Inverter type generators with a handle on top

[Robert]

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Here are a few brands of small carry in one hand inverter generators. Please post your brands too.
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Mitsubishi OHV 950W 44lb. 60dBA 5hr/1gal at full load
http://www.southwestfastener.com/linkMGC1101.htm
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Briggs & Stratton OHV 900W 55lb. "Ultra Quiet" 6.4hr/1.2gal at half load
http://shop.briggsandstratton.com/BShop ... 41A86B06FA
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Yamaha OHV 900W 27.9lb. 57dbA 12hr/0.66gal at half load
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outdoor/pro ... specs.aspx
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Yamaha OHV 2000W 70lb. 58dbA 8.5hr/1.6gal at half load
(can be paralleled with same to get 4000W)
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outdoor/pro ... specs.aspx
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Robin OHV 900W 55lb. 59dBA 4.2hr/1.1gal. at full load
http://www.robinamerica.com/generators/ ... ?mdl=R1100
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Robin OHV 1400W 45.2lb. 59dBA 4.0hr/1.1gal. at full load
http://www.robinamerica.com/generators/ ... mdl=R1700i
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Honda OHV 900W 29lb. 59dBa 3hr/0.6gal. at full load
http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/Mode ... me=eu1000i
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Honda OHV 1600W 46.3lb. 59dBA 4hr/1.1gal. at full load
http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/Mode ... me=eu2000i
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Notice the weight and fuel efficiency differences, example it appears that the Yamaha 900W is 4x more fuel efficient and is just a little more than half the weight of the Briggs and Stratton 900W.
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Notice the technology advancing example the Robin 1100 vs the 1700, the 1700 is much more powerful but much lighter and runs almost as long as the 1100 on the same 1.1gal. The Robin 1700 has something they call "extended surge" for starting things like air conditioners.
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The Honda units can be paralleled with one copy of same.
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Please add to this list.

[Robert]

Xantrex xPower 1500, 1500W continuous 3000W surge
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Xantrex xPower 600, 600W continuous, presumably 1200W surge
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Both have jumper cable connections so you could add extra batteries in parallel to increase run time. The Xantrex xPower 1500 could run an air conditioner, with the addition of an extra house battery say the LifeLine AGM 105 AmpHour battery, the Air conditioner might run long enough to cool the cabin in preparation to go to bed, and provide power silently.

[DLT]

Yeah, if need be, I can run my A/C off my battery bank through an inverter. Of course, that is a huge power hog... We're talking about something like 50 amps, on the DC side.

I have three batteries in my house bank that are each rated at 178 min RC, which essentially means 25 amps for 178 minutes. So, bare with me - know I'm grossly oversimplifying it, that means roughly 1.5 hrs each at 50 amps. So, I'd get about 4.5 hrs running those three battery's dry. You don't want to do that. So, running them down 50%, I'd get just over 2 hrs.

Now, that's compressor run time. So, if you figure a 50% duty cycle, which is probably generous, you're looking at ~4 hrs... There are a whole lot of other issue I'm breezing through here, hoping the slop in my math will come close to covering for them...

hull, my little Honda eu1000i should deliver 4 hrs at rated load. Again, with the compressor not running the whole time, I should get more time befire she dies... I could even plumb it to one of the boat's tanks to let it run all night long...

Now, here's an idea, run the A/C off the inverter. Wire the Honda to a 50 amp battery charger. I just extended my run time, probably all night long... Of course, that 50 amp charger aint gonna be cheap... The down side of this is the incredible inefficencies built in...

The Honda actually produces DC, internally, which it converts to AC. The charger converts that back to DC. The inverter converts that back to AC. That's 3 conversion steps probably averaging about 90% efficiency or worse.... Ouch!

The thing to keep in mind here is that my bank is probably one of the larger banks out there. I'm sure most of you only have one or two house batteries, not three... They may or may not be rated as high as mine either...

In any case, I wouldn't put a whole lot of emphasis on 'silent power'... After all, that A/C unit is going to be a whole lot louder than most, if not all, of the generators you're talking about...

The simplest approach is to just run the A/C off a generator and be done with it... The generator can actually charge the batteries from the day's load.

My plan:
I've installed a DC powered refridgerator that runs off my house bank. I have a DC blender and coffee maker. I have 120W of flexible solar panels atop my bimini to help replace that current draw. I also have an AC powered microwave, but am going to keep my eyes out for a DC one. I have an inverter to run the microwave as needed. I have the Honda to power the A/C and charge the batteries as needed...

[Robert]

I copied the fuel consumption rate wrong or the web page I got it from (Yamaha's specification page) had it wrong, but here is the fuel consumption rate for the Yamaha 900W from the Yamaha site features page:

Yamaha OHV 900W 27.9lb. 57dbA 12hr/0.66gal at 1/4 load
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outdoor/pro ... specs.aspx

The 12Hr. at 1/4 load makes more sense. Still that's twice the reported fuel economy as the Briggs and Stratton. Your mileage may vary.

[Greg]

Somebody else here mentioned this gen but I can't find the reference.


McCulloch FG2000TC 2000 Watt Digital Generator with 4-Stroke OHV Engine, 2 x 110 Volt Outlets
McCulloch 4-stroke OHV engine
Equipped with electric circuit breaker
Recoil start
120 V AC output; 12V, 8.3 Amps DC output
Maximum 2000Watts output for wide range of application.
Approximately 4 hrs run time on a 0.65 GL single fuel tank.
Converter technology delivers quality output.
Unique and patented air cycle system.
Dual voltage and frequency output for easy use.
56~61dB noise level @7.7 yards.
20.20L x 11.65W x 16.77H overall
2 x 110 volt outlets

This one is listed on eBay, but Amazon and other sites has it listed also, usually <$500.

