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Timx

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Because of the times we are in, as a cc , I think I need a generator over the winter as I am not going to be moving much, I usually do once a week or so in a marina, to top batteries up, but this is getting harder. I have three 230 AGMs and a victron 3.5 kw inverter, if I am just wanting a generator to charge batteries, do I need the Honda eu 220, or will the Honda 101 suffice.sorry for my ignorance, never wanted one b4 but now needs must.

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2 minutes ago, Timx said:

Because of the times we are in, as a cc , I think I need a generator over the winter as I am not going to be moving much, I usually do once a week or so in a marina, to top batteries up, but this is getting harder. I have three 230 AGMs and a victron 3.5 kw inverter, if I am just wanting a generator to charge batteries, do I need the Honda eu 220, or will the Honda 101 suffice.sorry for my ignorance, never wanted one b4 but now needs must.

Is the Victron a combined inverter/charger or do you have a separate mains charger. If you have neither then you can buy a charger to suit the generator but for the smaller generator a suitable charger will take longer to charge the  batteries. Do not even think about using the nominal 12V output to try to charge batteries.

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3 minutes ago, Timx said:

Because of the times we are in, as a cc , I think I need a generator over the winter as I am not going to be moving much, I usually do once a week or so in a marina, to top batteries up, but this is getting harder. I have three 230 AGMs and a victron 3.5 kw inverter, if I am just wanting a generator to charge batteries, do I need the Honda eu 220, or will the Honda 101 suffice.sorry for my ignorance, never wanted one b4 but now needs must.

 

It depends on what size battery charger, and what the Pf is for the charger.

 

Some chargers are 0.9Pf some as low as 0.6Pf.

 

a 1000 watt (continuous - not what they are sold as being) will JUST run a 50 amp charger with a 0.6Pf

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You dont say what charger you have unless, as Tony suggests, your Victron is an inverter/charger.

 

2 things to try and help:

 

1) My Honda EU10i "just" runs my Sterling Pro Charge Ultra 60A charger. I have to start the genny of constant fast power to get it to power the charger. Then, when the charger is up and running, I can change the genny to its' variable speed setting, and it all runs supplying 60A for hours. So, anything more than a 60A charger, and the EU10i will almost certainly not power it.

 

2) If your 3Kw Victron is also a charger, it will almost certainly be more than a 60A charger.... possibly 80A, possibly 120A..... we dont know.

 

I have a Sterling 2500W Pro Combi S which is an inverter charger where the charger is 80A. I used to have a Honda EU20i which ran the 80A charger with ease. How much bigger a charger it could run, I don't know.

 

Make/Model/Ampage of your charger would help :) 

Edited by Richard10002
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19 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

 

2) If your 3Kw Victron is also a charger, it will almost certainly be more than a 60A charger.... possibly 80A, possibly 120A..... we dont know.

We have a 5KV victron combi which has 200A charging but can be turned down with the dip switches to be 50A, 100A and 150A. I guess the 3.5KV one can be turned down as well.

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5 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

We have a 5KV victron combi which has 200A charging but can be turned down with the dip switches to be 50A, 100A and 150A. I guess the 3.5KV one can be turned down as well.

Looks like a 3KV will probably have a 120A charger. If that's the case, an EU10i would probably run it at 60A but, given my experience, not a certainty - 50A or less and I would be more certain.

 

I prefer the EU10i as it is much lighter than the EU20i which, whilst more powerful, was always a faff.

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16 minutes ago, Mike Adams said:

Seen these on ebay. May be useful?

image.png.5575db675d276c435de8af575194292b.png

erm.....!!...this looks dangerous. The bumph says built for boats!

It comes with 2.2M or 3.3M power leads. Not long enough to put it on the tow path for most boats.  You would need much longer leads than this then voltage will drop.

No mention of noise emissions.

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25 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

erm.....!!...this looks dangerous. The bumph says built for boats!

It comes with 2.2M or 3.3M power leads. Not long enough to put it on the tow path for most boats.  You would need much longer leads than this then voltage will drop.

No mention of noise emissions.

Ive heard one running.

Dreadfully noisy. 

 

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29 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

erm.....!!...this looks dangerous. The bumph says built for boats!

It comes with 2.2M or 3.3M power leads. Not long enough to put it on the tow path for most boats.  You would need much longer leads than this then voltage will drop.

No mention of noise emissions.

 

I'm fairly sure that @Tony Brooks complained about this ad to the advertising standards and ebay and thought the advert had been 'pulled'.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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8 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Is the Victron a combined inverter/charger or do you have a separate mains charger. If you have neither then you can buy a charger to suit the generator but for the smaller generator a suitable charger will take longer to charge the  batteries. Do not even think about using the nominal 12V output to try to charge batteries.

