Honda Portable Generator: Will This Work?

[Franziska]

Still glad that I have my non approved genset for many years, probably as many many other happy onboard users.
Thank god we do not have to follow every nonsense by the book.

[SV Toucan]

Alcohol stoves were once common on boats, mostly replaced by CNG, and propane or electric cooking surfaces. These alcohol stoves caused many fires and resulting loss of vessels.



Alcohol in bottles of various percentages has caused many more accidents and deaths, yet it is widely used to fuel parties and social events. Not USCG approved. Many USCG "requirements" are for vessels carrying passengers for hire. Beware of generalities between recommended and required. Just be safe, choose the safest solution, and have fun.

[sailorboy1]

I wish I understood what the topic is.

[Fbfisher]

I’ve used the same Honda 2000 portable generator for 15 trouble free years. When in use, at anchor, it lives on top of the anchor locker. A canvas cover keeps the elements out between uses. I’d appreciate recommendations for reducing the noise while it’s under load (heating water or charging batteries). Is it possible to have the generator running on the foredeck and attach an exhaust hose that would lead under water to minimize the decibels? Back pressure? How to attach? What material for the hose? Anyone tried this?

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Still glad that I have my non approved genset for many years, probably as many many other happy onboard users.
Thank god we do not have to follow every nonsense by the book.

Franziska, don't worry we live in the free world were you are allowed to do dangerous things like use a petrol generator on the stern of a yacht.

Originally Posted by Fbfisher

I’ve used the same Honda 2000 portable generator for 15 trouble free years.

So if the original price was $1000 then it has cost you £66pa for the past 15 years plus a few bob for a spark plug and oil each year. How would that compare with a USCG certified diesel generator initial purchase and a service each year?

Pete

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Pete7

How would that compare with a USCG certified diesel generator initial purchase and a service each year?

Pete

C'mon ! The USCG does not certify diesel, gas or any other kind of generator.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

C'mon ! The USCG does not certify diesel, gas or any other kind of generator.

Oh okay, well that solves a problem of trying to find something that doesn't exist

Pete

[wsmurdoch]

The closest I could come to a "USCG certified" or "USCG Approved" gasoline generator was this bit in an old generator spec sheet. All is says is "Meets U.S.C.G. regulation 33CFR-183". When I look at 33CFR-183, I'm hard pressed to figure out if it applies to me or even what it all means. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/33/part-183 .

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Pete7

So if the original price was $1000 then it has cost you £66pa for the past 15 years plus a few bob for a spark plug and oil each year. How would that compare with a USCG certified diesel generator initial purchase and a service each year?

Pete

Well I spent over $7,000 on my diesel generator that started having issues at 200 hours and gave up life at 700 hours. I now probably have 500 hours on my $1200 Honda that has not had any problems and is even quieter. .

[Bill Seal]

There are a bunch on 500cc air cooled Chinese DIESEL motors on EBAY for less than $700, it would be simple to mate one up with a Harbor Fright generator head. Probably noisy as hell, but could be put in a soundproof enclosure.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/273685511546

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Bill Seal

There are a bunch on 500cc air cooled Chinese DIESEL motors on EBAY for less than $700, it would be simple to mate one up with a Harbor Fright generator head. Probably noisy as hell, but could be put in a soundproof enclosure.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/273685511546

There is no enclosure on earth that can mask the noise from those things!!

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Well I spent over $7,000 on my diesel generator that started having issues at 200 hours and gave up life at 700 hours. I now probably have 500 hours on my $1200 Honda that has not had any problems and is even quieter. .

That’s my take after owning somewhere around a dozen generators over the years.

The Northern Lights was very reliable, but required a lot of maintenance and had some breakdowns. It wasn’t perfect.

Those China diesels. Don’t get me started. Tried that once and it threw a rod first day. No warranty, no parts, they stole my money. Later, I tried a Yanmar air cooled diesel. Made no friends in the anchorage. It was the loudest thing I’ve ever heard.

I’ve put thousands of hours on my little Honda based gas generators and they don’t miss a beat! You don’t have to worry about not loading them up enough, you don’t have to worry about carrying a second fuel (in my case) and you just don’t have to worry at all. They are fantastic!

They are so good, that instead of getting one big unit to run my two air conditioning units, I got a pair of these little ones. Each will be wired to an air conditioning unit independently and I have redundancy in case one breaks. I can just run one of them when house loads are needed to be put on a generator. This gives so much flexibility and redundancy over traditional marine generators, saves hundreds of pounds of weight and can be completely replaced for $800.

I’ve found my favorite generator. It’s a Honda based 5hp, 2700 peak wattage unit.

I’m posting this right now from a comfortable, air conditioned space while one of them is humming away outside to beat this Florida early season heat.

We have run these all day long, every day for years now. Just off ethanol gas from the gas station. zero problems

I first discovered these when my EU2000 generators kept breaking because they couldn’t take the all day long every day running an air conditioner duty cycle. It was just a little too much for them.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Well I spent over $7,000 on my diesel generator that started having issues at 200 hours and gave up life at 700 hours. I now probably have 500 hours on my $1200 Honda that has not had any problems and is even quieter. .

And at the other end of the spectrum, the gas Onan generator that went into my boat when it was built 35 years ago has just over 1400 hours on it now. So far, it's needed impellers, belts, oil and coolant changes, 3 sets of spark plugs, an electric choke heater, and 1 exhaust elbow in that time. I'd call that not bad. Carb has never been touched in 35 years, even after being fed ethanol gas for about 15 of those years.

For the most part, it's just a matter of hit the switch when you need it, let the thing burn some gas and it'll happily spew out 6.5kw as long as you need it to. And at least from outside the boat, it's quite a bit quieter than the Honda portables.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I’ve found my favorite generator. It’s a Honda based 5hp, 2700 peak wattage unit.

So not the typical Honda generator? Link please...

[SV Toucan]

I still did not see a reference that shows listed "approved" generators. Always be wary of quotes of rules, laws, standards, etc. Note: if you operate to generator on the anchor locker lid, the whole boat is downwind from the exhaust, not smart. A better location is as far aft as possible. Purists beware, no perfect fuel based solution exists. Better batteries and solar panels are challenging the performance of other methods. Wind too.