A/C with Honda generator?

[fasteddieb]

Karen and I are boondocking tonight in our 21BHS and a friend loaned us a Honda EU2000i generator, solely to run our air conditioning. I left ours at home since we'll have hookups for the next 2 nights and I didn't feel like shlepping it along for just one night. It's 95° right now, BTW.

It had not been started in a couple years, and would only initially run with the choke on. I sprayed some cleaner down the carb throat and now it seems to run normally.

But the first time I turned on the A/C the generator bogged down and eventually went into overload mode.  I had put the refrigerator on gas only.


Question: should that generator be strong enough to run the A/C with nothing else on? I was under the impression that it was. 

[charliem]

[font size="3"]Experience here and on another forum indicate it's iffy. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. It somewhat depends on outside air temperature, altitude, and maybe the individual generator. Starting is a problem, but an easy start capacitor sometimes helps. In short, the Honda 2000i is marginal. Better success has been reported with the Yamaha 2400 or 3KW generators.

The onboard converter can present a significant load if the battery needs charging. After boondocking on the battery for a while the converter may be adding to the generator load. Make sure the WH is not also running on shore power.
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[fasteddieb]

Thanks.

1) Batteries should have been about fully charged.

2) Water heater is propane only.

We're boondocking on some property we just closed on, adjacent to a runway just north of Lenoir City, TN, just west of Knoxville. 

From a previous trip up:


[img style="max-width:100%;" src="https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8874/28305658343_599fa9d833_z.jpg"]


We should have power to the site in a couple weeks, and it should start getting cooler soon.

If we start boondocking in earnest, we may change to a larger generator or a second 2000i to hook up with ours.

[otisw]

You need two eu2000i in parallel to run it continuously for the Dometic Penguin AC.  Make sure the generator is off ECO mode and you might be able to get it to run for a half hour or so.  Best bet would be to disconnect the battery so there's no chance it's trying to be charged and don't turn on anything else in the trailer while you cool it down.

[charliem]

[font size="3"]No need to disconnect the battery. The converter/charger is on a separate circuit breaker.
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[uscg]

I have a piece of land just south of you in Vonore/Tellico Plains TN area that I boondock on as well.  That's a great area up there and the tax benefits are excellent.  I highly recommend anybody needing a write off or more interest to deduct to look at TN land, it basically pays for itself over time.  Anyway, my camper has the window unit AC in it, and it has no problem running off my EU2000.  Matter of fact, I can watch TV, use fridge and AC all on the EU2000.

I get off the ship in a few weeks and after going to Talladega for the race, I will pull my unit from the track to my land and set it up for hunting season.  There is a artesian well about a mile from my land where I get my water from so it's a great setup.

[fasteddieb]

Cool! Let's hook up when you get back on dry land!

We're at Caney Creek Campground with shore power now. The A/C is a blessing.

[hogtyd]

I've run my 13.5k A/C on my Eu2000i on a few occasions in very hot and humid weather. In those cases I start with the fan on low, and then move the dial to Cool, still on low fan speed. I keep the Eco setting turned off on the generator as well. It has tripped the generator breaker once or twice, and I wouldn't want to rely on it working on a regular basis, but it has saved us from having to pack up and go home a few times when the heat was otherwise unbearable.