Connecting Honda EU20i generator to shore power system

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picardy

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I have a portable Honda EU20i generator and am very conscious of the nuisance these generators can cause and have read helpful comments about their use on this forum.

However as I keep my yacht on a river mooring then for occasional use it could prove very helpful. My question is can I simply connect the short power plug into an adapter ending in a 13amp plus which goes straight into the generator?

If so do I need to be concerned about providing an earth?

Thanks in advance
 
I've got an EU20i generator too, and if you use it in whisper mode and put it in or with the exhaust pointing at some tall grass or weeds, then others wont even be able to hear it if they are 5+ metres away.

When i was moored in reading and living on my boat up there, i used the generator regularly and the chap on the boat right next to me didnt even realise i was using a generator until he saw my shore power lead going from my boat and followed it onto the bank and even when he saw the generator, he couldnt hear it till he was closer than 5 metres.

Having said that, if you run it on a concrete base near other solid structures, they can sound quite loud and be intrusive

As far as the earth issue goes, there is a screw to attach an earth pole to (you are supposed to drive a stake into the ground a couple of feet and then connect a wire to the pole to the earth point in the generators control panel, but i never did and am still here today !
 
That's what I do and it has not presented any problem. The vessel's shorepower connection panel sees correct polarity. So to all intents and purposes the Honda acts as a "virtual" shorepower.
I use 15 meters of cable between the Honda and the vessels shorepower input socket. That enables me to position the Honda anywhere on deck, in the tender or on the dockside. However, noise is not usually a problem, but we would always ensure that running the Honda would not inconvenience anyone in the immediate vicinity.
 
mikegunn said:
That's what I do and it has not presented any problem. The vessel's shorepower connection panel sees correct polarity. So to all intents and purposes the Honda acts as a "virtual" shorepower.
I use 15 meters of cable between the Honda and the vessels shorepower input socket. That enables me to position the Honda anywhere on deck, in the tender or on the dockside. However, noise is not usually a problem, but we would always ensure that running the Honda would not inconvenience anyone in the immediate vicinity.
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+1

One windy days, anyone upwind won't hear it even when running flat out on heavy load.
 
picardy said:
I have a portable Honda EU20i generator and am very conscious of the nuisance these generators can cause and have read helpful comments about their use on this forum.

However as I keep my yacht on a river mooring then for occasional use it could prove very helpful. My question is can I simply connect the short power plug into an adapter ending in a 13amp plus which goes straight into the generator?

If so do I need to be concerned about providing an earth?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
When I first used my Generator on board i got a polarity warning, I asked an electrical expert i know well and he suggested I connect the earth pole in the plug to the Negative pole on the plug, it has worked fine since I did this.
Mike
 
Pagetslady said:
When I first used my Generator on board i got a polarity warning, I asked an electrical expert i know well and he suggested I connect the earth pole in the plug to the Negative pole on the plug, it has worked fine since I did this.
Mike
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That may be all very well with a 3 pin UK plug (although I'm not convinced) but some generators like mine have a 2 pin European plug where there's a 50/50 chance of reversed polarity. It could thoroughly spoil someone's day if they found the live and ground bonded.
 
I think before I linked the "neutral" and earth conductors I would want to know a bit more about how the AC output of the Honda Generators are wired.

Its not clear (to me) from the wiring diagram in the manual but I think there is no connection to create a neutral. Perhaps because the generators have no fixed earth connection anyway.

I think I would not make a connection.
 
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For my Honda EU10i

I had to link the earth and neutral otherwise my RCD (after the shore mpower inlet) would trip. Generator has a 'floating earth'. I made this link in the 'adapter cable' between the generator output socket and the shore power inlet. I marked this cable 'for generator to shore power only' so that it didn't get used for anything else.
 
GrahamM376 said:
That may be all very well with a 3 pin UK plug (although I'm not convinced) but some generators like mine have a 2 pin European plug where there's a 50/50 chance of reversed polarity. It could thoroughly spoil someone's day if they found the live and ground bonded.
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AC reverses polarity all the time. You can't get 'reversed polarity' on a two-pin plug.
One of the poles has to be referenced to earth in order for problems to occur.
Normally, neutral is tied to earth somewhere back in the system, so the 'line' or 'live' side goes up and down by 240V in relation to ground.
With a genny ungrounded, the voltage won't hurt unless you connect to both the neutral and line at the same time. You're in the same position as a bird on a power wire, sit on one and you're allright.
Don't think Elfin Saphety likes all this floating stuff though. (not the boat -the leccy)
 
picardy said:
My question is can I simply connect the short power plug into an adapter ending in a 13amp plus which goes straight into the generator?
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I did for three years, cable was only about 2m as we ran the gene from the cockpit sole and the shore power socket was on the cockpit coaming; never any problem.
 
TotallyIncorrect and Dangerous and Potentially Shocking. The "live" side of ac does not reverse polarity all the time but oscillates sinusoidally between 240v and zero at 50 Hz
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Are you suggesting that relative to the neutral the voltage on the live rises and falls between zero and + 240 volts In other words is always positive and does not go negative.

:confused:
 
SHUG said:
TotallyIncorrect and Dangerous and Potentially Shocking. The "live" side of ac does not reverse polarity all the time but oscillates sinusoidally between 325v and zero at 50 Hz.
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Older generators use a centre tap earth. Not sure how the newer ones with electronic regulators do it!
The "neutral" side of the mains goes back to the generator or sub-station and thus to earth via a resistor. As a consequence the "neutral" side of the mains often has a few volts of ac on it.
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Where is this 'sub-station' on a generator?:confused:
 
TotallyIncorrect and Dangerous and Potentially Shocking. The "live" side of ac does not reverse polarity all the time but oscillates sinusoidally between 325v and zero at 50 Hz. This is equivalent in power to 230v dv and is the root mean square value which is usually quoted as the "supply voltage".
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OK you have altered the original post to read 325 volts instead of 240 volts but are you still suggesting that relative to the neutral the volts on the live conductor is fluctuating between zero and + 325 volts but does not go negative?

Still confused
 
I have deleted my original post as I don't want to get drawn in to a debate where electrical safety is an issue.
 
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SHUG said:
TotallyIncorrect and Dangerous and Potentially Shocking. The "live" side of ac does not reverse polarity all the time but oscillates sinusoidally between 325v and zero at 50 Hz. This is equivalent in power to 230v dv and is the root mean square value which is usually quoted as the "supply voltage".
The "neutral" side of the mains goes back to the generator or sub-station and thus to earth via a resistor. As a consequence the "neutral" side of the mains often has a few volts of ac on it. =quote]

The voltage on the line side of an AC supply "varies sinusiodally at a peak to peak or root mean square or whatever (see, I remember my 0.707 and all that stuff too)...." value in RELATION TO SOMETHING - in fact, it's the other end of the generator coil, which we have called neutral. The converse is also true depending on how it appears when you measure it, so in a two pin generator there really isn't a line and neutral until you tie one or other end to a REFERENCE -ie ground.
The poster was talking about a continental genny with a 2 pin plug - unless he chose to add a reference point (as I mentioned in the post) the AC will float and, -MY POINT --> there is no way he could have "reversed polarity"
I'm not making things dangerous - speak to the organisations involved in providing the continental generators, if you feel so incensed.
We don't tend to come across too many hot-chassis TVs nowadays...
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LadyInBed said:
part of Honda Diagram from owners manual
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Yes but what do you deduce about the earthing, or otherwise, of what is normally the neutral from that diagram?
Can you deduce that it is the equivalent of an earthed centre tap?
Or do you deduce that the system is floating with no earth bonding?
 
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