[C320-list] C320-list Digest, Vol 1621, Issue 1

[Jeffrey Kapec]

Hello Warren:

I had purchased the Honda EU2000i Portable Generator three 
years ago for our 320. Its performance and reliability have 
been stellar. I also did quite a bit of research. Beware of 
the Chinese generators. We have a family friend in 
Connecticut that purchased such a unit from Costco. They 
used it this past November for power supply during hurricane 
Sandy. Well there is a design / manufacturing flaw in the 
generator and the fuel line would come undone and spill 
gasoline on the hot manifold. Mind you,. this this was a new 
unit. So their house burned down during the hurricane. As it 
turns out there is a massive recall on generators sold 
through Costco. Take a look on Google

But the Honda is incredibly reliable and it has enough amperage to charge two battery banks while running the 110 hot water heater or the microwave.  It is also very fuel efficient.  It fits into the starboard rear lazarette

The before last we also used it at home to run our refrigerator and my neighbors during the  hurricane Irene. There we lost power at home for 5 days.

My final confirmation was to note that all of the street food vendors in New York City use the Honda unit to power their stands.  And some get pretty elaborate with lighting and music on top of their refrigeration.

Cheers,
Jeff Kapec

Petite Suite Hull 718





On 1/8/2013 3:00 PM, c320-list-request at lists.catalina320.com 
wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
>     1. Re: Honda EU2000i Portable Generator (Warren Updike)
>     2. New skipper seeks advice on battery issues (Michael Shirley)
>     3. Re: New skipper seeks advice on battery issues (Jason Alexander)
>     4. Re: Honda EU2000i Portable Generator (JJ Morrison)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 17:01:28 -0500
> From: Warren Updike <wupdike at hotmail.com>
> To: <C320-List at Catalina320.com>
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Honda EU2000i Portable Generator
> Message-ID: <BAY156-ds2164E9387A1E0953EC4B70BE250 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Thanks for the info.  I guess this is a new product so not much experience.
> I only found 2 reviews, both on Amazon.  One had problems getting parts. One
> had a dead battery after 4 mos.  I'll check on the Yamaha unit.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rick Sulewski [mailto:rsulewski at bex.net]
> Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2013 7:07 PM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Honda EU2000i Portable Generator
>
> Hello Warren,
> I have done considerable research on the portable generator question and
> learned that one must be careful when considering the advertised portable
> generator characteristics vs. user reviews, especially when considering
> powering AC units. Checked both marine & RV blogs. There are some Honda
> clones out there made in China under a variety of consumer friendly
> namesakes that have terrible support and do not measure up. Consider the
> lost value cost when for a few more dollars  better quality alternatives
> exist. The China units that are often larger than and many of the larger
> units are normally 70 pounds or more vs. 42-44 pounds for each of the Honda
> 2000 or Yamaha 2000 models. Honda & Yamaha appear to have user reported
> increased reliability/longevity, fewer sound level issues and readily
> available replacement parts & service compared to the cheaper China models.
>
> I was going to buy a couple of Honda 2000 units this fall when I ran across
> some great deals (can always call to seek free shipping). Determined that I
> needed more amperage to run the AC and other items and that left me having
> to parallel wiring two 2000 level units. At the same time I wanted to more
> easily move two 40 pound units from the storage area vs. wrestling with a
> louder 70+ pound unit. However, I delayed the Honda purchase after spending
> a late season race weekend at a NASCAR campground and learned a few things
> about Hondas that pointed me to also investigate Yamaha generators (Hondas
> tend to  gum up over time if the fuel is not drained from the carbs when
> storing the units). Also learned that the Honda internals do not have the
> same design nor the longevity of the Yamaha models.
>
> I am now looking at Yamaha units after observing how much quieter the Yamaha
> 2000 units were operating at the campground under load compared to Honda
> 2000 units (both parallel wired and both under similar demands) in eco mode
> and at full throttle high amp demand operation. I also learned that the
> Yamaha units all have a fuel cutoff valve so one can simply run the carbs
> dry before storing the units. I am considering storing the units in the
> starboard corner locker in a vinyl tub but have to wait till the snow melts
> to measure that storage area. I found some good buys on the net for both
> Honda or Yamaha generators at AdventureRV.net   Researched user reviews and
