Charging battery with Honda 2000

[BlueBoy]

Will my Honda 2000 charge the battery as fast on eco as it will fill throttle?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

One must take responsibility for including INRUSH into fundamental calculations for proper sizing load to prime mover.

This is what raised my eyebrows...

using UTILITY power, turn on an incandescent light bulb. Then power-up a power supply connected to NOTHING.

Notice the obvious BLINK of the incandescent light bulb. The greater the potential of the power supply the more profound the blink. This will be noted with full utility potential, 12 AWG wiring and a 30 amp circuit breaker. Discounting this would be foolish. Now, direct connect the power supply to a load. Viola! The blink intensifies.

A funny reality with gasoline engines. Even a tiny reduction in RPM causes a major reduction in power. Chain connect the dots and then an enigma presents itself...

A load presents itself so suddenly the reaction time of the economy idle system coupled to the time need to accelerate the engine to handle the load is violated. This is similar to the need to RAMP the load of motor starting. Only show me a system that would modulate inrush to soften it to the point where the load to the generator allows enough time to compensate...

The 3000IU not only stopped, but it also jerked to a halt. Stunned.

Easily avoidable by first defeating the economy mode and allowing generate full-potential to be presented BEFORE connecting it to "overload". Many ship's generators require paralleling a second generator to feed the start-up of a refrigeration system. For around twenty thousand dollars a three=phase soft start could be incorporated. But many refrigeration systems utilize a three compressor staged system. With multiple generators...neat huh?

[2oldman]

Yes

[BFL13]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The 3000is (?) I tested was thoroughly warmed up both tests
The Meanwell RSP is a Pf corrected machine

Connecting to a generator derived charging source robs current from the generator FIELD The rotor the shaft that spins in the middle. This is like using exhaust gas to jack up a rig. Illogical.

When I soft ramp loaded the Honda with the Meanwell the generator would start on the economy idle setting. Some pricey inverter chargers may or may not have a ramped charger loading circuit. I made my own from discrete components.

Interesting from Mex on how adding the load makes the engine conk out in certain circumstances.

In my case the difference was between a warmed up engine and a cold engine. In his case, with the engine warmed up both times, the difference was in the gasoline having more energy so the engine didn't conk out.

I see that in my case, starting with Eco off to get the engine warmed up faster than at lower revs with it on, may have hidden the Eco on /off comparison for whether the engine would more likely conk out with the same load and gasoline.

Ramping up the load to prevent a stall is an other thing besides IMO. I don't know how the generator is designed for that, but I have seen how my 100 amp charger's amps output ramps up from the low 90s to stabilize at 103 amps on start up. I thought that was the battery acceptance changing as the battery warmed up from receiving a charge, but it might also be something in the charger's design, don't have a clue.

In all cases, the answer to the OP is still that you can't charge the battery faster with Eco off. Faster charging requires higher amps over a shorter time and the inverter circuit breaker will pop at the same limit whether Eco is on or off when you try the higher amps.

[PNW_Steve]

Keep in mind that your batteries have a limit to how much current you can feed them without damaging them.

If you are running deep cycle batteries, most manufacturers recommend a charge rate of 8-13% of the batteries C-20 rate for maximum lifespan.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

The 3000is (?) I tested was thoroughly warmed up both tests
The Meanwell RSP is a Pf corrected machine

Connecting to a generator derived charging source robs current from the generator FIELD The rotor the shaft that spins in the middle. This is like using exhaust gas to jack up a rig. Illogical.

When I soft ramp loaded the Honda with the Meanwell the generator would start on the economy idle setting. Some pricey inverter chargers may or may not have a ramped charger loading circuit. I made my own from discrete components.

[BFL13]

A curiosity in all this, is that the input required is related to the output at the time and that output is greatly affected by the battery voltage at the time.

So when starting the Honda to recharge a battery, the battery is likely low in voltage, which makes it easier to start the Honda.

The maximum input required is just as the battery reaches Absorption Voltage while the charger is still at its current limit. That is the time of max output. After that amps taper, so output watts decline too, reducing the input requirement from the Honda.

