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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
To follow up on my own story, my replacement unit is doing OK. I've put about 40 hours on it so far and it's doing still running but the wandering idle issue is still irritating. If anything the new unit is worse then the old one, even with a light load on the generator the throttle wanders all over the place.
Last weekend I resorted to running with the choke half on - this would settle down the wandering throttle, but in turn caused the unit to consume noticeably more fuel.
My jury is still out on whether or not this will be a long term generator for me. At this point I'd not recommend it to anyone based on my initial failure and questionable replacement.
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PrivatePilot
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10/24/09 08:59pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
any suggestions (from anyone) on where to buy a low profile hour meter to add on that isn't over expensive?
Not sure where you are located, but in Canada Princess Auto carries them. If you're in the US, I'd check out a local farm supply or farm equipment dealer as they often have them.
Of course, there's also eBay. I'm sure there's tons of them there.
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PrivatePilot
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10/09/09 04:45pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Thats exactly what one of mine was doing right out the hole.
Assuming you didn't have warranty to cover the issue, what was the resolution?
If mine hadn't stalled the second I covered the hole (leading me to believe that the issue was more then having a hole where there shouldn't be one) I would have been tempted to just put a self tapping screw in the hole to stop the leak, but considering it was less then 6 hours "old" at that point on the first run none the less, it irked me.
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PrivatePilot
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10/01/09 06:09am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Here's a pic of the location of the fuel leak - the red arrow points the hole where fuel is exiting the carb. You can see where it's run down the carb and onto the primer button and fuel lines below.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2563/3968810019_213b105791.jpg
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PrivatePilot
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09/30/09 11:19am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Well, news update with good and bad news.
Good news is that the warranty service center called and said my Honeywell 2000 was ready for pickup.
Better news was that Honeywell provided a brand new unit as a replacement. Apparently the inverter unit was the problem on my old one and replacement was cheaper then repair.
So, I got it home, fueled and oiled it up, and then got the bad news.
First, I noticed metal shavings on the oil drain plug. Not a huge quantity, probably leftovers from machining, but one must wonder how many shavings are actually in the crankcase.
Second, I thought that I'd remove the spark arrestor before ever having started the generator (and it would be presuambly easy to remove) to investigate the possibility of adding an "after muffler" to quiet the unit more. I quickly discovered that one screw was cross threaded from the factory and I was going to strip the head off of it if I continued to try to remove it.
And last but not least, after startup I was dissapointed to not only discover that the brand new unit has the "wandering idle at zero load" issue (albeit a bit less dramatic) that my original unit had, but was leaving a puddle of fuel underneath itself.
I removed the rear access panel and discovered fuel leaking out of a hole at the top of the carberator. I'm confident that this is the exact same issue that someone was inquiring about earlier in this thread. Looking at things it almost looks like the carb was machined incorrectly or something is missing. Placing my finger over the hole immediately stalled the generator and it acted as if it was flooded afterwards and wouldn't restart.
I gave up at that point, put the panel back on, and it's going back to the warranty depot again today.
Clearly there is some quality control issues on these units.
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PrivatePilot
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09/30/09 10:42am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
1.) Has anyone figured out how to attach an external fuel tank? Did you do it with a tapped gas cap or a splitter/valve switch on the fuel line?
The former was suggested to me when I brought it up earlier, but the latter would seem to be the easier so long as a primer bulb was inline to the "T" joint to make sure all air is out of the line.
2.) Anyone attached an hour meter to it? (so you can keep track of useage?)
Simple, just wire it into any +12V grounded source, a convenient source of which is on the 12V charging port.
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PrivatePilot
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09/26/09 05:16pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
The gen has compression, good spark, the bowl is full of gas but wont start no matter how many times you pull it.
This is the same thing that happened to mine when it died - I pulled for 20 minutes (thinking the fuel lines had ran dry and wouldn't prime thanks to the laughably bad priming system on it) and then I discovered that it was actually the controller board that had went dumb and it had reduced the throttle to below idle.
I manually advanced the throttle and it started right up, but of course, had no output and zero control over itself at that point.
Try manually advancing the throttle and see if perhaps you have the same issue?
