Honda EU20i Questions & Answers (page 3 of 5)

Hi Kenny,

I had a similar thing happen to mine, motor ran just fine but no power generation, my circuit board had failed $1400 to replace it.

Honda however are very good if it's within the warranty period, normally four years but sometimes you can get an additional tewelve months from the place of purchase bringing the warranty period up to five years.

How long have you had the generator? Sorry I couldn't be more help, sometimes life just sucks.

It could not handle it. It could power 2000 watts reliably, after that it would putter-out.

No way. 2kw is the limit.

3.1kw is the refrigeration output NOT the power consumption, two TOTALLY different things. The EU20i has a rated continuous output of 1600watt and peak of 2000watt surge. It will run your ac in the cooler weather but will struggle to start your ac in the warmer weather when you need it.

No easy answer. I would have it serviced. If not fuel then probably the governing mechanism I guess.

It's a bit of a puzzle. Sorry to ask this but have you got the choke lever all the way off?

Another long shot: After only 5 times used, I don't think so but this could be possible with a previous run on dirty fuel - have you pulled the spark plug and checked that it is reasonably clean and gapped(0.6-0.7mm)? If it has got black carbon all over it, then this could be your problem. Either replace it if you have a spare plug or clean it up with WD40, scrape it out with a small screwdriver or similar and re-gap it if you can(not that important - the gap should be okay) and see if that improves things.

Hi there.
Thanks Aldeberan.

I guess it could be the fuel.

Yes choke is sorted.

Spark plug beautiful.

If I undo the screw at bottom of carby should petrol continuously run out.

If so it only releases a few drops then stops.

Standard unleaded petrol. In Australia this has an octane rating of 91. There is no benefit in these motors in running 95 or 98 octane, but at the same time it will not do them any harm if that's what you have available. DON'T USE E10 - that stuff is garbage in your car but even worse for small engines like generators and lawnmowers, and I believe you will void your warranty if E10 is used in your Honda generator.

Look at the part number on the old inverter or the serial number of your generator and order the correct one!

On second thoughts, the price for the 15 amp inverter p/n 31310Z07C85 here in Australia is a truly frightening AUD$1,334.45! I would spend a little more money, look around for the specials and buy a new generator.

The UK EU20i inverter, p/n 31310Z07C66 is no better priced at £1092.95.

Yes it it one of the reasons I bought it as well. I happily run NBN, TV computers, lights etc with no problems. Also it is light and easily portable.

I have a eu2000 generator, it has been serviced at regular periods, the motor run perfectly but it does not generate any power. I will take it to our Honda dealer tomorrow and find out what the problem is. I suspect that the circuit board has given up the ghost. They are very expensive to fix so I will probably buy a new one. Then I will have a motor that is running perfectly. Maybe you would be interested Daryl

I had my eu20i check out and it was the inverter. Too expensive to fix so I bought a new eu22i. Do you still have your old generator, if so could you contact me Thanks Daryl

The local garage told me that they are shipped with special oil. I ran mine under load only because I needed it. I am not sure what's best. What does the manual say?

Called Honda, didn't think they get back to me on a w/end. I started it without a load for a while then put a small load on a few times ( electric jug ). By that time Honda got back to me and told me I did the right thing, Sorry it took so long to get back to whoever needs this info. Started a trip on the 13th Feb and haven't needed the genny yet. Cheers.

Call The Generator Place in Brisbane. They are very good.

This depends on the load and the length and quality of 15 amp cable you are using.

If I am using anywhere around the 1600 watts maximum continuous rating, I would expect a drop to around 226-228 volts output. I asked someone at Generator Place about this once and they said anything within a 10% drop in volts was acceptable and expected. I was also told to keep the cable as short as possible - just 5 metres if you can do it and, of course, use only good quality 15 amp-rated cable.

You will find a light load will produce close to 240 volts, but the more power you use, the more voltage drop you will get. You will also find that the voltage drop will be higher with the auto-throttle on than at the higher engine revs with it off. I have never ever had any reading lower than 225 volts continuous.