[pianotuna]

Whether an 80 amp charger (converter) can be powered by a Honda 2k (really 1.6 k) VA may be due to power factor.

My PD is small at 35 amps--but the power factor is .7. So it can draw up to about 750 watts.

On the other hand, my inverter charger can do 127 amps on an 1800 watt supply because the power factor is 1. It is also temperature compensated.

I have no troubles running the charger from eco mode--partly because the Yamaha Sieb does have a way to do a 500 watt surge for 7 seconds iirc.

[SidecarFlip]

RV manufactures use WIFCO because they are cheap units. Should be no issue with the Honda if it's an inverter. Inverters deliver full voltage in eco mode.

[BFL13]

There is the engine conking out and there is the circuit breaker popping. Not the same thing.

If you hit the Honda with a good load when the engine is cold, it will conk out whether in Eco or not. The trick is to let the engine warm up a little (a minute) before plugging in the load. It will warm up faster if not in Eco.

It doesn't matter about Eco or not to pop the circuit breaker with an overload.

To run my 100 amp PF corrected charger on the EU3000is Honda on a cold day, I had to start the Honda, wait a minute, then plug in the charger. The 100 amp was not a full load so no problem with circuit breaker. However, if I plugged in the charger too soon, the engine conked out. It worked better to start with Eco off, wait a minute, plug in and then turn Eco on once it is all running. No need to wait for the load to become less.

[DustyR]

KD4UPL wrote:
If you are using the 12v charging output of the generator stop. It's weak and unregulated. Plug your AC charger into the generator. When it's charging hard it will pull the gen off of eco mode. When the batteries are nearing full it may go to idle. Letting it run wide open all the time won't help anything.

This the method I use.

[wa8yxm]

BlueBoy wrote:
Will my Honda 2000 charge the battery as fast on eco as it will fill throttle?

Depends on how you are charging.
The cables to plug into the honda and clamp on the battery. Toss 'em

A small converter (Say 45 amp) will charge much faster and may well work in ECO mode. 60 I'm not sure if ECO will do it. 80 likely Eco won't. but .. it might.

And that's all there is to it. Depends on the size of your converter. Plug the RV in and see if the Unit hangs in there in ECO mode. if it stalls.. then switch to full for an hour and try ECO again. Odds are after 1-2 horus Eco will hold. Takes about 6-8 to fill the batteries no matter the mode.

NOTE: Why does ECO mode work after an hour or two if it won't first blush.. As the batteries fill up the current slows down and thus the converter does not draw as much power .

[2112]

BlueBoy wrote:
Will my Honda 2000 charge the battery as fast on eco as it will fill throttle?

You said 'the battery', which implies you have a single 12V battery. I assume either a group 24 or 27. The direct answer is YES, you can leave it on eco.

What others are referring to is depending on the converter you use to charge the battery or how you are connecting the generator to the battery, there may be a quicker, better, or more efficient way to do it. I use a 30A Megawatt power supply similar to what Mex mentioned. You can buy one for $50 +shipping. And there is no need to go down to Mexico to get your fuel.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

15% alcohol will yield 12% less power than 100% petroleum. None of you are factoring this into your hairbreadth power calculations.

It may save someone from wasting a lot of money to offer tried and proven recommendations for prime mover compatibility. Yesterday I connected a 150 amp Meanwell charger to a 3,000 watt Honda inverter generator and on economy low, it stalled the engine 5 out of 5 times. New generator, sea level 22c

The owner dumped the USA gasoline and at 5:00 PM after refilling with Chevron Mexico gasoline instead of USA Chevron gasoline with the alcohol-gasoline the Honda lugged a bit then continued running ten times in a row. Tomorrow morning the generator departs for Bahia de Los Angeles.

Neat huh?

[pianotuna]

Some folks use multiple 120 volt charging devices. The Honda is best powering a decent charger with eco mode turned on.

The best "beast" for charging may be an inverter/charger. Mine will do 127 amps (but I throttle it to less).

It is important that there be a way to control the voltage set points.

Another excellent addition is temperature compensated charging. Sophisticated inverter/chargers and solar charge controllers often have probes on the battery bank.

That said, most of my charging happens from the solar panels.