On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:38:06 -0500, Tom Ring
wrote:

There
are simple modifications to use a boat gas tank (usually about 6
gallons) with this unit which would make the run time 3 days for most
emergency amateur use before refill. I would take this as a first
responder system in a heartbeat.

I can see this setup being particularly useful for repeater sites
during an extended power outage. Any URLs for simple modifications.
I'm real ignorant on this kind of stuff.

Hmmm in the section titled KEEP THE GENERATOR ORIGINAL - "Larger
auxiliary tanks added to the system will create more pressure on the
inlet needle valve which may cause the inlet needle to lose its
ability to regulate the fuel flowing into the carburetor. This may
cause the crankcase engine oil to become diluted with fuel, spark plug
and spark arrestor carbon build-up, and possible external fuel leaks
which may result in fires."

http://www.mayberrys.com/honda/gener...tml/safety.htm

Tony

Tony VE6MVP wrote:

I can see this setup being particularly useful for repeater sites
during an extended power outage. Any URLs for simple modifications.
I'm real ignorant on this kind of stuff.

Hmmm in the section titled KEEP THE GENERATOR ORIGINAL - "Larger
auxiliary tanks added to the system will create more pressure on the
inlet needle valve which may cause the inlet needle to lose its
ability to regulate the fuel flowing into the carburetor. This may
cause the crankcase engine oil to become diluted with fuel, spark plug
and spark arrestor carbon build-up, and possible external fuel leaks
which may result in fires."

http://www.mayberrys.com/honda/gener...tml/safety.htm

Tony

My boss made the mod on his 2000 watt Honda. All you need is a spare
gas cap. I can't go into the "mod" too much since I didn't so it
myself, but I am told that it involves simply attaching the boat tank
line to the gas cap after a hole is drilled in it and a connector is
installed. And he states that it is easy to refill the system at the
boat tank while running. Apparently the air that gets in does not
really affect things since while the real tank on the generator may end
up with some air in it, it still ends up with enough vacuum to continue
to pull fuel after a refill.

He has run it for a week at a time before. Also the pressure has much
to do wih how the modification is done and how you use the system
afterwards. Honda is probably covering their butt, and for good legal
reasons.

Many have done this mod, and know of the potential problems. I have not
read of any. I would say that you just have to keep track of the
potential problems and don't do something that would raise the fuel
pressure.

And again, I do NOT own one of these generators. I have modified 2
others, which were not Honda, with direct connections to the carbs from
a boat tank. No issues after hundreds of hours of use.

tom
K0TAR

The small Honda generator is exceptionally quiet and produces good quality
AC. Used mine during a long power outage with the generator in the garage
(with the door up). The noise of the generator of my nearest neighbor (who
is a good 400 meters away) was quite noticeable when standing next to the
little Honda. Just a data point.
73, Mac N8TT

--
J. Mc Laughlin; Michigan U.S.A.
Home:
"Tony VE6MVP" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 28 Oct 2006 16:01:03 GMT, Tony VE6MVP
wrote:

Seems like those fuel canisters are just a bit on the pricey side.

When I run the numbers through I get N-Gen at $1000 and Honda EU1000i
at $790. Close enough for now.

But the fuel is much different. - N-Stor130 is 130 W-h for a cost of
$450. But the Honda fuel consumption is 3.8 hours at rated
continuous duty of 900 watts. Or a 0.6 US gal tank of gas produces
3420 W-h. That's about $2.

So 130 W-h for $450 or 3420 W-h for $2.

Unless you really, really need that absolute quiet of the fuel cell or
have unusual conditions such as the space shuttle then it's a no
brainer to me.

Tony

Tony VE6MVP wrote:
On Sat, 28 Oct 2006 16:01:03 GMT, Tony VE6MVP
wrote:


Seems like those fuel canisters are just a bit on the pricey side.


When I run the numbers through I get N-Gen at $1000 and Honda EU1000i
at $790. Close enough for now.

But the fuel is much different. - N-Stor130 is 130 W-h for a cost of
$450. But the Honda fuel consumption is 3.8 hours at rated
continuous duty of 900 watts. Or a 0.6 US gal tank of gas produces
3420 W-h. That's about $2.

So 130 W-h for $450 or 3420 W-h for $2.

Unless you really, really need that absolute quiet of the fuel cell or
have unusual conditions such as the space shuttle then it's a no
brainer to me.

Tony

Makes absolute sense to me. What we need is for somebody to invent
synthetic gasoline that doesn't produce CO2 and is willing to sell it
for a dollar or two a gallon.

73, ac6xg

In article t,
says...
Roy Lewallen wrote in
:

Tom Ring wrote:
. . .
1 week is 168 hours which gives us 403 ampere hours.
. . .

which at 13.6 volts is about 5480 watt-hours. This is the energy storage
requirement.

The OP asked about using a capacitor. The energy stored in a capacitor
is C * V^2 / 2. For capacitance in farads and voltage in volts, the
result is joules, or watt-seconds -- you need 5480 * 3600 ~ 20,000,000
joules in round numbers. So suppose you wanted to store this same amount
of energy in a capacitor, and you had a switching regulator which would
handle 50 volts maximum input voltage. Solving for C, assuming it's
charged to 50 volts,

C = 20,000,000 * 2 / (50^2) = 16,000 farads.

This assumes you can get all the energy out of the capacitor, which
requires your regulator to work down to zero volts. But you'll get 3/4
of the energy out of it if your regulator cuts off at 25 volts, 7/8 if
it cuts off at 12.5 volts, etc.

How does that sound?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL


Send that to me in CW and I'll have a look at it.

SC

You can't multiply so how could you help?