Master thread for disasters and generators.

[snakebite]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

i would go honda.
btw forget about buying one in the dayton/cincinnati oh area as everyone went nuts buying them up .was even sombody buying out local stores and scalping!
definately something to buy well in advance of disaster!

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

Thanks for the responses, folks. Hope to hear some more.

I already have a 3kw diesel genny, two EU2000i's and a smear of power inverters. The two new Hondas(or whatever else) will be for use on my work trucks, mostly to run work lights away from the truck. I've decided to buy local; I'm in Oregon and I very much doubt any purchase I make will affect anything that happens down south. If it turns out that my purchase will deprive someone in a hurricane ravaged area of a generator then I'll gladly wait.

Might have to build my own small diesel genny one of these days when I get bored enough.

:buddies:

 

[turbodog]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

Well, I'll chime in since I've bought 3 of the yamaha units and 4 of the honda ones.

honda:
1. cooling air (read: hot) exits through louvered back end. useful for heating water and drying clothes.
2. recoil started is inside unit. I hate to think what a rope replacement entails.
3. 1600w rated, 2000 surge
4. fuel shutoff integrated with electrical shutoff
5. 1 gal tank. You can add an extended run setup that will suction from a 5/10/etc gal tank. no fuel gauge.
6. running noise is more of a hummmmmmm sound.
7. easy to change oil, just tip it over.


yamaha:
1. cooling air exit in several directions. unable to be harnessed easily.
2. typical outside-accessible rope
3. 2500w rated, 2800 surge (efg2800 series)
4. separate fuel shutoff. possible to turn it off and let the carb run dry
5. 3 gal tank with gauge. no such extended run setup easily available w/o cutting the fuel lines.
6. while a touch noisier than the honda (and vastly quieter that traditional gensets), running noise is more staccato/pop pop pop.
7. oil change requires wrench and spillage.

In short...

Both are extremely strong offerings that will run critical items in a normal house. The yamaha's got a little more power, but it's also noisier and a touch heavier. Both handle sudden surges very well.

I use the honda. The stream of usable hot air pouring out the back is very useful for my purposes. It's VERY nice to find your wet shoes completely dry after just an hour. The hum it puts out is practically soothing, making it easy to sleep at night with it going.

I haven't made a measured analysis, but the honda appears better on fuel for the same load.

I question why you are buying 2 more of what you already have. I've seen eu2000s with over 5000 hours on them. (no, that's not a typo) If I had only eu2000 models my next purchase would be something DIFFERENT.

 

[DieselDave]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

turbodog has to be the gen. guru of CPF so what he says is pretty much the low down on gens.

I have the twin EU2000's and couldn't be happier. I mean that, I might find something I like just as well but not better. I have a an old Coleman 4000, use it as a loaner. I have a Generac 6500 elec. start, can't afford the gas and couldn't get enough gas if I really needed it and a 1/2 interest in a 6000 diesel, trying to sell it.

If I had to give one example of what pushed me over the edge to "couldn't be happier" it was when I was running a conversion van all day with the 24" TV turned on and DVD playing in repeat. I hooked up the EU2000 and it's trickle battery charger to the batt. of the van and let it run 12+ hours. When I shut it off there was still a little fuel in it. 12 hours=1gallon of fuel in eco mode. When I started the van the engine turned over just as strongly as it should. I had been very happy with the 6 hour runtime with a heavy load but 12 hours blew me a away. I haven't tried it but I think you could run a small TV, 2 fans and a light and get 12 hours per gallon, amazing.

 

[lightplay22]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

After Ike cut our power (in east texas), the eu2000 provided for our needs very well. It ran the fridge, small chest freezer, fans, modem, router, laptop, cordless phone/answering machine,bathroom lights during the day for 12 to 14 hours per tank. By unpluging the fridge & freezer we could use the micro-vent hood to warm up food etc. It was nice to have the vent hood on for cooking on the (gas) stove top also. At night we ran a 5000btu window A/c along with 3 different fans and a few night lights scattered throughout the house. I would fill the honda about 10:30 pm and the gen was good untill 8:00 or so the next morning. I ordered my second eu2000 monday after the storm from Wise equipment for($884.00) delivered and it showed up wednesday, double boxed. I would not be hesitant about the yamaha at all if the power/portability ect. was in accordance to my needs as Yamaha makes fine dependable products. My wife now has greater appreciation for my flashaholism and the tiny quiet generators.

