Smarter tools generator

[funpilot]

Read a discussion on popup portal on these:

http://www.costco.com/wcsstore/Costc...00iQ-Specs.pdf

Anyone here use them or know anything about them? The parallel kit is $60.00 on Amazon.

[LoveToCamp]

Have not used one, but am suspicious of noise. Stated noise is 51.5 dB at ¼ load. What is it at full load? No, it won't be under full load constantly, but if it is hitting peak output very often, it will be annoying to be around.

[Bill]

Sounds similar to (clone of?) the Honda EU2000i. Power ratings are identical (2000/1600 watts). Weight is almost identical. The engine on the Costco unit is considerably smaller (80 cc vs 98.5 cc), which concerns me. Both are stated to produce 3.5 hp, which means the smaller engine will be working harder at full load. The noise spec actually sounds pretty good (53 dB(A)@1/4 load for the Honda, vs 51 dB@1/4 load for the Costco unit). Noise level is a tricky thing, though. Honda specifies an A-curve - Costco doesn't specify, although in the operator's manual it did state the A-curve. Neither specifies the distance at which the noise level is measured - a common value is 7 meters, or abot 23 feet.

Having said all that, it doesn't look like a bad unit. And it is apparently only about $600 at Costco. That is a great price!

By the way, the price on inverter generators seems to be sharply up. I think I paid $600 for my Honda EU1000-i several years ago. Best I can find today is about $750. Makes this 2000-watt Costco unit look even better.

Bill

[Padgett]

Depends on the system but could be quieter than an EU2000i since it has a smaller engine (80cc vs 97cc). OTOH it may lack some of the grunt power of a Honda. Another difference is that the Honda companion has a 30A plug where the Yamahas will have 20A plugs. Fimally you sound like you are planning on two generators so double the expected gas use.

My EU2000i is marginal on starting the roof AC at sea level @80F while my single Pred (2500/2200W) has no problem but has a 125cc engine. Either will fit in the rear battery compartment with a grp 29 battery.

Once you get up in this range, the real requirement is to be able to handle the surge power of the AC compressor and ramp up quickly whan a load hits.

Just noodling a but but wonder if a big cap in the ac circuit would help, with our system could connect to the fan circuit so you would turn the fan on, wait a second, then turn to AC. May be what a "hard starting" cap does.

[tentcamper]

Originally Posted by Padgett

Depends on the system but could be quieter than an EU2000i since it has a smaller engine (80cc vs 97cc). OTOH it may lack some of the grunt power of a Honda. Another difference is that the Honda companion has a 30A plug where the Yamahas will have 20A plugs. Fimally you sound like you are planning on two generators so double the expected gas use.

My EU2000i is marginal on starting the roof AC at sea level @80F while my single Pred (2500/2200W) has no problem but has a 125cc engine. Either will fit in the rear battery compartment with a grp 29 battery.

Once you get up in this range, the real requirement is to be able to handle the surge power of the AC compressor and ramp up quickly whan a load hits.

Just noodling a but but wonder if a big cap in the ac circuit would help, with our system could connect to the fan circuit so you would turn the fan on, wait a second, then turn to AC. May be what a "hard starting" cap does.

I have heard of some people using a hard start cap's to get the AC unit to start with eu-2000 generators. I'm not sure of the physics of a hard start cap, but I think it's some type of relay circuit that causes a time delay and the peak voltage to be applied a little latter.

Not sure a bigger cap would do it because the cap is sized by the AC impedance curve of the of the motor. My fist thoughts are a larger cap would make the motor run rough????

Yes, if you could turn on the fan after the compressor starts that I have heard helps. But the person I talked to that did this that added a switch for the fan motor. The other thing he did was change the oil in the eu-2000 to synthetic oil, claiming a little more HP out of the small eu-2000 engine???

[funpilot]

It appears that the right way to use these is to get two and hook them up in parallel to get past the A/C issues. Is that correct?

[tentcamper]

Funpilot, I'm not an expert on generators other then friends and people that I camped with. I have a generator, used once and decided I don't like camping with the generators.

Every thing I have heard form the people I know with the EU-2000i is you need 2 with the cable for the AC to work. If I was going to do it, I would go to the eu-3000. One friend claims they run the AC with one eu-2000. If you get the second eu-2000i, I would get the companion which has the 30 amp socket.

[Padgett]

Grumpy used to run 20wt & ATF in his Toy but it also got rebuilt every weekend.

Also two eu2000s are $2k and have to be carried somewhere. My Pred was $500 & fits in the rear compartment