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PrivatePilot
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09/26/09 02:46pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Dropped it off at the service center this morning. Will report back what the results are.
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PrivatePilot
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09/24/09 06:01pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Is that pinging noise odd sounding? Sort of like someone tapping on a odd sounding bell continuously? If so I think I might have the same sound.
Yep, I'd say that describes it. I've ruled out a loose screw or nut rattling around inside the unit as it's simply been through too much "rocking and rolling" while traveling for anything like that to be still making noise. I suspect something inside the recoil, personally.
I'm taking mine to the service depot tomorrow to get it looked at for the no-output issue. If the jingling noise gets resolved at the same time I'll consider it a bonus.
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PrivatePilot
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09/23/09 08:30pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Well, things were going good with our i2000 until this evening. It had been running for about 8 hours and suddenly quit. I assumed it had run out of fuel as I wasn't paying much attention to it and expected it to quit around the 8-10 hour mark anyways.
I checked the gas level when I finally did get around to (trying to) restart it and although it was low, the tank wasn't "dry". I just assumed that because it might not have been sitting perfectly level the draw line might have sucked air.
I filled it up and proceeded to start it. I figured the lines were dry so I primed the bejesus out of it and choked it but it refused to start. Eventually it started to lope a bit like it was trying to start but it wouldn't catch and actually take off.
Eventually I pulled the plug thinking I had perhaps flooded it at that point, but it was still dry.
Replaced plug, pulled off rear panel and checked carb to see if there was fuel at the bowl. Sure enough all looked good, but more pulling yielded the same results.
So, on a whim I manually moved the throttle servo while my BIL was pulling on the cord and it started to show more signs of life, eventually starting up.
However, something seems awry - the throttle control servo just kept slowly ramping the engine up to wide open, and the "Output" light never came on signifying the generator was making power. I played with the throttle manually trying to see if I could get it to settle down and initialize, but eventually it just stopped responding at all.
Now it's all back together but the throttle control is doing nothing (it's barely above idle at it's current setting) and it's making no power.
Thankfully my brother in law has a nice Kipor that we plugged into for the evening to top up the house batteries as it's going to be near freezing tonight and we're relying on the furnace..and no gennies allowed overnight here where we're boondocking.
Guess I get to see how the Honeywell service experience goes for me.
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PrivatePilot
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09/19/09 08:36pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Does anyone else have a metallic rattling noise (high pitched) coming from theirs?
Mine has had one since hour zero and I can't narrow down what's causing it. It's not even noticable from some angles but at other angles (facing the exhaust side) it's a slight "pinging" that can be maddening after a while.
Ours is outside puttering away as I type this - we're boondocking for the weekend. Still pleased overall (It's a heck of a lot quieter then my old Champion) but the pinging noise is getting to me.
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PrivatePilot
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09/18/09 08:01pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
you can try turning the plastic screw on the carb, in 'clockwise' a little bit 1/2 to 1 turn.
Will this richen or lean the mixture?
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PrivatePilot
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09/08/09 06:47pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Does your Honeywell in eco mode run really smooth?
In eco mode, with zero load, mine does not idle smoothly - the governor seems to bounce the idle up and down, not finding a middle ground where it can settle down.
With a little bit of load, it settles into a smooth RPM range and stays there though.
I've considered calling Honeywell and seeing if there's anything I can do about this. It is a bit irritating when the genny is running under such light load (while in standby waiting for a load for example) and it's bouncing all over the place RPM wise.
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PrivatePilot
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09/07/09 08:52pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
I'm not sure those two pictures are corresponding - the top one (which was indeed the one I was thinking of) shows what appears to be a flat looking plate where the starter would bolt on with the bell housing behind it) but the bottom picture of the internals doesn't seem to show that same looking plate.
Could just be my perspective though.
Perhaps 83trekker (who posted the internals pics) could post some more photos of the starter mounting area? I think that there's lots of interest in this - I'm half tempted to take apart my own this week to look into the situation more.
