Unusual Incident With Honda EU2000 Eco Throttle

Hey All,

So we're camping at Rathtrevor Provincial Park this past weekend and Saturday afternoon I notice on the XBM that the battery bank is getting down, and should be given a boosting charge. So, at 6pm I fire up Lil Red, hook up the trailer, and energize the charger (PD9280) in BOOST mode. I also switch the fridge over to the shorepower and kill the inverter. Generator is happily spewing out 110VAC to the trailer, running at around 50% RPM.

A few minutes later, the unit starts revving up and down. I had heard the fridge kick in (made the genny really work hard for a moment), but the main load is the charger. Looking at the XBM I see the current flow into the battery bank matching the genny's RPM's. RPM's go up and current flow increases. RPM's go down, current flow decreases. Average current at this point is around 65Amps. That's a little low.:?

So, I go flip off the Eco Throttle. Lil Red quickly spins up to full RPM. A further check of the XBM shows the current flow now at 78Amps.

I turn the Eco back on, genny slows to 50%, give or take. Couple minutes later, she starts revving up and down again. :h:h Charge current again follows the RPMs. I tried a space heater on LOW to give a constant load, thinking the charger may have been having an issue, but that added load was a bit much for the genset (didn't pop the breaker, but I could tell from the sound she wasn't happy).:E

I ended up the running Lil Red the entire hour with the Eco Throttle turned off. Made for a somewhat noisy hour. I've never seen this behaviour before in this unit; she's always purred along at a constant RPM with the charger working.

The only change I am aware of is I plugged into the right side outlet rather than the left side outlet. When I had the truck at the dealer in the morning, they washed the truck with the genset still in the back. So I'm wondering if either using the right side outlet caused the ET system to have issues tracking the load or if water got somewhere it shouldn't have.:S

Also wondering if anyone else has seen this issue.

Cheers!
Mike

ve7prt
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Wayne Dohnal wrote:
Watts don't mean beans, it's all about VA which is what the eu2000i is rated in. When running from the eu2000i and supplying 65 DC amps, my PD9160A draws 1386 VA (actual measured values). Using a straight proportion supplying 80 DC amps would require 1706 VA. The 1.1 amp fridge adds another 132 VA for 1838 VA. Guess it's possible in generator-friendly conditions, but you've got to be right on the edge. My eu2000i maxes out at around 1,900 VA at low altitudes and reasonable temperatures. I've seen several other users report the same thing.

Interesting, Wayne. I wonder if PD made some changes between the 9100 and 9200 series chargers. Maybe a couple slight changes to increase the efficiency and reduce power draw, especially for those on generators. Not sure what the VA draw on my 9280 is, but based on what Lil Red sounds like, I'd say it's nowhere near close to the max output Lil Red can handle. It's the fridge starting up that really give her the boots for a couple seconds. :E

Cheers!
Mike
dennis1
Explorer
Jun 30, 2013
Use some Seafoam additive and run it for a while. Then everything will be find.
Wayne_Dohnal
Explorer
Jun 30, 2013
Watts don't mean beans, it's all about VA which is what the eu2000i is rated in. When running from the eu2000i and supplying 65 DC amps, my PD9160A draws 1386 VA (actual measured values). Using a straight proportion supplying 80 DC amps would require 1706 VA. The 1.1 amp fridge adds another 132 VA for 1838 VA. Guess it's possible in generator-friendly conditions, but you've got to be right on the edge. My eu2000i maxes out at around 1,900 VA at low altitudes and reasonable temperatures. I've seen several other users report the same thing.
RoyB
Explorer II
Jun 30, 2013
My 2KW HONDA EU2000i generator pretty much duplicates what is printed on its front panel... 120VAC at 13.3AMPS... This relates to around 1600WATTs of output. I run my PD9260C 60AMP converter/charger with ease along with alot of other 120VAC items still turned on when connected to the trailer Shore Power cable 30AMP connection...

