I got to thinking about this fuel economy thing sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. (I often find my best solutions while I am asleep - my mind won't slow down unless I drug it. :( ).
Both the Honda eu2000i at 98 cc and CPE 2000i at 80 cc are (have available) CARB approved engines.
I know enough about CARB (and EPA) to perhaps be dangerous. Anyway, there are certain requirements an engine must meet to gain CARB emissions approval.
One of those is a specific level at the exhaust of oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and % of unburned hydrocarbons, which is related to air/fuel ratio and the completeness of the burn in the cylinder.
CARB regulations now require charcoal vapor fuel recovery canisters, a catalytic converter type of muffler where secondary air is often injected, carburetors with fixed jetting so one cannot fool with the A/F mixture and crankcase vapor loops sort of like the simple PCV systems of older automobiles. CARB certification testing is performed at both the
most efficient engine operating speed and load as well as the
least efficient operating speed and load.
"If" the difference in published fuel economy were as great as the numbers we are considering, the 80 cc CPE engine compared to the 98 cc Honda engine would have to be slugging down fuel like a cowboy does whiskey in an old-town saloon and spewing liters of unburned hydrocarbons out the exhaust pipe. That would throw all of the necessary parameters for CARB approval so far off that not even China would allow operation in their smog tolerant cities.
I just finished reading the Honda eu2000
manual. Nothing about fuel economy run-times in the manual.
On the
Honda web site the info given is
up to 9.6 hours of operation on one gallon of gas. There is no mention of how much load the generator is operating under for that number.
Champion is stating 9.5 hours of operation at 25% load.
From what I see on the
OFFICIAL manufacturer's web sites the economy is equal.
