Honda EU (Inverter), Propane Generators?

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Anyone have any thoughts on the new Honda EU "Inverter" generators? The advertisement is that they are electronically outfitted to give cleaner power, more suitable for computers. A flyer shows that they have a much smaller alternator and no flywheel. The sales people I spoke said still use a power conditioner between an EU and any computer. They are gasoline only. They are supposed to be smaller and quieter. It is difficult to read from the specs whether or not they are more efficient.

Also heard about a Honda 6000w propane-only generator. I did not get much more info on this. Anyone else?

-- Zygote (zygote1@zygote1.zygote1), December 08, 1999

Answers

Zygote-

I have a Miller welder/generator 6000W with 13 h.p. Honda 390GX engine. I converted it to propane, and I think it runs better on the propane. It is a bit quieter, and puts out less noxious fumes than gasoline. I haven't actually put an ampmeter on it to see if it performs as well on propane but it runs everything I was running on gas easily. I bought an extra carb and will run it on gas for as long as I have it (gas) and then switch over to propane. I bought the propane conversion kit from US Carb in Georgia. Hope this helps.

-- (cavscout@fix.net), December 09, 1999.


Lots of good generator info here: http://209.52.183.182/juice_page.htm

-- Brian Bretzke (bretzke@tir.com), December 09, 1999.

I have the eu1000i. It's a good genset. Nice and small and lightweight(23lbs!). Keep in mind, only 900w continuous and 1000w surge. I knew this going into it before I bought it. So you can't run a toaster off of it, but, I did find a hair dryer that works with it(very exciting for my gf), the microwave works(models under 1000w), and it works great to charge batteries and the like. It is VERY quiet, which means it won't attract to much attention. If you are more than 20' away you really can't hear it at all. Very well designed and it works as advertised. I'm happy with mine.

-- eu1000i (honda@good.stuff.com), December 09, 1999.

Zygote, Discount Air Compressor & Generator at: http://www.gohonda.com manufactures a brushless genset driven by a Honda GX390. (They have other sizes, too.) The engine is rigged so that you can shift from gasoline to propane by simply closing the fuel shutoff valve below the gas tank, and hooking your propane supply to the propane regulator. I use a gas-rated hose with quick-connects for that. No carb rebuilds or replacements, etc. It's pretty handy. The only adjustment I have to make is to raise the idle speed a bit when going on propane, so that the automatic idle will function properly.

-- Norm Harrold (nharrold@tymewyse.com), December 09, 1999.

I got one of the little EU1000i ones (~1000 watts) to recharge my battery bank and it's amazingly quiet. With it sitting in my garage and the door open, I can't hear it above ambient outdoors noise when I stand 50 feet away (my closest neighbors are 2-3 times that far away).

It has a built-in, really clean, sine-wave inverter, and is hardly louder than normal conversation (although a different sound, of course). dBs are about 52-57...

Oh, and the little one weighs only 26 pounds. Honest. You can pick it up with just 2 fingers.

And the cost is only ~$600-$700 (i.e., about 1.5 times what a cheapo Coleman, Wal-mart unit costs). The lifespan (dunno if it's total lifespan or mean-time-between-failures lifespan) is about 500 hours on a Briggs-Stratton or Tecumseh engine, but on a Honda it's about 5,000 hours (these figures are from memory - but I think the proportions are right).

The bigger model (I believe EU3000is) is more normal-sized/weighted, ut is just as quiet. More expensive (~$1300) but is about 3K watts. Not huge output, granted, but it IS awfully stealthy...

I can't wait to cobble together a muffler/enclosure to see how quiet it can really be.

I got mine at Mayberry's, but I've also seen them in the usual catalogs (Northern, etc.).

www.mayberrys.com/honda/generator/

Sorry for gushing, but I love this little thing - I use it around my mini-farm (for paint spraying, weedwhacking, drills, saws, etc.) instead of running long extension cords.

Good luck.

-- Hugh (hewiggins@mindspring.com), December 10, 1999.





-- o (z@d.m), December 10, 1999.

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