Generator question - worth it to sell Champion gen for Honda

ScottyP5947 wrote:
. . . The gen I have starts and runs my air conditioner without any issue. I'd hate to upgrade and then possibly have trouble.
Thanks -
Scott

I feel your pain--lol! You're not the first person to go down this road.

We purchased one of the first 3100 Champion inverter generators back in late 2013. Loved it, but after using it for a year we came to the conclusion it was just a touch too loud. So . . . we tried powering our Dometic a/c unit (with an OEM start cap) with two paralleled Honda EU2000i's. Quickly discovered the paralleled Honda EU2000i's would not start our Dometic a/c unit with the Eco mode on---had to turn the Eco mode off to start the a/c! Unfortunately, two EU2000i's running side-by-side with the Eco mode off are as loud as a Champion 3100. So we went to plan B, and tried a EU3000iS. Same problem---it would not start the Dometic a/c unit with the Eco mode on; however, it would start it with the Eco mode off. Exasperated, we gave up and went back to using the Champion 3100. We came to the conclusion it wasn't worth spending double to triple the money just to reduce sound levels a few db.

While on this little journey, we did do quite a bit of testing (with all the above generators) with an inrush current capable clamp-on ammeter. We powered a number of RV a/c units with varying LRA's. We gained a lot of good info, but two things really stood out. When you parallel two Honda EU2000i's, running current doubles; however, inrush current only increases approx. 10%. Two, the Champion 3100 is king-of-the-hill in terms of inrush current--it's a beast. There are very few RV a/c units the Champion 3100 cannot start.

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ScottyP5947, on a side note, what make and model a/c unit do you have on your RV? Look up the LRA (locked rotor amp) rating for it. If it's less than 60 amps, the EU3000iS will start it reliably with the Eco mode off, less than 55 amps or so, it should start it reliably with the Eco mode on.

FWIW, Dometic a/c units are notorious power hogs. Their LRA's are sometimes as high as 68-70 amps for their 13.5k and 15.0k a/c's. Coleman Mach a/c units are typically much more efficient. In fact, Coleman Mach makes a 13.5k RV a/c unit with an LRA of ~50 amps that a solo EU2000i will start reliably. BTW, the Dometic a/c unit in our RV back in 2013-2014 had an LRA of 63 amps.

Ski Pro 3 wrote:

azrving wrote:

Approached during legal hours. Does someone gets to over ride the park rules?

No, but they have a right to ask me about it. I had a right to tell them to f-off, but I didn't. :)
I explained the rules and when I would shut it off and offered to move the generator if they thought that would help. They thanked me and that was that. I didn't feel bad as I wasn't breaking any rules and I was doing all I could to keep the noise to a minimum including the purchase of a high dollar inverter genny.
I'd rather them reach out to me than to rant at some ranger and get on their radar, so to speak.

I don't much care for camping in formal campgrounds, but it really is unavoidable in a place like Yosemite. The campgrounds there would be a whole lot quieter if electric power was put in to them. For the fees charged, should be. (Now I'm ranting!)

Then people would complain about the hum of the transformers.:B

azrving wrote:

ScottyP5947 wrote:
Well you guys have certainly given me a lot to think about I again certainly appreciate all of the input.
I began to look around see what use champion generators sell for and generally speaking they don't seem to draw a lot of money.
I think the route that I might take seeing that I have already spent the money on this generator is to find a way for me to run it little bit more quietly. I keep it in the bed of my pickup truck I am interested in possibly building a box around it, what sort of ventilation requirements do I need? I would not want to overheat the generator.
The gen I have starts and runs my air conditioner without any issue. I'd hate to upgrade and then possibly have trouble.
Thanks -
Scott

You need to determine where it sucks in air and where the exhaust and hot air exit. The metal insulated and ventilated cabinet that I built was a lot of work and as mentioned a good axial fan was pricey. Depending on where and how you use it maybe you could try some sort of shielding or baffles. Maybe foam panels with carpet or foam sound dampener glued on and velcro to connect them. Maybe have carpet or rubber pad or something under it. In some ways having it in the truck bed and depending on how it's positioned may not help with noise control because of all the sheet metal in the truck bed. I'd experiment a little before doing anything . . .

Back when we were doing some comparison testing of the Honda EU2000i (paralleled), EU3000iS, and Champion 3100 inverter generator, one of my buddies built a large enclosure very similar to yours, with the angled vent on the exhaust side (including a large, high CFM exhaust fan) to see if we could reduce sound levels on these generators further.

