Honda 2000W Gen Set

[Ron Hill]

Incase you missed it  and are interested, "Northern Tool + Equipment" has the Honda 2000W on sale for $899.99.
My flyer also has a $20 off coupon with any $100 purchase!!

[mark_53]

Incase you missed it  and are interested, "Northern Tool + Equipment" has the Honda 2000W on sale for $899.99.
My flyer also has a $20 off coupon with any $100 purchase!!

Honda has a great reputation but does anyone have an opinion on the HF 2000 Watt super quiet inverter generator? At $429, HF spec sheet compares favorable but of course right.  It's 2db louder and the engine is 18cc smaller but it holds .25 gallon more fuel than the Honda.

[lazybone]

I limit my purchases from HF to lumps of metal with with less than two moving parts.  I like their hammers.

My Honda 2000 always starts no matter how much I ignore its maintenance.

[Ron Hill]

The Honda engine is great and very relivable.

I limit my Harbor Freight buys to tools that I plan on using only once or maybe twice!!  They have a quality problem!!

My thought

[KWKloeber]

Incase you missed it  and are interested, "Northern Tool + Equipment" has the Honda 2000W on sale for $899.99.
My flyer also has a $20 off coupon with any $100 purchase!!

Honda has a great reputation but does anyone have an opinion on the HF 2000 Watt super quiet inverter generator? At $429, HF spec sheet compares favorable but of course right.  It's 2db louder and the engine is 18cc smaller but it holds .25 gallon more fuel than the Honda.

Sometimes great stuff from Hammer Fright, sometimes fails.  If it's complicated or has moving parts, get the extended warranty.  Anything with bearings, wheels, casters, or any other rolling type part be sure to try it in the store,  Three hand trucks or moving dollies side by side - one will run off to the left, one to the right, one straight.  If there's a fourth it may not have wheels on it.

k

[britinusa]

Our Honda 2000i Generator is a trooper! Love it!

Paul

[Jim Hardesty]

Thanks for letting us know about the sale Ron.  I've not felt the need for a generator, but next season the plan is to cruise the North Channel of Lake Huron.  A generator would be nice.  But still not sure if it's worth the loss of storage and extra gasoline storage.  So I have a few questions that haven't been answered in my search of the site.

Will the Honda 2000 fit in the cockpit locker of a MKll?  The 1000?  Other storage/running options for a MKll?

Will the Honda 1000 run the micowave?

Has anyone used the propane option?  If so what is the fuel usage?

Any information on using a Honda generator especially on a MKll.

I know that some or all of this has been addressed before.  But before buying something that would, for me, be more trouble than it's worth I wanted to ask more direct questions.
Thanks,
Jim

[mainesail]

does anyone have an opinion on the HF 2000 Watt super quiet inverter generator? At $429, HF spec sheet compares favorable but of course right.  It's 2db louder and the engine is 18cc smaller but it holds .25 gallon more fuel than the Honda.

Don't focus on the specs or price and do your homework figuring out where you will get it serviced and repaired and where you can find parts for it first. The total cost of the unit can only be determined by its reliability and ability to be repaired. Hell just last weekend we had a $23.00 air hose from HFT cost us $92.00 in real/total cost!!!

Our neighbor up at our ski place bought a HFT generator last fall. The first storm it ran fine, I was actually a bit surprised, but it was noticeably louder, or put more aptly, made a LOT more irritating tone, than our Honda EU2K that we keep up there. His generator shed is about 300' away, though thick woods, and we could hear his generator over ours very easily. At first I was feeling a bit like we overpaid for the Honda. We loose power at the mountain quite a bit, as our place is pretty remote. When we lose power it sometimes is a day to two before we get it back. On four occasions, last winter alone, we lost power for more than 8 hours at a stretch.

In late Jan, during a big storm, our neighbor came knocking. His HFT generator was dead. He'd used it four times for a total of about 25 hours. We only use the Honda to power the fridge and LED lighting so I lent him 150' of 10GA extension cord and he added about 200' of his own and he had power for his fridge too. Both of us can or do heat with wood so the load on our generators is pretty minimal.

