Honda 2200 vs 1000 noise comparison

dLj

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Mar 23, 2017
3,372
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
I often wonder if the folks who are concerned about the safety of having gasoline onboard have an outboard for their dinghy.
Just as a FYI...

For me it's not so much the safety issue. Sure, safety is a concern but that can be handled without a lot of fuss. Done it for years. My main concerns are engine maintenance, contaminated fuel, engine size/weight/storage needs, fuel doesn't keep well. I just find them to be more of an overall problem than what I want to deal with. They are a theft object on top of it. I used to own an old British Seagull, wish I still did actually and looked into buying one but seems they've become something of a cult item...

The modern electric motors look quite interesting, there have been some discussions here on them that have seemed to me there is room for improvement at this juncture of time. But I'm keeping my eyes on those.

So far the best from my perspective is a good rowing/sailing dingy. However, those are hard to store compared with an inflatable. But I'm digressing...

dj
 

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
I don't see gasoline or propane to be all that dangerous unless someone is particularly inattentive or an alcoholic. I'm sure we all have sniffers on our boats to indicate a propane leak and a solenoid at the tank, which is in a vented locker or out on deck.
I'm pretty sure most of you with lawns have in the past or still do store gas for your mower in the garage. Or a car full of gas in the garage? Have they ever just gone boom? No difference on a boat. We store the dinghy's tank and spare gas in a cooler on the aft deck. I'm sure every one of us who uses gas has a good system to store it. I could just as easily store it in the lazarette if the containers were air tight.
A good number of the fires I've seen on small pleasure craft have been from alcohol stoves, not propane or gasoline. I had a gas fishing boat with 370 gallons of gas in the tanks and it never went boom, either.
There's no reason to be afraid of these fuels unless you are afraid you think you are incapable of handling them safely.
 
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Oct 29, 2005
2,355
Hunter Marine 326 303 Singapore
I had been using honda eu20i cousin, Elemax shx2000 for years. It runs my 12000btu Aircon. Lately genset keeps tripping. Checked and found the sponge at air filter deteriorated into sticky dust. Probably fouled the filter. Removed filter completely and run genset and aircon, no more tripping problem. So genset was starving for air with foul filter when loaded with Aircon running.

Ken Y
 
Aug 10, 2016
7
Hunter Legend 35.5 Clearwater, FL
Check out indogenerators.com for the best prices i have seen. We have the Yamaha 2400. Runs everything and is whisper quiet. I'm researching scuba compressors and I believe it will even run that.
 
May 21, 2014
106
Hunter H44 Toronto
I did a little unscientific testing today with my Honda inverter generators. I compared the noise level with no load at high idle and ECO idle. I also loaded each unit with 750 watts using a space heater. The results were not surprising to me. The 1000 watt generator and the 2200 watt unit made about the same amount of noise under all three conditions. The small unit operated at a higher rpm and produced a higher tone. I would probably prefer the lower tone of the larger unit on a boat, however if I was only use the unit for small loads the weight of the bigger unit makes it a lot less attractive.

So what can the 1000 watt Honda power. I've used it on a small boat to run the 20 amp charger, a 900 watt hot plate and a squirrel cage fan all at the same time. It is only rated to 900 watts continuous and 1000 surge. It switched my heater to 1500 watts from 750 for about 1 second several time today just to test it, it never did overload. It's a tough little generator. Obviously it won't run the standard marine AC unit, but it should handle a 70 or 80 amp charger.

The 2200 should run everything on a typical 30 foot boat as long your not running the water heater and the AC at the same time.

I'm not suggesting that anyone use a portable generator on a boat. Be safe and do your homework.
Do you know the charge rate when plugged into the boat.
 
Jul 23, 2009
857
Beneteau 31 Oceanis Grand Lake, Oklahoma
Do you know the charge rate when plugged into the boat.
I don't really understand your question. I'm guessing that your are referring to the 12 volt dc outlet on the generator. I've never tried it, the charge rate would be very poor. I only use the 110 volt ac connection and my battery charger will put out its maximum if the batteries need it.
 

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Do you know the charge rate when plugged into the boat.
I know the OP just replied to this, but it's an interesting worth expanding on.

I've met several people who use these generators to run appliances and "charge their batteries." They are plugged into the shore power outlet, and for battery charging, using their shore power charger. What they haven't considered is that given the typical shore power charger is in the ballpark of 20A or so, it can take DAYS to fully charge a reasonably-sized house bank that's depleted. The best they are really doing is taking the load off the house bank by using the generator while they put a little bit of charge back.
 
