portable generator

S

starr

Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2009
Messages
22
Fluid Motion Model
C-248 C
any recomendations for a portable generator that will run ac , heat, on a 2008 r25? :?: and fit in step space stern port side
 
The Honda 2000 worked great on our R-25. Ran the air for five hours at a time on a tank of fuel. It fit in the port aft corner of the cockpit. We had a cover made for it out of sunbrella that matched out other canvas. We would set it on the swim platform when it was running.
 
I second that!
The Honda IU 2000 is a great unit. We are not getting the genset on our new 29. I still have my Honda from my last boat.
It will do everything we need it to do on Spirit of Gratitude. The solar will be handling most the load, but if at anchor for a few days and need to heat the hot water tank for a shower it will do it in 15 min.
I will have it with me when we come next week. if we meet up , you can check it out. I will loan it to you to try out.
I am not sure what they run now but when we got ours we paid $800.00 delivered to my front door.

See ya soon, Stuart 🙂
 
Where do you guys store the gas for the generator? I keep mine up on the bow attached to the cleat and pulpit. but I really don't like it up there. Ideas??

Joe
Poco Allegro
R-25
 
I kept mine in the shade in the cockpit. We kept it covered with a damp towel to keep it cool. Once we were secured for the night, I put it on the swim platform again, covering it with a damp towel. We never carried more than we needed just because we did not like having it on board.
 
hi starr, don't have apicture yet, but w purchased a fibreglass boat box that i permanently mounted on the swim platform. [plusses and minissus to that] however, it does hold the honda, and 10 gallons of gas for it and the dingy,, works well for us keeping all those things that go boom in the night as far away from the bunk as possible!!! steve and tina
 
Spirit of Gratitude":y2twxlfn said:
I second that!
The Honda IU 2000 is a great unit. We are not getting the genset on our new 29. I still have my Honda from my last boat.
It will do everything we need it to do on Spirit of Gratitude. The solar will be handling most the load, but if at anchor for a few days and need to heat the hot water tank for a shower it will do it in 15 min.
I will have it with me when we come next week. if we meet up , you can check it out. I will loan it to you to try out.
I am not sure what they run now but when we got ours we paid $800.00 delivered to my front door.

See ya soon, Stuart 🙂
Click to expand...
Oops,

I think I need to read more closely. I thought it was Karma that wanted to know about the gen. I should have known better.
Stu. 😳
 
When you have the generator running on the swim step, how do you connect the power to the boat? Do you use the shore power cord and jack, or extension cords to the appliances/tools that you are using?
 
I have a short version of the dock cord. Then I have a pigtail from the gen to the to my short version of the dock cord.You could use your long dock cord but the could have a little power loss.(not sure?) I plug the cord right from the gen to the shore power outlet on the boat. You now have power as if you were plugged into the dock. You may not be able to run everything at once but mix and match what you want to run and make sure the gen is keeping up. It will do more then you think. They are pretty cool.
Stuart
 
On Solitude, we used a heavy duty extension cord with the pig tail adapter at the female end to plug into the ships shore power. As per Stuarts comments, now it is just like you are plugged in at the dock.

We found that with the Honda 2000 we could run the battery charger and air conditioner at the same time. We could not however turn on the water heater unless we shut off the air. It is just a balancing act.....

Again though........ DO NOT LET YOUR GENERATOR run out of fuel! These things are a bugger to get restarted once you do! There is no way to prime them other than pulling on the starter cord for ten to fifteen minutes! And I will tell you, that is not fun at two in the morning when it is 100 degrees outside! I would fill it before we went to bed. I then knew that I could go between four and five hours before needing to refuel. This meant that many nights I would be up at two and then six to refill. That's okay though, that gave me a chance to check that everything else was still secure. I also learned that the best light to use when trying to fill the tank in the dark was an LED headlamp. You can aim the light right into the fill spout to see the level of fuel thus avoiding most overfills.

A tip on getting the longest run out of a tank of fuel, set the air at eighty degrees. This kept the boat cool enough for sleeping but added time to the run time on each tank of fuel. If we cranked it down to seventy five, we would get about three hours out of a tank.

Check your oil often on these. They have a tendancy to use a bit of oil. They do have a feature that will shut them down if they get low on oil. This normally occurs at about two in the morning on a very HOT evening......
 
HOT EVENING????? Where is that, Dave? Last night was the closest I have seen and we are pretty close to the furtherest point south in this country. 72 Degrees. :shock:

captd
 
That would have been in July on Lake Mead........
 
Just bought a used Honda 2000i on eBay...woo hoo!

Doug
 
Just purchased a Honda 2000 and have heard that there are available means to get around the standard limited fuel tank size. Have not checked it out yet but wondered if any of other 2000 owners have tried any of these? A great generator otherwise.
Ron
 
Ron, if you check out this website, http://www.vmsales.com the have a single and a double system to make the generators have a much longer run time. They use what looks like the gas tanks that you would use for a outboard motor. It looks like a pretty cool idea. I saw this in my RV magazine Trailer Life. I hope this helps you.



Dan
 
Does anyone else put the Honda 2000i on the swim platform? What do you use to strap it down? Has anyone had one get wet from a passing wake when it was on the swim platform? Would love to see any pictures too.
 
The fellas who do this often build a pedestal out of Starboard and bolt the pedestal to the swim platform and strap the generator to the pedestal... This gives them storage space under the pedestal for a gas can and keeps the generator above the wave action.. I will be doing the same come the day for us to go touring...
 
I recently read a note in the current BoatUS magazine that using a portable generator "ate zincs" more quickly due to bonding issues. I'm wondering if anyone here has had that problem.
It seems to me that if one is connecting a generator through the same means as they would shore power, (the factory-installed AC connection with the same power cord) whatever bonding connections associated would take care of that issue.

On another note, we purchased a large white Igloo ice chest and mounted it to the swim platform. It is large enough to store our Honda i2000, a gas tank and a few other items. Employing ideas found on the C-Brat's forum, I used PVC pipe fittings for "foot sockets" on the top of the ice chest so the generator won't "walk" around due to vibration and secure it overall with a ratchet tie down.
I'll add photos to the SLO Ranger album at my first opportunity.
Joe
 
Great idea on the ice chest for storage. I guess you can also leave the drain plug open so gas fumes can escape as well.
I think the problem with the portable Honda is the grounding of the unit. There is a ground terminal on the unit. I read somewhere that that is also the reason that you get the reverse polarity as well. Apparently the inverter in the Honda is a bit different and although it provides 110 volts it cycles a bit differently. In a normal cycle you get 110 coming in on one leg and out on the other and with the honda it is split to 55 on each leg, hence the reverse polarity light on the panel. I am not sure what you would connect the ground terminal to, if one was to connect it. With regular house electric the ground literally runs to a copper pipe in the ground. Would one run a ground wire overboard to accomplish the same results? Sounds a bit scary to me! I am not an electrical engineer so perhaps someone else with more knowledge can chime in on this.
 
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