Yamaha 2400 Watts Generator

[bandit1]

I'm in the process of getting myself one of those portable inverter generators IE Honda, Yamaha seems to be the way to go. My question is about size. I have a 38' sail and I'm considering getting Yamaha's 2400 watt generator. Would this be too big for my boat? Is the 2000 watt good enough or do you wish you had more power? Thanks.

[mtboat]

I have found that the 250 dollar generator that is usually made in Mexico, can be found at any auto parts store. I have had one for years with little maintainence. 1800 watts 2000 watts surge, also has a inverter AND 12 volt plug with battery clamps. It runs 9 hrs on a 1.3 gallon tank. Actually fairly quiet. Charges two batteries from half to "full" in four hours.

[night0wl]

We have a 12000 BTW Cruise Air system in our Beneteau 343. Our little Honda EU2000 is able to start the condenser and keep it running...it drops out of ecothrottle mode and runs full on, but its able to keep up with it.

I'd imagine in a 38' vessel, you'd have a 16,000 BTU system as the 12,000 BTU is weak for our boat and struggles in the summer heat without extra fans. So, the extra wattage may be good for you.

When we evaluated, you could get the Honda online for $850 if you haggled, shipped to your door. The Yamaha was newer and wasn't being discounted...so for the price of 1 Yamaha, I was looking at getting almost 2 of the Hondas!! So, what we did was get a single Honda, but bought the extended range tank that holds an extra 10 gallons of fuel...mostly for times of hurricanes at home.

The only thing that worries me about these mini-gensets is that *THEY RUN HOT* We usually kept ours on the stern swim platform in calm waters and often times, I find that the surrounding gelcoat heats up uncomfortably even wiht the exhaust pointed AWAY from the boat.

Also, Carbon Monoxide (CO) scares me to death. I've never been able to sleep with the Honda on at night, just because I'm worried about fumes and such stovepiping. Some I've heard keep the generator on a halyard and lash it about 10 feet above the deck...seems great idea until it rains at night! I think my next project wlll be fabricate an enclosure with a blower/muffler on the EU2000.great little machine though.

[DulceSuerna]

One tiny bit of advice if you get the Honda 2000 get the Companion model. Instead of two small 110 plugs it has one small plug and a large 30 amp plug. Same total watt ouput but much higher startup load capability then the standard EU2000. Well worth the exta 100+$ We have used ours between our boat and property and have over 200 hours on her. We change the oil with synthetic about every 20 hours wich takes about 2 minutes , no problems at all . Not sure about the honda Night0wl uses but ours runs cool, even beneath it, the Exhaust is so cool you can put your hand on it. She has run our battery chargers, AC and coffee pot all at once. The hot water heater puts a bit of a load though on her. The fuel onsumption is great 10 hours w just ac, about 8 -9 with more running, and its a clean sine wave good for computers etc.