HONDA 1HP & AC

H

hank schneider

New member
Hello folks \
Looking to get a 1 hp Honda generator for reundacy etc. Can this unit run a tiny AC unit - have a CC23 so the space is small - like to mount on the roof if possible. Looking to cool for a couple of hours at the end of a hot day.
Any Ideas??
Thanks Hank
 
Just compare the output of the generator to the max startup draw on the AC, if the generator exceeds the startup amp draw on the AC buy say 20% you should be good.
My guess is a 1hp generator won’t cut the mustart.
 
Hi Hank, did you mean 1Kw generator or 1 horsepower? Normally, generators are not classified by horsepower. There have been numerous discussions regarding a 1 Kw gen running a 5,000 BTU A/C. If I remember correctly, the consensus has been that a 2 Kw gen is needed for anything larger, like 9,000 or 11,000 BTU. You might try a search and see what turns up.
 
The comments about watts (1000 watts vs 2000 watts) is correct--not HP.
The EU 1000 will run one of the 5,000 BTU Air conditioners; WalMart specials--mine is called an "Artic King". and is adequate for the C Dory 25. You will need the EU 2000 for any of the roof air units--and many --especially over 9500 BTU will not start on the EU 2000--you have to go to 2400 watts or even 3000 watts.

The starting load is the issue. There are also built in water cooled AC units, such as the Mermaid, which will run on a 1000 watt generator. But the water cooled will not work well when you are trailering the boat and using it for a "camper".

We take the "artic King" out of the window except when we are using it. It will drop the temp in the 25 down about 20 degrees.C_Dory_25_AC_and_railing_001.jpg
 
I have not done my homework - is the small honda generator a 1 hp or 1 kw?? I'd like someting to run the charger and to run a vey small ac for a couple of hours on hot days.
Any roof mount units available.
Thanks
hANK
 
The smallest honda generator made was about 350 watts--but that was years ago. The current smallest of the inverter/Alternator series: EU1000i, is 1000 watts max. Ratted running load is 900 watts or 7.5 amps 120 volts AC.

The engine in this unit is rated at 1.8 hp.

The 12 volt output of this unit is 8.3 amps for battery charging.

I doubt that you will find any roof top air units which will start on 8.3 amps (120 volts AC--and max starting load). You can find some which will run on the EU2000i.

Another option, is to go with an inverter of 2500 watts to 3000 watts, and a large bank of golf cart batteries.--then you could run a Coleman Polar Cub which will be 8300 to 9200 BTU and adequate to cool the boat. However, I do not see this as practical, since the batteries will be very heavy, and will only run a relitatively short time before needing re-charging. Recharging can be a difficult proposition. I suspose that you could use 4 Golf Cart batteries with an inverter, plus run the generator, with the largest battery charger which it would handle, to keep up with most of the running load. This will not be cheap, nor practical, because of the weight and space used by the batteries. Sportsmobile camper van conversions use a variation of this, using the engine alternator to keep up the batteries (a bit smaller battery bank)--but the automotive alternator will put out much more than the battery charger.

An option, which we often use, is a "Endless breeze" or Walmart O2 fan--which runs on 12 volts, has a good air flow, and can be fixed either in the foreard opening window or in the foredeck hatch. We sailed for many years in the tropics without an air conditioning--as long as there was a breeze it is fine.

Good luck--you have some home work to do.
 
Another option: Get a DC Breeze, runs on 48 amps dc, buy a 80 ish amp battery charger, and plug the 1000 into the battery charger. If my math is correct, a 1000 watt generator will run a 100 amp battery charger. With an 80 amp charger, your running the generator at about 90% load and the start current is pulled from the battery and sustained by the charger. Depending on your outboard, you may be able to run the ac off your engine alternator.


Links:
http://www.dcbreeze.com/
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|328|51495|985|941870&id=941590
 
The DC breeze is certainly a possibility. It does require a thru hull, cooling water and cannot be used when the boat is on a trailer or on a lift. (we have gone to the RV type of AC's for several reasons, which include the ability to use the AC on the road, or out of water,--plus avoid the problems with jelly fish (major problem on the Chesapeake)--and sea weed, mud etc.)