So, if your generator is operating around the parameters as above, don't worry. If you are getting much worse than this, you are either overloading it or something needs to be adjusted or fixed.

Have you put enough petrol in it? Are you putting too much of a heavy load drain on it? e.g. way over 2000 watts?

If it's not overloaded coz u r putting too many appliances on it then is the seal on the fuel cap closed? I suspect maybe something is coming on line that is overloading it.

Next time this happens, try to be at the generator and see which warning lights come on, because they won't stay on for long.
1. As Aldeberan said, check that the lever on top of the fuel cap is in the "On" position - very important.
2. A new, tight engine? My generator took a while for everything to loosen up and it would overload very easily in the beginning.
3. If the oil light is on, check the level. On a level surface, the oil should be sitting on all the threads of the filler, not just up to the bottom of the neck.

Also, the oil level switch may be fitted incorrectly(seated at the wrong angle) in the crankcase and be tripping early. I had a gradually worsening oil leak and the oil switch was found to be the cause when it was disassembled. Good luck with getting this fixed under warranty!

Not mentioned in manual or support material so I would say definitely no. Not designed for it.

No. Product Review says this is an excessive use of capital letters! So, I will try in lower case: no!

Manual talks about using fuel stabiliser for long storage. Talk to the Generator Place.

you dont need to run it every so often to keep it ok the main thing todo is drain all fuel from the carby bowl and fuel tank to stop the fuel going stale and blocking passages is the carby. i would recommend still changing the engine oil every year even if not used, always use fresh fuel!

A work-around solution is to always use Premium 98 octane fuel, which won't go off as quickly as regular unleaded, or worse still, E10.

I don't know but I would call "the Generator Place" and have a look at the manual. Cheers

Run the fridge on the 240 but charge your battery via a smart 240 v charger. The 12 v outlet is unregulated and offhand I think it is only good for 8 amp the smart charger will monitor the charging rate and do the job both safer and far faster.

I read the manual... unclear as to details as per my question above. The EU201 is supposed to have an internal sinewave inverter to enable charging deep cycle batteries via the 12v and 240v connections. What is a smart-charger and how is it different to a sinewave inverter?

Unable to answer. We carry both the generator and fuel containers in separate bays that are sealed of from the inside of our motorhome.

I think u drain the fuel from the tank and then drain the carburettor. Not sure if there is a tap.

Thanks for your replies. The Yamaha has a fuel valve (tap) and you turn it off and let the genny run till it stops to remove fuel from the carby and that way it can travel in the car and not give off fumes and I wondered if the honda EU20i had this facility.

Most unlikely

Almost certainly not. You add up the power (in watts) of each device you want to run and that must be less than the Generator will produce. Talk to an electrician and have a look at the net.

I agree, unlikely. You have provided no information about the input wattages of these appliances, normally on the door or the back of the unit, and this makes it very hard to answer your question. I have no experience with or knowledge of freezers. I think two fridges would be okay at about 200watts each continuous running with 4 or more times this required for the restart of the compressor as the fridges cycle and provided you are prepared to carefully monitor the generator or at least be in earshot of it. You will hear the fridge motors cycling on and off by the change in engine revs of the generator.

Run the fridges on maximum cold to avoid frequent cycling. If the two fridges cycle their compressors back on simultaneously or within a few seconds of each other, I would not be surprised if the generator goes into overload and shuts off power. If you are within earshot, you will hear this. Turn both fridges off, restart the generator, then with the auto-throttle off, start one fridge, then once its motor has started, start the second one. Once the second one's motor has started, turn the autothrottle back on and relax!

Of course, the fuel consumption will be high and you will probably not do better than 7 hours per tank. You will have to shut everything down and then restart as per the previous paragraph for the refuel anyway. Hint: It is much easier to restart the EU20i, if you don't let it run completely out of fuel.

Not a chance in hell. You would need seven linked together as each eu20i can only manage 2kw.

