though they say not for marine use. This relates to potential corrosion issues. If you treat this like a precision instrument it will serve you well.

One issue with the fuel transfer--is the the pump/gravity feed will not pull fuel over a foot or so on the Honda--and I think would not work well in the TC 255. We put the 6 gallon tank on the swim step or on the aft seat and the generator on the aft swim step. (see the Thataway album).

I have seen several of the Glacier Bay Honda EU 2000i boxes. Initially I wanted to either get one, or build one. But they are fairly heavy. There is enough water over the swim step under various circumstances, that I would not leave the generator there, even in the box. You still have to open the box to start the engine--and then either put in a port for the external tank or just use the built in tank.

Bob Austin
 
We have the EU2000 and it works out great for the boat the camper and the motorhome ( as a back up unit). Plus what with living in earthquake country it just might be good to have a little back up power for the home refrigerator.
YES SIZE WILL MATTER
Jim :beer :beer
 
The 2000ei is the way to go for sure. If you can get by on 1400w. PM me for a good deal on a 1400w Kawasaki. (cheap). The 200ei from Wise Sales runs everything we take along, and it's handy at home too.
 
Ok, I'm sold the EU2000 it is.

Thanks for all the great input and ideas.

Bob, where did you mount your CO monitor on your Tomcat?

John
 
John,
I have two CO moniters. One is by the helm seat--it is a Kiddie Night Hawk. The CO experts is kept by my head at the bunk.

Bob Ausitn
 
Living in Ketchikan where rain is measured in feet not inches. I'm wondering where to run the small generator. I see pictures of some gennys running on transomes and motor wells, but does anyone have a soulution for running one in the rain?

Thanks,
Law
 
I have an EU2000 and wouldn't have any problem leaving it out in the rain. I wouldn't expect a problem. The plastic case pretty much covers the critical components. They are pretty tough.
 
Seeker - I agree with Lloyd. I don’t think there should be any trouble running one in the rain. We get four and a half feet of rain a year in the Olympia area and I don’t know of anyone having trouble running their generator in the rain. If you are concerned about it, you can make a cover above it, just to keep the heavy downpours off. I will be doing that when I finish my existing project.

_________
Dave dlt.gif
 
Thanks for the advise, I'll start with the 1000 w unit and see how it does. My primary need is for charging the batteries and it will do that job as well as the 2000. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again
 
I've been hoping for such a thread as this one. I too am a SoCal man with a 7500W generator standing by to keep my beer and wine cold and a few lights on, but I have always thought a generator for the C-Pelican would come in handy as I always worry about the batteries and I am off alone for many days at a time. But after my first summer with her, I found that Lake's Mead and Mojave, the CO river, etc, would be complimented with a a small A/C unit.
I like the Honda generators too and wondered, is there any A/C unit you are aware of that could be run by the Honda 2000.

Thanks,
Jeff
 
I answered Jeff's question in an E mail. But for the list--the Coleman 8300 Polar Cub will definately run on the Honda EU2000i. I searched the RV literature and there are some claims of 11,000 and even 13,500 AC units running off of the EU 2000. I found that the 8300 in our Florida weather made the pilot house of the TC 255 comfortable even in our worse days. It lowered the temperature 20 degrees below ambient, and decreased the humidity. So if the temp was 100 (rare) the pilot house would be 80. I also will be insulating the cabin roof, which will help. I have shade cloth which I can put over the roof and side windows which also helps keep the temp down. With the 2000 I can still run the battery chargers as well as the AC unit.
 
I wanted to give back to the community, so here we go.

I originally started this thread searching for the best generator solution.

I bought the Honda EU2000 from Wise Sales after all the advice and discussion on this board. We just completed an 8 day 7 night hunting and fishing trip in Prince William Sound. The only time we saw a port is when we launched the boat on the first day and put it back on the trailer the last day.

The EU2000 performed practically flawlessly. It kept the batteries charged during extended anchorages. We ran fans, the wallas stove, an electric heater, and a 1000W electric burner for boiling water on the back deck (cooking shrimp), often all at the same time.

We left the generator running outside on the swim step all night long in torrential rainfall and high winds, no problems. When the generator was not in use and we were underway it fit nicely under the dinette seat.


Only one concern directly related to the generator, I am getting a dim reverse polarity light on the boat's electrical panel while it is plugged into the boat's shore power plug in.

Unrelated to the generator operation itself. We poisoned ourselves for the first few days because of the direction I had the generator positioned. We had the generator outside the boat on the swim platform between the two motors, originally we had the exhaust pointing sideways toward one of the motors. The CO detector would start beeping an occasional beep and indicate 20-28ppm. I really didn't know if it was a problem with the Wallas stove or the generator and I was suspecting the Wallas stove. It was our first time with the new CO detector from Aeromedix and I was doubting it's operation also. We had the full camper canvas installed but ultimately found the generator to be the culprit. We turned the generator so the exhaust was pointing straight out rear of the boat and the CO levels fell off to 0 the rest of the trip.

Just wanted to pass along our experience.

More reviews to come on all the new equipment we got to use out there that I bought after discussions on this website.


Thanks
 
John S":2dz8tslf said:
Only one concern directly related to the generator, I am getting a dim reverse polarity light on the boat's electrical panel while it is plugged into the boat's shore power plug in outlet.
Thanks
Click to expand...

John-

I think the reverse polarity light dimly lit is because the Honda generator has a "floating ground" system, whereas the boat has the ground and the common (return) wire hooked together.

The "floating ground" really means "not grounded", in that the ground terminal on the Honda is not grounded to the generator frame or the common return wire.

The boat senses the not grounded situation as a case of light reverse polairty as the AC alternates.

You might find more information about this on the Honda EU2000 website.

Joe.
 
The EU's are electronically driven. What this means is that they cannot handle any surge. If you go over their output, they just shut down. The old type generators just lugged. If you couple the lack of surge with the real output of the EUs, there's a problem. The EU1000 is a real 750 watt generator. Since I don't have an EU2000, I'm not sure but I'll bet it is a 1500 watt generator.

I think you have to buy the EU2000 just to make sure that you get the power you need for the smaller loads. When I charge the batteries with the 1000, I have to be sure the refrigerator is off etc. My only excuse is that I got the EU100 a couple of months before the 2000 came out.

Remember, you can't increase the generator power later. Also the BF 2.5 ioutboard is too small for the real world. If you need light weight get a Tohatsu 5.

Boris
 
journey on":1e1lipxn said:
The EU's are electronically driven. What this means is that they cannot handle any surge. If you go over their output, they just shut down. The old type generators just lugged. If you couple the lack of surge with the real output of the EUs, there's a problem. The EU1000 is a real 750 watt generator. Since I don't have an EU2000, I'm not sure but I'll bet it is a 1500 watt generator.

I think you have to buy the EU2000 just to make sure that you get the power you need for the smaller loads. When I charge the batteries with the 1000, I have to be sure the refrigerator is off etc. My only excuse is that I got the EU100 a couple of months before the 2000 came out.
Click to expand...

Please take a look at the Yamaha EF1000iS generator. I am considering getting one of these (maybe two if necessary -- I believe it is possible to tie them together electrically and this way I could keep the center of my swim step free of obstruction.) The main reason I point to the Yamaha instead of the Honda is because this dealer advertises that the unit has a 2700 watt surge capacity, which I believe would address the problem you describe, no?

Thanks,
Warren
 
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