Guardian Generator -vs.-2 honda eu2000 good deal or not?

[odyssess]

Does anyone know anything about this generator? Here's the link: http://www.norwall.com/product_info.php ... ucts_id=63
I was planning on buying 2 Honda eu2000 w/parallel kit with having the portability of them(approx $2200.) or buying this one and saving 600+ and being able to mount it under the bus, use it while I drive and have a remote electronic start with meter? Do I need a seperate fuel tank for the guardian or does it have a built in tank? I do not know anything about generators nor am I afraid to admit it. Is guardian a low end chinese rip off of Onan or are they somewhat respectable and worthwhile? Any help my friends would be GREATLY apprieciated. I don't want to blow $2000 and be sorry later....Thanks

[lapeer20m]

the big differences are:

noise...the guardian @ half load is twice as loud as the honda at full load. (an increase of 10 decimals is considered to be twice as loud. so 70dB is twice as loud at 60dB)

60 db is considered to be "normal conversation" while a vacuum cleaner @ a distance 10 feet is considered "twice as loud" as normal conversation.

at no load the guardian consumes 4 times more fuel per hour than a single honda eu2000 does at 1/4 load (400 watts)

after that, both geni's seem pretty similiar according to their rated fuel consumption numbers....

at 1800 watts the guardian will run 3 hours on one gallon, while a single honda will run 3.8 hours. The guardian seems like a pretty fuel efficient generator indeed to come anywhere near what the honda does....the guardian is impressive in that regard....

at 3600 watts, the guardian will run 108 minutes on a single gallon while the pair of honda's will run for 114 minutes....that's pretty much no difference at all.....the guardian once again seems very impressive...assuming it's rated numbers turn out to be actual real world numbers.

i've used a honda for stretches longer than 10 days in a row, in the desert, running a small jacuzzi pump non-stop, plus freezer, lights, chargers, fan, microwave etc and average a litter better than 15 hours per gallon.

it's a toss up.........i'm a die hard honda fan though.

read any reviews on the guardian? i'm curious how consumers like them

[odyssess]

Thanks a lot Jimmy and Lapeer. I was already to buy the two Hondas, but I liked the idea of the remote electric start. I really like that I could take only one Honda when I'm not using the A/C and I don't have to have a spare gas tank. After reading the manual to the Guardian, I'm leaning toward the Hondas for convenience. I have a 13,500 btu A/C unit and I'm hoping the two Hondas will run it with a little juice left over. Lapeer, What size Honda did you(or do you)have? Did you have an extra fuel tank attached? I saw one site had a 6 gal. tank that had a hose through the gas cap of the Honda. Just wondering what other peoples set ups were... Thanks

[lapeer20m]

the 6 gallon tank with hose through gas cap idea sounds pretty good to me. I always used the stock tank which is fine for a nite out at a party.....but when i wanted continuous power for days at a time the 1 gallon capacity was a bit of a drag, especially since i like to keep the geni on top of the bus. I have to climb up there twice a day..... i just never got around to building the aux tank, but i should have!



i never tried running an a/c unit. I did however use my honda eu2000 to run my wire feed welder. I had to turn the welder down to it's lowest heat setting, and turn off the eco throttle on the geni.

and like someone stated in a previous post....mayberry's.com is the place to buy the honda geni's. I purchased two of them for $857 each with no tax and no shipping.....and they arrived FAST!!!

i have no affiliation with mayberry's or honda...except i'm super happy with the items i've purchased from them

i eventually ruined one honda due to the desert environment. in retrospect i should not have left the geni on the desert floor....too much dust! I sold the other one on ebay because i didn't have a job for 7 months and i needed the money.....here is a video i made of the geni for the ebay ad.... i sold it for $800 if i remember right....after having it for a year and using it for a week or so in the desert.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=18-d5TPrbe0

[reprobate]

As much as I wanted the Honda's I went with the Guardian 5500 watt. It was $600 less then 2 Hondas plus the parallel kit. Damn thing weighs 300lbs. I welded a slide frame and mounted it under the bus. I imagine the Hondas are better quality, but although I haven't used mine yet it seems very well put together and came with a very informative package and dvd as well as remote start. I can't wait to put it to the test and will post my observations (for what they're worth) when the time comes.