The math may seem OK, for a 1000 watt generator to run a 100 watt charger, but the reality is far different, according to Xantrex web site--using two typical chargers--the Prosine 40--which draws 12 amps at max output (40 amps, and 8.5 amps, nominal--at about 20 amps--and the EU1000i max output is 8.3 amps--so that will not work. The XC 50 amp charger uses nomilally 10 amps and max 15 amps. The 80 amp charger (for a 1000 amp hour battery bank) uses 15 amp nominal at 120 volts or 7.5 amps at 240 volts! So the math does not compute. This also gets a bit expensive, because of the cost of the high output marine chargers, and good inverters, plus the generator--

What I did in the past, was to mate a Robin's Fuji engine and 80 amp alternator with a belt drive--it worked hard and was noisy, but could put out about 60 amps. It was used as an emergency high output battery charging unit on large boats.

Outboards have relitativley low charging output--depending on the engine. Most of the engines on the 22's would not be above 40 amps, and may will be lower than that.
 
One good house battery or two will run a 2000watt/2500watt peek inverter; you don’t need a bank of batteries. I have a 1000watt/1500 peak inverter I use to run my boiler at home when the lights go out, it will also start and run my 30cuft freezer. Will run the boiler and a few lights with 15min of idle every hour or so.
You could mount a 2000watt inverter under the galley and run 00 cables to your house battery; this setup could run a small roof-air with occasional re-charge from the main. I like the KISS principle.

Don’t have to worry about heat up here, only a reliable Wallas and exhaust fan to rid the cabin of condensation. A single house battery will run the Wallas and periodic use of incandescent house lights, nav light, two fans and electronics for about 12 to 14 hours maybe more; this same battery will start the main in the morning leaving my fully charged cranking battery as backup.
 
Beausaw--I don't doubt your experience with the Wallas--it only draws a few amps-

However, I must respectfully disagree with your comment about a single house battery running an air conditioner. I don't know what type of battery you have running a 1000 watt inverter, but if you are running 8,3 amps at 120 volts, that will be 83 amps at 12 volts. through an inverter.

83 amps will run a group 24 battery flat in an hour, since the capacity is usually about 70 to 85 amp hours. In fact you should only run 80 amps for 30 minutes on the group 24 battery to keep from running it below 50% (more than that will affect the battery life).

Going back to the DC breeze, which is an effecient 12 volt marine air conditioner, it uses 48 amps per each hour running. A little editing from the post at the DC Breeze web site puts this into prospective in amount of battery power "To run the system continuously at full power from batteries for 8 hours would require a battery bank weighing 334 lbs. A battery bank this size will require 2.7 ft3. (0.076 m3) of space.

Looking at it another way, we need to have 384 amp-hours (at 12.5vdc) of usable storage capacity available to us. Since we don't want to discharge the batteries more than 60%, we will need a bank with a combined "20 hr" rating of 640 amp-hrs. If we translate this into some commonly available battery sizes we find that, for 8 hours of continuous running we would need a bank consisting of one of the following**;

Three (3) 8D size batteries (20.75" x 11.0" x 11.8")
Four (4) 4D size batteries (20.75" x 8.75" x 10.8")
Six (6) Group 31 size batteries (13" x 6.75" x 9.8")
Seven (7) Group 27 batteries (12.0" x 6.8" x 9.5")
Eight (8) Group 24 batteries (10.2" x 6.8" x 9.4")
If additional power were being drawn from the bank for other reasons (lights, refrigeration, etc), the bank size would have to be increased.

* This is determined by taking the amount of energy consumed by the DC Breeze when running at full power (48 amps)"

Now if you want to run a 2000 watt power (or about 16 amps)--you will need 16 group 24 batteries. --that is beyond the capacity of the 22 C Dory to safely carry.
 
thataway":37nkgdn9 said:
Beausaw--I don't doubt your experience with the Wallas--it only draws a few amps-

However, I must respectfully disagree with your comment about a single house battery running an air conditioner. I don't know what type of battery you have running a 1000 watt inverter, but if you are running 8,3 amps at 120 volts, that will be 83 amps at 12 volts. through an inverter.
Click to expand...
Well I tried; just glad I don’t have to worry about air-conditioning and refrigeration.
If indeed it did get too hot there’s plenty of ice floating up them bays to cool things down, the same floating glacial ice we net and though in our coolers. :mrgreen:
 
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