So I need the larger generator ?

 

694C5D4A-FD79-4BFD-B914-F45995565255.jpeg

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8 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Their web site is still advertising it!

Yes I did and on the basis their comparison with a Honda's 12V output was very misleading. The company did not respond to to the ASA but the add disappeared from the magazines. My argument was that to be total truthful the comparison should be in "normal use mode". That is with the Honda  driving a mains charger. Then the comparison would look very different.

 

And people still don't see that Ebay, Amazon etc. need making responsible for the veracity of claims by their vendors.

 

9 hours ago, Mike Adams said:

Seen these on ebay. May be useful?

 

 

Its only a Lucas ACR alternator strapped to a small engine. It will have all the problems associated with simple alternator regulation and is likely to be unable to boost the acceptance voltage  like a charger can.

 

2 hours ago, Timx said:

So I need the larger generator ?

 

 

Its contains a 120 amp battery charger by the look of the label but I think you can set the maximum charge current to allow a smaller generator drive it - check your manual to see how.

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2 hours ago, Timx said:

So I need the larger generator ?

 

694C5D4A-FD79-4BFD-B914-F45995565255.jpeg

 

I'd suggest getting something like a Kipor 2000 (which misleadingly is rated at 1600w continuous - I did say to check continuous ratings)

I picked mine up as 'almost new' for £300 you'd pay twice that for a used Honda 2000i (1600 watts) and over £1000 for a new one. The Honda is slightly quieter 'on paper' but not really noticable 'to the ear' at equivalent revs.

 

It's about the same weight as a toilet cassette or bag of coal (it weighs 22kg) and would easily power your Victron if you dial it back to 60 or 70 amps.

If you have the generator running at max RPM it is not only a bit noisy, making the genny work hard but uses a lot of fuel. It will be far happier running at around 75% powering your battery charger at 60-70a.

 

Very easy to lift off the boat, very easy to start and uses about 1 litre of petrol per hour at 1600w output.

 

 

Wouldn't be without it !

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If you have a victron 3000 inverter/charger a Honda eu1 will trip out unless you have a remote control and set the amps to about 3, and this will be insufficient to charge unless run constantly. 

 After a couple of disappointments with Honda eu2 gennys i opted for a CAT 2kva which is in my opinion more reliable and has a full 2kva output, along with some intelligent extras to make oil changes easier.

 A regular problem with the Honda 2 is that the pull cord frays, due to a contorted route and requires a full strip down to replace. 

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I'd suggest getting something like a Kipor 2000 (which misleadingly is rated at 1600w continuous - I did say to check continuous ratings)

I picked mine up as 'almost new' for £300 you'd pay twice that for a used Honda 2000i (1600 watts) and over £1000 for a new one. The Honda is slightly quieter 'on paper' but not really noticable 'to the ear' at equivalent revs.

 

It's about the same weight as a toilet cassette or bag of coal (it weighs 22kg) and would easily power your Victron if you dial it back to 60 or 70 amps.

If you have the generator running at max RPM it is not only a bit noisy, making the genny work hard but uses a lot of fuel. It will be far happier running at around 75% powering your battery charger at 60-70a.

 

Very easy to lift off the boat, very easy to start and uses about 1 litre of petrol per hour at 1600w output.

 

 

Wouldn't be without it !

Our Kipor 2kw (1.6 continuous) was great, used to use it mainly for a long absorption charge, at tickover it ran for 8hrs on half a tank of petrol, very quiet at that speed. Couldn't tell it apart from a Honda 20i, identical specs. 

 

ETA: Couldn't get our Victron 3kva Multiplus to accept a Honda 10i but readily accepted a 20i.

Edited by nb Innisfree
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Just now, nb Innisfree said:

Our Kipor 2kw (1.6 continuous) was great, used to use it mainly for a long absorption charge, at tickover it ran for 8hrs on half a tank of petrol, very quiet at that speed. Couldn't tell it apart from a Honda 20i, identical specs. 

Unconfirmed rumour has it that they were both built in the same factory and used Honda parts and Honda technology - in fact there was a case reported in the boating press that Honda had manged to secure a UK court order and Kipor generators were siezed and destroyed 

 

 

 

In September 2006, Honda announced it had obtained an Order from the High Court of Justice restraining Procurement UK Limited from importing and selling certain Wuxi Kipor Power Co. Ltd (Kipor) generators in the United Kingdom.

