Honda EU2000 Companion

Look at the companion kit for the 1000i it is simply two wires connecting the two. Remember these are inverters so frequency is controlled electronically in the inverter not by the speed of the motor.

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

So Bruce, are you saying that you can pull 30A through your homemade connector joining the 2 EU2000s? I presume the parts were pretty cheap...maybe $20-$30?

Dave

Yes, Cheap. How bout some photos?

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by AstroBruce

The Companion doesn't have any more electronics in it than the Standard eu2000. The only extra is the 30 amp socket.

To the best of my knowledge, that's not exactly correct. There is a paralleling cable that must be plugged into a separate port on each generator (it's separate from the main 30A cables). It will work without it but it is my understanding (from the Honda dealer that I bought it from) you stand the chance or damaging one or both generators if you don't use it.
I'll be using it this weekend. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the set-up.

I just found this:
http://mayberrys.com/honda/generator...l-rv/rv30a.htm
This is a little different than mine but I have an older unit.

If you look at the schematic in the manual, you will see that the Parallel connectors are connected directly to the Duplex outlets. No magic there either.

[rickst29]

Originally Posted by harveyrv

....I just found this:
http://mayberrys.com/honda/generator...l-rv/rv30a.htm

hmmm. Mayberry's text says "two wires for the parallel outlets, and one green for the ground". Wayne, are the parallel connection plugs multi-conductor jacks (like headphone jacks) or or single conductor banana plugs?

If they're single wires, and not multi-conductor "cables", then I've got to be with Bruce: One of them's got to be the hot (black) wire, the other one's got to be the ground-ED conductor (white wire, which does carry current). The green groundING wire is required in this setup, but Honda can't use it to carry any current in normal operation. We need at least one more wire if there's any "intelligence", above and beyond the actual sine-wave power, being exchanged between the two EU2000i's.

But the nearly $300 prices certainly imply that signaling and monitor/control circuits are present in within these "Parallel Kits". So, Wayne: Are the plugs which go into the "parallel operation jacks" both single-conductor plugs, or is at least one of them a multi-conductor plug?

Look at page 69 of the instruction manual for the Companion.
http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/p...X31Z077000.pdf

Looking at the circuit diagram on page 69 of the 2000i manual, it appears there is no circuit protection ( fuse / breaker) on the 30A ( twiston) outlet???

The point I am trying to make is, the only connection between generators is Hot, Neutral, and Ground. Inside the generator, the Hot and Neutral from the parallel connection are connected directly to the Duplex and 30 amp outlet. There is a circuit breaker for the duplex. There is no special "sense" wiring.

You are correct No special circuitry for companion operation. On the 1000i it is even more obvious as the companion cable consists of two individual single conductor wires between the two. My point was you can overload the 30A outlet and not be protected by a breaker.

[rickst29]

I just created a "pretty picture" of the relevant part of the schematic, before coming back to TMO. (And now I see that Bob put up a link, making my picture unnecessary-- but I'm posting it anyway.) We all agree: there is no special signaling. except for the "smart circuit breaker" which current limits the 20A socket, all the outputs are on a bus straight back to the "noise filter". (The non-companion eu2000i is exactly the same, but WITHOUT the 30A socket. Honda is charging almost $100 extra to buy it with the $15 twist-lock socket pre-installed within the box, and the twist-lock socket doesn't fit TM's non-twist TT-30 plug-- you gotta blow another $20 on an adapter anyway (this obscure adapter is WAY more expensive than our $3 TM<-->house receptacle adapters). And all the "safety" of the twist-lock stops at the adapter<-->TM plugin, the TM cable can still be accidentally pulled straight out, with no twist, right there.)

The Noise Filter has only "hot" and "neutral" going in and out-- there's no control and feedback decisions being made in this area either. All of the phase-matching, load adjustment "brains" are inside the Inverter unit, and it's doing it directly from the output voltage which it sees. (Adjusting gas engine power level (if Eco-switch is on), and adjusting phase to create a correct sine wave. Since this is voltage-based, both eu2000i machines see pretty much the same thing, with no regard to total current. However, when using the 20A jacks, instead of the parallel jacks, the current from each of the two Hondas is limited. For some reason which I absolutely can't figure out, Honda bypasses this on the Parallel jacks and the 30A jack.

When using the 20A receptacle, that circuit breaker only sees the current from THAT machine, not the combined current at the 30A jack in Bruce's cable. Frankly, I think that Bruce's homemade cable is safer, better than the Honda implementation! Why on earth would you want to let one one EU try to satisfy the excessive current demand, unprotected, if the other one starts to sputter and die from running out of gas (or whatever) while you're using more than 20 amps
- - - - -

Bottom line: I can pay $100 extra for the companion to get the wrong kind of 30A jack, plus $20 for a twist-jack-to-RV-type adapter, plus $40 for the Honda cable ($160). Or, I can pay $240 extra for the "Honda-approved-xtra-special" cable. I would hope that these Honda cables and jacks have different sized plugs to prevent you from linking hot to grounded conductor (rather than depending on just "color coding").... but regular 20A plugs and sockets are impossible to get wrong, it's even MORE obvious when you're trying to shove it in upside down.

Because it keeps over-current protection present on both Hondas, Bruce's $40 home-built is better than Honda's expensive offerings. And it's more convenient to have just one plug to each Honda, instead of 3 different wires. Honda-style and 'Bruce-style' are both dependent on the actual plugs and cables to maintain the "green-wire" Ground -- if you're ultra-paranoid about safety, you'll be running separate "green" wires from the TM frame to each of the generators anyway (separate from the standard 3-wire connections in the cables).

So I'll be following Bruce's example- just cut off two CHEAP 12-gauge outdoor extension cords from Harbor Freight, clamp the wires into a TM-compatible 30A jack (this one: Progressive Industries TT-30R), done. Thanks Bruce and Bob, for showing the rest of us how to save all this money-- virtual beers to you!