Using a Honda petrol generator offshore

[anusha]

I will be doing the AZAB next year - around 10 days each leg. With only a small solar panel, and not wishing to run the engine for long periods, I am thinking of buying a Honda EU10i (or similar) petrol generator to charge the batteries to allow use of Autohelm etc. Does anybody have any experience of this ?

Would a 1KW generator be sufficent ? Would ven a 750 W generator do the job ? - there are some good smaler, cheaper ones on the market.

There are obvious issues around carrying petrol, but I do that when cruising anyway for my outboard.

 

[mjcoon]

There are obvious issues around carrying petrol, but I do that when cruising anyway for my outboard.

But at least the outboard exhaust fumes are dissipated behind the tender. Where will they go from the generator?

Mike.

 

[chrisb]

My experience of the Azores trip is not to expect too much from the solar.
You need to know the size of your battery and the daily energy requirement to run all anticipated equipment .
Most of us singlehanders go for sustainable energy ie wind/ water generation but this is expensive. Using a petrol genset via a battery charger you may be charging for several hours a day which is awkward if the set is balanced in the cockpit.
Remember to minimize use by fitting LED bulbs and consider non powered self steering

 

[GHA]

I've used one well offshore sitting in the cockpit running the 20a mains charger, handy to have onboard. Let's you charge the laptop at the same time.

 

[chinita]

I used a Honda EU10i for three years in the Med on a HR36. Particularly useful if night sailing, I had the charge cable directly connected to the shore power socket with the generator at the aft end of the cockpit.

If I was doing it again I would stump up the extra for an EU20i for flexibility.

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

Get the EU20i if you can ... bit heavier but much more grunt ... keep it on the after deck if you've got one so that the exhaust goes overboard. Don't be persuaded that cheaper generators are just as good ... they aren't!

 

[chrisb]

Just to add that I' ve sailed This passage 5 times always in June/July and on none of the passages have the conditions been suitable for using a free standing genset in the cockpit

 

[lustyd]

I used a Honda EU10i for three years in the Med on a HR36. Particularly useful if night sailing, I had the charge cable directly connected to the shore power socket with the generator at the aft end of the cockpit.

If I was doing it again I would stump up the extra for an EU20i for flexibility.

What did you do about an Earth? Or does the HR36 have something built in to prevent killing the crew if something goes wrong?

 

[BarryH]

What did you do about an Earth? Or does the HR36 have something built in to prevent killing the crew if something goes wrong?

Most gensets will have an earth stud. Threaded stud that you can connect a decent size cable to. Connect somethibg to this and bung the end over the side., Much the same as lightening protection.....

 

[GHA]

What did you do about an Earth? Or does the HR36 have something built in to prevent killing the crew if something goes wrong?

Rcd

 

[chinita]

Rcd

Thanks, beat me to it.

 

[LadyInBed]

What size and type of boat?
What is the battery capacity?
It is very difficult to advise without knowing the above.
If the boat is less than 10mtrs, I would say that a 2kva is a bit big both in weight and fuel consumption.
The Honda EU10 is a good unit and quit economical, remember that you are going to have to carry sufficient petrol for your needs and that is more weight and bulk to store.
An EU20 takes a fair bit of effort to hump around.

 

[Laundryman]

Most gensets will have an earth stud. Threaded stud that you can connect a decent size cable to. Connect somethibg to this and bung the end over the side., Much the same as lightening protection.....[/QUOTE

There have been many questions regarding this and I've yet to hear an easy to understand definitive answer. For what it's worth I tend to agree with your approach but I know there are many more qualified people out there who will advise to the contrary. If I'm alive after trying it, I'll let you know. If you don't hear from me, well.............

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Have you considered upgrading alternators and fitting a modern alternator to battery charger, perhaps you would not need to upgrade the alternator, just fit the charger. This may be more economic in the long term if petrol consumption is figured into the equation? For example http://www.sterling-power.com/products-altbatt.htm

 

[Angele]

I'm always interested in ways of topping up batteries. If not connected to shorepower, my only means of doing so is to run the engine for an hour or so.

When there was a lengthy thread on the efficiency of solar panels I did the sums to work out how the capital cost could be expressed as a price per Ah, based on the occasional use I would put it to and I was totally shocked how expensive it would be for me. Probably not so bad for liveaboards in the Med, but for me it would be shockingly poor value.

So, I was just about to embark on the same calculation for the EU20i, but then I noticed something odd. It is rated at 1000W max, but evidently best economy at 1/4 load (i.e. 250W = 20ish Amps). But, it is only supplied with an 8Amp 12V DC output for battery charging. What happens to the other 12A? Is it really only intended to be used for running some power hungry device and battery charging is only ever meant to be a secondary activity?

 

[[2574]]

The EU20i is rated at 1600W, 2000W max, see here: http://www.honda.co.uk/energy/generators/EU20I/specifications/

I have an EU10i which I plug in to the shorepower inlet on my boat and then use the boat battery charger to charge the batteries. I can restrict the shorepower draw of the charger to no more than 3.5A @ 240v which gives me about 50A in to the batteries at 12v. The maths is 3.5Ax240v=840w then 840w/13.7v=61A max charging. I've never seen more than 50A going in to the batteries though.

 

[Laundryman]

It will run your mains battery charger and that will be much more efficient than the 12v output of the genny.

 

[Angele]

It will run your mains battery charger and that will be much more efficient than the 12v output of the genny.

Aha! Lightbulb moment.

Bizarrely, there is no mention of a 240V output on the Honda spec sheet, but there is something that looks suspiciously like a 240v domestic socket.

 

[FulmarJeddo]

It will run your mains battery charger and that will be much more efficient than the 12v output of the genny.

Are you sure? the EU20i and EU10i are inverter generators. Which I understand the AC alternater output is converted to DC, then put through an inverter to clean and stabalise it at 230v. You are then suggesting it then goes through a battery charger to drop it back to DC to charge the battery. I can't see this being more efficient than using the DC output of the generator. You do have to turn the Eco switch off, on the generator so it runs faster all the time when charging, but the EU20i will charge up to 8 Amps. I'm not sure what output the EU10i has at 12V. Another consideration is the noise. The EU20i is a lot noisier than EU10i.

 

[Laundryman]

I dont think you will find many people using the 12v output for charging when they have 240v chargers on board capable of delivering far more amps. It doesn't make sense.
If you want to charge from 12v, you start the engine. It still makes a noise no matter which you use!