Despite the Court Order, stock of the infringing Kipor models known as KGE1000tsi, KGE1300tc, KGE1300tsc, KGE2000tc, KGE2000ti, KGE3000tc and KGE3000ti has continued to enter the UK.

Primarily manufactured in China and sold in the United Kingdom under the name of the manufacturer or distributor, these generators utilise Honda’s patented technology without permission, therefore infringing Honda’s UK patents.

Honda (UK) has now carried out its “Big Crush” (pictured) and warns competitors that it will “always take action against those willing to flaunt the law”.

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34 minutes ago, nb Innisfree said:

Our Kipor 2kw (1.6 continuous) was great, used to use it mainly for a long absorption charge, at tickover it ran for 8hrs on half a tank of petrol, very quiet at that speed. Couldn't tell it apart from a Honda 20i, identical specs. 

 

 

Thank god I changed to Lithiums.

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9 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

Thank god I changed to Lithiums.

?

38 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Unconfirmed rumour has it that they were both built in the same factory and used Honda parts and Honda technology - in fact there was a case reported in the boating press that Honda had manged to secure a UK court order and Kipor generators were siezed and destroyed 

 

 

 

In September 2006, Honda announced it had obtained an Order from the High Court of Justice restraining Procurement UK Limited from importing and selling certain Wuxi Kipor Power Co. Ltd (Kipor) generators in the United Kingdom.

Despite the Court Order, stock of the infringing Kipor models known as KGE1000tsi, KGE1300tc, KGE1300tsc, KGE2000tc, KGE2000ti, KGE3000tc and KGE3000ti has continued to enter the UK.

Primarily manufactured in China and sold in the United Kingdom under the name of the manufacturer or distributor, these generators utilise Honda’s patented technology without permission, therefore infringing Honda’s UK patents.

Honda (UK) has now carried out its “Big Crush” (pictured) and warns competitors that it will “always take action against those willing to flaunt the law”.

Our Kiper is none of those models but I suspect its a Honda with a yellow case. 

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8 hours ago, Timx said:

So I need the larger generator ?

 

694C5D4A-FD79-4BFD-B914-F45995565255.jpeg

Using the dip switches you should be able to set this to charge at 100%, 75%, 50%, or 25%, I.e. 120A, 90A, 60A, 30A. So, if you find your genny can’t cope with a higher setting, you can reduce it.

 

As I think I said, my Honda EU10i “just” copes with the 60A setting on my Sterling Pro Charge Ultra 60A charger. When I say “just”, I have to start charging with the genny in full speed, (Hare mode). Then, once the charger is charging, I can switch the genny to variable speed, (tortoise mode).

 

Would it cope in the same way with the 60A setting on your Victron.... probably, possibly, I dint know?

 

In your position I would probably get the EU20i, (or equivalent Kipor), with its’ 1600w continuous capability, and put up with the extra weight.

 

Have you thought about where you are going to store your genny and petrol safely?

Edited by Richard10002
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Another point in the Kipors favour is that spare parts are reasonably priced compared with the Honda (although some may argue for the legendary Honda reliability?).

Rather than faf around with stripping and servicing a very tatty and leaking Kipor IG2000, I was able to replace the entire carburettor including the stepper motor for just £42, with advice to watch some of the many YouTube videos on servicing the similar EU20i. which made the job very straightforward and it now runs very nicely.

 

Incidentally, using it to charge 3 x 110 LA batteries using a 12v 30A Sterling charger, the Kipor’s smart throttle runs at its lowest RPM for the majority of a typical charge from say 65% SOC. At minimum RPM the noise is MUCH lest intrusive. I once tried it powering a 1KW heating element at the same time - it revved so hard I thought it was going to take off!

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

Using the dip switches you should be able to set this to charge at 100%, 75%, 50%, or 25%, I.e. 120A, 90A, 60A, 30A. So, if you find your genny can’t cope with a higher setting, you can reduce it.

 

As I think I said, my Honda EU10i “just” copes with the 60A setting on my Sterling Pro Charge Ultra 60A charger. When I say “just”, I have to start charging with the genny in full speed, (Hare mode). Then, once the charger is charging, I can switch the genny to variable speed, (tortoise mode).

 

Would it cope in the same way with the 60A setting on your Victron.... probably, possibly, I dint know?

 

In your position I would probably get the EU20i, (or equivalent Kipor), with its’ 1600w continuous capability, and put up with the extra weight.

 

Have you thought about where you are going to store your genny and petrol safely?

Thanks, looking at getting the2000 kipor now, gennerator stored one side of bow locker, with drain hole, and petrol other side with drain hole, 

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