Funny it's not listed on the McCulloch web site though.

I don't see in any of the listings that it has the smart throttle feature.
Greg

[Catigale]

DLT - I might be off on this, but I think pulling 50 Amps from any kind of battery we typically install will be versy shortlived... a bunch of nasty things certainly start happening when you are pulling high currents from batteries for long periods of time.

Stephen

[DLT]

Stephen,

Agreed.

However, I was talking about pulling 50 amps out of three batteries in parallel, or ~17 amps each. Also, these are dual purpose AGMs, not walmart lead acids...

But, even that is not my preferred operating mode. Running the A/C off the inverter is just a possibility. Rather, I plan to run the generator when running the A/C.

[Robert]

The 2 reason I added the battery inverter sets:
1.) It is very unapealing to have a gasoline powered accessory aboard for safety reasons.
2.) The Admiral would like this battery version around the house for a little 120VAC in case of power outage while I'm not there to start up the backup generator.
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I was thinking about powering an A/C unit for maybe an hour or so, maybe on a timer, just before bed when shore power is not available. I think that would reduce the humidity and temperature enough to get to sleep and so it does not rain condensation on us at later when the night finally cools off. For my family the heat and humidity of summer in the South have prevented most overnights on the boat. This is also why I would like some hull insulation, maybe MacGregor can offer an optional hull that uses the foam core like the Mach28.

[Tahoe Jack]

Looks like lots of competion for the Honda units! We have had some great service from our Honda EU2000i......and added a few features such as how we secure it, protect it from exposure, reduce fume exposure, and noise. I just posted a new mod showing the details. It may be a while before we get enough service experience to evaluate the various new generators...meanwhile...I like the Hondas...bit pricey however. Check out the mod.
Jack

[Robert]

Tahoe Jack,
I like the location and fit of the Honda EU2000, except I think you are going to quickly replace the exhaust smell with a burnt rubber smell then shortly afterwards a combination of exhaust with burnt rubber, hopefully without flames.
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I have helped build dynamometer testers for cars and trucks, they also pipe away to exhaust. The first ten feet is steel or other high temperature metal to give the exhaust some surface area to cool off before gong into a rubber pipe. Once during temporary testing they were using exhaust direct into rubber pipe, that was good enough for a few days until the first high speed under load run, when the rubber make a terrible smell and cloud of smoke before the test was stopped to correct it. At some garages they get away with going straight into rubber exhaust, but they are very loose fit so some cool air is drawn in with the hot air flow and they are not running the engine up enough to produce really hot exhaust.
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Although small, the generator will occationally run wide open and create hot exhaust, plus the distance from the combustion chanber is very short so no time to cool.
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I think you're going to need a high temperature solution that can flex a bit so that the length of exhaust pipe does not being to dance to the vibrations and cause the Honda's exhaust pipe to break off inside the unit. Here's a place that makes flex exhaust pipe for motorcycles:
http://www.epiflex.com/

[Tahoe Jack]

Hi Robert....re the exhaust material I chose....as the mod indicates, 'others may prefer other material'....the physics are on my side...and it works for me....use whatever you wish. You asked for ideas and we responded. Remember, the piping of the exhaust is 'optional' feature of the whole mod. Jack

[kmclemore]

I like the installation, Jack - very tidy, and the idea of piping the exhaust below water is a good one. I guess I would have run a bit of aluminum tubing for the first foot or more straight out of the exhaust elbow - this would give you some significant initial cooling, particularly if you also wrapped a long, stretched-out coil spring tightly around the pipe (to act as a cooling fin).

I do have one question - what are the two blue hoses to the right of the picture?

[Tahoe Jack]

Kmclmore: Thanks re comments on my mod. Should have known a fellow Mac type would be looking at the big picture. I have a Blaster type washdown pump mounted inside the berth side of the starboard fuel locker....the bottom hose is inlet line...where I draft lakewater or whatever, to top is the discharge which feeds to the coiled wash down hose barely visible on the right...it is a 4"ID PE pipe, with a fully open narrow slot to allow storage/deployment of the hose...reaches all of the boat. Toggle switch adjacent to the hose rack. Think I may have posted a mod...if not, I have one ready. Jack

[Robert]

Tahoe Jack,
I did not mean to offend.
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I was just sharing my experiences with rubber exhaust hose. On an SUV on a dyno the rubber hose will start to smoke at the tailpipe after the stock exhaust pipe the length of the SUV they had to add about 10 more feet of metal after the tailpipe. It gets really hot really fast when the SUV thinks its going 70mph in 4wd pulling a heavy trailer up a steep hill and there's no wind since it is indoor. They usually also run the wind tunnel in that case with a 70mph wind the rubber hose might be ok.
Robert

[kenny]

Tahoe Jack, I noted in the 1st of the 3 pics that there is another set of teh aluminum channels located further forward than the set you have the starboard installed in in picture 2.
Is this actually what I'm seeing in the picture, or is this some other channel or groove type material for another purpose. If it is as I'm thinking I'm seeing it, do the multiple pieces of starboard fit into the forward channels as well as the back. I'm assuming here that you don't close off both sides of the generator, (ie both fore and aft of it's location as shown)
Thanks for any clarifications