Posted by Larry W4CSC on January 21, 2004, 10:21 pm
Well, duh. That was easy....(c;
I bought a new Honda EU3000is 3KW inverter genset from a 5th wheel
camper owner who found it wasn't enough to pull his huge air
conditioner. It was 3 weeks old and had 4 hours on it...$1500, not
$2000 or $2400 with all the dealer add-ons/sales taxes/etc. Runs
fantastic. Finest small genset I ever owned, and I've owned
plenty.....
Ok, so I want to rear-mount it on my work stepvan's rear door. But,
I'd also like to electrify and remote the starting. Honda runs it
REAL lean to pass all the stupid CARB/US laws, so you MUST choke it to
crank it. No remote choke or automatic choke is available.......NOT
any more....(c;
A visit to the junk pile behind an outboard motor shop and I absconded
with the electric choke solenoid off an old Mercury powerhead that had
exploded beyond repair. I took the solenoid, the plugs and the
mechanical linkage and rod that pulled the 6 Merc chokes closed.
Cost? $10 too much? I had to remove it myself.
I removed the choke knob and linkage rod from the Honda's control
panel and installed the Merc solenoid nearly behind it. A little
bending of the Merc's control rod to fit it around and ta-tah! We now
have an electric choked Honda. I can even put it back to stock when I
sell it, if necessary. In the hole where the choke knob came out, I
mounted an appropriately-sized marine push button starter switch (same
junk pile, no charge). It simply feeds 12V from the Honda AGM
starting battery to the new choke solenoid, in parallel with the
remote-control I designed into the side of one of my filing cabinets
in the stepvan shop. The cable has 8 conductors. Two for the "stop"
switch to halt the running, two for the starter solenoid, two for the
new electric choke and two for 120VAC which lights a neon indicator on
my panel telling me we have LIFTOFF with nominal AC power available.
Another "boat part", the ignition switch out of a Merc outboard's
throttle, handles the OFF-RUN-START in parallel with the Honda
original on the engine. Another matching pushbutton choke switch
energizes the electric choke from the control panel over my desk. I
just drilled them out in the filing cabinet steel side.
A little trim ring superglued around the controls to make it look
nicer and an antique MERCURY logo from the junk pile (also free) and
she's ready for my buddy to get the shelf built outside on the back
door. Looks really nice. I mounted a military 8-pin mic jack to the
genset's upper panel near my custom 12V cigarette lighter socket that
gives me access to the starting battery for maintenance, charging it
and an aux 12VDC without the generator running to power the little 12V
gooseneck light for night use. The remote control cable plugs neatly
into the mil-spec connector, which locks in place so it can't vibrate
loose.
Well, that's much better. The shop foreman gave me a floating keyring
for my Mercury and Honda keys, keeping the remote control panel's
"marine look"....(c;
Doesn't have a shift-lever and reverse, though....
I'm looking for an hour meter, next. There wasn't one in the pile....
Larry W4CSC
Posted by Bughunter on January 22, 2004, 5:48 am
Thanks for sharing this Larry. Wish I had a decent boat parts junkyard
around, but I have never run across one in my area. I'm suprised that you
were able to get one for only $10, since new they are about $100.
Well, maybe that's on par, because I did get a vacume solonoid for my Toyota
for $20 at a junkyard that Toyota wanted (get this) $400!
I ordered a new solenoid for my EU from a solenoid manufacturer. In counts
less than 10, it was $40. Ouch! At least I know I they are a supplier that
I can count on to get more, which was one of my requirements.
I'd expect that the boat solenoid will be very reliable. I have never had
one fail, and I have some very old boat motors.
The EU3000ie is indeed a sweet little generator. You really can't beat the
how quiet it is.
The Japanese do seem to setup their carbs lean to meet US import rules. A
few years ago, I bought a 1400cc Suzuki Intruder. The dealer had to resize
the jets 3 times before we got it right. Suzuki would not even tell the
dealer what the correct size jets were to get it to run right for fear they
would loose their import license. We had to experiment. With the original
jets, it would backfire if you let off the throttle too quickly. The
backfire sounded like a stick of dynamite going off.
It makes me wonder if you couldn't just adjust the carb a bit on the EU3000
to make it run a bit richer. I suppose you might end up increasing your fuel
consumption or causing more pollution. An electrically operated choke is
probably the better solution anyway.
> Well, duh. That was easy....(c;
> I bought a new Honda EU3000is 3KW inverter genset from a 5th wheel
> camper owner who found it wasn't enough to pull his huge air
> conditioner. It was 3 weeks old and had 4 hours on it...$1500, not
> $2000 or $2400 with all the dealer add-ons/sales taxes/etc. Runs
> fantastic. Finest small genset I ever owned, and I've owned
> plenty.....
> Ok, so I want to rear-mount it on my work stepvan's rear door. But,
> I'd also like to electrify and remote the starting. Honda runs it
> REAL lean to pass all the stupid CARB/US laws, so you MUST choke it to
> crank it. No remote choke or automatic choke is available.......NOT
> any more....(c;
> A visit to the junk pile behind an outboard motor shop and I absconded
> with the electric choke solenoid off an old Mercury powerhead that had
> exploded beyond repair. I took the solenoid, the plugs and the
> mechanical linkage and rod that pulled the 6 Merc chokes closed.
> Cost? $10 too much? I had to remove it myself.