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PrivatePilot
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09/06/09 07:21am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
I saw someone else's pictures of this genny (in this thread I believe) which showed both a spot for the starter *and* battery. I think that the logistics of setting it up could be minimal with a little electrical knowledge and, of course, the actual starter.
I could be wrong but I would think the biggest issue would be finding a starter that fits unless it's some sort of "standard" size or something - not sure. The battery compartment that I saw in the pics looks like it would fit one of the easy to find standard sized gelcell batteries.
I'd sure be interested to know - I'd have mine wired up with remote start/stop in a heartbeat if someone can source a compatible starter.
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PrivatePilot
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09/05/09 05:55pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Has anyone read or investigated whether two Honeywell 2000i generators can be synchronized to handle a larger load similar to the Honda??
Word is, no. There's no hardware in the unit to handle phase synchronization, therefore it's not possible.
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PrivatePilot
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08/19/09 08:15pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
PrivatePilot
Where did you buy your Honeywell, and for how much?
Thanks.
I actually bought it at a liquidation place that handles Costco returns - saved $100 off the price as a result. That said, Costco is the company that carries them in Canada.
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PrivatePilot
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08/02/09 06:16pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
I ran ours quite a lot over the last few days and was amazed by its fuel economy while in econo mode - it ran for 8-9 hours on 4 liters of gas. Stellar.
I was a bit irritated by a vibration in the rear access cover (where the choke lever is located) so I went to the dollar store and bought some foam tape which I lined the edge of the hatch panel (on the generator side) with and then replaced the hatch. It now fits much tighter and the tape provided just enough dampening to stop the vibration and resulting noise.
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PrivatePilot
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08/01/09 06:09pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Beginner mistakes made by a veteran.
I carry blocks that are long enough that even when we have to drive up on several of them I can still get my wheel chocks in place, then I figure which way the trailer will roll (if it decided to) based on the site, and chock only the relevant wheels, one on each side.
Always worked for me, never had any issues with my trailer moving, even on one particularly disastrous site at Yellowstone last summer.
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PrivatePilot
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07/29/09 08:32pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
For anyone interested we're into our second week of travel with the Honeywell.
So far, I'm quite pleased. Yes, it's no Honda, Yammy, or Kipor on the noise front, but the difference in price has paid for the fuel of our entire 3000 Kilometer (and counting) trip in the last several weeks.
Back to the noise issue, overall it's acceptable in many scenarios. Our typical use (due to the cool temps we've been having) has been to charge the house batteries while boondocking, charge the laptop, run the coffee maker, etc. It's handled it all in stride. Under light load it is quite quiet and you can angle the exhaust end (from which the most noise emanates, exhaust and genset) to help further minimize noise. On about 40' of cord, lightly loaded (some lights, electronics, converter on high rate charge) and with it pointed backwards behind our fiver we can't hear it with windows and the door open.
When loaded down (coffee maker, for example) and the genny comes out of econo mode and ramps up it's more noticeable, but still not bad.
It WILL run our 13.5 rooftop AC but with both it and the converter running it works it hard and under hard AC load (compressor loading up with high humidity/temps) it has overloaded the inverter and kicked the Honeywell into failsafe mode from which you must shut down and restart to avoid. I have our converter wired to a toggle switch which allows me to shut it off (without killing the rest of the circuit it shares which powers numerous receptacles in the trailer) and this solves the problem as the load shedded from the converter running on high-rate charge lowers the amp draw enough that the Honeywell handles the AC continuously without issue. Of course if the converter is not on high rate charge this is a non issue, but we have enough house battery reserve to simply forget about charging when boondocking with AC required so shutting it off isn't a biggie.
Overall, pleased so far. Less noise under heavy load would be nice but even the expensive gensets (including my BIL's 3000 Kipor) get noticably louder under heavy load so I don't feel overly bad.
What I love most (versus my old 3000W Champion which I've since sold) aside from the quieter operation is the fact that it's much more portable. It's still heavy but luggable, so the ability to position the generator on a long cord in the least-offensive position (versus the Champ which was a PITA to move around so just lived in my truck bed all the time) means that it's possible to "point the noise away" from an area.
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PrivatePilot
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07/23/09 10:11pm |
Tech Issues
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