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Old 05-18-2010, 05:41 AM   #1
edmojenks
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Generator(s) for my 3150

Excuse me if this question has been asked 1,000 times, but I did a search and couldn't find anything recent.

I bought a 2010 Montana 3150 a month ago and love it. Now, its time to buy a generator or a pair of generators for it. My main uses for a generator will be when we tail gate at LSU football games or when we happen to need it at a RV park with no hookups. We go to all LSU football games so we would, for sure, need AC, TV and lights. The AC alone requires 13 amps. I have looked at the Honda EU2000i, that provides only 13.3 amps so that obviously is not enough power. So, I looked at pairing that with the 2000i companion. That doubles the power output, but I am still in the mid 20 amp range. I have added up the AC, a few lights and TV and that would give me just enough power by the way I am figuring this. One question, am I figuing this wrong? I simply added the rated amps for each unit together to get the compbined amp rating. I then added together the items I know I would be using. Also, since one of these units is rated at 59db, does that mean the noise output of two of these would be double that?

I would prefer something I can hand carry, and at age 56 that is getting lighter and lighter. The Honda 3000i is about the max. I want to hand carry (77 lbs.), but it delivers only 21.7 amps. That seems just barly enough for my needs as described above.

I don't want a build in. I want portable.

Also considering the Yamaha in the 6300 to 6600 range that will give me ample power, but then you are getting to the 200 lb. weight barrier.

What do you experienced Rvers suggest.
 
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Old 05-18-2010, 07:09 AM   #2
mhs4771
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I have the two Hondas and for my use that's the ticket. They are enough to get out of the front storage, anything bigger and I'ld never get them out. I'm not an expert on sound, but I don't believe it's additive, so I don't think you would hardly know the difference between running one or both. One advantage using the Honda or smaller Yamaha, if you don't need the extra power you can just run one. Another thing, the hook-up between the standard Honda 2000i and a Companion is really simple and gives you 26 plus Amps.
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Old 05-18-2010, 07:09 AM   #3
firetrucker
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In my opinion, the most versatile way to go is the two Hondas. As you have seen, they are rated at 1600 watts continuous, but 2000 watts surge. That means they can take a short burst of demand such as you would get when the AC starts.

The sound would not double with two running, but it would get noticeably louder. Nothing like a construction generator, though. When we're at one of the rallies, with quite a few of them running at the same time, it's still pretty quiet.

There are a lot of circuit loads in the newer RVs that are not always obvious, so just adding the obvious ones (which is how you would figure your total load) will leave you short at times. A good idea would be to get a clamp on ac current meter to let you know just how much current you draw under different conditions. Cheap at Harbor Freight at about $10.

I have two Hondas, but have never had to run both at the same time. One reason is that we hardly ever use the air conditioner when we're boondocking, and another is that we have tried to reduce the other loads by using smaller or more efficient lights, television, and microwave. The microwave is a major load, even when you cook at lower powers (it cooks at lower power by pulsing at full power, which is real tough on a generator). You can get microwaves that use less continuous current when they cook at lower power, like the Panasonic inverter units.

I've noticed the Honeywell inverter unit at Costco, for quite a bit less than the Honda, and with 2000 watts continuous power. I didn't find any indication that it could be connected to another generator, though...and it's not a Honda.

Lifting is the big problem, but, as they say, location, location, location, and a good long cord, could be the solution to that for the bigger units. Almost everything I have of any size has wheels built in or available.

Bob
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Old 05-18-2010, 08:23 AM   #4
Countryfolks
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You could go the inexpensive route with a Champion. They're Chinese but so is Kipor I think. The Champion has a good rep and are about 1/4th the cost of Honda, etc. Many of them come with wheel kits. Our 40008 is a 3500/4000 watt electric start, has a 30A outlet and weighs in at about 119 lbs. We just wheel it onto the truck bed with a ramp. They are not a 'contractor' generator.
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Old 05-18-2010, 08:29 AM   #5
Art-n-Marge
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Edited: Added the decibel calculator information.

Regarding the decibels, two items with the same decibels are not completely additive. It will generally be just a little higher. Decibels are logarithmic. Like the earthquake Richter scale, the higher the number the higher the order of magnitude in noise volume. A Honda decibel rating is about the sound of someone talking. With two Hondas running it will sound like two persons talking and assuming no one raises their "voice" you won't notice it unless you are directly next to it and try to speak. Two different generators means the higher db level generator will "cancel" out the lower db level generator. Funny how that works. Here's an decibel calculator, just put all the dbs for two or more devices and it will calculate the dbs for ALL of them:

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-spl.htm

Put the genny back by the RV connector away from the front door where most company associates and you should be okay (can't say about if the back of your RV is in someone else's front door, but hopefully they are rooting for the other team, eh?)