[odyssess]

REPROBATE!!! First of all....YOUR BUS IS SICK!!!(IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY!!) I've looked at your gallery and was going crazy with all that cool wood, slide out, and cool ceiling. I need my wife to hang out with yours and learn a few trades. I can't wait to see the finished product. Your bus makes me want to tear mine apart and start again...Really. Do you have a seperate gas tank, or is your gennie diesel and you tapped into your tank? I'm still on the fence about the whole thing...

[reprobate]

The generator has to have a separate tank. I'm going to get a 12 gal. fuel tank like the ones used for outboard motors. Depending on your installation location with the Guardian you will have to run cables to your battery bank or just get a separate battery for starting purposes. And thanks, Odyssess for thr nice comments. Hopefully we will finish soon.

[Elliot Naess]

I'm looking forward to your reports on the Guardian, but so far I swear by the Hondas -- for the low noise and proven reliability. The Honda EU 3000 has a much larger tank than the 1000 and 2000, with a gauge, has electric start, weighs around 140 pounds with good lifting handles, costs around $1.700, and is the quietest generator on Earth. Believe me, generator noise can be a serious problem.

For good info on external tanks for the EU 1000 and 2000 (not sure about the 3000), go to the Burning Man web site forum and look for a poster named Captain Goddammit. (Sorry) I think he also says that the EU1000, the EU2000 and the EU3000 can all be connected together with simple homemade cords, with no ill effects. You just need to pay attention to how you start them, so they synchronize correctly. And not electrocute yourself with the homemade cords.

[pete c]

reprobate, you are somewhere in the southwest, aren't ya?

seems to me that a nice solar setup would be very helpful and possibly even pay for itself fairly quickly with gas prices being what they are. might as well put all that sunshine to work.

[odyssess]

After alot of trying to find a place to mount a gennie under the my Shortbus, there really wasn't a spot for it. I ended up buying the 2 Honda Eu2000 with the 30amp parallel kit. I can't believe how quiet it is! I really didn't expect them to be as quiet as everyone said at full load. I like the portability and flexability of just bringing one when I don't need the extra power for the A/C. I found myself using it around the yard a couple of times. I built a cool aux. gas tank with a fuel filter and a T that feeds both generators. I'm building the rear deck and roof rack now so I can house them on the back and maybe the roof. I'm just designing a way to keep them safe from sticky fingers. I also used some 1" conduit and fashioned an upward exhaust pipe to send fumes over the bus. So far...very happy.

[Xtevan]

After a though carb cleaning we got the 3600 watt guardian generator that was installed by the previous owner to run. It is tan without the new Quietpact logo, but the specs appears to be the some unit. With the AC(Dometic 13500btu) running full blast, the throttle butterfly looks to be about just under half of the travel. That would give 18 hrs with the 6 gallon tank if the specs are true.

The cheap Harbor Fright clamp on meter was reading ~ 16.5 amps high ac/high fan

It is not as quiet as the Hondas are, but much quieter than the typical job site generators.

[wmah]

I'm going to add something at the run time of the Hondaeu2000i.

A few weeks ago I spent a night at a rest area just north of Des Monies Iowa. (October 26 200 The temp that night was less then 40 outside. I ran the Honda for 8 1/2 hours on the one gallon which powered a twin size electric blanket on all night and a average size electric heater that I hung from the ceiling which would turn itself of and on all night keeping the back of the van close to 80 in the direct path of the fan. The front of the van stayed around 64. And it was still quieter then the idling trucks near by.

Right now for security on the unit I am only keeping someone honest using a cable type chain with my ubolt style bicycle lock through the handle. I am going to modify a steel box and make it smaller to fit the unit into and put it in to the hitch.

I have also strapped it to the four wheeler and used a battery charger on it to get a car to start that was a little far away from a power source. Used it for running a electric chain saw and sawzall just not at the same time.

[lapeer20m]

oh yeah! i used the honda geni and a 40 amp battery charger a lot! Way handy for starting a diesel after you ran out of fuel and have a bit of difficulty getting her primed. Also used it on more than one occasion for driving around and powering a bus with a dead alternator. It was standard practice for me to run the geni and battery charger when parked for hours at a party.

