MacGregorSailors.com

Hey all,

I'm sure there are probably numerous threads discussing this, but apparently my search syntax is failing me.

I received a Honda EU2000i generator for Christmasthis year and I am pretty excited about the opportunities that it presents! I was wondering though if anybody had any experience with running them while on the hook/ball?

Looking for input on noise/vibration/location and thoughts on securing for sea...

Thanks all...

Ryan

Ryan, I do not own one but it is on my wish list....I did research that same question and remember that someone actually used to haul it up on the main halyard which reduced both the deck vibratin and noise (I am not sure it was on a Mac...it may have been on a larger boat)
Another idea I remember was that they would put it in a a dinghy and let it out about 20 feet..
Also someone here made a bracket to "sit" the generator on thier outboard motor (someone may be able to repost the link)
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... +generator
Both ideas would work but I would also think they would come with thier own problems with rocking waves and bad weather coming in....but it may be suitable for a short amount of time

Thats about an 80 # mass IIRC....thats a lot to send up the mast????

Ballast in please!!!

ok, I don't know but for what it's worth'

A friend of mine and one who is a member of Central Florida Yacht Club and has travel extensively about, has an EU2000Honda jap generator in his cockpit.

All the while anchored for the night he riggs up his 5k btu window shaker to his hatchboard mod for his companionway and stays cool and bug free all night long. I was anchored less than fifty yards away and couldn't hear the darmmed thing running. Pretty nice. Nearly made me want one of those darmmed things. I have a 400watt wind turbine gen on mine and most of the time it delivers 100watts night or day or both. Not enough to run a 10K AC unit mind you but a hefty AC powered fan does the trick. When you have a 3 speed fan that is 3 foot in diameter kicking from the V berth with the hatchway up, you ain't gonna yearn for air conditioning!

And you don't hafta worry about CARBON MONOXIDES seeping in and snuffing you out in the middle of the night.

So let that be a lesson to you ... run a generator at night/have a CO detector inside your cabin!! If not don't run the generator!

Carbon monoxide detectors are cheap and you can even find them at the GROCERY STORE Go Figure! They are cheap! So don't cut yerself short ... get a Carbon Monoxide detector! If your generator triggers it, no problem, just relocate it up on deck and bungie it to the mast so it won't walk the deck and jump overboard!!!!

Good luck there my friend ....
Big T

I bought one from ebay about 2 years ago. Love it.

The generator sits on the starboard side aft.

I created a platform to put the generator on the aft and stradle the steering poles. I use a cargo net from a mini-van back area (grocery net) to strap the generator to the boat and I have a cover for the generator.

Only drawback is that I can't tilt the motor all the way up to the stow position and turn, as it will crush the generator if I do.

I also ordered another cap for the generator and modified it by attaching a fuel line to the cap and a quick connect on the other end for my main fuel tanks for the boat. I can run the generator almost infefinately from the boat tanks.

I have an outside edison plug on the very aft end, port side... i used it to plug into my house ( I keep the boat next ot the house)... so I made a short extension cord so I can run the generator and run the cord to the edison plug on the boat.
This sends shore (generator) power inside to my charger, engle fridge, air conditioner (Billy XX mod) and anything else that requires 120 Volts.

I have actually used it on the water to charge my motor battery when I left the inverter on accidently... I love that I didn't have to pull start the engine like I would normally have to do.

Here is a picture I found that kinda shows where it is. Let me know if you want more pictures and I will take some tomorrow.

We use the smaller Honda EU1000 but I think the sound & vibration are similar to the 2000. When beached in more remote locations, where neither security issues exist nor the chance of disturbing others, we put it on shore and run the cord to the boat. On a long fresh water cruise in midsummer, each afternoon we would find a cove with a tree overhanging shore. We then pulled the Mac on shore and hooked up the generator to our AC and took an afternoon rest. Getting out of the sun and wind (with no bugs) for a couple of hours in the heat of the day, made our trip so much more comfortable! You have to look hard to find a portable AC which will operate on the smaller EU 1000, but ours cools the boat well.

When anchored, I mount it on the top of the 50hp Big Foot outboard (got the idea from someone on this board). I use a construction worker's kneeling pad (buy at Lowes) that has super-dense foam on the top and hard plastic on the bottom. I flip it over so the rubber foam is against the engine and attached the generator to the hard plastic side. This lessens vibration and noise. The engine absorbs much of the rest of the vibration and actually the generator cannot be heard over the air conditioner. When anchored or moored boat is upwind from the engine (and mounted generator) and there is less chance of CO problems as long as there is at least a breeze. We do always have a working CO detector in the cabin.