The Intelli-Power PD9280 80AMP Converter/Charger unit appears to be rated at 120VAC at 1300WATTs for its input power or around 10.8AMPS so it should be able to run this unit with ease as well...

I suspect I would be dropping a couple of 120VAC circuits in my power distribution panel however just to be sure I wouldn't be tripping my 2KW Generator off line. I don't like surprises...

Just my thoughts
Roy Ken
ve7prt
Explorer
Jun 30, 2013
BFL13 wrote:
Love Rathtrevor, especially during the herring run. However, it looks like the fridge was the culprit and you should have been on LP for fridge. Fisherguy runs his 9280 with an H2000, but that maxes it out AFAIK.

Sorry, BFL, fridge is a compressor driven unit. No LP for it. Fridge doesn't normally cause the surging problem either. The only thing the fridge does is cause the genny to run really hard for a moment when it starts up. Other than that, the genny purrs along at around 50%, give or take.

I've been told a 9280 is either the max for a Honda eu2000i, or is more than the genny can handle. However, that is NOT the case. The eu2000i can handle the PD9280, fridge, and a few other small loads, and still have capacity left over (not that I'd put any more on at that point). And this is with the 9280 pumping out its full 80Amps, too.

Cheers!
Mike
ve7prt
Explorer
Jun 30, 2013
Canadian Rainbirds wrote:

There's your problem Mike! It was plugged up with excess electrons. Running the ham gear cleared them out. :B

Art, VE7FED, VA7RV

You cheeky bugger! ;) She sure ran well that day. And she'll get another good run on the 1st when I do my second Canada Day show, up in Tofino. No power (that I consider good and usable) available nearby so will use Lil Red to power the show. Done it before with good results.

Cheers!
Mike
ve7prt
Explorer
Jun 30, 2013
mikestock wrote:
You know that a regular RV fridge doesn't have a compressor. If there is a heavy starting load you must be talking about a home style fridge.

Yup. It's a 4.2cube dorm style fridge, compressor driven. Darn cheaper than a proper RV fridge, and works just as well. We're on the second fridge in the trailer now, the first having lost its coolant due to a pinhole in the tubing. Power draw is fairly low, probably 8-10Amps starting (I think!) and purrs along at around 1.1Amps. Inverter shows about 12Amp pull when the fridge alone is on it. Paid about $200Cdn for this fridge.

I figure this way was cheaper, that for the price of a single RV fridge I could afford 8 - 10 dorm fridges AND not have to worry about propane. Just keep a decently charged battery bank for those off-grid trips.

Cheers!
Mike
BFL13
Explorer II
Jun 14, 2013
Love Rathtrevor, especially during the herring run. However, it looks like the fridge was the culprit and you should have been on LP for fridge. Fisherguy runs his 9280 with an H2000, but that maxes it out AFAIK.
Canadian_Rainbi
Explorer
Jun 14, 2013
ve7prt wrote:
UPDATE!!!!!

So, I used Lil Red On Sunday (June 09th) as the power supply for my portable radio station. I was Net Control for the 2013 Edge-To-Edge Marathon held that day (race goes from Tofino to Ucluelet). The total load on the genny was 2 laptop power bricks, 1 LCD monitor, 1 MobiCool (powered cooler) power brick, and 1 intelligent 30Amp battery charger. Lil Red ran from just after 0700hrs to about 1530hrs without refueling (I had fueled her up prior to departing for my station's location). I had no issues at all with the Eco-Throttle - Lil Red held a constant RPM the whole day.

So, I don't know what the issue was originally with Lil Red constantly changing RPMs on the Eco-Throttle, but whatever it was, it appears to have cleared itself. I still think it was water getting somewhere it shouldn't be.

Cheers to all!!
Mike

There's your problem Mike! It was plugged up with excess electrons. Running the ham gear cleared them out. :B

Art, VE7FED, VA7RV
mikestock
Explorer
Jun 14, 2013
You know that a regular RV fridge doesn't have a compressor. If there is a heavy starting load you must be talking about a home style fridge.