The entire exterior, to include the chassis pan, on the Champion 3100 is made out of plastic. The Honda EU3000iS uses significantly more metal.

Long story short, after running the Champion 3100 inside the enclosure a few hours, we noticed the plastic chassis pan was beginning to distort. Since everything on the generator is attached to the chassis pan, needless to say it wasn't a pretty sight.

If you're going to put the Champion 3100 inside an enclosure, going to have to take extra measures to not allow any of the heat from the engine exhaust (and the exhaust from the engine cooling fan) to collect inside the the enclosure.

westend wrote:
Scott, Forum member Soundguy has built and well engineered a quiet generator box for the back of his truck. He has pictures and information about it, online. Sorry, don't have a direct link to that.

A series of pics & videos illustrating my EU2000i Quiet Box starts HERE.

ScottyP5947 wrote:
Well you guys have certainly given me a lot to think about I again certainly appreciate all of the input.
I began to look around see what use champion generators sell for and generally speaking they don't seem to draw a lot of money.
I think the route that I might take seeing that I have already spent the money on this generator is to find a way for me to run it little bit more quietly. I keep it in the bed of my pickup truck I am interested in possibly building a box around it, what sort of ventilation requirements do I need? I would not want to overheat the generator.
The gen I have starts and runs my air conditioner without any issue. I'd hate to upgrade and then possibly have trouble.
Thanks -
Scott

You need to determine where it sucks in air and where the exhaust and hot air exit. The metal insulated and ventilated cabinet that I built was a lot of work and as mentioned a good axial fan was pricey. Depending on where and how you use it maybe you could try some sort of shielding or baffles. Maybe foam panels with carpet or foam sound dampener glued on and velcro to connect them. Maybe have carpet or rubber pad or something under it. In some ways having it in the truck bed and depending on how it's positioned may not help with noise control because of all the sheet metal in the truck bed. I'd experiment a little before doing anything.

You might even build something out of lumber. I believe THIS is the fan I bought. Almost 700 cfm which is good for a box that is about 3'x1.5'x2'




Exhaust end, which I would actually open up a little more.



Angled sheet metal over fan to help noise and keep rain out.



Looking down at exhaust end. It's a little too tight when changing the oil



Fan end. Cable with twist lock and wiring for hour meter on side of cabinet.



10 Gauge cable twist lock connects to cable from transfer switch to pin box area long enough to put the truck hood to pin box.

Great! I'll dig it up. Thank you!

Scott, Forum member Soundguy has built and well engineered a quiet generator box for the back of his truck. He has pictures and information about it, online. Sorry, don't have a direct link to that.

Well you guys have certainly given me a lot to think about I again certainly appreciate all of the input.
I began to look around see what use champion generators sell for and generally speaking they don't seem to draw a lot of money.
I think the route that I might take seeing that I have already spent the money on this generator is to find a way for me to run it little bit more quietly. I keep it in the bed of my pickup truck I am interested in possibly building a box around it, what sort of ventilation requirements do I need? I would not want to overheat the generator.
The gen I have starts and runs my air conditioner without any issue. I'd hate to upgrade and then possibly have trouble.
Thanks -
Scott

I don't think a $300 modification is needed to get it done in ECO mode. I've had the same success using my under-$10 SUPCO SPP6 relay/capacitor hard start kit.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YTLFE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm still skeptical of their claim to run a 16K genny off a Honda 2000.

Ski Pro 3 wrote:
The Easy Start link seems to insinuate that running current requirements are reduced. This is cut-n-paste from the FAQ section;

Will EasyStart allow me to run my 13.5K, 15K, or 16K compressor on a Honda EU2000i?

Yes, we have many satisfied EasyStart customers using this Honda generator with all brands of rooftop air conditioners. EasyStart runs these compressors even with the generator in ECO mode.

That claim, that a 16K compressor will operate on a Honda EU2000i in ECO mode, is cause for taking the rest of their claims with a grain of salt.

having used the micro air for a year now, the claim of starting and running the AC in eco mode is true. I can start and run my coleman machIII with my honda 2000 set in eco mode. Now that doesn't mean the rpm will stay at idle, but that you can start and run the AC with the generator set in the eco mode setting. When the AC starts, the generator rpm ramps up smoothly to near full throttle. As long as I am below about 4500ft density altitude, it will keep it running all day long.

you do NOT need to take the generator off eco mode to start the AC or to keep the AC running. Eco mode works fine.