The last time I spoke with him he had spent months trying to find a place to repair his HFT generator.

-Tried HFT support line, and the store manager, and they were of zero help, also would not take it back. Said HFT actually lists engine parts but can't get them or does not actually stock them.

-Did research and discovered it was a Honda knock off engine so called every Honda parts and equipment dealer only to be told "we can't repair that". Finally one dealer explained to him that they are not allowed to work on any Chonda engines or they risk losing their Honda dealer status. Can't blame Honda for being upset that the Chinese have copied and stolen their designs..

-Tried every small engine shop he could find. No one said they could get parts nor were any of them willing to even work on it (without even looking at it they told him flat out no). They only guy who was willing said he could take a look at the carb but if any gaskets failed while opening it he was doubtful he could get a replacement.

-Finally found a shop in CT reportedly able to repair his HFT generator. Drove from Northern Maine to CT, dropped it off, drove home, drove back to CT to pick it up (that's a lot of gas $$$ in a Ford F-250) only to find out the part that broke was a valve spring. Repair guy could not get parts for the HFT/Predator engine so substituted a valve spring from another "Chonda" (Honda knock off) and called it good (Honda valve spring was a larger gauge). 

-Ran the generator for perhaps another 5 hours and it quit again.

In late September I noticed he had a new Generac..... For what he paid for the HFT, the trip to CT, all his time, and then the Generac purchase he could have simply bought a Honda in the first place and saved a few hundred. FWIW in the 15-16 or so years I've owned an EU2000 it has never needed a single repair. While it will not produce its rated 1600W, before over heating, it is close and depending upon outdoor temp it can do 1525W to about 1560W continuously. Not bad for an early model..

Last weekend my brother and I were up North trimming out the bunk house we built for the kids. I had grabbed an HFT air hose, for the camp, to keep costs down. How bad can an air hose be, right? Wrong! The POS air hose failed at the ferrule in the middle of the project.. Because of the remote location of the cabin, and lack of retail locations such as a Home Depot or ACE Harware etc., and our calendars and lack of time available to dedicate for work weekends, the least expensive air hose we could find, a Bostich. It was $69.00!!!!! If we add the cost of the replacement hose bought under duress to the HFT we get $69.00 + $23.00 = $92.00 actual air hose cost. Stung again by HFT! D'oh......

This "cost saving" $23.00 Harbor Freight air hose was used two times before it failed at the paper thin ferrule. Not such a cost savings....

[scgunner]

     Jim,

       You can measure your locker and check the dimensions on the Honda web site, but I don't think either the 1000 or the 2000 will fit in that locker upright and I don't think you want to store either on it's side. When I'm on the moorings in Catalina I see a lot of Honda's little red generators, they're very popular, but mostly the owners take the generator up to the bow to run them.
       If you want a generator to run your micro check the spec plate on the micro it will tell you how many watts you need to run it which will tell you how big a generator you need.

[Mick Laver]

Jim,
The  2000i fits perfectly in the cockpit locker on a Mk II.

[Jack Hutteball]

Jim, I have a Honda 1000 that I use on our MK ll.  Does not take up that much space in the lazaret and it will power our microwave.  My only regret is that it will not power the water heater, so we use a solar water heater when we are on the hook.
Jack

[scgunner]

     Jack,

       When you say solar water heater, are you talking about a sun shower(the water bag w/ a hose and nozzle you lay on the deck to heat then hang to use)? If so you might want to consider a tankless water heater, it runs on CNG or propane and will give you all the hot water you want.

[bayates]

Jim,

I have my 2000 in a plastic bin in the port locker on my MKII. It fit perfect with adapters in same bin.  Still lots of extra space in the locker.

[Noah]

Brian- what do you use your generator for? Please don't say "for electricity".

[scgunner]

    Noah,

    What can't you use it for; hair dryer, curling iron, TV, power tools, and most important---charging your batteries. I've been thinking about adding a 2000 mainly as an alternate power source. But on the Mk I it'll probably have to go on the port side of the aft lazeret.