New EU20i
Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 15:09
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Ron173
G'Day all,
well finally sold my chineese copy and bought the real deal smaller lighter quiter Honda.
Got a good deal locally.
Dealer told me not to baby it running in as bores n rings hard, give it plenty work to do he said, as if light load run in they can get a bit smokey, so he said.
I got it running on my van ac unit, should do the trick.
van has a dometic climaster in it, when it cuts in it barely notices it, eco throttle off, red overload light DOESNT even come on. Book says its normal to come on for up to 4 secs when starting a big motor, pleased to see it doesnt, so all
well within its load limits.
Was a bit noisier than I expected when first ran up, but seems to be settling in to a reasonable hum.
I guess it will settle in after a few hrs running.
Any other running in experiences? / tips on use of this model?
Whats the go with eco throttle, will it override it if it is too big a load?
Rgds
Ron
Reply By: Member - AJB (VIC) - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 16:13
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 16:13
My tip is to fit an hour meter to it. I have to
mine, and all other similar items (mower, other generator etc), as it is difficult to estimate the usage and the oil change intervals without one.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - GeeTee (NT) - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:06
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:06
Hi AJB,
How did you fit the hour meter to your unit. I am interested in doing the same thing to keep tabs on the hours. Type and connection details.
TIA
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:15
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:15
Yup, me too, interested in type of hour meter / voltage it runs off / where you picked up its feed from and how you mounted it?
a picture would be very good if not too much drama.
cheers
Ron
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member No 1- Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:14
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:14
nobody changes the oil in their mower....!!!!
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Follow Up By: wazzaaaa - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:20
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:20
I put a sendec hour counter on my latest honda when it was new, it is great to know how many hours it has done as
well as since last oil change. Cost $66 from springers. I screwed it to the spark plug cap and all you do is wrap the pick up wire around the sparkplug lead easy.
Wazzaaaa
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:45
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:45
Hey nudie,
that depends on yer mower, if its 4 stroke n how much it owes ya!!
wazzaaa, interested in the hour counter, I like my maintenance up to date, especially on an exy bit of kit like this one.
will research the meter
Ron
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - AJB (VIC) - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:47
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:47
I put a DHD hour meter that I got from the Honda
shop. It had some DHD racing stuff and stickers etc and it stuck to the side of the generator and the pick up is a wire that wrapped around the spark plug lead. It has a digital read out (the generator has done 53 and a half hours at the moment) and all I did was drill a 1/8th hole trough the plastic for the wire to pass through. Easy as.
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:51
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:51
Sounds just the job.
anyone got a pic of their meters?
FollowupID:
604590
Follow Up By: Member No 1- Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 07:28
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 07:28
Ron
mowers are like a car made for a female......all they need is petrol to make em go...dipstick???.....what dipstick?.... they say?
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 22:37
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 22:37
My mrs opposite.....
she can service her vehicle, but send her out for a good joint of beef n she come back with mutton!!
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Geoff (Newcastle, NSW) - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 16:42
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 16:42
"Whats the go with eco throttle, will it override it if it is too big a load?"
It sure will!
The Eco Throttle runs the revs up and down to suit the load that way it uses just enough fuel to do the job.
Geoff
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AnswerID:
336852
Reply By: Dunco (NSW) - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 16:45
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 16:45
Yep, run to a/c with the ECO throttle ON as it will powere up id needed.
I run
mine and it's a cracker !!
Far quieter as
well
AnswerID:
336854
Follow Up By: Ron173 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:21
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:21
I flicked on eco whilst running air and it slowed way down, I kinda thought it was headin for a stall, so flicked off again.
I had asked dometic about it n they said the EU20i runs all their units but bloke said eco was only for light loads.
But thinking about it... surely honda would equip, what is after all, an electronic throttle, with the ability to rev as needed for the load applied.
interested to hear more on this one
Wheres Robin Miller?.... hes always in the know
Rgds
Ron
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Dunco (NSW) - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 23:11
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 23:11
I haven't had
mine long, so I ran it on my van in the driveway. I put it on ECO, turned on my Air Command Ibis a/c and the revs on the Gennie stayed OK for a short time, then it revved a little higher.
When the a/c got to working temp...set at 23....the revs dropped down again.
Read your manual and it will tell you that it is OK to run on ECO...that is what it is on there for.
Good luck
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Reply By: Kiwi100 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 17:40
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 17:40
I've turned the eco switch off when (rarely) running the a/c. Are you saying it's better to run it on eco all the time and let it sort out how it handles the load?
Michael
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:33
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:33
This is prob my main question about eco throttle?
Is it foolproof, or can you damage the genny by overloading if proper attention to load overlooked?
I'm thinking it will prob be designed to sort itself out, and disengage if not reqd.
Interested in opinions from Robin ... Mike Harding ... or any other techy in the know sort of blokes, as the instruction manual is not very clear, although says this position recommended to save fuel and will return to proper speed when the electrical appliance is connected.
says not good for momentary electric power... from this I'm assuming it means a fast switching device as eco gently ramps up n down.