 

[turbodog]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

After Ike cut our power (in east texas), the eu2000 provided for our needs very well. It ran the fridge, small chest freezer, fans, modem, router, laptop, cordless phone/answering machine,bathroom lights during the day for 12 to 14 hours per tank. By unpluging the fridge & freezer we could use the micro-vent hood to warm up food etc. It was nice to have the vent hood on for cooking on the (gas) stove top also. At night we ran a 5000btu window A/c along with 3 different fans and a few night lights scattered throughout the house. I would fill the honda about 10:30 pm and the gen was good untill 8:00 or so the next morning. I ordered my second eu2000 monday after the storm from Wise equipment for($884.00) delivered and it showed up wednesday, double boxed. I would not be hesitant about the yamaha at all if the power/portability ect. was in accordance to my needs as Yamaha makes fine dependable products. My wife now has greater appreciation for my flashaholism and the tiny quiet generators.

Now you just need one of these so it'll run for days. Just drop the hose off into a larger tank.

 

[lightplay22]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

Surely got plans in the works to connect them both to a larger tank. Really thankful that not much rain came to us with Ike, or refueling would have been a very wet undertaking. Its good to note the the honda has an actual fuel pump that will draw fuel from an unpressurized container. I don't know if yamaha uses the same set up or not. This, i suppose, could be an important matter for some.

 

[Darkpower]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

I found this on hooking up two EU2000i to a single external tank. Something that I wanted to do.

http://members.cox.net/ccandies/Hondas.htm

 

[turbodog]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

I found this on hooking up two EU2000i to a single external tank. Something that I wanted to do.

http://members.cox.net/ccandies/Hondas.htm

That's the same thing I built above with one important difference. If EITHER cap fails to have an airtight seal, both units will cease to draw fuel from the external tank. And so, you also can't use it with just a single unit either.

 

[tarponbill]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

I recommended a Honda 2000i to a relative in Houston --- He bought on day two of Ike outage --- After nine days without power, he said it ran fine, sipped fuel. He ran his fridge and a large fan the whole time. Said it was miserable, but the genset worked great.

We bought a Honda some time back for hurricane duty -- Still runs and works fine. I usually just buy Honda, it's the most reliable for me.

 

[alank2]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

Hi,

Me likey the Honda and Yamaha gensets. Really, I love them all. You can't go wrong with an inverter based gen. I started with a pair of Honda EU2000's and I liked them more as a single unit than I did a pair because my pair would not share the load evenly. One of them had a slightly higher voltage output and would carry 65% of the load leaving the other at 35%. I hear most of them play nice together though.

I ended up returning them both for a single Yamaha 3000 which is heavy, but the weight isn't an issue for my uses.

The EF2400iS also has twinning capability, and 400 more watts of power (3.33A @ 120).

If I were buying to twin, I'd probably try two EF2400iS Yamaha's. If I were buying a single smaller gen, I'd probably go with the Honda.

Good luck,

Alan

 

[Darkpower]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

That's the same thing I built above with one important difference. If EITHER cap fails to have an airtight seal, both units will cease to draw fuel from the external tank. And so, you also can't use it with just a single unit either.

I'm sure one or both legs of the tubes can be fitted with an inline shut-off petcock ball-valve.

 

[turbodog]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

That's not the point.

 

[Darkpower]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

That's not the point.

Well then what is the point?

That dual-feed system is designed to keep two EU2000i's fed like lightplay22 suggested. If either side develops a leak you'll be able to see the air in the tubes... presumbably before the tanks runs dry and the engine sputters. Secondly to use it on one side, its a simple matter of pinching off the other side or using an inline cuttoff valve. Not a major draw back.

I've got the twins and I got 12 hours run time on one tank of about a gallon running just a single solitary EU2000i running two portable Waeco freezer/refridgerators. Frankly. I rarely leave a generator running for more than 3 to 4 hours without checking up on them.

 

[turbodog]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

The point is that it's twice as likely to fail, and only half as useful as 2 separate setups could be.

Independent setups allow the generators to be split up if needed. You could put on on each side of the house. You could loan one out.

With the 2into1 setup, you've already bought the expensive part, the gas cap. Just hang a filter and hose off it from there. If you've bought a pair of ~$1000 (each) generators surely there's no appreciable cost savings.

Also, when used, the tubes fill with gas. Unscrewing them becomes an art since there's no swivel on any of these setups. A single feed setup allows the tube to easily rotate as the cap is unscrewed. Then, as air enters the system, you can let the tube drain into the genset tank and aux tank so you stay clean and don't spill gas. I am speaking from experience.

