Five_Nine
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Re: The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread
MrRchitty wrote: About 1700 watts for the Champion barring surges based on many of our tests. The newer models without the circuit breaker are being advertised at 1700 running watts. Per the owner's manual on the Champion, it's 2000 watts for 5 seconds. The Honda is 2000 watts for up to 30 minutes. Dollar for dollar for watts...... In some cases the limitation may be the circuit breaker, or electronics, but only at sea level, IMO. At higher elevations the engine runs out of horsepower before the generator over loads on high electrical power draw. As I posted earlier, my 2000i will barely run a 1500 heater at 3500' elevation. It was drawing about 12A at 119V. I have no doubt that the Honda would handle this better with its larger 98cc engine. Like the Champion, the Yamaha 2000W inverter gen has a 79cc engine, so I wonder how it performs at similar elevations.394Views0likes0CommentsRe: The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread
Let me just clarify what happened with the 1500w heater. I had the heater running at it's lower output. Kill-a-watt read 122v and 6.86a. I then turned the heater on high. Voltage and amperage readings were 119V and 12.12a, respectively. The generator ran like this for about 1 minute, but the engine was really struggling. After 1 minute, RPMS started to drop (based on observation and sound level) over a period of 20 seconds, and the voltage sagged to about 80V and stayed there. There was no recovery.409Views0likes0CommentsRe: The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread
PrivatePilot wrote: JConatser wrote: Five.Nine wrote: ... the generator basically stalled out and the voltage dropped to about 80V when I tested it with a 1500 W heater... I assume you did NOT have it in ECON mode when you did this test? He probably did, because I've done this exact same test and had ZERO issues. This generator will run a 1500 watt heater all day long without complaints. Nope, I was not in ECON mode. I am in Calgary (3500') and you are in Toronto (300' elevation). I think my horsepower is derated by about 10% compared to where you're at. The first generator I had would not power the heater reliably. The replacement generator does run the 1500w heater, but just barely. You can hear the engine struggling and it sounds as though it is slowing down although I don't have a tach hooked up to verify this. I am not complaining about this because I think I have reached or exceeded the engine's design limits at my elevation. I just did the test to compare the replacement generator to the one I returned so I could feel comfortable that it functions properly. I have not retested the new generator with my IOTA DLS-55 converter yet. Based on the heater results, I am crossing my fingers that it will perform better than the old generator, but have a 45 amp converter as a back-up in the event it does not.409Views0likes0CommentsRe: The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread
professor95 wrote: Jeff Haugh: Regarding the “burping” issue we have done extensive research and there is no rhyme or reason for why it happens. What we do know is that if we replace the inverter module or reload the software the problem goes away. We currently have 30,000 inverters out in the field and only a handful of these “burping” generators. We have not knowingly sent out “burping” generators. After much debate, I decided to exchange my 2000i. It will not run my IOTA DLS-55 converter. I was tempted to just return it and buy a Yamaha 2400. Instead, I spent $170 and picked up a DLS-45. I haven't received it yet but I am confident the generator will power it. The reason I exchanged the generator was because of the burping and the fact that the generator basically stalled out and the voltage dropped to about 80V when I tested it with a 1500 W heater. My new generator also has a burping problem, but it powers the heater fine and holds the voltage at about 119V-120V. My kill-a-watt reads about 1430 watts. At 3500' elevation, I am right on the edge of the engine's HP capabities. Anyway, I am not convinced this burping issues is confined to a handful of units. I have had two generators that do it, and so does my buddy's. All three have NOV 2010 build dates. I am anxiously waiting for some results of the module change-out to see if this solves the problem.357Views0likes0CommentsRe: The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread
bradyk wrote: Dennis maybe can add to the burping issue on our gennys, Seems pretty common out there that no one has a magic answer for. I didn't notice it so much but the wife pointed out to me last weekend. I wouldn't put it in the deal breaker category but is it something that is going to get worse or maybe an internal component going to fail down the road. Maybe Dennis can read many of those posts and throw us some ideas. I too would be interested in knowing the cause and fix for this. Both mine and a friend's 2000i have this "hiccup" or missing sound. I believe I read in an earlier post that a higher heat range plug could be used. I don't know if this was a CPE recommendation or just something that a poster did to help remedy the problem.433Views0likes0CommentsRe: The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread
-=dwh=- wrote: A 55a constant voltage charger charging a large or deeply discharged battery bank might trip the CPE into overload, whereas an 80a constant voltage charger charging a smaller or less deeply discharged battery bank might not. I'm anxious to see some real world results of how the CPE performs when powering a true 3-stage charger, such as the Iota. We may have some data on that soon. A poster on another forum has a 55a Iota, and says he is going to buy a CPE this weekend. I've invited him to join here and post his experiences. However, he's not electrically inclined, so the data may nothing more than anecdotal. dwh, I have an IOTA DLS-55/IQ4 and posted some findings on page 67. At the start of the charging cycle my AGM batteries were at 12.2 V and the IOTA went into bulk charging mode (14.5V measured across converter terminals)when I started the generator. I tried two different 2000i's. Mine went into overload after 5 minutes and the other one after 10 minutes.268Views0likes0CommentsRe: The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread
Thank you professor. Your response to this issue sure helps to confirm a lot of things to me. I bought a 3 stage intellegent converter to charge my batteries faster than the stock WFCO converter. I installed the converter 4' away from the batteries and installed 4 gauge wire attemping to do all the right things right to maximize voltage to my batteries. My IOTA DLS55 sure works great when plugged in to shore power. I only wish I would have plugged it into a kill-a-watt to understand what was really happening. Or better yet, thought about it before purchasing the converter and Champion 2000i to use as a combination. I was fooled by reading specifications that I didn't understand. My converter specs states 750 watt power output. I did know that the continous power rating of the genny was 1600 w but assumed I had plenty of spare capacity. Well...the education starts today. From what I have experienced, my 55 amp converter is right on the edge of what the 2000i can handle, I will probably spend $150 on a smaller converter. I know that there are some converters with PF correction built in. Maybe I'll check into that too.234Views0likes0CommentsRe: The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread
Hybridhunter wrote: Here's the thing.... The amps X volts is your Volt-Amps. Power Factor is : WATTS PF = -------------- VA So you were drawing less than rated amps. My theory on our charging problems, is that the generator have Power factor issues. As in the overload under their amp rating. There was never a time that I have measured over 12 amps from my converter, yet it trips the overload under heavy 12V usage or discharged battery. I agree. It seems PF may be a cause. I have run a 1500 W electric heater with no problems at all. Perhaps my 55 amp IOTA converter is not a good match for the Champion 2000i and I should investigate a different manufacturer or even a smaller 45 amp converter. By the way, my generator does the hiccup / burble thing too.228Views0likes0CommentsRe: The Official unofficial CPE 2000i Generator Thread
There are no other loads except for the converter. I installed it on a separate circuit just to charge batteries. The converter was plugged directly into the 2000i. So if, the PF is .6 to .66, would it be fair to say that the load on the generator is actually 1500 to 1600 VA and not 1000 W? I have ordered a kill-a-watt to try and measure power factor. May be this will help to determine what the problem is. Any other ideas are welcomed.220Views0likes0Comments
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