Hello fellow Camplite fans,
My husband and I have recently purchased a CL 16DBS (it was not easy to find one and we ended up driving from British Columbia to Saskatchewan to purchase our baby)
Since then we have taken it for a test-camping-trip to the local Provincial Campground.
All good so far, we LOVE the Camplite!
I have read a TON of stuff on this forum already, mostly related to batteries and the many improvements that members have made.
Impressive and excellent ideas. We will try to make due with the Group24 we have at the moment, until we know
what we are going to require. We also want to wait with a decision on solar panels.
At this time we are looking at buying a Honda generator. (Selling our current model 3000is, it is way too heavy and cumbersome).
I am stuck with making a choice between the Honda EU2000i Parallel or the EU2000i Companion.
The "Companion" has a built-in 30 A Twist Lock outlet for RV use and easy parallel connectivity with EU2000i Parallel.
It does not have a 12V outlet. In future we could always get another one and connect them, but for now I don't know which one would
make the most sense to get.
My question is: I already have the cord that plugs the RV into our house current, using an adaptor. The house outlet only provides 15 Amp.
When we are boondocking would I be able to plug the same cord directly into the Honda 30Amp twist lock or would I still need an adaptor?
What is the benefit of having the 30Amps? We are using microwave, hair dryer, fridge, a cpap machine, and would be very happy if the A/C would run. Would of course
run the Amp hogs separately. A/C is Coleman 9.2 Polarcub.
Thank you for your time and feedback
Karen
"Sheep Creek" Valley, near Rossland, BC
Welcome! Great camper! The Companion will give you the most flexibility if you need to parallel 2 generators someday. Howeve, either Honda 2000i is a powerful unit and some have used them to run the 9.2k AC with just one generator. The 30A twist lock receptacle on the Honda will need an adapter for your RV cord because that end of the cord has a standard straight 30A male plug.
Forgot to add the benefit of more amps s being able to run more things at the same time. If you manage your usage, the nominal 13A output of the single Honda is enough.
[font size="3"]Not sure I can totally solve your problem, but here are a few thoughts. The 12V connection is sort of useless. It is very limited so you will be far better off using the CL's built in charger running from the AC side of the generator. If the companion has a twist lock you will still need an adapter to accommodate the 3 pin RV connector, but they should be available. The 9.2K AC is advertised as being compatible with the H2000i series. I don't have any data, but the 13.5K is very iffy on the single Honda. What I don't know is if the Companion will run by itself without the other unit. If it will you're probably better off buying it first, using the 30A connector but only running 15A devices, and buying the other Honda later if you need it. If the Companion will not run separately, buy the parallel gen first. Either can be used with you 15A adapter to run one appliance at a time. The benefit to a pair of generators and 30A is the ability to run more than one appliance at a time. With the 9.2K AC I'd start with one and see how it works. You might also look at the Yamaha 2400. Folks have had good luck with them.
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Karen:
The 9.2K btu A/C was designed to run on the Honda EU2000i. It will run with the 15 amp household adapter plugged in to it. Probably the only other thing you could run at the same time is the CPAP machine which probably pulls less than an amp.
The Honda is good for 13 amps continuous which will just cover the A/C and the CPAP machine. It will run a few more amps for a short period, like the DC converter which draws about 5 amps when your battery is discharged. Don't expect that the 12V DC output will do you much good. It is only good for something like 10 amps and it is poorly regulated so it won't charge much. And I think that its output subtracts from the AC output rating.
If you wanted a Honda Companion with the twist lock 30 amp adapter it wouldn't do you any good unless you tied another Honda into it, because the 15 amp socket on a single will provide the full continuous rating. And you don't need the extra power unless you want to run one of the other heavy loads such as a microwave simultaneously with the A/C unit.
And you will need an adapter to plug into the Honda's 30 amp outlet as it is different from the RV plug. You will need a 30 amp twist lock male (boat style) to 30 amp crows foot lug female (RV style).
