Parallel Hondas

I have one of those Champion 4000 watt open-frame models sitting by my now-defunct 3000 watt Yamaha.

There are some advantages of two 2000 watt Honda generators. The biggest is that they are portable/luggable. After that, you can attach an external extended-run fuel tank (some tanks have two outlets), so you have a lot of run time. You can find parts and service for those anywhere. You can use eco-throttle which does help on fuel consumption, especially if you are using the generator for battery charging.

kerrlakeroo wrote:
I have seen several comments and ads for paralleling 2000 Honda generators. My question is why? a standard 4000 watt generator has 230 volt power available, so why screw around with 2 small generators and try to parallel them?

a) normally I only need one, like 90 percent of the time
b) I can lift the honda 2000 easily and carry it around
c) I use it in the yard instead of running a long extension cord.
d) DW can easily put it in the truck bed

trail-explorer wrote:

time2roll wrote:
120VAC ONLY so don't go putting any 12v wire in there.

LOL.

12v wire....

Sorry, but I can't help but laugh.

Wire is Wire.

wire is wire .. yes

but the answer meant , don't plug a 12v circuit into the the honda 120v outlet

there is NO..12v between generators, only 120v

many people said it, and i described why

DarkSkySeeker wrote:
I never really got the answer to my question

Mr.Wizard answered your question directly on page 1.

The parallel kit does nothing more than join the two 120V outputs together, just behind the circuit breakers. The companion model is the same generator, except it has a 30A recepatcle to handle the total power.

DarkSkySeeker wrote:
I never really got the answer to my question

If you don't like the concise answers you DID get, but didn't like, find a schematic. I never got an answer to mine. What would lead you to think it would work like that?

I never really got the answer to my question except through the example that if the voltage was 12V, the current in the cabling would be so high.

So from that I infer the connection is 115V.

time2roll wrote:
120VAC ONLY so don't go putting any 12v wire in there.

LOL.

12v wire....

Sorry, but I can't help but laugh.

Wire is Wire.

SoundGuy wrote:
SO - you know for a fact that an EU2000i "works very hard" because you've done it yourself?

Yeah.

At 1200' and temps in the 80s my single eu would start and run my DuoTherm brisk air, but just barely. And sometimes it would quit, as if giving up because it was running too hard. I didn't want to subject a nice expensive generator to that kind of abuse. So I threw away my money on another one.

Everyone's situation is different.

SteveAE wrote:

I installed a similar soft start and my AC easily starts on one Honda EU 2000 at 3500 feet in 90+ degree weather. The problem is running the AC. A single EU2000 just can't run my AC when it is hot out. Maybe if I was at sea level and the ambient temperature was 60 degrees (i.e.; the Oregon Coast in the summer), but not when I am at 3500 feet or higher and the ambient temperature is above 80 degrees. Just sharing my experience so others don't make the same assumption. Use two EU2000's (or a single larger generator) if you want to run a typical AC.

I've made a similar observation with the eu2000i. Above 3,000 feet it struggles to supply its maximum 1,600 VA load. Coming from idle, it will exceed 1,600 VA initially, then as it heats up the maximum it can handle ramps down. Close to sea level, it chugs along indefinitely, not even running at maximum RPM with a 1,600 VA load.

kerrlakeroo wrote:

The 4 kw is listed as 70db @ half load.

WOW!:E

That generator will get you kicked out of the campground real quick.
Don't think I've ever seen a 4k generator with that loud of a noise rating.