May 21, 2014
106
Hunter H44 Toronto
I don't really understand your question. I'm guessing that your are referring to the 12 volt dc outlet on the generator. I've never tried it, the charge rate would be very poor. I only use the 110 volt ac connection and my battery charger will put out its maximum if the batteries need it.
Thanks Got it. Was wondering how long the batteries would take to charge at 110 connection thru battery charger.
 
Jul 23, 2009
857
Beneteau 31 Oceanis Grand Lake, Oklahoma
Thanks Got it. Was wondering how long the batteries would take to charge at 110 connection thru battery charger.
The answer is "it depends ".
What type of batteries?
How depleted are they?
Charger output?

Given a property sized battery charger and a battery bank that's not overly discharged. My best guess is 5 to 6 hours based on other data that I've seen. Don't hold me to those numbers!
 
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jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
I'm sure we all have sniffers on our boats to indicate a propane leak
I don't think that's the case.
a solenoid at the tank
This is certainly the case.
I'm pretty sure most of you with lawns have in the past or still do store gas for your mower in the garage. Or a car full of gas in the garage? Have they ever just gone boom? No difference on a boat.
Yes, big difference on a boat! Both propane, and gasoline fumes are heavier than air. In a garage they will "spill out" of the garage. On a boat they will collect in the hull.

Even so, I know of a case where gasoline fumes collecting a garage "went boom" - a work colleague, his son and a friend were refueling dirt bikes at the garage door. Something set off the fumes, his son killed, the friend burnt over 90% of his body.

Just because you don't see these things, or hear of them, or know of them, doesn't mean they don't happen.

Hear of any good boat fires last week? I know of one. Boat went to the bottom. I wonder how many will hear of it.
 
May 17, 2004
5,028
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
What they haven't considered is that given the typical shore power charger is in the ballpark of 20A or so, it can take DAYS to fully charge a reasonably-sized house bank that's depleted. The best they are really doing is taking the load off the house bank by using the generator while they put a little bit of charge back.
How do you figure days? The shore power outputs 20A at 12V. That’s about 2A at 120V (plus a little for inefficiency). Putting 20A into the battery at 12V it should be filled in a matter of hours, the same as it is when plugged into real shore power.

Said differently - A shore charger only uses a few amps of AC, so a generator should be up to the task the same way a marina pedestal is.
 
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Sep 17, 2012
99
Morgan 383 Fairhaven, NY
When cruising, I charged my golf car house batteries thru the shorepower to xantrex charger for years with Honda 2000. It has enough power to run tools on land. Also will run a coffee maker and my refrig/freezer at home in power outages. So as an all round generator that you can lift out of a lazerette with one hand...its pretty much perfect. Pretty quiet too on the eco setting. And its a Honda, which means it will probably start and keep running. One of my better "boat" purchases.
 
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Bob S

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Sep 27, 2007
1,771
Beneteau 393 New Bedford, MA
After buying several other inverter generators I will probably never buy anything other than a Honda ever again.
Mine has run flawlessly for 4 seasons. I can't believe how easy it is to start, one pull.
 

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
How do you figure days? The shore power outputs 20A at 12V. That’s about 2A at 120V (plus a little for inefficiency). Putting 20A into the battery at 12V it should be filled in a matter of hours, the same as it is when plugged into real shore power.

Said differently - A shore charger only uses a few amps of AC, so a generator should beup to the task the same way a marina pedestal is.
O.K., half a day, at least. Consider a 400AH bank, discharged to 50%, and a charging efficiency at 20A of 80%; that comes to 12.5 hours. And that's generous, in my opinion. Any loads on the boat, like your fridge, laptops, etc., are sapping some of that available 20A. A fridge at 50% duty cycle, and the rest of the loads matching that, reduce the available charging current to 15A, which brings us to 17 hours.

My set-up is 230AH house bank and an Ample Power 125A alternator with a serpentine belt drive. I bulk-up at 80A, and my acceptance mode voltage is 14.80V. To go from 50% SOC, defined as 12.10V open circuit, to "full," defined as an acceptance current of 4.6A can take almost 4 hours. And, I've been told (by @Stu Jackson :) ) that my house bank is small. By the time my acceptance current is down to 20A I'm probably 2+ hours into this. And, since I'm regulating to 14.8V and have plenty of current "headroom," the other loads on the boat aren't slowing down the house bank charging.
 