You would need a generator of 8kw

Apologies that should have read 0.74 kw or 0.92 kw, might make more sense now.

Hi Stevo

Having an air conditioner for a building is quite a different kettle of fish than the type of air conditioners that are fitted to motorhomes and caravans. Space, noise level and weight come into the equation plus these units a quite sophisticated and very expensive compared to a small domestic unit.
I would doubt if the eu20i would be adequate. I imagine that you you really would need something with at least 3 kva plus.
My experience and friends is not to waste Money on the cheap clones but buy a proven brand like a Honda or a Yamaha.
Spend your money once, spend it wisely. You will pay more but you will not regret it. A good brand has an excellent resale value whereas the cheapies are just scrap metal and nobody will buy them.

Cheers Jonathan Garrett

Thanks Jonathan and some good advice there. Much appreciated.

Hi Stevo,

It should. We have a caravan permanently parked in a bush setting and fitted a small box Kelvinator air-conditioner(output 2400 watts cooling) in the side wall about six years ago. It pulls about 700 watts on start-up and 800+ when cycling on and off.

The Eu20i copes fairly well with the occasional overload needing a restart of the generator. After the standard 3-minute wait, re-start the air-conditioner as well. Always start the air-con with the eco-throttle off then turn it on after. Also run the air-con at its coldest setting to avoid it recycling the compressor on and off. A nice fresh new spark plug will avoid frequent overload stoppages.

I cannot run any other heavy load appliance at the same time of course. If I want to use the microwave, I turn the air-con off. You can run the fridge with the air-con on but try to run the fridge as cold as possible as well to avoid the compressor recycling. Sometimes the Eu20i copes with the fridge compressor restart and sometimes it doesn't and goes into overload. With your air-con on continuously, your fuel tank endurance will drop to 6-7 hours.

Our Eu20i could not cope with the air-con on reverse cycle(heating) at all. Buy a cooling-only air-con. For Winter, just buy a small fan heater from Bunnings or BigW and run it only on the first(1000 watt) setting, not the full 2000 watts.

Hope this helps,

Possum

Hi Wayne

We have run two different microwaves at various times with our eu201 without any problems.
They were already installed in our motorhomes one was in a Jayco Conquest and currently the Daewoo DC that we have in our Auto Trail.
The only thing to be wary of is to ensure that only one high draw appliance is used at a time e.g. hotplate, HWS, Microwave, Hair dryer etc
smaller items like hand held food blender we use our small inverter 300w surge 600w
I used to have massive 3000w Battery charger combo in my yacht to use with power tools but now only have s small pure Sine wave inverter that hardly gets used.
For my Apple Macs I use a very small inline 12v charger that I picked up on eBay beats using even a small Inverter.

Hope that this helps Wayne.

Cheers John

The manual says to use low octane.
I have no idea what would happen if you used the higher octane fuel, suspect that it would just be a waste of money.
Hope that answers your question

25 five years of gen sets and have only ever stuck to standard fuel.

Thank you.

fuel can go off, have you tried emptying out the old fuel & adding new fuel?

You must also make sure the generator is sitting on a firm 'level' surface. If it isn't level it won't start.

Hi I heard many years ago from a friend that he got a cheap generator with a problem that you might have. When a four stroke motor is stopped and one of the valves are lifted, which will happen and if it is left standing for some time like that. The valve can stick open and you have no compression. To check this remove the spark plug and shine a torch in and try to see the exhaust and inlet valve. Pull your starter cord at the same time and see if they are moving if not then one is stuck. I have never looked at a Honda but most small four stroke engines have a plate on the side of the cylinder that can be removed and you can access the bottom of the valve. Pull the starter cord so that there is clearance between the valve pusher and the bottom of the valve. With a screwdriver try pushing the bottom of the valve back down and it should go after you reassemble. Cheers Sandy P.S. I believe my friend removed the head and pushed the valve down with his finger but I would say that would be overkill.