Honda 2000 won’t run my late model home furnace

[C_Schomer]

I never use it for camping anymore and I only keep it cuz of my crappy power company. It will run the frig but the furnace is too fussy. Is there a device that will make it pure sine wave and will it then run the furnace?
Next ?… are all pure sine wave gens created equal so they will run this furnace or does it take a special model. Thanks, Craig

[austinjenna]

I built the bonding plug, used a power strip on one outlet and plugged in the bonding plug - that worked

[Bobbo]

C Schomer wrote:
Well, there wasn't much room under the cover to do the bonding. My Honda 2000 has a 15/20A duplex, so I used 12 ga. wire for the bond. The simplest way would be to make a short connector... 120v/15A plug to 120v/15A cord receptacle, and use 12 ga. wire to support inrush current, and bond it on whichever end you want. Once that's plugged into the Honda, the other side of the duplex will also be bonded and you can use the bonded connector, as well, to plug something into. Just use the bonded connector, first, if you need the bond for whatever you are running. It only needs to be bonded at one point, internally or externally, and the connector cord WON'T eliminate half of the duplex, like a bonded plug would. Craig

Or, just bond the back of the duplex outlet built into the Honda, like I did. No additional hardware need be carried, no outlets are taken up. If I recall, that is exactly what the OP finally ended up doing.

[C_Schomer]

Well, there wasn't much room under the cover to do the bonding. My Honda 2000 has a 15/20A duplex, so I used 12 ga. wire for the bond. The simplest way would be to make a short connector... 120v/15A plug to 120v/15A cord receptacle, and use 12 ga. wire to support inrush current, and bond it on whichever end you want. Once that's plugged into the Honda, the other side of the duplex will also be bonded and you can use the bonded connector, as well, to plug something into. Just use the bonded connector, first, if you need the bond for whatever you are running. It only needs to be bonded at one point, internally or externally, and the connector cord WON'T eliminate half of the duplex, like a bonded plug would. Craig

[Fisherman]

Use option 1, problem solved without over thinking.

[austinjenna]

So I had a question. I have a EU2000 and it only has the 2 receptacles. I think I only have 2 options. 1-take the faceplate off and wire one of the receptacles. 2-Make a bonding plug. If I use a bonding plug in one of the outlets that leaves me with only one to use. Can I plug in a surge protector which has a few outlets and plug the bonding plug into that? and still be able to use one of the other outlets on the surge protector?

[C_Schomer]

Electric furnace, air handler w/heat strips, most people know what they are, without getting any more technical. The worst set-up I had was heat pumps w/o heat strips, in the Phx area. It actually gets cold there... I've seen 13* and I think the record was 12. The HPs constantly cycled between heat and defrost (cooling) all night. I would have added heat strips if I would have stayed there.

BTW, My NG furnace draws 2.2A on hi-fire and hi-blower.. the generator hardly notices! Craig

[MrWizard]

Some years back when my brother bought his New Home, it was an electric furnace installed in the basement just as fi it was gas or oil, 230b wall thermostat, expensive yo yse when electricity prices started rising, a few years later a natural gas line was run through area and he switched , the mfg snd sellers dont call those heaters

[Bobbo]

C Schomer wrote:
Bonding worked! My 5er required bonding and so does my home Armstrong furnace so I opened up the Honda panel and bonded neutral/grd. permanently.
I always run my gen on eco throttle so it only runs at the rpm necessary. I ran my furnace on hi blower and the Honda stayed at minimum rpm... it hardly noticed the small load. My UEI amp-clamp bit it, so I couldn't get the amp reading.
BTW, UEI is throwaway junk. I'm going back to Fluke. Craig

Thank you for the feedback.

3 tons wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:
🙂 My furnace, HVAC system, runs on 240 volts. So my generator won't run it either.

My furnace is a woodstove. My Honda doesn't do much for it either....
Relevance?

OMG, just think of all the plant fertilizer (CO2) you’re pumping into the atmosphere!!

3 tons

As if the Honda doesn't generate any?

[3_tons]

Grit dog wrote:

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:
🙂 My furnace, HVAC system, runs on 240 volts. So my generator won't run it either.

My furnace is a woodstove. My Honda doesn't do much for it either....
Relevance?

OMG, just think of all the plant fertilizer (CO2) you’re pumping into the atmosphere!!

3 tons

[C_Schomer]

Ooopps, double!

[C_Schomer]

Gdetrailer, that transfer sw. set-up in the 4 sq. cover is nice but I made my own with a $6 DPDT, on-off-on, 20A/125V toggle.

While I was adding the sw. to the furnace, I decided to run a romex to the garage because that's where the gen. will be. No more 100' ext. cord needed. Craig

[C_Schomer]

Bonding worked! My 5er required bonding and so does my home Armstrong furnace so I opened up the Honda panel and bonded neutral/grd. permanently.
I always run my gen on eco throttle so it only runs at the rpm necessary. I ran my furnace on hi blower and the Honda stayed at minimum rpm... it hardly noticed the small load. My UEI amp-clamp bit it, so I couldn't get the amp reading.
BTW, UEI is throwaway junk. I'm going back to Fluke. Craig

[Gdetrailer]

There you go!

Thanks for replying..

That should solve your problem and hopefully folks here jump off the generator is too small to run your furnace band wagon..

I think some folks are thinking a home furnace works like a RV furnace since a RV furnace starts the fan blower motor BEFORE ignition..

For folks that don't seem to understand, home furnaces do not have the same startup sequence as a RV furnace.

RV furnaces because the draft inducer fan and the main fan are connected to the same motor shaft the main fan must also run before the burner lights.

On home furnaces the fan motor is the LAST item to start, the draft inducer (completely separate 1/20 HP motor) starts first, then the control board starts ignition of the burner, once flame has been proven and only after the flame is proven then the fan is started.

[C_Schomer]

I found my bonded connector in the basement today and it is the 15 amp male to Rv 30 amp female connector but I made this connector several years ago and my CRS is too bad to remember why!
The thermostat and furnace did nothing when connected to the generator so the generator didn’t need to do anything either.
I cut my teeth on oil burners and stack safety controls, and then on to RA 890s, Purple Peepers, Fire-eyes, 1/2 wave flame rectification,micro amp measuring, oil-free magnetic bearing compressor and everything else the HVAC and industrial process control manufactures could come up with… until I retired in 2015, anyway.
ECM motors are awesome… The incredibly strong permanent magnets make them so efficient and they ARE inherently soft start. I’m not worried about the in rush current.
My generator is at home and I don’t remember the exact model but I know it is a 2000 and it must be inverter because it has a switch to enable it to run at only the rpm necessary. It also has a duplex 15 amp receptacle and no 30 amp RV so I know it only generates one phase.
Gdetrailer, thanks also for the tip to do the bonding inside the generator… I will probably do that instead of making another bonded connector. Then if the furnace runs on the generator I will make my own transfer switch.
I will return… in January!