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Jul 23, 2009
857
Beneteau 31 Oceanis Grand Lake, Oklahoma
How do you figure days? The shore power outputs 20A at 12V. That’s about 2A at 120V (plus a little for inefficiency). Putting 20A into the battery at 12V it should be filled in a matter of hours, the same as it is when plugged into real shore power.

Said differently - A shore charger only uses a few amps of AC, so a generator should beup to the task the same way a marina pedestal is.
What Ijviss
O.K., half a day, at least. Consider a 400AH bank, discharged to 50%, and a charging efficiency at 20A of 80%; that comes to 12.5 hours. And that's generous, in my opinion. Any loads on the boat, like your fridge, laptops, etc., are sapping some of that available 20A. A fridge at 50% duty cycle, and the rest of the loads matching that, reduce the available charging current to 15A, which brings us to 17 hours.

My set-up is 230AH house bank and an Ample Power 125A alternator with a serpentine belt drive. I bulk-up at 80A, and my acceptance mode voltage is 14.80V. To go from 50% SOC, defined as 12.10V open circuit, to "full," defined as an acceptance current of 4.6A can take almost 4 hours. And, I've been told (by @Stu Jackson :) ) that my house bank is small. By the time my acceptance current is down to 20A I'm probably 2+ hours into this. And, since I'm regulating to 14.8V and have plenty of current "headroom," the other loads on the boat aren't slowing down the house bank charging.
Perfect example of larger battery bank and a small charger, too small.
A 20 amp charger works fine on my boat but I'm not a cruiser, my boat plugs into shore power every night.
I have a 30 amp charger waiting to go in but I just don't have the need, and it's been too hot.
A 400 ah bank really should have 40 amp charger as a minimum, preferably an 80.
 
May 17, 2004
5,028
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
O.K., half a day, at least. Consider a 400AH bank, discharged to 50%, and a charging efficiency at 20A of 80%; that comes to 12.5 hours. And that's generous, in my opinion. Any loads on the boat, like your fridge, laptops, etc., are sapping some of that available 20A. A fridge at 50% duty cycle, and the rest of the loads matching that, reduce the available charging current to 15A, which brings us to 17 hours.
Fair enough if you have a 20A charger, but in that case the charger is pretty undersized for the bank. Rule of thumb is to use a charger sized at the continuous loads plus 10% of the bank capacity. So with a 400 aH bank you’d really want more than a 40A charger. Even with that charger you’re still only using a little over 4A of AC, so still easily within a generator’s capacity.

We have a 210AH bank and 20 amp charger. After a full day of sailing (8-9 hours of refrigeration, nav instruments, and occasional autopilot) we are generally in bulk mode for about 2.5 hours, and absorption for 2 hours. That’s a shorter day than if we were out cruising and discharging closer to 50%, but our charger is also a little undersized.
 
Jul 23, 2009
857
Beneteau 31 Oceanis Grand Lake, Oklahoma
Fair enough if you have a 20A charger, but in that case the charger is pretty undersized for the bank. Rule of thumb is to use a charger sized at the continuous loads plus 10% of the bank capacity. So with a 400 aH bank you’d really want more than a 40A charger. Even with that charger you’re still only using a little over 4A of AC, so still easily within a generator’s capacity.

We have a 210AH bank and 20 amp charger. After a full day of sailing (8-9 hours of refrigeration, nav instruments, and occasional autopilot) we are generally in bulk mode for about 2.5 hours, and absorption for 2 hours. That’s a shorter day than if we were out cruising and discharging closer to 50%, but our charger is also a little undersized.
So my guess of 5 to 6 hours is pretty close to someone's real work experience.
 

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
I don't think that's the case.
I certainly hope that isn't true. They aren't expensive and they are a pretty important part of a safe propane system. Why on earth would someone not have one? I wouldn't want to be aboard if the stove was in use. To me that's about as intelligent as lighting a match to see the level in a gas tank.
 

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
I certainly hope that isn't true. They aren't expensive and they are a pretty important part of a safe propane system. Why on earth would someone not have one? I wouldn't want to be aboard if the stove was in use. To me that's about as intelligent as lighting a match to see the level in a gas tank.
It's not a matter of intelligence, it's a matter of the way boats were made and equipped in the past, and human nature. My 1984 Catalina 36 didn't have a sniffer, and I never felt the need to add one. I would usually shut the solenoid off and watch the flame go out, as a matter of habit. My new boat has a Fireboy-Xintex propane/CNG Fume Detector with Solenoid Valve Control, and I said "great! Now I have a sniffer!" It would not have occurred to me to install one. I guess it's the same for most people. Maybe we should conduct a poll on this site.