Rgds
Ron
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Ron173 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:41
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 18:41
A bit of digging on google uncovered this on another Honda agents site:-
Load-Dependant Engine Speed
The EU Series' Load-dependant speed control-type electronic governor is particularly effective in handling the motor loads of air conditioners, refrigerators, and compressors, as
well as providing the powerful surge of electricity for startup of microwave ovens and other equipment. As shown in the graph at left, constantly optimizing engine speed results in less operating noise, longer continuous operation without wasteful downtime for refueling, and overall lower fuel consumption.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Ron173 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:43
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 19:43
G'Devenin all,
a quick bit of back yard testing reveals that it runs sweet as on air on eco throttle, just revs up as compressor cuts in, with a slight flicker on lights in van, but settles quickly to a steady speed
well below the speed if you knock eco off.
so seems that it would be best to run on eco all time except if you plan to fire up something like a microwave.
Ron
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: steved58 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 20:38
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 20:38
Just bought a 20I from the generator place they reccommend running in with eco off and a good load for first tank of fuel then change oil to get best results I have done this as it seems sensible and the oil change at thi stage will flush out anything left in from manufacure
Steve
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: steved58 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 20:38
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 20:38
Just bought a 20I from the generator place they reccommend running in with eco off and a good load for first tank of fuel then change oil to get best results I have done this as it seems sensible and the oil change at thi stage will flush out anything left in from manufacure
Steve
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 21:15
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 21:15
That would prob be about what I did, but dont plan to change oil till after xmas trip, when it would still be
well within the 20hrs.
very impressive generator though, glad I spent the extra, it shows.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 21:15
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 21:15
That would prob be about what I did, but dont plan to change oil till after xmas trip, when it would still be
well within the 20hrs.
very impressive generator though, glad I spent the extra, it shows.
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Reply By: wazzaaaa - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 21:35
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 21:35
Ron, I also spray the rear of the inverter and every where I can get to with lanolin to avoid corrosion as it is not covered under warranty. This is the second EU20i I have owned, the first lasted 8 months before the eco throttle ceased to work due to corrosion I was told in the inverter, Quote to fix $1400 for a new inverter as it is a sealed unit. I mainly use the genny at the beach so I don't have much faith in the warranty, I'm actually on my fourth honda now the first two were EU10i 's with the alloy
bore, but thats another story.
Wazzaaaa
AnswerID:
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Reply By: wazzaaaa - Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 21:35
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 at 21:35
Ron, I also spray the rear of the inverter and every where I can get to with lanolin to avoid corrosion as it is not covered under warranty. This is the second EU20i I have owned, the first lasted 8 months before the eco throttle ceased to work due to corrosion I was told in the inverter, Quote to fix $1400 for a new inverter as it is a sealed unit. I mainly use the genny at the beach so I don't have much faith in the warranty, I'm actually on my fourth honda now the first two were EU10i 's with the alloy
bore, but thats another story.
Wazzaaaa
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 22:43
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 22:43
no idea why this post double posting? anyway..
that dont sound good, if I was usin them that hard I'd prob not be runnin hondas, but cheap crap ones.
I relayed guts of your story to my dealer n he reckons who ever handled your warranty claim did you no favours. reckons shouldve been new eco unit, no ??
Anyway, as long as were all happy eh?
Rgds
Ron
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Follow Up By: wazzaaaa - Thursday, Nov 27, 2008 at 06:50
Thursday, Nov 27, 2008 at 06:50
Ron I used the honda at christmas for battery charging for 3 weeks and at
easter to following year both at the beach, went to start it before september holidays and found the problem. I didn't consider I used it hard, I dealt with the local honda agent for the warranty claim and they sent the unit to
melbourne head office which is where the bad news came from. A new one was bought and now after spraying with lanolin on the recommendation of the local dealer all has been ok now for the last 18 months with the same use. Can't say all entirely happy but take anything to the beach and you have to look after your gear a lot more.
Wazza
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Reply By: Member - Beatit (QLD) - Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 08:34
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 08:34
G'day Ron,
I use the same genny when travelling but I've also used it at
home a couple of years ago in Brisvegas we had a storm (for a change) that took out one of the large high voltage towers and we were without power for a weekend. I plugged in the Honda to run the fridge, freezer, lights, tele and DVD and the machine on the eco throttle just reved up when the fridge/freezer cycled - no problem. I have also overloaded the machine trying to run compressors and welders and it just stops and resets without any harm so it seems. The manual suggests not using the econo mode in certain circumstances (I don't have it with me) but I always weld running flat out seems to be OK for 40 amps or there about.
No techo just practical and hope it helps.
Kind regards
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 22:47
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008 at 22:47
thanks mate,
always interested in a relevant story. Talked with dealer again today n he said run eco all time, thats what its there for.
Unless your running it flat stick near its limits, but even then eco will drive to max.
I'm so impressed with it, truly portable fair dinkum power.
Ron
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Reply By: Member - Jaap C (QLD) - Thursday, Nov 27, 2008 at 14:05
Thursday, Nov 27, 2008 at 14:05
Ron173
Can you tell me if the choke is in the middle position when running with the ECO throttle on? or all the way to the left?
Mine seems to have a reluctance to run with the choke in the "off" position and l was wondering if this was normal?
Thanks
Jaap C
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Follow Up By: Ron173 - Thursday, Nov 27, 2008 at 18:06
Thursday, Nov 27, 2008 at 18:06
I would be taking it to dealer to have it looked at, my choke is only used when stone cold, and only for about 20 secs, then all way off to the left, regardless of eco throttle on or off.
Sounds like poss a mixture problem, I would say a fairly simple fix, but go see your dealer, if you can. (one of reasons I bought local)
let us know how you go
Rgds
Ron
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