[odyssess]

We took our bus to Zion National Park, Utah for Thanksgiving. The morning we left, I couldn't start the thing. It was very cold in the morning and I guess I tried to turn it over so much I ran the batteries down. I pulled out one of my Honda eu2000's and hooked up the battery charger. When the outside temp warmed up and the batteries were charged enough, it turned right over. I love the portability of the gennies and being able to run the two parallel and get double the power. We had a blackout a few months back and one Honda ran my fridge all night and the next morning til the power came back on. I also am welding a cage for both my Hondas to attach to the rear deck. Best purchase for my needs, quiet and efficient.

[Joe Monstermaker]

Hi, I'm Captain ... uh... Goshdarnitt from the Burning Man site.
I've been using the little Hondas for a long time. The first thing I have to say about them is don't buy the ripoff "parallel operation cables! If you open up a Honda and check into it, the parallel operation ports do nothing but connect directly to the generator's 120V outlets. You can accomplish the same thing by simply plugging two Hondas together with a cord with a male plug at each end.
You need to have them connected before you start the engines, but that's true with the Honda parallel cables as well.
I like to use two 12 gauge power tool replacement cords (from Home Depot) wired into a junction box holding a 30-amp RV style outlet and a regular dual 15-amp home style outlet.

ilynne.com captain goddammit is the link to my instructions for making a simple external fuel tank for a Honda EU2000. I wrote that a few years ago and have since decided that while it works, the method I described for attaching the fuel line to the gas cap could be improved.
If you use your Honda in one place for any extended amount of time, you really want an external tank! It does several things for you. First, you aren't having to constantly refuel. Also, you don't spill gas all over your Honda while fueling! It's hard (I find it impossible!) to see through the strainer under the Honda's gas cap, and you can't tell when you're almost full and about to spill.
You can keep your fuel supply cleaner too, since you can put a fuel filter in the external tank's hose.

While at Burning Man I use a 50 gallon truck gas tank as my supply, and never refuel the gennies at all!

This external gas supply system works best if the extra tank is at the same height or above the generator.

I'll say that the convenience of an electric-start permanently mounted generator is really great though!
The earlier-mentioned plan for a hitch-mounted cage for them that allows operation on-the-go without unpacking them and finding a place to set them is a good one. Every time I've used mine on the road I've been pulling a flatbed trailer and simply carried them back there and ran a cord (well protected and secured!) up to my rig.

[Elliot Naess]

Oh drat -- the Capt'n found us. There goes the neighborhood!

[Joe Monstermaker]

Originally Posted by Elliot Naess

Oh drat -- the Capt'n found us. There goes the neighborhood!

And it's all YOUR FAULT for mentioning this board on eplaya!

[Elliot Naess]

I was going to post some witty reply now, but then I realized you would just top me and then we'd have to keep escalating until we reach nuclear war, and my lead-lined suit is at the cleaners, so... you win.

Guys, you'll never top this gentleman in cheerful snarkiness and subtle sarcasm -- even outright pranks. This is a man who drives a BOAT in the driest desert on Earth, so stand clear!

[lapeer20m]

hey captain, ever try running generators from different manufactures together. i think i read a post on the eplaya of yours where you have connected honda's of different sizes ie: eu1000 eu2000 eu3000 together. I think the thread mentioned some curiosity as to the feasability of connecting a yamaha and a honda, or a honda and a chinease kippor. Ever tried it?

[Joe Monstermaker]

As I understand it, when you connect them one Honda acts as the "master" and the other synchs to it, so it seems reasonable that you could connect a Honda to another set, start the other set first, then start the Honda and it should synch. I don't see why it matters what brand or type the "master" unit it, if it puts out the same 120VAC 60Hz. The "slave" unit appears to be the one that does all the magic.
But no, I haven't had the guts to be the one to try it first!
I have connected EU1000, EU2000, and EU3000s together, expecting that under a heavy load the smaller one would immediately go into overload shutdown, but it didn't.

I dunno if I mentioned it already, but I like to run two Hondas together even when I don't need both just because I find that two sets idling is nicer sounding than one set throttled up.