David
[quote timestamp="1471984821" author="@sandroad" source="/post/24074/thread"]Welcome! Great camper! The Companion will give you the most flexibility if you need to parallel 2 generators someday. Howeve, either Honda 2000i is a powerful unit and some have used them to run the 9.2k AC with just one generator. The 30A twist lock receptacle on the Honda will need an adapter for your RV cord because that end of the cord has a standard straight 30A male plug. [/quote][font size="3"]Merlin,
You type faster than I do. I wasn't sure if the Companion would run by itself or it needed the "normal" Honda to sync its inverter. In parallel operation both inverters have to be in phase and share loads equally.
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Wow!! We all three said essentially the same thing at the same time. Such unanimity.
David
Quote from: @david" source="/post/24079/thread" timestamp="1471985686Wow!! We all three said essentially the same thing at the same time. Such unanimity.
David
[font size="5" color="e61931"]AWESOME! [font color="0b0001" size="3"]No where else but here. 8-) [/font][/font]
Thank you ALL for your wonderful and super helpful responses! I will contact the dealer and find out if the Companion will run by itself.
We will take your valuable advice and I am certain that we will be able to make a choice now! The Parallel is on sale right now, so that is tempting :)
Now all we need is to find a good (easy to use) voltage meter as well, to see how that battery is doing during the trip. I had no idea retirement would be this much fun ...
I just bought the EU2000i and EU2000i companion from http://www.wanagenerators.com/, the prices with free shipping were the best I found on the net. In my 16DBS with a 13.5 Dometic Penguin I could start the AC from a single generator if it wasn't in ECO mode, but the current draw with fan is too much for continuous running (around 15 amps). With both generators, it would barely start with them in ECO mode. I added a ez-start to the AC which dropped the starting current from 42 to 15 amps and a single EU2000i in ECO mode will now start the AC (still too much current for continuous use though).
Both generators are the same with the exception that the non-companion has the 12v DC charging circuit whereas the companion has the twist-lock socket that bypasses the internal 15 amp circuit breakers. The ONLY thing you can do with the 12v circuit is feed a battery directly. The waveform is full wave rectified AC, which means it's pulses of current in one direction. You can use the battery to filter the "valleys" between pulses of course. I think it will deliver about 8 amps of effective charge current.
Our Honda dealer confirmed what you all suspected, to get 30 amp you have to buy both units and run them together. Either one of the units will run individually, but you can only draw approx 15 amps.
Heading out to get the parallel unit, which is on sale. Thank you again for the help!
The Honda 2000i parallel turns out to be great little unit and way easier to carry than our previous Honda 3000! Very quiet in ECO mode. Also, I am very impressed that it does indeed run the Coleman 9.2 Polarcub with ease. Having said that, the Polarcub is fairly noisy and it causes the whole coach to vibrate! I expect we will only use it for very short periods of time ...
You're not alone in frustrations with a noisy A/C. Here's a long-running thread on the problem. http://livinlite-owners.com/thread/504/9-btu-low-profile-ac
You will be happy with whichever you get. I have the standard EU2000 with just a regular plug. I have the house adapter style plug that my power cord plugs in and it works fine. I like the standard EU because I can use it for other things too, not just with my camper. I put it on my tractor or atv and can take my saw and screw gun out in the woods and build tree stands and such or fix fences on my property. I have also taken it in my Jon boat and powered flood lights at night to go bow fishing.
I don't know if the companion has only that round 30amp plug or not, I think it has both, but mine has two standard plugs, but like I said, I just use the adapter.
Oh, and my Camper is older, so it has the wall unit AC, that's no problem to run it on the Honda. And in the winter, because of my fear of Carbon monoxide poisoning, I use an electric heater when I'm sleeping, again, no problem for my little generator. And I have the extended fuel tank kit, so it runs all night.
I researched generators for my 2016 TB-to run my air conditioner-13500 I believe. Decided on the Yamaha EF2800i. It will run my air conditioner with ease, is less than 70 pounds and I only need one unit rather than 2-2000 units, and only have one generator to maintain and transport, but it is louder! And I can use for home use when power outages occur!