Max inverter/charger load for Honda 2000

KodiakJack · October 18, 2015

I seem to recall a post (somewhere cannot find it) that said that their Honda 2000 generator would not allow their inverter/charger to charge at its max rate without tripping off so they programed in a lower charge rate. Sound familiar? My Honda would handle our old 80 amp converter just fine if there wasnt too much other demand (forget it with the microwave) but now I am wondering if it will handle the 100 amp max output of my new Magnum inverter/charger? Love to hear your thoughts on this.

Later,

J

Devilishjim · October 18, 2015

Not sure if it helps but my Honda 2000s put out 13.2 Amps each, anything over that and the breaker trips.

Rif · October 18, 2015

Most likely it will not. I usually set my Magnum to use no more than 10 amps for charging. If I set it to 15 there is not enough power if I am running anything else, like TV's etc. It will depend somewhat on how deeply the batteries are discharged, what the bulk charge voltage is set to, what other 120V loads you have, and what altitude you are at. All you can do it try it and see what happens.

Randyretired · October 18, 2015

Altitude makes a big difference. At or near sea level our Yamaha 3000 can handle a 100 amp charge and more but at 10,000+ feet not so much. On average the output drops about 3% per thousand feet of elevation.

oldjohnt · October 18, 2015

Jack, excellent question, you ask for thoughts, here are mine

The thing is you can do the easy math which gives you the pure theoretical answer to what your genset can deliver HOWEVER its been my experience that's NOT necessarily the case. Without getting into Efficiency, heat losses, Power Factor and Watts versus Volt Amps, a 2000 Watt genset could be capable at 120 volts (at unity power factor into a resistive load) to deliver 2000/120 = 16.66 amps HOWEVER if you consider heat losses and any 80% max continuous ampacity rules and inefficiency and protection parameters, you can see where you may end up with the 13 amps Jim mentioned. 13 amps at 120 volts = 1560 Watts

Similar on your charger, if it can deliver 100 charging amps at say lets just use 14 volts bulk charge rate, that's 1400 watts (at 14.4 volts = 1440 ). HOWEVER due to heat losses and inefficiency the chargers required INPUT is higher then 1400 watts, lets just use say 1500 for a round number (depends on chargers efficiency of course) .

So you get the picture, your charger could draw 1500 watts while the gensets output may be (it depends on several factors) near that same number. Also an inductive load has a lousy Power Factor which makes matters worse and a pure resistive load at unity power 1 power factor is NOT the situation we have here.

Before anyone has a calf, remember actual charging voltage and efficiency and power factor and heat losses all contribute to the correct answer SO YOU CANT TAKE MY ROUGH GUESSES AND APPROXIMATIONS TO THE BANK.

Absent all the actual specs and loads and design and efficiency and loads and power factor MY ANSWER HAS TO BE TRY IT AND SEE.

THAT BEING SAID, IM AFRAID IT MAY BE CLOSE (I wouldn't bet much lol) IF A 2000 WATT GENSET IS SUPPLYING A 100 AMP CHARGER

John T Long retired and rust electrical engineer SO NO WARRANTY

RBH · October 18, 2015

Tried to run an IOTA 90a converter/charger with my Yamaha 2400w generator and it wouldn't do it. Went to a Xantrex 2000w inverter with a 100a charger and it runs it with ease. Power Factor correction seems to be the difference. Check the input amps on the charger vs the output of the generator and remember that a 2000w generator is really only 1600w running. The other 400w being for short time or surge starting of electric motors.

Rich

hemsteadc · October 19, 2015

It's really going to get noisy and rough on the 2k trying to run it full out near 13.2a (its max output as printed on the outlet panel). You should comfortably stick to around 9 or 10amps maximum, which is around 1100 watts.

Chad Heiser · October 19, 2015

I set my Magnum to either 5 or 10 amps of available AC power when I am running off my Honda EU2000 generator. I use 10 amps to get the most charge I can without tripping the breaker on the generator and 5 amps when I know I will be running other things (like TV's, DVD player, etc) to leave a little head room on the generator output. If I set the Magnum to anything higher than 10 amps, it is pretty much guaranteed to trip the breaker on the generator. My charge output from the Magnum is still much higher than 10 amps because it is taking 10 amps of available AC and converting it to X amps (usually 10 times the AC amps, but not exactly due to losses) of DC to charge the batteries. Theoretically you could still get 100 amps of DC charge from a 10 amp AC source, but in the real world it won't happen because of the inherent losses when converting from AC to DC and heat loss and line loss and etc.

KodiakJack · October 19, 2015

Took me a while to find where I could limit the AC amps on the remote's menu but I did. It will be quite simple in the field to adjust down to the recommended 5 or 10 amps to keep my Honda from tripping.

Thanks all, appreciate the great information.

Later,

J

G&K · October 19, 2015

I think the Magnum operates a little differently as long as you power your ENTIRE house load through it.

If you are plugged into a 15 amp circuit, set the magnum to 15 amps shore power.

Then turn on a high load like a microwave. You will see charge current drop back to almost nothing. Turn off the microwave, charge current ramps back up.

Set your Magnum to the total size of your shore power capacity. In the case of the Honda, 10 amps. Let the Magnum handle charger load shedding for you as required.

It works great.

Geo

Bill B · October 20, 2015

John T - 2000 max peak load - steady state 13.2 A as the others have said (advertising thing). Geo is also right about the "load sharing" portion of the Magnums - pretty cool until you exceed the genny capability and it shuts down.