[T2] Run engine on idle to charge batteries

[jon]

Looks like John's dad knows his noise. 
http://www.tappedin.com/hop/html/litegen.htm  For those that don't want 
to read the details the EU1000/2000/EM/EX650 have essentially the same 
specs at similar power output.  Nitpickers can read up and quibble.
I won't pass on the next clean EM/EX series unit I see at garage sale 
prices.  The EU 1000 is quite a bit lighter and, being plastic cased, 
doesn't rust as obviously.  Both good attributes for field gear in my 
environment.
jon

On 10/2/2013 11:52 AM, John Anderson wrote:
> I do trust Jon's opinions and all, but I actually called and chatted 
> to dad.  He has two now, an EM500 and an EX650.  Both still run as 
> fine and quiet (with no real maintenance) as they always have, and 
> both are mid-late 80s vintage.  I know we ran those suckers at night 
> in scouting after the younger kids had gone to sleep and you could 
> barely hear them.  They start in a pull or two, and as I recall them 
> (and he says it is still true) run quieter than either my EU1000i or 
> my Chinese Kipor knockoff (McCulloch branded) 2kW, even though their 
> mufflers are near 30 years old.   He changes the oil irregularly, and 
> probably uses them every 4-5 years.  He does run them dry when done 
> with ethanol gas now days.  Certainly for clean waveform 110V, they 
> aren't perhaps up to the task, but he actually prefers the EX650 for 
> his ham equipment because he went through a lot of effort when new 
> removing a bit of paint under all the screws both sides and putting 
> some NO-OXID between each steel panel on the case on it and it ended 
> up better shielded than his EU2000i that he bought to replace them with.
> So I guess you never know sound wise, probably depends on the muffler 
> state.  I will say, his buddy had one that got dropped a couple times 
> and although the motor noise was OK, the steel case buzzed louder than 
> the motor at times, and he could never get it not to do so.  There is 
> an EX1000 on CL up here now for a massive $150, beat to hell, but 
> reported to run well, but they end up pretty much the size of the 
> inverters, just in a steel case instead of plastic.  The only issue 
> I've ever read about any of these is losing the field magnetism and 
> can't for some reason be re-flashed successfully, though I don't know 
> why that would be.
> I'd like to find one of the little ones for recharging, I mean running 
> 30-80 cc's seems a lot smarter to me than spinning a 67hp motor to run 
> a couple hp to the alternator.  Those tiny ones are just so damn 
> compact, and so damn cute.  Even the original E300's are a choice 
> but are getting quite collectible now, to sit by your mid 60's 
> Airstream at shows I guess, and command $300+ even in beat up 
> condition if they run.
> John
>
> *From:* jon <scintilla_22 at yahoo.com>
> *To:* type2 at type2.com
> *Sent:* Wednesday, October 2, 2013 11:06 AM
> *Subject:* Re: [T2] Run engine on idle to charge batteries
>
> JohnA et.al.,
>     We had an early 350 watt Honda generator in the late 80's at one of
> the PWS field camps.  It ran for ~ 8 hours on one tank every Friday to
> charge our battery bank while we were in town. it was quite practical
> for that purpose _provided you weren't in it's vicinity_. For sure the
> background noise level in Olsen Bay was as low as it gets, short of a
> cave, but that thing, all 35cc or so of mighty Honda tech,  was
> definitely not quiet by EU genny standards.  I also doubt you could
> find a 30+ year old Honda that was working worth anything.  We have a
> couple in our warehouse, but they are just taking up space. Haven't been
> used in >10 years. We _never_ take anything but an EU series to the
> field any more, there is no comparison in reliability, fuel efficiency,
> or noise level. In an alternate life I am around thousands of generators
> in the desert every Labor Day weekend.  Amongst many other things, that
> event has engendered a rapid evolution in power generation
> systems-solar, wind, and fossil fuel. You will get some pretty harsh
> vibes if you run a construction type genset in the camping areas. Folks
> would instantly loan you enough extensions to tap into their EU just to
> shut it off.  Yamaha makes an equivalent series, and there is an
> authorized, Chimp knock-off of the EU 1000 that has a good rep with the
> RV crowd (who are very frugal, and harsh in their reviews if things
> don't last).  As an aside, the inverter parts last much longer than the
> motors (which last a very long time) in the Hondas.  How come no one has
> come up with a replacement motor for them?  We have not been able to
> find anyone who will rebuild the motors either.