Honda Portable Generator: Will This Work?

[paul2884]

Why would you want to run a generator over night? Generally the sailing community are trying to reduce our carbon foot print, definitely not running a small and relativity inefficient petrol engine overnight to do what....

If you need a/c then move your boat somewhere cooler, we don't like it to hot so sail accordingly. If you need additional power for something else have a look at solar, that wont keep your neighbours awake all night and wont kill you in your sleep.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

It’s not tough at all. Because there is always wind, even early in the morning the wind is blowing, but get into the West side of Fl or the Panhandle, or on the ICW and it can be 90% humidity and 95F temps and not a breath of wind, smoke rises slowly straight up. Sun beating down.
That is what I call Africa Hot, from the movie Biloxi Blues, but anyway it’s unbearable, and it’s also the time of year we are at a dock, but some aren’t.

We've been there and done that (Africa Hot). It's really hard, especially if you can't get into the water to swim, and even then the sea water is not always cooling. We relied on spray bottles of fresh water which, with fan, cooled our bodies at night. Try Papua New Guinea or the upper Sea of Cortez. So now we're at the dock in the heat of the summer (plus, those summer, lightning filled thunderstorms are scary when you are anchored somewhere.)

Back to the OP's proposal, it is dangerous, and besides, trying to run a gen-set air conditioner all night while anchored to keep cool is really like trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. Best to skip the whole idea or get a much bigger boat with a built in marine genset.

[Iguana Dance]

We used a Honda 2000i on our catamaran for 13 years when we were at anchor. We put it on a fire resistant pad on the trampoline and strapped and locked it so it couldn't tip over or get stolen. Then we just ran a cord from it to the shore power input. Worked perfectly. We left it uncovered whenever it was out there. It was aimed so the exhaust blew off the port side and we never smelled anything in the cockpit or inside. We didn't really use it much. Only to heat water and charge batteries when the sun didn't keep up with our solar panels. I wouldn't consider using it for AC as it would go through too much gas. And you should ALWAYS let it cool down before refilling the tank. I would never consider running it inside anything. Only outside where the exhaust can be blown away and it wouldn't overheat.

[christine47]

A small Panda gen would be better.

[christine47]

And it’s quiet.

[christine47]

Honda or other type gens sitting out on decks are usually noise producers and your neighbors will not like it

[reflectionsv37]

Originally Posted by Sidney777

No way......
Somehow get built in generator .

Built in generators create lots of heat. They kind of defeat the purpose of an AC unit. You have an AC unit trying to cool the boat down while the generator is heating the boat up. I know 2 people who have removed their built in diesel gensets and mounted Honda generators for this specific reason. Not only is it easier to keep the boat cool, they also gained lots of extra storage space and eliminated a couple of thru-hulls.

[Goodxcharly]

Don’t do it!

Much easier and safer to # down a few more beers for a good night sleep. )

[reflectionsv37]

Originally Posted by paul2884

Why would you want to run a generator over night? Generally the sailing community are trying to reduce our carbon foot print, definitely not running a small and relativity inefficient petrol engine overnight to do what....

If you need a/c then move your boat somewhere cooler, we don't like it to hot so sail accordingly. If you need additional power for something else have a look at solar, that wont keep your neighbours awake all night and wont kill you in your sleep.

Not everyone wants to be in a cooler climate, they just want to be able to sleep comfortably at night. I've been cruising for more than 20 years and don't want to be in colder climate. I just got tired of sleeping in a puddle of sweat at night. I regularly run my Honda overnight. It's outside on the stern pulpit and I barely hear from it down below. And I sleep great!!!

And I always anchor as far away as possible from other boats so I don't bother anyone. Honda's are very quiet and it easily runs my 8000BTU AC with the generator running just above an idle.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by christine47

A small Panda gen would be better.

Originally Posted by christine47

And it’s quiet.

I’m sure that’s a dig at the infamous panda reliability![emoji12]

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by reflectionsv37

Make it simple for yourself. Have a metal rack built and install it on the stern pulpit. Have a cover made so you can protect it from the elements. The wind will keep the CO2 away and keep it cool. I did this 6 years ago. The Honda generators have a fuel pump so you can connect a external tank using a readily available replacement cap for the fuel tank.

I easily run an 8000BTU AC unit and, despite what others say, regularly run it overnight without problem. Do plan to anchor as far away from other boats as reasonably possible so you don't bother other boats.

I've included a couple photos of my installation. Your way may work, but it's complicated and may get you named in a premature obituary column!

I personally disapprove of hanging heavy items over the side on railings, particularly over the stern where it affects the pitching moment and stability of the boat, to say nothing of the Beverly Hillbilly look.

[Acadia]

I have done this for many year with probably 1000 hours on the Honda running this way. Honda makes a box with this concept over in Japan for the 2200 but it’s not available to the North American Market. I thought if Honda makes these for their own generators it must work. Yes it does and very well.

The actual Honda box is made of metal, heavy and probably wouldn’t last in the Marine environment not to mention it costs as much as the Generator. The way it works is you need to capture the exhaust and cooling air at the back and redirect it. All of the cooling flow for the unit exits at the back around the muffler. The Honda Box uses a drawer with the Generator that pushes against a rubber seal. I made a fiberglass plenum with a 4” port to attach a high heat silicone pipe. The Key to this design is to center and aim the exhaust in the middle of the pipe. This helps with the Venturi effect in drawing out the cooling air. I would keep the 4” pipe to less than 6 feet because the longer you go the more resistance you introduce.

The box I hade is just aluminum with a hinged top. There is a baffled air inlet at the bottom that I had originally mounted computer fans. Took them out because they are not needed. The cooling fan from the Honda is able to draw the air through the vent and push it all out the pipe.

The Generator runs almost just as cool as on the deck. Having said that I don’t run it at full capacity for long. With this setup you can direct the exhaust where you want and it’s so quiet that you can barely hear it. Like A64 pilot I do have a nextgen generator on board but will often use the Honda because it sits under my sons bed. My preference is to run it in the Tender or slung on the davits.

The second part of the equation is the air conditioner I use. I don’t need an external tank for the Honda as it will run the air all night long in the Florida heat on eco throttle to 4 cabins on my catamaran. It’s a modern Variable speed 16k unit. No start load and I can even run it off my inverter. There is a guy that runs 2 x 16k btu on his honda 2200.

If your AC is still in decent shape I’d go with the microAir digital soft start.

If you need a new AC then check these out. (Video of the dual 16k on Honda is on there)

https://www.gulfnautical.com/velair
This post is long enough as it is but if you want more info on the build or AC let me know.

Now my kids are pulling my arms away to go jumping off the boat with them !!

Cheers

[Sailing August]

$800 is too much for a containment for a portable generator. For that price you could buy a spare (Generac) generator.

[Franziska]

And costs about 8x as much and weighs about 3x as much....

Originally Posted by christine47

A small Panda gen would be better.

[Bertinc]

When I was cruising in a Aux/sailboat that did not have a transon platform I put the Honda generator in the dinghy while at anchor. To be sound considerate I also would stay as far as possible from others anchored. I never felt that the generator would be stolen but I did have the dink cabled and locked to slow a thief down a bit.