Running 2 Honda generators

[Butch50]

I currently have a Yamaha 3000iseb and a Honda 2000i. I decided I didn't want to mess with the heavy Yamaha so am looking at a Honda 2000i Companion. My RV has a EMS and when I hooked up the Yamaha and tried to run it and it was a no go. The EMS wouldn't allow power to the trailer. Then I found out that the inverter generators do not have the ground and neutral bonded. So I found on line how to make a bonded plug and did this and it worked fine then.

So after all that, if I have 2 2000i hooked together do I have to have a bonded plug in both generators or just one to make theEMS allow power?

Also does anyone know where I can get a good price on a 2000 Companion?

Thanks

[burningman]

The twist lock is the WRONG plug for RV use of Honda generators, which is what we’re talking about. I know it’s there because this isn’t what most of them get used for.

As for my so-called dead man’s plug arrangement, I could just as well put banana plugs on the ends of my cords. If you’re that squeamish just do that.
I like mine with the regular plugs. It’s less hassle, I don’t have to get a screwdriver to connect the grounds, and if someone messes with my generators and gets zapped, GREAT!! It’s not my job or desire to make my stuff one million percent idiot proof in case someone with no business messing with it decides to put one of my plugs in their mouth.

[ktmrfs]

dieseltruckdriver wrote:

burningman wrote:
Buying the “Companion” EU2000, or passing up a deal on a regular EU2000 is ridiculous.
The Companion is no different other than having THE WRONG 30-amp plug mounted on it and it costs $100 more. Why would you do that?
It’s so easy and so cheap to make your own parallel box, and there are a bunch of write-ups on it.

I like making them with an outlet box, an RV-30 receptacle, a face plate, and two 12-gauge power-tool replacement cords. The factory parallel kit is extremely overpriced and still is t what you need.

You do have a possibly unsafe condition doing it that way.
The way I did it was to buy the parallel cord kit, cut it in half and connect them to the RV 30 amp outlet in the box.
It is still not idiot proof, but I can unhook one generator and still have power to the camper and not worry about someone grabbing the end.

yup, there is a reason these are often called "deadman's plug" or "deadmans cord" or "suicide plug"

[ktmrfs]

Butch50 wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:


But now there are the power saving AC units from Coleman and Dometic that drop the running current by several amps, very likely enough to use one honda 2000 even at 5000ft or so. I've run a coleman power cub with a 10A running current for hours on end at 8000ft with no problems on the honda 2000.

Do you happen to now which Dometic A/C work at lower current? My A/Cs are both Dometic. The 13,500 bedroom unitis a low profile and my RV was built last Sept. I have the sheet that the manufacturer sends with the units model # that they installed but the model # they have listed for my unit does not exist. There is one unit on Dometic site that is one number off in the middle of the model # so this might be it.

unfortunetly I don't have and emperical data. All I have is info when the topic of starting/running AC units, those with Dometic seem to have less trouble than those with Coleman Mach series.

Also, like you, the Coleman unit I have doesn't show on their website. The reason is that it is a unit built specifically for the OEM trailer mfg. rather than a replacement unit. differences are often very subtle, like different location for some wiring, and on occasion not so subtle like removing the start cap on the fan or compressor.

Now, in the last few years the AC mfg have started introducing "power saving" AC units, dropping the typical running current from 13-14A down to the 10-11 A range. while that doesn't sound like much, it is a big improvement when trying to run the AC units from a 2000VA generator. starting them can still be an issue.

[dieseltruckdriv]

burningman wrote:
Buying the “Companion” EU2000, or passing up a deal on a regular EU2000 is ridiculous.
The Companion is no different other than having THE WRONG 30-amp plug mounted on it and it costs $100 more. Why would you do that?
It’s so easy and so cheap to make your own parallel box, and there are a bunch of write-ups on it.

I like making them with an outlet box, an RV-30 receptacle, a face plate, and two 12-gauge power-tool replacement cords. The factory parallel kit is extremely overpriced and still is t what you need.

You do have a possibly unsafe condition doing it that way.
The way I did it was to buy the parallel cord kit, cut it in half and connect them to the RV 30 amp outlet in the box.
It is still not idiot proof, but I can unhook one generator and still have power to the camper and not worry about someone grabbing the end.

[Butch50]

ktmrfs wrote:


But now there are the power saving AC units from Coleman and Dometic that drop the running current by several amps, very likely enough to use one honda 2000 even at 5000ft or so. I've run a coleman power cub with a 10A running current for hours on end at 8000ft with no problems on the honda 2000.

Do you happen to now which Dometic A/C work at lower current? My A/Cs are both Dometic. The 13,500 bedroom unitis a low profile and my RV was built last Sept. I have the sheet that the manufacturer sends with the units model # that they installed but the model # they have listed for my unit does not exist. There is one unit on Dometic site that is one number off in the middle of the model # so this might be it.