SILK

Congratulations on your generous gift, Ryan.

Like Da' boys said, keep it in the cockpit, whether under the seat, if you have one; Or pick a side and secure it. While quite useful it is NOT fun to move around the boat with. Especially with the one hand for the boat rule we all follow

CO meter is a definite too. I use the Honda 1000 on the boat and forgo the comforts of AC. If you build a backstep cover like so, you can secure it to it puymanent like and still lift your motor

I use thick packing foam [ like the good white and clear "styrofoam"] that comes from other purchases to make a pad that is 3" thick and limits vibration.

I've owned a Honda EU 2000 for 3 years, and love it, I go to Catalina a few times a year, and my neighbors at the mooring claim they can't even hear it, I can watch TV while it's on. My old Coleman generator is twice as heavy, and twice as loud, I remmember when a neighbor showed me his "driving" finger when I ran it in the AM, he must have been partying in Avalon the night before.

I have an , I run the generator on the forward part of the Port coaming, next to my shore power plug, and use a 1 ft cord to connect it. I made a plataform from 2 Walmart cutting boards sandwiched together, with a groove cut on the lower one to fit around the genoa track, and bugee it down. It took me 30 min to make this, and I thought it would be temporary, but it works so well that I've left it alone

I notice you have an , you might want to run the generator on yor cabin top bungied to the mast, but not up it ( that sounds dangerous to me). running a live 110 volt cord betweed 2 floating boats, is dangerous too.

If I remmember I spent about $900.00 for the generator, you got a great Xmas present.

Ric K

I know...quite the gift right?!?! I never would have asked for one, but my Dad had purchased it as an aux unit for his RV and never even cracked it over before he bought a bigger RV. So, he gave it to me...still in the box!

Thanks for all of the inputs and encouragements regarding the performance! I'm still not to sure on where it will end up lashed down to, but I will be sure to post my final decision here somewhere!

On a seperate note...I've been reading these forums for months now prior to purchasing my ...and I've got to say...this has been the most abundant source of information I've ever seen! Quite an impressive following! But, now that I've purchased her and started poking around myself, I'm sure I will have many, many questions of my own!

Looking forward to the discussions gentleman!

~ Ryan

You have a Gifter that has a bank account and loves you dearly.
I use a 1200 watt two cycle Gen. that powers my 5100 btu aircondition for $130, it has 4 rubber legs that can sit on top of the Outboard or fits perfect on a X under the seat were it drops down.
It has a db of 68 compared to the 59 Honda but down below I don't hear it and if it fell overboard or stolen, I am only out $130.
Northern Tools is were I bought but I see now they have same manifacture but 900 watts for $89. Thats neer the same as the Honda 1000.
One has to figuare how often they use it and if it's worth it.
Dave

kingcrew4 wrote:Hey all,

I'm sure there are probably numerous threads discussing this, but apparently my search syntax is failing me.

I received a Honda EU2000i generator for Christmasthis year and I am pretty excited about the opportunities that it presents! I was wondering though if anybody had any experience with running them while on the hook/ball?

Looking for input on noise/vibration/location and thoughts on securing for sea...

Thanks all...

Ryan

Hi All.......in the spring of '06 I posted my Honda Gen mod http://macgregorsailors.com/modt/index.php?view=653 Works for me, I only use it for trips over a couple days duration. Jack

Please excuse my ignorance here, but my question is, based on the fact that it seems to only have two outlets..... can you hook the EU to your shore power plug-in and if so can you run your normal applinaces from there, or on the same note can you hook it to a power surge strip and run up tp 4 or 5 appliances?

We also hook our EU to the shore power cord and then use the inside wiring. We have a West Marine charger built into the system and if we have been out a while, the charger will pull several amps just recharging the batteries. That reduces the amount of power we can use inside. With your EU2000 you should be able to plug in things like you would in one house outlet. With our EU1000, we have to be more selective. Over time, I have put together appliances which each take less than 950 watts. I have a toaster, AC, microwave, etc. but I cannot run two appliances at the same time. It is the price I pay for the smaller and lighter generator. You might be able to run two things at the same time--add the wattage INPUTS. I also carry a 12 ga. extension cord long enough to reach from the generator to a single appliance (usually AC) so I can bypass the charger since the AC is close to the top of the amp output for the generator---I could just wire a shut off switch to the charger but haven't gotten around to that. Charger was originally wired w/o cut off switch so that charging the batteries were the number one priority when plugged in. Now we have a solar panel that pretty well keeps the batteries full.

SILK