I'm impressed with Honda products. My
first motorcycle was a Honda Scrambler SL160 I bought
used in the mid-sixties. That motorcycle was only around
a little while as I kept exchanging bikes over time to
larger machines like a Bultaco Matador (250cc) and then a
Triumph Bonneville (650cc) in 1971.
Since that time there have
been other brands and sizes, but my first Honda still
stands out because it always ran whenever I wanted to go
someplace and didn't mark its parking places.
Recently
I needed to consider adding a power-generating unit to my
list of tools. When this happened, I remembered being
impressed with a portable generator unit I saw powering
the net control station for the Coyote Cycling Classic
hosted by a local Boy Scout organization in the southern
end of the San Francisco bay area. At this event was a
Honda EU1000i and it was real quite and unobtrusive
looking.
Except for the
fumes all gas engines produce, it wouldn't be out of
place around the house or on a camping trip.
These
first impressions are what pointed me in the direction of
selecting a Honda Generator when American Diabetes
Association "America's Walk for Diabetes" event
in October announced there would be no line power
available. Also pointing me in Honda's direction were my
previous experiences with Honda's motorcycles. Every
Honda I've had was reliable and inexpensive to maintain
and this experience gave me confidence in their
generators.
Once
a generator brand is decided, selecting output power is
the next important obstacle to get over. It is also the
hardest part of the decision. Powering the Coyote Creek
event was Honda's EU1000i unit rated as 1,000VA and
weighing 28lbs. One size up is Honda's EU2000i rated at
2,000VA and weighs 48lbs. Cost for the smaller 1000VA
unit was around $685 and the second unit was $885 for
2000VA. For two hundred dollars more, the second Honda
model will deliver twice the capacity for just under
twice the weight.
Not knowing which unit would
best fit my overall needs, I sent a note out to the owner
of the 1000VA unit and asked him what he would do now
that he had his unit for a while. His first replay back
was that the unit was everything he thought it would be
and really enjoyed having it around for the various field
day and event support activities he engages in. When he
talked about size, he said the first thing he tried to do
with his unit was to use a power tool with the unit in a
remote area and found that 1000VA won't power a large
tool. It does a great job of powering net control and
other radio operations or small tools, but large tools
need more power. My plans for a generator weren't much
different except I wanted to power a large tool and maybe
a 100-watt low band station setup in a remote area while
camping or at a field day operation. These plans said I
should go with the 2000VA unit and be safe in how I size
the generator purchase so I wouldn't be undersized.
If
you purchase the smaller unit and discover a need for
more capacity, Honda provides a costly, but simple way of
getting around undersized capacity.
On the face of the generator's
control panel are two outlets that allow two units to be
connected together using the Honda parallel power cable.
With this cable in place the output power from the
receptacles is twice the individual capacity. I don't
think more than two units can be coupled and different
size units should not be mated. In my case, I could mate
another EU2000i unit to my current unit and produce
4000VA of output. Mating cable assemblies for the smaller
units are different than for EU2000i model.
Honda
"i" model generators use inverter technology to
produce DC output. DC voltage is available from a
separate receptacle that cannot be confused with the AC
receptacles. Honda indicates that only a vehicle battery
should be connected to its DC output.
One of the main features I like
most about seeing that first Honda generator at the event
was how quite the unit operated. Unless you were close to
where the generator was running, you could not hear its
exhaust note. Noise containment must have been a primary
focus for Honda, as the larger unit I purchased seems to
only put out 62-db of noise at a low load setting. Full
throttle noise is still only conversation loud at 74-db.
Honda says the noise level from the unit should only be
52db to 59db, but they don't indicate how these readings
were obtained. My noise readings were taken with a Radio
Shack digital sound meter using "A" weighting
that was place about 5-feet away from the front of unit
while it was putting out 125 volts of electricity. This
distance is about as close as the unit would be placed in
a field operation. Moving further away reduces the noise
heard, but those values weren't measured.
Output
voltage from the unit with a moderate load never seemed
to vary. I didn't have anything handy that would really
load the unit down so I can determine what happens at
high loads.
Engine
speed for what I was doing was being controlled by
Honda's "Eco-Throttle" option. This option
allows the unit to run at the lowest engine speed
possible to deliver the power required. While this mode
is enabled, the unit will run with a moderate load for
over 12 hours on 1 gallon of 87-octane gas.
All
in all this is a sweet little generator that should
provide many years of reliable power when there isn't any
available elsewhere.
Engine:
Honda 2.5HP (98.5 cc) Single Cylinder, Overhead Cam,
air-cooled