Max Charging Amps with Honda 3000i Gen
I have reported in the past that I can get about 156 amps to the battery bank using the Honda 3000 where one 100a PF-corrected PowerMax is in parallel with a non-PF corrected 55a PowerMax (both adjustable voltage set to 14.8v)
Lately, I improved my set-up with a fatter wire in one place and found a loose connection that I fixed. This had the effect of reducing the voltage sag when on inverter drawing 124 amps (MW) from 1.0 volts to only 0.6 volts.
The surprise was also it improved what amps I get to the battery according to the Trimetric. Now I have really maxed out the Honda, where with the battery bank down 226AH and at 12.1v (half way down approx.--suggesting bank is 452AH) I ran up the chargers and got--ta da! 159 amps.
BUT after five minutes the Honda popped its breaker. Restart, ran a little and popped again. This was in Eco so I put it on full. Popped again. Drat. OK so I dialled the 55 amper down to 14.4 since it didn't matter about the 14.8 this early in the recharge. Now the Honda held and the amps stayed at 159
Reason, I think, is it is all about VA and the 55 amper doing 55 plus amps wants more VA when set to 14.8 than when set to 14.4. Anyway now the Honda kept going no sweat. Later when amps tapered a bit I cranked the 55 back to 14.8. I did not try to confirm this with a Kill-A-Watt at the time. Maybe next time.
So I am definitely at the limit of what the Honda 3000 can do. BUT I am not at the limit of what the batteries can take in. Once I got the chargers sorted out, so I could tell what they were doing themselves, I added in my solar. At the time, the solar (also set to 14.8) was pulling in 13 amps.
The Trimetric showed charging at 172 amps. I think the battery bank is good to about 450AH from what I can tell, so 172/450 = 38% charging rate. I believe they could take more in at 50% SOC than that, but I can't do more. I am "generator limited."
IMO this shows that anyone who has say, a PF-corrected inverter/charger that charges at 150 amps can run it with a 3000w Honda. Note, I cannot run a non-PF corrected PowerMax 75 amper and the 55 amper -total 130 with the Honda 3000. You need some PF correction to get the VA down. I was able to run 130 amps worth of Vector chargers with the Honda though. They are not PF-corrected but they are not as VA hungry it seems.
I suppose the real lesson here is that if you are pushing your luck, you can't go with just theoretical numbers, you have to do some trial and error. Let some other sucker find the limits on his money! :)
This was a classic gen in the morning then solar for the rest of the day after a few days in row with little solar input. Had to do a big catch- up and then was back to solar only with better weather.
Lately, I improved my set-up with a fatter wire in one place and found a loose connection that I fixed. This had the effect of reducing the voltage sag when on inverter drawing 124 amps (MW) from 1.0 volts to only 0.6 volts.
The surprise was also it improved what amps I get to the battery according to the Trimetric. Now I have really maxed out the Honda, where with the battery bank down 226AH and at 12.1v (half way down approx.--suggesting bank is 452AH) I ran up the chargers and got--ta da! 159 amps.
BUT after five minutes the Honda popped its breaker. Restart, ran a little and popped again. This was in Eco so I put it on full. Popped again. Drat. OK so I dialled the 55 amper down to 14.4 since it didn't matter about the 14.8 this early in the recharge. Now the Honda held and the amps stayed at 159
Reason, I think, is it is all about VA and the 55 amper doing 55 plus amps wants more VA when set to 14.8 than when set to 14.4. Anyway now the Honda kept going no sweat. Later when amps tapered a bit I cranked the 55 back to 14.8. I did not try to confirm this with a Kill-A-Watt at the time. Maybe next time.
So I am definitely at the limit of what the Honda 3000 can do. BUT I am not at the limit of what the batteries can take in. Once I got the chargers sorted out, so I could tell what they were doing themselves, I added in my solar. At the time, the solar (also set to 14.8) was pulling in 13 amps.
The Trimetric showed charging at 172 amps. I think the battery bank is good to about 450AH from what I can tell, so 172/450 = 38% charging rate. I believe they could take more in at 50% SOC than that, but I can't do more. I am "generator limited."
IMO this shows that anyone who has say, a PF-corrected inverter/charger that charges at 150 amps can run it with a 3000w Honda. Note, I cannot run a non-PF corrected PowerMax 75 amper and the 55 amper -total 130 with the Honda 3000. You need some PF correction to get the VA down. I was able to run 130 amps worth of Vector chargers with the Honda though. They are not PF-corrected but they are not as VA hungry it seems.
I suppose the real lesson here is that if you are pushing your luck, you can't go with just theoretical numbers, you have to do some trial and error. Let some other sucker find the limits on his money! :)
This was a classic gen in the morning then solar for the rest of the day after a few days in row with little solar input. Had to do a big catch- up and then was back to solar only with better weather.