> I removed the choke knob and linkage rod from the Honda's control
> panel and installed the Merc solenoid nearly behind it. A little
> bending of the Merc's control rod to fit it around and ta-tah! We now
> have an electric choked Honda. I can even put it back to stock when I
> sell it, if necessary. In the hole where the choke knob came out, I
> mounted an appropriately-sized marine push button starter switch (same
> junk pile, no charge). It simply feeds 12V from the Honda AGM
> starting battery to the new choke solenoid, in parallel with the
> remote-control I designed into the side of one of my filing cabinets
> in the stepvan shop. The cable has 8 conductors. Two for the "stop"
> switch to halt the running, two for the starter solenoid, two for the
> new electric choke and two for 120VAC which lights a neon indicator on
> my panel telling me we have LIFTOFF with nominal AC power available.
> Another "boat part", the ignition switch out of a Merc outboard's
> throttle, handles the OFF-RUN-START in parallel with the Honda
> original on the engine. Another matching pushbutton choke switch
> energizes the electric choke from the control panel over my desk. I
> just drilled them out in the filing cabinet steel side.
> A little trim ring superglued around the controls to make it look
> nicer and an antique MERCURY logo from the junk pile (also free) and
> she's ready for my buddy to get the shelf built outside on the back
> door. Looks really nice. I mounted a military 8-pin mic jack to the
> genset's upper panel near my custom 12V cigarette lighter socket that
> gives me access to the starting battery for maintenance, charging it
> and an aux 12VDC without the generator running to power the little 12V
> gooseneck light for night use. The remote control cable plugs neatly
> into the mil-spec connector, which locks in place so it can't vibrate
> loose.
> Well, that's much better. The shop foreman gave me a floating keyring
> for my Mercury and Honda keys, keeping the remote control panel's
> "marine look"....(c;
> Doesn't have a shift-lever and reverse, though....
> I'm looking for an hour meter, next. There wasn't one in the pile....
> Larry W4CSC
Posted by Larry W4CSC on January 22, 2004, 7:13 pm
>It makes me wonder if you couldn't just adjust the carb a bit on the EU3000
>to make it run a bit richer. I suppose you might end up increasing your fuel
>consumption or causing more pollution. An electrically operated choke is
>probably the better solution anyway.
I think the only way you could adjust the carb is to fool around with
float valve levels. The jets are fixed mounted and they only allow
you to adjust the low speed jets about 1/4 turn, which is
nothing...useless.
Damned government and greenie meddling. Next thing you know, they'll
forbid the sale of diesel fuel and we'll all starve!....
Larry W4CSC
Is it just me or did the US and UK just capture 1/3
of the world's sweetest oil supply? What idiot wants to
GIVE IT BACK?!!
Let's do what Europeans have been doing for centuries.
DIVIDE UP THE SPOILS OF OUR CONQUEST! Gas will be
$US0.50/US gallon again, STUPIDS!
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> I bought a new Honda EU3000is 3KW inverter genset from a 5th wheel
> camper owner who found it wasn't enough to pull his huge air
> conditioner. It was 3 weeks old and had 4 hours on it...$1500, not
> $2000 or $2400 with all the dealer add-ons/sales taxes/etc. Runs
> fantastic. Finest small genset I ever owned, and I've owned
> plenty.....
> Ok, so I want to rear-mount it on my work stepvan's rear door. But,
> I'd also like to electrify and remote the starting. Honda runs it
> REAL lean to pass all the stupid CARB/US laws, so you MUST choke it to
> crank it. No remote choke or automatic choke is available.......NOT
> any more....(c;
> A visit to the junk pile behind an outboard motor shop and I absconded
> with the electric choke solenoid off an old Mercury powerhead that had
> exploded beyond repair. I took the solenoid, the plugs and the
> mechanical linkage and rod that pulled the 6 Merc chokes closed.
> Cost? $10 too much? I had to remove it myself.
> I removed the choke knob and linkage rod from the Honda's control
> panel and installed the Merc solenoid nearly behind it. A little
> bending of the Merc's control rod to fit it around and ta-tah! We now
> have an electric choked Honda. I can even put it back to stock when I
> sell it, if necessary. In the hole where the choke knob came out, I
> mounted an appropriately-sized marine push button starter switch (same
> junk pile, no charge). It simply feeds 12V from the Honda AGM
> starting battery to the new choke solenoid, in parallel with the
> remote-control I designed into the side of one of my filing cabinets
> in the stepvan shop. The cable has 8 conductors. Two for the "stop"
> switch to halt the running, two for the starter solenoid, two for the
> new electric choke and two for 120VAC which lights a neon indicator on
> my panel telling me we have LIFTOFF with nominal AC power available.
> Another "boat part", the ignition switch out of a Merc outboard's
> throttle, handles the OFF-RUN-START in parallel with the Honda
> original on the engine. Another matching pushbutton choke switch
> energizes the electric choke from the control panel over my desk. I
> just drilled them out in the filing cabinet steel side.
> A little trim ring superglued around the controls to make it look
> nicer and an antique MERCURY logo from the junk pile (also free) and
> she's ready for my buddy to get the shelf built outside on the back
> door. Looks really nice. I mounted a military 8-pin mic jack to the
> genset's upper panel near my custom 12V cigarette lighter socket that
> gives me access to the starting battery for maintenance, charging it
> and an aux 12VDC without the generator running to power the little 12V
> gooseneck light for night use. The remote control cable plugs neatly
> into the mil-spec connector, which locks in place so it can't vibrate
> loose.
> Well, that's much better. The shop foreman gave me a floating keyring
> for my Mercury and Honda keys, keeping the remote control panel's
> "marine look"....(c;
> Doesn't have a shift-lever and reverse, though....
> I'm looking for an hour meter, next. There wasn't one in the pile....
> Larry W4CSC