Automatic start and stop of Honda EU3000?

[phil]

Does anyone know if there is a way to rig a Honda EU3000 so it starts and stops as needed?

I'm thinking of putting a small chest freezer in my bus ... .

Just be sure to keep the generator _in_ your bus so the constant, uncontrolled stopping and starting doesn't annoy the crap out of everyone anywhere near you generator.

[Token]

I run the camper fridge, lighting, music etc. and an old 8 cu.ft. freezer with a single Honda EU1000. 24/7. The genny revs up now and again during compressor startup but otherwise the load is not that big.

For microwave and AC, I fire up two more EU2000 units into the circuit. My wife runs the AC ~ 5 hours each day plus the 24/7 on the small Honda.

We burn ~ 5 gallons per day.

Consdering that the remote start gizmos for the EU3K are ~ $400, might be worthwile to pick up a used EU1000 and just run it 24/7.

It's double worthwile if you can vent the fumes and noise at Phil's camp.

[Elliot]

Matter of fact, I own an EU 1000 also! Used it yesterday in a Christmas Parade. But the tank is so tiny, and the 3000 is actually quieter (according to Honda's numbers).

Sure, I could use Captain Goddammit's auxiliary tank system on a 1000.

But the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of super insulation and running the genny only a couple of short times each day.

This idea of moderating the cooling in a chest freezer with an external thermostat seems to be "making the rounds these days". It recently came up on the Skoolie bus conversion forum also.

And yes, Phil, I do know what you mean about generators starting in the middle of the night. I don't much care for it myself when a Thermo King lights off three feet from my head in a truck stop.

[Captain Goddammit]

I do exactly like Token, except I usually don't bother with the EU1000, I just run one of the 2000s full-time and fire up the second as needed for microwave or A/C.
Sensei camped right next to me on the outer ring once, and was about to pack up and move when he found out I had electric-only refrigeration that year and would be keeping the power on - until he found out he could barely tell I had it on, if at all.

I'd suggest connecting the 1000 and the 3000's 120VAC outputs in direct parallel (yes, you can connect the different size Honda EUs, I've done it many times and they play well together) if the 1000 will start the freezer, but I doubt it will,, especially at the almost mile-high playa altitude.
If the little one will start the freezer you could just leave it on.

If you want run time from an extra gas tank, you can do my external gas tank trick, except rather than using a 5-gallon boat tank at Burning Man I just plumb all my generators into a 50-gallon truck fuel tank and never worry about gas supply! You could easily mount a '70s or '80s Chevy pickup frame-side-mount gas tank under your bus for that and POW! No more gas cans!

OK edit after thinking twice: The no-moving-parts external fuel trick doesn't work well when the fuel supply is below the generator... but if you're gonna put the genny down on the ground you'd be OK. Hell, I'd go ahead and mount a gas tank for the genny even if you are gonna make an auto-start setup.

[Elliot]

Thanks, Captain!
Extra saddle tanks I already have available. Could put one on the trailer, a bit high. I always have the genny on the trailer anyway.
So many possibilities!

There SHALL be ice cream on Burn Night.

[Token]

Just a reminder that it is very hard to add insulation to a chest freezer.

The outside walls of a chest freezer are the radiator coils that carry the hot refrigerant after it is compressed. The inside walls where you put your food are the expansion coils (evaporator?).

The only place you can just add insulation are the bottom and lid.

To add insulation all around you would have to disassemble the whole thing and either add more insulation into the wall making it thicker (if mechanically possible), or replace existing insulation with same thickness of better insulation.

[Elliot]

Ahhh.... Token, this is critical information! Thank you!

[stack]

I paid $229 for mine, and then returned it because I thought it was too loud for our camp.

Had I paid $89 I would have kept it for sure....nice find.

[Captain Goddammit]

The subject comes up often, but it's almost time to hit it again: Never buy those cheap generators that look about the same as the Yamaha and Honda "super-quiet" models when they're sitting there silently on the shelf!
For less than the price of a 2000-watt Honda or Yamaha, you can buy a 5 or 6 thousand watt unit, or a similar 1 or 2 thousand watt portable for a lot less, but they're no bargain. They all produce exactly ZERO watts of usable power because you and your neighbors can't stand to turn them on!

Even the other non "super quiet" EU-series Hondas are fucking loud. I brought a regular EM-series Honda to Burning Man one year and it was instant complaints anytime I turned it on. I sold it immediately when I got home.

Yeah the quiet ones cost a bit, but the cheap ones are a total waste of money! I can't really afford the good ones either, but there's really no choice. The less $$ you have, the less you can afford to waste it buying shit that doesn't do what you need it to do and then having to buy better stuff anyway.

I can't remember all the different generators I've owned, 650 watt to 12k watt. All but the quiet ones are gone now!

[ygmir]

I bought a cute little 1KW from Cabelas on sale last year......super small, super quiet. it was 120 bucks.......
not good for much but small stuff, but, it'll run a drill, blender, or stereo.......

I got an old propane powered 3KW RV genny, "Kohler", built a "quiet box"
and, bring it......it's big and heavy, but, runs at 1800 rpm, no stinky exhaust, and, has a built in squirrel cage cooling fan.....so, I seal the box, cut "cooling windows" put filters on the outside and vent the cooling fan straight up, and, plumbed the exhaust into the cooling airstream after the unit.
It pulls "fresh" outside air in through A/C filters, and pushes it up and out.....quiet and non stinky.......

Just a thought, for, those with the room.

[rodiponer]

Just to be contrary, for the last burn I bought two 135 watt Kyocera solar panels for the same price as an EU1000 generator. The prices for panels have come down a lot recently-- these were $420/each. I paid nearly that much for 60 watt panels way back in 1999.

This is way more than enough electricity to run the the cheap, small, and inefficient DC fridge in my pop top van RV. Even with the toddlers constantly opening the fridge to pull out chocolate milk, the battery was fully charged every day by about 11 am.

This isn't enough electricity to run an AC. But if that's OK, take a quick look at how much of a solar system you can buy once you add up the generator, auxiliary fuel tank, and etc. For me it came out to be the same price, so I chose the panels because they bolt onto the roof (and so don't take up space inside our little van), and just work without needing attention or setup.