The Realist: Unboxing the Honda EU2000i Generator

Today, I have another guest post from the Realist ....

Unboxing the Honda EU2000i Generator

by The Realist

The unboxed Honda EU2000i, with owners manual, warranty card, and accessories pamphlet.

For many years, I've lusted after a Honda generator. Whenever I've seen one in operation, it was just quietly purring away. A coincidence of some extra money and a good price at a local store was all I needed to pull the trigger and buy one.

Several models of Honda generators can be paired with another identical size Honda generator with a special cable set. It appears the primary purpose of pairing generators is to provide more current to power an RV. (The alternative would be a single larger and heavier generator.)

There are two variants of the EU2000i, the regular model and the "Companion" model. The Companion model has an outlet rated for 30 Amps for connecting to an RV, and it costs $100-150 more. I got the regular model.

The "2000" denotes the capability of the generator to handle a peak load of 2000 Watts for a brief period of time. It is rated for a 1330 Watt continuous load. The "i" indicates that this generator utilizes an inverter circuit to produce the 120 Volt 60 Hertz AC power. The generator has an "Eco-Throttle(tm)" system mode that allows the engine to run at a lower RPM (less noise, lower fuel consumption) if full power is not needed to supply the electrical load. (The Owner's Manual lists circumstances were the Eco-Throttle(tm) mode is not recommended.)

The Honda EU2000i comes in a double-thickness corrugated cardboard box with the owners manual, a warranty card (with instructions on how to register online), and a small pamphlet listing some extra accessories. Nothing else is in the box.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the 96 page Owner's Manual was produced for this specific model of generator. There was no skipping past material for other models, and no tables to decipher to determine what features, capabilities, or limits applied to this specific model. (The Companion model is only mentioned in the context of pairing generators.) The Owner's Manual describes how to perform regular maintenance on the generator: oil changes, cleaning/replacing the air filters, gaping/replacing the spark plug, and cleaning the spark arrester. The manual also describes how to prepare the generator for long-term storage, and recommends procedures for shorter periods of storage. And, the manual was only in English, so there was none of the garbage normally associated with multilingual instruction manuals.

Necessities to get the new generator running: gasoline can, motor oil, Sta-Bil fuel stabilizer, and long neck funnel.

The generator is shipped without oil. You must add oil before trying to start the generator. This is the first warning you see when you open the box, and there is also large yellow warning tag affixed to the starter pull cord.

At a bare minimum, before you can start the generator, you need to buy motor oil (SAE 10W-30), a gas can, and gasoline. I also got a long neck funnel to help with adding oil. The owner's manual also recommends getting Sta-Bil(R) fuel stabilizer, which I got.

While not necessary, I got a regular replacement spout for the gas can to replace the evil CARB compliant spout that would leak and cause gas to be spilled, that would slip and destroy the screen in the mouth of the generator's gas tank, and that would probably injure me in some unforeseen way. The replacement spouts are available on ebay.

Accessories I considered important: theft deterrent bracket to protect the handle, fitted dust cover, DC charging cable, and replacement gas can spout.

Other accessories I ordered were a theft deterrent bracket that goes over the handle (the generator's plastic handle can be easily cut), a fitted cover to keep dust off the generator while stored in the garage, and a DC charging cable that allows the generator to charge a 12 V battery. At this writing, I am still searching for a suitable locking system to secure the generator during periods of possible unattended operation. (Some people recommend chaining a dog to the generator to deter theft.)

Adding oil to the crankcase only took a few minutes. A screwdriver, or even a coin, is required to loosen the screw holding the side maintenance cover in place. The oil fill/drain port is a bit buried, like it usually is on most things with an internal combustion engine. Screwing and unscrewing the oil port cap/dipstick could be a bit annoying for someone with larger hands. The long neck funnel worked just fine for adding oil. It took about a third of a quart of oil.

The generator started after maybe a dozen fairly easy pulls. Remember, this was a new generator with a dry fuel system, so most of those pulls were sucking fuel into the fuel system.

I ran the generator for thirty minutes using 750/1500 Watt heat gun as a test load. Most of the time, I let the generator run with a 750 Watt load. Occasionally, I would increase the load to 1500 Watts to observe how the generator responded. When activated, the Eco-Throttle(tm) noticeably reduced the engine speed with the 750 Watt load, and the engine immediately increased RPM when I increased the load. I measured an output voltage of 125.8 Volts AC under load.

I did not try to measure fuel consumption during this short run, but Honda claims the generator will run for 4 hours at the rated load (1330 Watts) or 9.6 hours at one-fourth of the rated load on a tankful (0.95 gallons) of gasoline.

The generator was a little noisier than I remember Honda generators being. This discrepancy between what I remember and what I observed was that when I remember hearing Honda generators in the past, there were several other loud non-Honda generators nearby that sounded like loud lawn mower engines. I was running the generator in front of my garage, but behind one of my vehicles. The generator was scarcely noticeable at the end of my two-car-lengths drive way - the sound was masked by wind and other noises. If I run this generator in an emergency situation, I will most likely put it in my back yard to further mask its noise from the street.

I purchased this generator primarily for emergency use. Two-thousand Watt capacity seems to me to be the sweet spot for operating desirable electrical appliances (e.g. refrigerator, microwave oven, small air conditioner) while charging rechargeable devices. Larger generators consume more fuel, are less portable, and generally make more noise.

Other Options

I'm sure you are wanting to ask why I didn't get brand X or model Y generator. The easy answer is that I was relying on the long-term positive reputation of the small Honda generators, my personal experience with them, and what I saw in the local stores.

There are several other inverter type generators from a variety of manufacturers/importers on the market. They also all seem to be cheaper than the Honda. I didn't see them in any of the stores I regularly visit, so I didn't look at them.

There are cheaper generators, including a 1000 Watt unit frequently available on sale at Harbor Freight for $100. This Harbor Freight generator has a two-cycle engine, so it requires premixing oil with the gasoline. There are YouTube videos of this generator in operation - it runs at high RPMs and is very noisy like a chain saw.

There are many 5000 Watt generators available for $500-1000 from a variety of sources. A coworker has one of these generators, and he has related his experience with it over the course of several multi-day power outages at his home. The main points from various discussions with him is that it is noisy (he describes it as sounding like five lawn mowers), it consumes a lot of fuel, and it is heavy. These generators run at a fixed RPM to produce the 60 Hertz AC.

There are also may whole-house emergency generator options. They are beyond the scope of what I wanted.

Other articles from the Realist: "A Small Survival Library for a Get Home Bag"