When did the eu2000's become so hard to start

NinerBikes wrote:

EACT may very well be Canada vs America

EU2000i serial numbers:

EAAJ-XXXXXXX = Made in Japan (2001-2013 approximate)
EACT-XXXXXXX = Made in Thailand (2014-present)

I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
Robert@Honda

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
In what city of Thailand is the Honda plant located?

Thai Honda Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Ladkrabang Industrial Estate
410 Chalongkrung Road,
Lamplatiew, Ladkrabang,
10520 Bangkok , Thailand

I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
Robert@Honda

The dealer will have a new one in the store for us tomorrow. We were finding that the generator ket killing whenever we played more than an 8 amp load on it. Must be a defective unit.

Having worked in shops that sold Honda generators, atv' and motorcycles i can tell you that they are run at the factory and there is always some residue in the float bowls. I alaways drained and let fresh fuel run through the drain on new product to keep from having start or run problems out of the box. Not everyone that PDI's does this. I believe another part of the problem is that they have them running extremely lean for emmissions and that contributes to hard starting.

mrad wrote:
Robert,

Thanks for the info.
Is there a way I can tell the year and month the machine was manufactured from the serial number?

I also noticed my serial number is a little differnt it starts with EACT rather than EAAT or EAAJ. Does this mean anything?

EACT may very well be Canada vs America

I was indeed referring to the total production of the product and not merely one model. The assembly lines I saw in the four photographs did not have enough detail to discern individual model details. In what city of Thailand is the Honda plant located? It takes an enormous quantity of electricity of handle aluminum manufacturing. Thailand has become a major manufacturer of solid state components. Interesting. Thank you for your input!

My box on my 2012 made Eu2000i does indeed say "Assembled in Japan". It is a EAAJ serial number. It does start easily, always has. My 2003 build EU2000i has from day 1 been an easy to start generator, until I left CARB South Coast Air Quality Management District unleaded fuel in it for 6 months, despite starting it and running it hard 1x a month with the water heater element in my 6 gallon Suburban water heater for an hour at a minimum, or pairing it with the newer unit to start the 13.5 BTU AC unit up, and then shutting the newer unit off and letting the older one run the AC at 10 amp load and 123 V on my Kill a Watt.

Ethanol fuel is just plain cr*ppy. It doesn't make the same horsepower per gallon, it wrecks jets and carbs on these small motors. I always try to buy small town no name fuel, not cut with ethanol, like in the big cities.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Robert many of the components are made in Gaodong province CHINA. There is a dufference between origin of parts and assembly. Thailand does NOT have the infrastructure to cast and machine aluminum, or injection mold plastic or produce sheet steel. The insanely high cost of labor in Japan has driven them to outsource.

Lin sent me images of Honda engines on the assembly line in China. Honda on the other hand will do anything to intercept news of it's products not being of Japanese origin.

Honda Thailand alone does indeed cast and machine the engine block for both the EU2000i and EU1000i, period. Prior to that, the EU1 an EU2 were made in Japan. All versions of the EU1 and EU2 (USA, Europe, Japan domestic market, etc.) are all cast, machined, and assembled at the Honda Thailand plant, which has been in operation since 1987, and makes over 300,000 Honda power products annually. The larger EU3000is and EU3000i Handi continue to be manufactured in Japan.

China? Yes, Honda does have a number of plants there. In fact, all of Honda's open-frame generators (EM, EB, EG series) are made in China, and that includes engine casting and machining. Perhaps the photos your friend send you were of EM, EB and EG (or loose engine) production. No Honda EU1 or EU2 models have ever been built in China including, but not limited to, the engines or enclosures.

Honda is very open (and is legally required to disclose) about the origin of content of manufactured goods. Look on the outside of any Honda generator carton or on the data plate and it clearly marks the location of manufacture.

I work for Honda, but he preceding is my opinion alone.
Robert@Honda

mrad wrote:
Robert,

Thanks for the info.
Is there a way I can tell the year and month the machine was manufactured from the serial number?

I also noticed my serial number is a little differnt it starts with EACT rather than EAAT or EAAJ. Does this mean anything?

No way (for me) to access the data for exact manufacturing dates, sorry. I can only tell you if it was either made in Japan or Thailand, and if it is an early (K0) production or later (K1) production. No "model years" for any Honda generators...with the full serial number, I can look up when it was wholesaled, and ballpark the manufacturing date, but that's just an estimate.

I work for Honda, but he preceding is my opinion alone.
Robert@Honda

One comment on fuel...

I have heard rumors that this modern contaminated gasoline they sell (Contaminated with alcohol) is not good for small engines.

Not sure if Honda has re-designed to burn it or not, I know some tests were done with E-15 (most of what you buy today is E-10)

Those tests were done by the folks who make Mercury Outboard Motors.

The results were not good,, All the E-15 burners showed far more wear and tear than the E-0s and one failed to complete the test.