> am now convinced for my needs, Yamaha appears to be a better choice at this
> time (providing I can store one or more units in the available corner
> locker).  Since I mounted my AC unit in the longer port cockpit locker, the
> generators stored in the starboard corner locker will also help balance that
> port side AC unit weight.
> Rick
> My-Ria 1995 320 hull #277
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Warren Updike
> Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2013 4:42 PM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Honda EU2000i Portable Generator
>
> Here is an interesting item:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0JB-0006-00002
> For all those whose A/C won't run on a Honda EU2000, this one is 2800W with
> AC/DC out, self-start, remote control, etc. at $694.  For $600, there is a
> 2000W.  Oddly, the specs don't say self-start; but, the video does.  Go
> figure.
>
> I've bought from NewEgg before and had positive results.
>
> Warren & Pattie Updike
> 1994 C320 #62 "Warr De Mar"
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Irving Grunes [mailto:igrunes at gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 10:23 PM
> To: C320-List at catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Honda EU2000i Portable Generator
>
> All
> The Feb 2013 issue of Consumer Reports notes a recall notice reference the
> Honda EU2000i sold from October 2011 to September 2012
>
> "The fuel hose can leak posing risks of fire and burns"
>
> "Call company at 888-888-3139 for more details on the recall"
>
> Irv Grunes
> #851
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 20:15:44 -0500
> From: Michael Shirley <jmshirley1 at gmail.com>
> To: C320-list at catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] New skipper seeks advice on battery issues
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAEjVF1nZG-1BPUP60386rX25AJa=po3Dg6Bo3krBdvBcaHx_Og at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>
> Hello. I am new to the Catalina 320 Association, and this is my first
> post. It's a long post, and I appreciate your patience. In October I
> acquired a 2000 Catalina 320 after selling my Beneteau. Really like
> the Catalina! The boat has been stored on land for 2-3 years and
> neglected. Needless to say, there are issues I must address that have
> resulted from lack of use and inattention to routine maintenance, and
> I seek your advice about how I might prioritize what needs to be done
> factoring in cost and how I plan to use the boat. Except for the
> initial sail from the Patapsco River down to my slip in Annapolis, I
> haven?t used the boat. The upcoming sailing season will be an
> extensive shakedown to determine what needs to be replaced and what
> added as an upgrade. I will be spending some weekends at anchor and
> there will be the occasional 3-4 day trip. In May I hope to take a
> week-long cruise. Ultimately I plan to go down the ICW to the Keys and
> over to the Bahamas, but I?m still a coastal cruiser. Here is my first
> dilemma. The 4D batteries are not holding a charge, so they must be
> replaced soon with new 4D deep cycle. I do not believe any changes
> have been made to the original set-up to the batteries and charging
> system. My electronics guy believes I also need a 40 amp battery
> charger (Mastervolt Power Charger) at a minimum, an external regulator
> on the stock 55 amp alternator, and a separate Group 27 engine start
> battery.  He proposes to relocate the battery charger out of the port
> cockpit locker to be nearer the batteries and locate the new start
> battery in front of the house bank.The biggest load is refrigeration.
> I will be adding a stereo system soon (high priority as I must have my
> tunes and Orioles baseball while at anchor). I will be replacing all
> cabin light bulbs with LEDs. I have the standard Raymarine electronics
> including autopilot but no chartplotter. I agree with his
> recommendations but I need you to help me prioritize. The new
> batteries right off the bat seem a no-brainer, but what else, the
> battery charger or the external regulator on the alternator? Does the
> battery charger really need to be relocated? The engine start battery
> can wait, I think. Following all I have read here about installing an
> engine start battery, I think I can do that myself. I also believe I
> can install a new battery charger, just changing out the old charger
> (plug and play, I hope). I?m hesitant to do too much immediately
> having not yet spent time on the water with this boat. Any thoughts
> you have to share and guidance to offer would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Mike
> "Further"
> Annapolis
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2013 07:21:13 -0500
> From: Jason Alexander <alexander.jason at gmail.com>
> To: c320-list <C320-List at catalina320.com>
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] New skipper seeks advice on battery issues
> Message-ID:
> 	<CANAkHg84tJ8mTcw79Mmr+qerc-bbpmoimsW+co9s3e2xDBXZkA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>
