Honda parallel kit

[mtheo]

Has any body ever looked into the box of a parallel kit. Just wondering if there is any electonicsin it needed to match the generators or if it is just a juncion box to connect the wires into the 30 amp plug. At a $130.00, I would like to make my own.

Thanks to any body for the insite.

Mark

[HamRad]

Mark,

I believe it was Bob, Firetrucker, that made his own setup. You might want to contact him and see what he did.

Dennis

[KTManiac]

Not sure, but I think there is probably a circuit breaker in there or some other means of overload protection.

A lot of guys are making parallel adapters like this. >>



I think the only downside to this method would be that you need to be positive that you are not overloading the generators, because they will keep trying to supply the load (unless it is a gross overload) and can shorten the life of the inverter system.

I saw where one guy wired the ground wires to the ground prongs of regular 3-prong plugs (nothing hooked up to the two flat blades) so he wouldn't have to mess with a screwdriver to hook up the ground wires to the regular grounding points. Thus, making a quick-connect ground for the two generators through the duplex outlets.

I just bought the Honda eu2000i Companion model, which has the 30A plug already in it, thus eliminating the clunky box. All I needed was the eu3000 parallel wires to hook them together.

[jpbcny]

Here's a link to a good article with pictures: Honda EU2000 Parallel Setup

[HughM]

Thanks JPBCNY that is a great link. I'll be doing that.
Hugh

[firetrucker]

If you just use the connecting cable without the integral 30A receptacle, then jp's link is right about the output being limited by the breaker in each generator. For a lot more money, you can buy the connector kit that includes a 30A breaker, which is a good idea (the breaker, not the lot more money!).

The safety issue is real when you make your own adapter that plugs into the regular receptacles. If one comes loose, it is live, and the whole load is dumped on the other generator.

I went the cheap and simple way; two male ends from Harbor Freight 3-way outlets (cheap) into a weatherproof box with a 30A RV receptacle. But, I'm not happy with it. Too much thinking to keep from making a mistake. The banana plugs are a big question for me, but Anderson PowerPoles would make a much safer and lower resistance connection for not a lot of money. Scrounging a box for the breaker, switch, and receptacle would be the costliest part, but still quite a bit less than price of the kit.

Bob

[KTManiac]

quote:Originally posted by firetrucker

....If you just use the connecting cable without the integral 30A receptacle, then jp's link is right about the output being limited by the breaker in each generator....

firetrucker,

On the eu2000i standard generator, the parallel outlets are not protected by the 20amp circuit breaker, only the AC output receptacles (the one that looks like your regular household plug-in) are protected by that breaker.

Edit:
Oh, I see now what you were talking about in that other link,where he was talking about using the duplex outlets for linking. That is definitely dangerous! ...and it would limit the power because of the breaker.