Honda EU2000i Usage - Extreme

[edatlanta]

Where I am hosting and working this summer there is a guy that has a snack boat out at a barrier island. He has cold drinks, snacks, and ice cream. There is zero electricity out at the island and also no electricity where he keeps the boat at night so......He has a Honda EU2000i that he uses to keep his residential size freezer working. This generator runs continuously and only stops when it runs out of gas and only then long enough for him to refuel it. When he docks for the night he fills the generator with fuel and goes home which is approx 6:00pm each evening. It is usually still running at 7:30am the next morning, but runs out of fuel by 8:00am. It literally runs 23+ hours/day. So far this summer it has been running for the past 6 weeks and he plans to use it all summer or until it dies completely when he will get another one. He does change the oil pretty regularly since it is operating almost 700 hours/month.

I'll try to keep this thread updated as the summer progresses, but so far it is working good for him.

[33 RLDS]

My Yamaha 2400iSHC probably has not seen 23 hours in the 3 years I had it. Lol..

[clutch]

My parents had a Honda 650 watt generator and it ran about 10 hours a day for over 10 years. The governor finally wore out and they replaced it with another small Honda. They are tough. We have a Honda 650 watt that is now 21 years old and still starts on the second pull.

[mcfarmall]

Impressive to say the least!

[NevadaCamper]

I have been told that I should plug the cord from the trailer directly to the generator without using an extention cord. I have a HondaEU2000i and I would have to use an adapter to bring it down to a standard 3 prong plug.

[RVhiker]

There's no reason not to use an appropriately rated extension cord with a generator. A 14 gauge extension cord is rated for 13 to 15 amps depending on length, so it can handle all the amps your Honda can produce. There would be some voltage drop, but probably not enough to matter.

About adapters, my observation is that the small round cheap 15 amp to 30 amp adapters are usually junk - they get hot due to poor connections. I've found this adapter to be good, and some of the dogbone type adapters look good, too.

[clutch]

I keep a couple of cheap 15-30 adapters on my river lot for loaners. I have good ones for personal use.

[Bassdogs]

This guy should contact Honda and ask them to sponsor him. Pretty impressive endorsement for them. My usage of the 2000 is pretty minimal, but am always impressed how it will start on the first or 2nd pull even after sitting idle for weeks.

[edatlanta]

Update 8-24-2014:

The generator died yesterday. It will not start at all. It has been running for the past 3,000 hours at 23+ hours/day. It has been maintained per manufacturer recommendations during this period and is currently at the selling dealer. They have not found the problem yet, but it is still under warranty. I will update the end result as it is reported to me by the owner.

[UPCamper]

These things are bulletproof. There are 5 gal external fuel tanks for these things. Just throwing it out there in case he didn't know. They are on ebay. Keep us posted.

[edatlanta]

He knows, but doesn't want one. I don't know why, I sure would.

[teevman]

Originally Posted by edatlanta

Update 8-24-2014:

The generator died yesterday. It will not start at all. It has been running for the past 3,000 hours at 23+ hours/day. It has been maintained per manufacturer recommendations during this period and is currently at the selling dealer. They have not found the problem yet, but it is still under warranty. I will update the end result as it is reported to me by the owner.

He should have been using synthetic!

[Ustabslim]

New honda gen sets come with 3 year warranty. No matter how many hours.

[edatlanta]

Warranty is going to cover it according to the owner, but he was told Honda's warranty does not cover carburetors, but that doesn't appear to be his problem.

I will report back as soon as I hear the results. The dealer will be looking at the generator this week.

[canuckowner]

3 year warranty? wow that's impressive.

[RedHorse1]

The first part of this thread made me smile. 23-ish hrs a day, every day! That's brutal.
Then, it dies a couple of months later!
But wait, it's covered!
You just can't make this stuff up.

[Ustabslim]

99.99999 percent of all users will prolly have less than 100 hours after three years.

[33 RLDS]

I don't think my Yamaha has 10 hrs in 2 years + I have had it.

[jimp]

Impressive for sure. What size tank is on the unit that allows it run for ~23hr on a tank?

[edatlanta]

He fills is when it runs out during the day and then leaves it full about 6:00pm for an all night run to empty. He is back early early in the morning to refill and start another day.

No word yet on what is wrong with it. He has another one that he is using while the dead one is in the shop.