> Mike,
>
> I have a 2001 320 down in Deltaville down the bay from you.  The 4D
> replacement as you says is a no brainer.   When I bought my boat I replaced
> my batteries with Interstate SRD-4M.   At that time I put in a 3 bank
> Xantrex 2 40 amp charger.    This allowed me to follow some of the advice
> from the website glass in a new shelf in front of the existing batteries
> and put in a  group 24 starting battery.   I wired the house batteries
> together onto bank 2 and the starting battery onto bank 1 of my combiner
> switch following some advise from 320 website.   I have refrigeration,
> music, chartplotter and ST50 instrumentation.   I have not done the
> alternator upgrade like many here have.    The charger replacement was plug
> and play except that I ran a new wire for the third bank and the remote
> control pannel.   I didn't move it out of the locker.  I actually did all
> the work myself and did not consider it to be a difficult project skill
> wise.   To be fair I am an electrical engineer but this is nothing more
> than basic 12 volt wiring.
>
> Jason
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 7, 2013 at 8:15 PM, Michael Shirley <jmshirley1 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hello. I am new to the Catalina 320 Association, and this is my first
>> post. It's a long post, and I appreciate your patience. In October I
>> acquired a 2000 Catalina 320 after selling my Beneteau. Really like
>> the Catalina! The boat has been stored on land for 2-3 years and
>> neglected. Needless to say, there are issues I must address that have
>> resulted from lack of use and inattention to routine maintenance, and
>> I seek your advice about how I might prioritize what needs to be done
>> factoring in cost and how I plan to use the boat. Except for the
>> initial sail from the Patapsco River down to my slip in Annapolis, I
>> haven?t used the boat. The upcoming sailing season will be an
>> extensive shakedown to determine what needs to be replaced and what
>> added as an upgrade. I will be spending some weekends at anchor and
>> there will be the occasional 3-4 day trip. In May I hope to take a
>> week-long cruise. Ultimately I plan to go down the ICW to the Keys and
>> over to the Bahamas, but I?m still a coastal cruiser. Here is my first
>> dilemma. The 4D batteries are not holding a charge, so they must be
>> replaced soon with new 4D deep cycle. I do not believe any changes
>> have been made to the original set-up to the batteries and charging
>> system. My electronics guy believes I also need a 40 amp battery
>> charger (Mastervolt Power Charger) at a minimum, an external regulator
>> on the stock 55 amp alternator, and a separate Group 27 engine start
>> battery.  He proposes to relocate the battery charger out of the port
>> cockpit locker to be nearer the batteries and locate the new start
>> battery in front of the house bank.The biggest load is refrigeration.
>> I will be adding a stereo system soon (high priority as I must have my
>> tunes and Orioles baseball while at anchor). I will be replacing all
>> cabin light bulbs with LEDs. I have the standard Raymarine electronics
>> including autopilot but no chartplotter. I agree with his
>> recommendations but I need you to help me prioritize. The new
>> batteries right off the bat seem a no-brainer, but what else, the
>> battery charger or the external regulator on the alternator? Does the
>> battery charger really need to be relocated? The engine start battery
>> can wait, I think. Following all I have read here about installing an
>> engine start battery, I think I can do that myself. I also believe I
>> can install a new battery charger, just changing out the old charger
>> (plug and play, I hope). I?m hesitant to do too much immediately
>> having not yet spent time on the water with this boat. Any thoughts
>> you have to share and guidance to offer would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>> Mike
>> "Further"
>> Annapolis
>>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2013 16:20:02 +0000
> From: JJ Morrison <sail-ability at sympatico.ca>
> To: Catalina List <c320-list at catalina320.com>
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Honda EU2000i Portable Generator
> Message-ID: <BAY172-W21B547D8D0AECCBD4110F5E9240 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
> Regarding off season storage of small engines be careful about running the engine until it quits with the fuel shut off valve closed; the carb bowl will not completely drain and if there is any water in it you are looking at a very expensive repair (experience teaches!) You need to drain the bowl and there is normally a valve in the bottom of the bowl to do this. Also conventional wisdom these days is recommending using high test fuel in these small engines as it has no ethanol (it grabs moisture) in it. I've been using high test for a few years with very good success.
> Cheers
> JohnM
> 1999#574
>
>   
>
>> From: wupdike at hotmail.com
>> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
>> Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 17:01:28 -0500
>> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Honda EU2000i Portable Generator
>>
>> Thanks for the info. I guess this is a new product so not much experience.
>> I only found 2 reviews, both on Amazon. One had problems getting parts. One
>> had a dead battery after 4 mos. I'll check on the Yamaha unit.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Rick Sulewski [mailto:rsulewski at bex.net]
>> Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2013 7:07 PM
>> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
>> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Honda EU2000i Portable Generator
>>
>> Hello Warren,
>> I have done considerable research on the portable generator question and
>> learned that one must be careful when considering the advertised portable
>> generator characteristics vs. user reviews, especially when considering
>> powering AC units. Checked both marine & RV blogs. There are some Honda
>> clones out there made in China under a variety of consumer friendly
>> namesakes that have terrible support and do not measure up. Consider the
>> lost value cost when for a few more dollars better quality alternatives
>> exist. The China units that are often larger than and many of the larger
>> units are normally 70 pounds or more vs. 42-44 pounds for each of the Honda
>> 2000 or Yamaha 2000 models. Honda & Yamaha appear to have user reported
>> increased reliability/longevity, fewer sound level issues and readily
>> available replacement parts & service compared to the cheaper China models.
>>
>> I was going to buy a couple of Honda 2000 units this fall when I ran across
>> some great deals (can always call to seek free shipping). Determined that I
>> needed more amperage to run the AC and other items and that left me having
>> to parallel wiring two 2000 level units. At the same time I wanted to more
>> easily move two 40 pound units from the storage area vs. wrestling with a
>> louder 70+ pound unit. However, I delayed the Honda purchase after spending
>> a late season race weekend at a NASCAR campground and learned a few things
>> about Hondas that pointed me to also investigate Yamaha generators (Hondas
>> tend to gum up over time if the fuel is not drained from the carbs when
>> storing the units). Also learned that the Honda internals do not have the
>> same design nor the longevity of the Yamaha models.
>>
>> I am now looking at Yamaha units after observing how much quieter the Yamaha
>> 2000 units were operating at the campground under load compared to Honda
>> 2000 units (both parallel wired and both under similar demands) in eco mode
>> and at full throttle high amp demand operation. I also learned that the
>> Yamaha units all have a fuel cutoff valve so one can simply run the carbs
>> dry before storing the units. I am considering storing the units in the
>> starboard corner locker in a vinyl tub but have to wait till the snow melts
>> to measure that storage area. I found some good buys on the net for both
>> Honda or Yamaha generators at AdventureRV.net Researched user reviews and
>> am now convinced for my needs, Yamaha appears to be a better choice at this
>> time (providing I can store one or more units in the available corner
>> locker). Since I mounted my AC unit in the longer port cockpit locker, the
>> generators stored in the starboard corner locker will also help balance that
>> port side AC unit weight.
>> Rick
>> My-Ria 1995 320 hull #277
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
>> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Warren Updike
>> Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2013 4:42 PM
>> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
>> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Honda EU2000i Portable Generator
>>
>> Here is an interesting item:
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0JB-0006-00002
>> For all those whose A/C won't run on a Honda EU2000, this one is 2800W with
>> AC/DC out, self-start, remote control, etc. at $694. For $600, there is a
>> 2000W. Oddly, the specs don't say self-start; but, the video does. Go
>> figure.
>>
>> I've bought from NewEgg before and had positive results.
>>
>> Warren & Pattie Updike
>> 1994 C320 #62 "Warr De Mar"
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Irving Grunes [mailto:igrunes at gmail.com]
>> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 10:23 PM
>> To: C320-List at catalina320.com
>> Subject: [C320-list] Honda EU2000i Portable Generator
>>
>> All
>> The Feb 2013 issue of Consumer Reports notes a recall notice reference the
>> Honda EU2000i sold from October 2011 to September 2012
>>
>> "The fuel hose can leak posing risks of fire and burns"
>>
>> "Call company at 888-888-3139 for more details on the recall"
>>
>> Irv Grunes
>> #851
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>   		 	   		
>
> End of C320-list Digest, Vol 1621, Issue 1
> ******************************************
>