[Butch50]

.

[Butch50]

I have in the past built an paralleling kit myself years back. I still have it all I need to do is replace the 30A RV outlet (I stole it from this to use else where). The only thing I did not like about it was using the male plug into the generator. If one of the connections should fall out while running you have 120v live plug laying there, if the other end stayed plugged in the other generator. There is some danger to it.

Thanks to everyone's response. This has given me some things to ponder. I'm also working on my project of adding a 2000W inverter and additional batteries into my RV

[SoundGuy]

burningman wrote:
But this one is being purchased for an RV, and the twist lock is the wrong outlet.

The Honda EU2000i Companion was designed for the purpose of being paralleld to a standard version EU2000i, and as such is wired here in N America with an industry standard 30 amp twist lock receptacle. The EU2000i is sold around the world for an endless variety of purposes, if one wants to use it to power an RV manufactured here in N America then it's absurd to claim that the genset has the "wrong outlet" when if anything it's the N American RV industry that uses the "wrong outlet", the TT-30. Good grief, talk about myopic! :S

[burningman]

But this one is being purchased for an RV, and the twist lock is the wrong outlet.
So why shell out the extra $100?

[DrewE]

ktmrfs wrote:

very true. the RV 120V 30A is the "odd man out" connector system. the twist lock is the standard 120V 30A outlet. Try finding an adapter that would go from 30A female RV to 30A female twist lock. If they exist, they are very hard to come by. There is a reason there are so many 30A twist lock to 30A RV adapters. The 30A RV is only NEC approved for RV use, nothing else.

I think you mean 30A male RV to 30A female twist-lock, since female to female power adapters of any sort don't (or at least oughtn't) exist; using one would imply that there's a live male plug somewhere in the system.

Such adapters aren't super common, but they do exist. etrailer has a few, for instance. Still, your point is well-taken; the 30TT plug and socket are definitely an odd duck and probably only still around due to inertia and history.

[ktmrfs]

SoundGuy wrote:

burningman wrote:
The Companion is no different other than having THE WRONG 30-amp plug mounted on it and it costs $100 more.

The Companion's 30 amp receptacle is only "wrong" for RV use but it's not sold solely for use by RVrs, rather it's intended to be used as a general purpose portable generator by anyone for a variety of purposes and as such the Companion's 30 amp twist lock receptacle is entirely correct. For dedicated RV use there's not really any advantage to buying a Companion as it's 30 amp twist lock receptacle has to be converted to a TT-30 receptacle anyway.

very true. the RV 120V 30A is the "odd man out" connector system. the twist lock is the standard 120V 30A outlet. Try finding an adapter that would go from 30A female RV to 30A female twist lock. If they exist, they are very hard to come by. There is a reason there are so many 30A twist lock to 30A RV adapters. The 30A RV is only NEC approved for RV use, nothing else.

[SoundGuy]

burningman wrote:
The Companion is no different other than having THE WRONG 30-amp plug mounted on it and it costs $100 more.

The Companion's 30 amp receptacle is only "wrong" for RV use but it's not sold solely for use by RVrs, rather it's intended to be used as a general purpose portable generator by anyone for a variety of purposes and as such the Companion's 30 amp twist lock receptacle is entirely correct. For dedicated RV use there's not really any advantage to buying a Companion as it's 30 amp twist lock receptacle has to be converted to a TT-30 receptacle anyway.

[burningman]

Buying the “Companion” EU2000, or passing up a deal on a regular EU2000 is ridiculous.
The Companion is no different other than having THE WRONG 30-amp plug mounted on it and it costs $100 more. Why would you do that?
It’s so easy and so cheap to make your own parallel box, and there are a bunch of write-ups on it.

I like making them with an outlet box, an RV-30 receptacle, a face plate, and two 12-gauge power-tool replacement cords. The factory parallel kit is extremely overpriced and still is t what you need.

[ktmrfs]

SoundGuy wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:
But now there are the power saving AC units from Coleman and Dometic that drop the running current by several amps, very likely enough to use one honda 2000 even at 5000ft or so. I've run a coleman power cub with a 10A running current for hours on end at 8000ft with no problems on the honda 2000.

Coleman Mach 3 P.S. compared to Coleman Mach 3 Plus ... same cooling ability but much lower continuous draw for the former would make powering this unit with a 2K genset much easier. :B

My small trailer has a coleman polar cub. 9,000BTU and it draws 9 amps max. Also has a much better start circuit with LRA around 30A. It starts and runs fine at 7000+ ft with my honda 2000, so the MachIII PS would likely run fine with the 2000 as well. Looks like the MachIII PS still has a pretty high LRA so starting may not be as easy, but the micro air fixes that.