There are two ratings to worry about for amperage ratings - startup and continuous (running amps). The startup rating is when a device like an A/C uses its 13 amp value. After that, the runtime amperage kicks in, usually much lower in value. The startup value is what could cause a single genny to trip with the A/C starting up, however two gennys should be okay for when this amperage draw occurs. Hondas have a very nice feature call "ECOmode", but this should be turned off when RVing so the generators are running at their best and not as prone to startup amperage problems.

I hope this helps for determining what you need. I have not tried using the MW while the A/C was running since there are so many other ways to cook when RVing. If I had the triple parallel I wouldn't worry about it (assuming it works).

Last thing about using many types of generators, if you have voltage/suppressor/power checking devices in your rig, you might have to modify the power cord to provide "bonding". This should be done anyway but with power monitoring devices this may cause a problem getting power to the rig. Bonding refers to connecting the neutral to ground to prevent electrical shock. When you connect to other power sources that power source provides it (for example a CG power post, or your stickhouse). This is not always provided when connecting to generators. If you have a generator professional installed, this is usually taken care of. Just something else to think about for the best in safety! This is on my things to do - I will make a separate power cord with the bonding wire for use with the gennys. DO NOT use this this power cord with other power sources because DOUBLE bonding is a no-no!

You'll find this supports all the prior posts but with more explanations on how things work. Over the past year I didn't realize how off I was with what I was doing and feel much better with what I've been taught. For example, I gotta get me one of those "clamps" for when I'm not using the generators (that has a ampmeter)

Have fun with this.
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Old 05-18-2010, 08:39 AM   #6
clarkandsheila
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This is just my limited experience with my Yamaha 1000W, continuous output about 7 - 7.5A AC. No pretense it will run my AC, water heater, coffee maker or microwave but it ran everything else including the furnace (12VDC). I made sure the water heater was off, the fridge was on gas only.
The rest of your systems are run from the 12VDC side, ie. furnace, lighting, range fan, fridge controls.

Take a look at your charger/convertor (instruction manual) at the input amps required, not the output.. If it's a 40A @ 12VDC output it will require about 7A AC input. If it's a larger unit it will of course need more. However as long as the generator (2000W) will run the inv/conv. it will run your lights, furnace, etc. with enough power to run the TV and a few small loads.

That's what I found with my 1000W The convertor initially hogged the gen output for the battery recharge function for about 10-20 minutes. As the batts. recharged the demand fell. After that the gen. could handle the TV, computer.

So if you bought a 2000W unit, depending of course on the convertor requirement, you should be ok.
If you want/need to run the coffee m/c, microwave, air cond., etc you should have enough power with the second unit to do that as long as you don't expect all of it at once.
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Old 05-18-2010, 09:00 AM   #7
jpkelpe
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we have the same model Montana as you and our two honda's 2000 work well, even with a/c. often we only need one of them if we aren't using big electric use items
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Old 05-20-2010, 04:48 AM   #8
skypilot
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Have used two Honda EU2000i's for the past 4 years tailgating at K-State football games. For the earlier games we have to use both using a home brew parallel plug and they will run the AC, TV, blenders, and a couple of other small appliances. When the trailer was new, they could even power the microwave with the AC running. Well, time has taken its toll on either the AC motors, or the generators (or both) and now we have to shut off the AC when microwaving; otherwise the two work well. Without the AC, we can get by with one running full speed or both running in econo mode and hitting the microwave. If we have the one running on econo mode, it does not spin up fast enough to meet the demands of the Microwave. I've looked at the Honda 6500i but the weight has been a big issue for me as well.

So, all said and done -- I also recommend the Honda's or Yamaha's in the 2000 to 2800 size range.
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Old 05-20-2010, 05:02 AM   #9
richfaa
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We have the Kipor 3000 a Chinese rip off of the Japanese Honda. We are told they are nearly identical. The Kipor is heavy @ 130lbs with fuel but has a wheel kit. I like the dual Honda's and would go that way If I had it to do over again just for the convenience. The Kipor was a gteat buy when we got ours nearly 4 years ago.
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