Honda 2000

[kjk66ss]

Hey everyone, I had my 2010 raptor 300mp plugged into my Honda 2000 generator and initially as soon as I plugged the cord in the generator would shut off. Second attempt I was able to get the generator running but while running with everything in the trailer turned off with the exception of a few LED lights and the generator was revved to the max and the lights would surge to dim and bright.

If I tried turning anything else in the generator would shut off.

Why would my portable generator be working that hard with nothing turned on? Is the battery charger/converter drawing this much power?

And why would my lights be diming and surging?

With the Onan 5k on, I don't get the dimming but then again the 5k puts out a lot more obviously..

[allcool]

Agreed, overload will pop breaker, not shut down engine.
If engine is shutting off, then look there for the fix.

Maybe try plugging in a load that = max output directly into genny plugs. Like a couple of hair driers.See if genny will support its rated load...?

My bet, carb is plugged up and not letting engine run at even small loads. But can idle fine...

jmo

[Carrera_man]

christopherglenn wrote:
A 50-60 amp converter is about all the 2k generators can run, It isn't just the watts, Power factor comes into play - which puts the load on the generator far above the amps X watts.. My TH came with a 100 amp converter, I bought an 80 amp unit to run off the small generator, no love - ended up getting a 55 amp for the 2k generator. The onan 5500 runs all three at the same time.

You may notice the generator will run the converter when the batteries are VERY low, (and output closer to 13 volts), but as the batteries get closer to 70-80% the charge voltage is closer to 14.4 volts, and the actual wattage climbs, this plus efficiency losses plus power factor overload the generators output.

It really doesn't matter, if the generator is loaded too much it should pop the breaker on it, not shut down.

[christopherglen]

A 50-60 amp converter is about all the 2k generators can run, It isn't just the watts, Power factor comes into play - which puts the load on the generator far above the amps X watts.. My TH came with a 100 amp converter, I bought an 80 amp unit to run off the small generator, no love - ended up getting a 55 amp for the 2k generator. The onan 5500 runs all three at the same time.

You may notice the generator will run the converter when the batteries are VERY low, (and output closer to 13 volts), but as the batteries get closer to 70-80% the charge voltage is closer to 14.4 volts, and the actual wattage climbs, this plus efficiency losses plus power factor overload the generators output.

[lawnspecialties]

Carrera man wrote:
If your motor is actually shutting down on the Honda then you have a problem with the generator. I have two 2000's and if I just have one running and forget and turn too many things on it'll pop the breaker on the generator. Never has it ever killed the motor.

This was my thought. I have the same situation as Carrera and in 18 months and 21 races, our two Hondas have never shut off because of a heavy load.

May be something simple like a bad spark plug or worn plug boot. Something to make it fail under load.

As for the stuff running in the camper, I don't see anything odd there either. When the weather gets cold enough that we know we won't run the AC, I never hook up the second Honda. The 2000 by itself runs everything else: fridge, television, all the 12V inverter stuff, and even a hair dryer, microwave, or toaster as long as those three are run one at a time.

[Carrera_man]

If your motor is actually shutting down on the Honda then you have a problem with the generator. I have two 2000's and if I just have one running and forget and turn too many things on it'll pop the breaker on the generator. Never has it ever killed the motor.

[kjk66ss]

Fridge was set to gas once I turned it on. Going to take the converter out next weekend and figure out how to test it

[deltabravo]

Dirtclods wrote:
So is your frig set on auto? If so, set it to gas that maybe the problem sometimes the auto doesn't transfer.

I usually always set my fridge to gas, and leave it there, that way the gen doesn't overload (EU2000i) while other loads are running.

[rjf7g]

I use my Honda EU2000i when I camp in my 2006 Palomino Puma 27FQ Bunkhouse over the winter months - I run the fridge and a small space heater and sometimes the TV while charging the camper battery/computers/cell phones with no trouble.

[Dirtclods]

So is your frig set on auto? If so, set it to gas that maybe the problem sometimes the auto doesn't transfer.

[kjk66ss]

This is my first time really using the trailer and was concerned cause with my past, smaller toy haulers, the generator would power almost everything just fine

[kjk66ss]

KD4UPL wrote:
You said everything was turned off. Then you said the converter was running. Which is it? What size converter do you have?
A 60 amp converter running wide open at 14v would probably pull over 1,000 watts. Your generator is only good for 1,600 continuously.
How about your electric water heater, was it on? Was your refrigerator on electric? The WH is probalby 1,500 watts, the refrigerator around 300.

First start up everything was off minus the converter cause there is no on/off switch for it and the point of running the small generator was to charge the batteries .

Second start up generator was running so I had a few lights on and it was still struggling and could tell cause of the lights dimming.

I'm not sure the size of the factory converter. I gues that would be the starting point, to see how many watts it draws.

[KD4UPL]

You said everything was turned off. Then you said the converter was running. Which is it? What size converter do you have?
A 60 amp converter running wide open at 14v would probably pull over 1,000 watts. Your generator is only good for 1,600 continuously.
How about your electric water heater, was it on? Was your refrigerator on electric? The WH is probalby 1,500 watts, the refrigerator around 300.

[RoyB]

I use my Honda 2KW Generator all the time with the OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer RV30A shore power cable plugged into it using an adapter when we are camping off the power grid.


I have all the 120VAC breakers turned off on the 120VAC side except the receptacles around the trailer and the on-board converter/charger unit.

My 12VDC items including my interior lights are running off the batteries during this time...

The only reason I use my 2KW Generator is to recharge my battery bank once a day starting at 8Am in the mornings. This will take about three hours of generator run time to complete a 90% charge state for my 255AH battery bank.

I will also make some fresh grind and brew bean coffee for the day stored up into a thermos carafe while running the generator which is only drawing power for about 5-minutes...

Roy Ken