Honda 2000 not charging my batteries

[montenido]

Hi all,


My boat has a Xantrex prosine 3.0 inverter charger. It works perfectly at the dock, maintains my batteries at 100%. Today, to simulate cruising, I disconnected from shore power and used my inverter to run my shop vac at length several times. By the end of the day my batteries were at 85%. When I plugged in my Honda genny, it would run fine, then bog, as if experiencing a heavy load. Then it would go back to normal, and repeat this chain of events again, every 15-20 seconds. My battery monitor showed that when the genny bogged, the charger would come on briefly, then the charger would go off, and the genny would resume its normal running.

I checked all connections, switched power cords, all with the same result. When I finally plugged back into shore power, my monitor showed 14.6 volts at 50 amps charging!! Is there some way to set the charger to start out at a lower amperage for the generator? I don't think it likes 40-50 amps.

Thanks, Bill

[David M]

The Honda EU2000i is only rated for 16.7 amps max and 13.3 amps continuous at 120 volts. I don't know if you have the same exact model.

Some battery chargers have the option of adjusting the maximum current they will draw. Look in your owners manual, the PDF for the owners manual or call the manufacturer to see if your battery charger has this option.

Honda EU2000i Super Quiet Generator

[skipmac]

50 amps at 14.6 V should not overload a Honda 2000, even if the Xantrex power factor is very low. Was the Honda set to economy mode? Did you try the Honda on another load besides the charger?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by David M

The Honda EU2000i is only rated for 16.7 amps max and 13.3 amps continuous at 120 volts. I don't know if you have the same exact model.

Exactly. Rated at 1600 Watts continuous which would be +/- 13 amps at 120V or +/- 133 amps at 12V. 50 amps at 14.6 V is only 730 Watts. Even allowing for conversion losses and power factor correction that should be well within the capacity of the Honda.

[fryewe]

The 50A is at 14.6V which is less than 750W which is well within the capacity of the generator.

Sounds as if the charger is sensing the voltage being raised to a high value and shifting the rate to a lower rate. Does the monitor show the charging rate falling to zero when the generator unloads? How many stages does your charger have and at what voltages does it shift stages?

[mbianka]

Agree with Skipmac make sure you are not operating the Honda in ECO mode when drawing large amps.

[David M]

The DC output of the generator is 96 watts which would be 6.6 amps at 14.6 volts. I am pretty certain he had the generators AC connected to the battery charger. He was asking if the maximum draw of the charger could be regulated.

[Ram]

my Honda is always set on Eco mode powering a 75 amp charger, it works fine putting out about 70 amps at first- yes it bogs down but over time runs slower as the batterys are charged up- 7 years strong now-

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by David M

The DC output of the generator is 96 watts which would be 6.6 amps at 14.6 volts. I am pretty certain he had the generators AC connected to the battery charger. He was asking if the maximum draw of the charger could be regulated.

Sorry, what I was trying to say was that the 1600 Watt AC output of the Honda, ignoring losses, through the charger could convert to 133 amps at 12 V DC so 50 amps at 12 V DC should not overload the Honda.

[sailorchic34]

Is only the charger running on the generator, or is there other 120V loads on at the same time?

[Zil]

The inverter charger can output 120 amps at 12 volts. over 1400 watts. At 80% efficiency, that could be over 1700 watts AC draw.

[kmaz]

When the Honda is presented with a large load it will bog down and voltage can drop below 100 volts which might be sending the charger into a fault mode. Try getting the Honda up to speed by turning on your water heater(or another large load) for a few seconds. Once the Honda is up to speed(voltage) switch off the heater and switch on the charger.

[estarzinger]

Just for reference I can run a 60 amp charger (sterling) with a Honda 1000. So the 2000 should certainly not bog down at 50 amps. There's got to be something else going on.

[David M]

Test out your generator by seeing if it can power a space heater on its low setting. The problem might be the generator itself is not producing the current it is supposed to be able to produce.

Also, use a true 15 amp (14 AWG) extension cord in order to eliminate that being a potential problem.

[Sid at SailAway]

For what it's worth, My Honda did the same thing hooked up to my 50 amp charger. I would describe it as a surge in rpm back and forth. I ran a heavy dose of Seafoam through it and now no problems what so ever. Might want to give it a try...