Honda EU20I and aircon. field experience

[jfkal]

I am contemplating the Honda Genny to run my boat aricon. Honda is tight lipped with advice and wont loan me one to test. Is there anyone who is successfully running an aircon from it? I am naturally concerned about the starting current capability.

[Landlubber]

...I have a Honda 2000, one of the new type, it will start up at least twice its running capability no worries, it does not however actually run full time 2000watts, it is 1800 if you read the brochure

[jfkal]

Yep. I saw that 1800 caveat. Have you tried an airconditioner from it?

[Tug]

They are a sweet generators i have used one fro running tools at work..
But the best thing about them is
"At the flick of a switch this feature only runs the engine as fast as the load demands"
Thats an expensive feature when its not needed for running a large load..
But great for intermittent loads...tools..
Cheers
Tug

[Landlubber]

...no sorry, never ran an air con, but have run a deep freeze and two domestic fridges at the same time and allowed them to start the same too.

[KnottyBuoyz]

We're planning on doing the exact same thing. My research has shown an EU2000i should be able to handle a 9000BTU A/C with no problems. You just have to be careful which other AC loads the Admiral decides to throw on while the A/C is running!

[Landlubber]

...I would not expect that anything else could be used at the same time as a 9000btu air con mate.

[CatBuilder]

Originally Posted by KnottyBuoyz

We're planning on doing the exact same thing. My research has shown an EU2000i should be able to handle a 9000BTU A/C with no problems. You just have to be careful which other AC loads the Admiral decides to throw on while the A/C is running!

This is correct.

The 9000 BTU AC should have a capacitor as well to help with the initial load.

I am currently running a Honda EU2000i with 9000BTU Coleman Polar Cub RV-style, roof mount air conditioner. It has a built in capacitor to help with the startup, but it's still close to what the EU2000i can handle on startup, even with the capacitor. If you try to start a huge air conditioner, overload it and end up with low voltage to your compressor, it can cause damage to the compressor, so be careful.

When the thing settles down and runs, the EU2000i seems to run at about 2/3 capacity with the compressor on.

WARNING: When you stop even a 9000btu AC, then restart it too soon, it will overpower the EU2000i.

[CatBuilder]

Originally Posted by Landlubber

...I would not expect that anything else could be used at the same time as a 9000btu air con mate.

This is mostly correct. You certainly can't start a battery charger or microwave, but you can easily run a Norcold refrigerator in 110VAC mode, plus a laptop and cell phone chargers.

[jonr]

It my experience, the starting load created by a motor and compressor is highly variable depending on the exact model used - could be 2x and could be 6x. An inverter based AC unit (or microwave or battery charger) should have very low starting load.

[SeaJay]

I'm using a 2000i as my primary power source for my build. Powers 25 CFLs and my smaller power tools. (I've got a larger generator for the biger tools, but the hourly use is easily 10 to 1 in favor of the Honda)

The "Eco Power" mode just sips gas and is very quiet. I'm so impressed with this thing that I'm going forget about a diesel genset and just go with the Honda...as someone once said, "once you've got the gas on board for the dingy, you've already crossed that Rubicon". I agree.

What I plan to do for AC is here in this white paper...

http://www.victronenergy.com/upload/...paper%20GB.pdf

Calder has been writing about this for the last year or so and I think it has lots of merit.

Regards,

SeaJay

[FAST FRED]

Some folks use RV roof mounted units for air cond.

There is a HUGE selection in terms of starting and running amps.

The easy start option exists because many camp grounds suffer from low (barely 100V) voltage , and should be useful for a smaller boat noisemaker.

FF