Matter of fact.... to screw or unscrew both generators you'd have to hold the hose and rotate the generator underneath it to avoid kinking/twisting your hose(s).

 

[Darkpower]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

The point is that it's twice as likely to fail, and only half as useful as 2 separate setups could be.

Independent setups allow the generators to be split up if needed. You could put on on each side of the house. You could loan one out.

With the 2into1 setup, you've already bought the expensive part, the gas cap. Just hang a filter and hose off it from there. If you've bought a pair of ~$1000 (each) generators surely there's no appreciable cost savings.

Also, when used, the tubes fill with gas. Unscrewing them becomes an art since there's no swivel on any of these setups. A single feed setup allows the tube to easily rotate as the cap is unscrewed. Then, as air enters the system, you can let the tube drain into the genset tank and aux tank so you stay clean and don't spill gas. I am speaking from experience.

Matter of fact.... to screw or unscrew both generators you'd have to hold the hose and rotate the generator underneath it to avoid kinking/twisting your hose(s).

Separate set up's... Okay that makes sense.

On the screwing the cap on, how about detaching first and inserting the tube and clamping it after the cap is screwed on the genie's fuel tank?

The thing about the EU2000i is that the inverter technology produces a very efficient fuel consumption that is almost linear with the load. So the idea of running the generator twins 24 hours for days on end without refueling is very appealing when you can load anywhere from 100 watts to 3200 watts on them and use just the right amount of fuel.

Like I said in my post above, my first mistake many years ago was to buy a large 6.5 kVA generator which gobbles up 2/3 of a gallon per hour whether it was loaded with a 100 watts or 3250 watts simply because its such a large engine, twin cylinder water cooled and and it needs to turn 3600 rpms in order to supply any load at 60 cycles per second. It makes little change to the fuel consumed whether its a half load or no load.

 

[lightplay22]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

Lots of good ideas going on here! One thing I will need to address on my extended run setup will be keeping water out of the aux tank as I don't have a carport or garage. During the Ike outage, the honda was one the north side of the house protected by the roof overhang.(Yea, I know it wasn't 15' from house) It got wet from wind blown rain coming mostly from the south, but it did not get soaked or rained on directly. Read somewhere else that heavy rain has no effect on the honda, but I don't want to test it with mine, but I would need a water tight setup for the extended fuel supply.

 

[turbodog]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

Lots of good ideas going on here! One thing I will need to address on my extended run setup will be keeping water out of the aux tank as I don't have a carport or garage. During the Ike outage, the honda was one the north side of the house protected by the roof overhang.(Yea, I know it wasn't 15' from house) It got wet from wind blown rain coming mostly from the south, but it did not get soaked or rained on directly. Read somewhere else that heavy rain has no effect on the honda, but I don't want to test it with mine, but I would need a water tight setup for the extended fuel supply.

I've ran mine several times in rain, light and moderate. It's not run during a downpour though. So far, no problems.

Take my hose setup and lengthen the hose. Insert hose into 5 gal tank. Place one of those cheap large plastic boxes (from wal-mart) upside down over the box. Put cinderblock on box.

As far as that goes, you could take a similar box, cut a huge hole in each end, and place it over the genset.

 

[lightplay22]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

The plastic box/cinder block idea is a great idea! Very functional, economical, and easy to store when not in use. Gas caps, hose, inline filters, plastic boxes, and tach/hour meters, man this generator thing is almost as bad, HaHa, as the flashlight thing. If 123 cells were 10 for a dollar and gas was $0.25 per gallon man the fun we could have!!

 

[Darkpower]

Re: Honda EU2000i vs. Yamaha EF2400iS

I often thought of making a more permanent housing outside with a slab that can be locked, similar to those beige metal fixed generator set housings that are permanently mounted outside, simply because of the problem of theft, especially during a prolonged black-out. During the outage with Wilma and Katrina, my biggest fear was that a thief would get my generator (the big ol' Honda ES6500) and just wheel it away since it has a wheel set. I lost all my fencing during the storms and my generators were difficult to hide from a passing car. I had it chained and locked but that is no deterrent. I had created a 'hide' with broken fence and debris in order to hide it.

They were stealing city own generators that were chained to traffic light poles. The city had bought hundreds to keep traffic going and a gang of thieves with bolt cutters made off with dozens.