Have a question for the electrical gurus.

[Bobbo]

I have a Honda EU2000i generator, and am thinking of getting a Companion and paralleling them. I don't like the GROUND wire that is on the paralleling kit because it takes a screwdriver to attach. Is there a problem with buying a pair of male plugs and wiring only the GROUND pins together to plug into the 20 amp outlets on the generators? There would be no wires, whatsoever, connecting the other prongs between the two plugs.

(Although, I have to have a bonding plug because of my PI EMS-HW30C, so I will run that same ground wire to one of the NEUTRAL pins. That will make it a GROUND connector/bonding plug combo.)

[Bobbo]

robert_at_honda wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
Everything I have ever read says they must be the same model generator from the same manufacturer.

Not true...the Honda EU2000i, EU1000i, and variants (Camo, Companion, industrial EB2000i) are manufactured at a Honda-only plant in Thailand. The plant does NOT make any 'OEM' or other branded products.

- - -
I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
Robert@Honda

Ummmm, that's what I said. You can parallel a Honda to a Honda. You can parallel a Yamaha to a Yamaha. I went on to say that I THINK, but don't know for sure, that you need to parallel a 2000 watt to a 2000 watt or a 1000 watt to a 1000 watt, E.G. you can't mix generator sizes.

[wyocamper]

Maybe I'm missing something, but the OP didn't say "champion" he said "COMPANION". I had the same Honda EU2000i as the OP, and if you buy a second one just like it you can use a Honda COMPANION cable to connect them.

I don't know the answer as to whether connecting the ground on the 20A outlets would serve as companion ground, but I don't know why it wouldn't either. Ground is ground the world around, unless Honda for some reason isolated the Companion ground from the rest of the generator.

I was going to do the same with mine so I could run the 30A AC on my 5er, but I traded it to a buddy for an EU3000 instead. He bought a new toy hauler with a gen, and wanted the parallel EU2000's for his house.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

To answer the question of how the generators "could" synchronize, the logic board could start the unloaded beta generator out at a slightly higher speed. Voltage is compared. If there is potential between phases the logic circuit could wait until the differential disappears (in synch paralleled). Then it latches loads. By alternating sample inputs between alfa and beta, the twinned generators could micro see-saw their way in uniformity of sine wave and load sharing.

I am quite certain Honda's protocol is protected like the family jewels. Proprietary unmarked integrated circuits, the whole bit.

In 1977 a self synchronization system at the Washoe Medical Center in Reno NW went awry and cross paralleled a pair of V12 Caterpillar generators. The result was a hole in a concrete wall a railroad box car would have fit through.

[wnjj]

robert_at_honda wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
Everything I have ever read says they must be the same model generator from the same manufacturer.

Not true...the Honda EU2000i, EU1000i, and variants (Camo, Companion, industrial EB2000i) are manufactured at a Honda-only plant in Thailand. The plant does NOT make any 'OEM' or other branded products.

- - -
I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
Robert@Honda

Robert, I think you misunderstood the comment. He was saying generators must be the same mfg and model in order to parallel them, not that the Honda and Champion are the same manufacturer.

[robert_at_honda]

Bobbo wrote:
Everything I have ever read says they must be the same model generator from the same manufacturer.

Not true...the Honda EU2000i, EU1000i, and variants (Camo, Companion, industrial EB2000i) are manufactured at a Honda-only plant in Thailand. The plant does NOT make any 'OEM' or other branded products.

- - -
I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.
Robert@Honda

[Bobbo]

Everything I have ever read says they must be the same model generator from the same manufacturer. That being said, I have read some internet reports of paralleling generators of different output strengths, but they were at least of the same manufacturer.

[CJW8]

Can you parallel a Honda and a Champion?

[Bobbo]

bob213 wrote:
I made my own but not smart enough to do it like 2oldman did. I did replace the ground screw with a thumb screw to do away with the need for for a screwdriver.(not correct size shown)thumbscrew

MrWizard wrote:
might be easier
to buy a metric thumb screw to replace the ground screw

make it really easy to attach or remove

OP here. Simple and effective. I like it! Thank you bob213 and MrWizard.

[Sam_Spade]

OK one thing I don't understand about this, maybe mostly because I've never done it before:
If you simply bridge the outputs like is being discussed, what keeps the two generators in sync (Being out of sync is much the same as a huge short) ??
And what effect does TWO voltage sources have on the output regulation of each unit ??

I always ASSumed that the bridging happened through some kind of control board to get the two to play together nice.

[DrewE]

2oldman wrote:

time2roll wrote:
If that is a dead-man cord I don't recommend it.

It's no more a dead-man cord than the cord on your toaster, provided you plug them BOTH in before starting either generator, like the manual says.

I disagree there; the cord on my toaster does not have two male connectors that are wired together. (Well, the cord on my toaster is permanently attached, but for any appliance with a detachable cord the wall plug end is male and the other is female.)

If one of the plugs should get kicked out, it would have a live end and if you weren't using a lot of power in the camper at the time you might not even notice it.

[ktmrfs]

2oldman wrote:

time2roll wrote:
If that is a dead-man cord I don't recommend it.

It's no more a dead-man cord than the cord on your toaster, provided you plug them BOTH in before starting either generator, like the manual says.

and turn off BOTH generators before unplugging.

personally not something I would use but each to his own.

[2oldman]

time2roll wrote:
If that is a dead-man cord I don't recommend it.

It's no more a dead-man cord than the cord on your toaster, provided you plug them BOTH in before starting either generator, like the manual says.

[time2roll]

2oldman wrote:
Make your own parallel cables with standard extension cord plugs where the ground is already there. Too easy.

If that is a dead-man cord I don't recommend it.

[time2roll]

Duration power uses banana plugs for power and the ground pin of a plug for the ground on the triple set up.

http://durationpower.com/store/