generator stalls when converter tries to charge battery

We had eu1000i for 12-14 years, it always ran great. Got a larger trailer and in 2017 we were headed to the balloon fiesta in NM. Sold the 1000 and bought a eu2000i, it ran sometimes and missed and died other times. Used it this fall and same thing. Contacted Honda and they acknowledged a tech bulletin to replace the spark plug wire cap.

They sent me the part and I installed it, so far it seems to be running better. Dissected the old one and found the clip that connects to the plug was loose on the top of the plug, moved freely around and in and out on the plug.

Chris

Sounds like a couple of things are going on. I think the power factor is an issue, and your generator is probably starving for fuel.

Power Factor: the ratio of the actual electrical power dissipated by an AC circuit to the product of the r.m.s. values of current and voltage. The difference between the two is caused by reactance in the circuit and represents power that does no useful work.

In an ideal world, the power going into a charger would equate to the power coming out. In the pics below, I have an Iota 75A 12V charger connected to my solar battery bank. Power = Voltage x Current.

75A x 12V = 900 Watts. On the supply side, power should be close to the same 900W/120VAC = 7.5A.

But here are my actual readings:





The charger is supplying almost the full rated 75A, but instead of drawing 7.5 Amps from the generator, it's drawing 13.56 Amps!

13.56A x 120VAC = 1627.2 Watts being supplied by the generator!

A lot of wasted energy from a poor Power Factor.

These chargers usually have a high start up current/charge rate, but tapers off quickly unless the batteries are very dead. That may be enough to stall or trip the overload circuit on a generator. I have a Yamaha EF2400iS, and while it grunted a little, it had enough power to continue charging.

ALL of these small generators (Honda, Yamaha, etc.) that have variable speed engines, have very small jets in them. There's no fine fuel filter inline. Any speck of grit in the fuel can cause issues. If the fuel demand exceeds the available fuel flow, the motor will stall.

Here's how I cleaned my carburetor and added a fuel filter: http://2manytoyz.com/carbfix.html

FWIW, I tried Seafoam. That works on a carburetor that has stale fuel that has become sticky/gummy, but doesn't help with a piece of grit in a jet. These carbs are not difficult to work on. Amazing how well the generators work after a proper cleaning.

djousma wrote:
If you have electric water heater, make sure that is off too. On mine that switch is on the WH itself. that element is a 1500 watt, and would for sure kill that EU1000.

Otherwise, is your battery dead or heavily discharged? If so the converter will kick on high output to recharge, and could be your issue too.

I don't want to hijack the OP's thread, but added my comments thinking maybe there may be something about some RV converters that doesn't play well with inverter generators.

In my case, all 120V loads were turned off, just the charger & propane detector were on. Battery is in good shape & charged.

frankwp wrote:
I have a Honda EU1000 that won't run the on board charger either. With all 120V circuits turned off, the generator overload cuts out immediately when the trailer is plugged in. Not sure what is going on here. The carb has been cleaned & it runs fine.

If you have electric water heater, make sure that is off too. On mine that switch is on the WH itself. that element is a 1500 watt, and would for sure kill that EU1000.

Otherwise, is your battery dead or heavily discharged? If so the converter will kick on high output to recharge, and could be your issue too.

I have a Honda EU1000 that won't run the on board charger either. With all 120V circuits turned off, the generator overload cuts out immediately when the trailer is plugged in. Not sure what is going on here. The carb has been cleaned & it runs fine.

Ed,
Is the product you are using called Sea Mist or is it Sea Foam brand?
I searched and could not find Sea Mist anyplace.
Barney

Think I got it!! I bought Sea Mist Carb cleaner and ran two cycles of cleaning:

Warm up generator, add about 3 ounces of Sea Mist to a gallon of gas. Run for 15 minutes. Let rest for 1/2 hour. Run again for 20 minutes.

After first cleaning cycle, the Yamaha EF2000si, with all breakers on and fuses in and battery hooked up, ran for about a minute before stalling.

After a second cleaning cycle, the generator ran non-stop, except stalled after a minute when ECO mode turned on. Started again and it kept running, even with ECO.

I'm going to do one more cleaning cycle today for good measure.

I highly recommend Sea Mist to clean the carb. I'll commence to use it before each season from now on!

Thanks for all comments.

Ed

UPDATE: I'm servicing the Yamaha EF2000is. Cleaned the exhaust screen, changed the oil and did a cleaning cyccle with Sea Foam. When I start the generator (ECO off) with the battery hooked up, it now runs for about 30 seconds before stalling. So I will do another Sea Foam cleaning cycle tomorrow. Before servicing, it would stall almost immediately.

hiker108 wrote:
UPDATE: I called WFCO and described the problem. Their tech guy said that it is NOT problem with the converter. SO, I will proceed to check out Yamaha generator.

And no doubt gen support will say likewise. They may even be correct and one of yours is defective or design constrained.

You're flying blind and using the shotgun approach to resolution. Find someone with an oscilloscope that can display the AC wave forms which can help.

Or since another charger is OK try another gen.

Have you tried the generator with say a hair drier plugged in direct?