Honda EU2200I Generator observations

I guess it has the same effect for the air con, but you don't need to disconnect the battery.  You can flip off the converter.  The difference is that everything that runs on 12v will still work (until the battery runs down).  The fridge won't work in any mode without 12 volts to run it's control board. I don't know how your lights worked either with the battery disconnected.

Maybe I'm wrong though.  Maybe disconnecting the battery doesn't stop the converter from deliverying 12v to everything else.  I guess you could be effectively cutting off the battery charging part of the converter which might be it's biggest draw.

TT

If you leave the battery connected to the converter charger, and 120VAC is supplied to the R-Pod, the converter charging system will produce 12VDC for the R-Pod systems and try to send a charge to the battery (about 7 amps if I recall) until the charging system decides that your battery is in fact charged, then it will stop trying to charge. The problem with this is that starting the AC fan and compressor motor is up near 2000 watts (16 amps at 120VAC) or so. Throw the extra 7 amps on there and now the generator is trying to supply 23 amps, that's 2760 watts all at once. Not gonna happen with the small EU2000i and likely not the EU2200i either. This is why the battery should be disconnected. I say try to turn AC on with the battery connected and see what happens, does it trip overload or not?? It would be good to know.

 I tried several times to get my Pod AC to work with my EU2000i, but if the battery was connected the generator would simply trip the overload breaker. After turning my battery disconnect to OFF, there were no problems starting and running the AC all alone. The EU2000i did run the AC by itself.

Yes, refrigerator still worked. BUT the furnace did NOT work with 120VAC only!! It requires a battery!! The furnace control board in my 177 hated the 12 volt output of the charger/converter without a battery holding a steady DC output. That took some time to figure out, but my furnace wouldn't work even plugged into shore power without the battery also connected. Odd as hell and an annoyance. The conclusion was that the furnace board needs a DC battery supply or it no worky.

Fortunately, you really won't need the furnace at the same time you're trying to run AC!! Win win.

The MicroAir Easy Start allows me to run the AC with the Generac iX2000 reliably if the battery is charged. If the converter is trying ot charge the battery, it may still be too much for the iX2000. Switching it off temporarily until the R-Pod has cooled down helps or letting the battery charge first helps.

The EU2000, even if it has a 30A plug will not put out 30A. It is still a 20A peak and 16A running generator. Only if you connect two of them can you get the full power from the 30A outlet. Better still if you can handle the weight is the Predator 3500 from Harbor Freight. It has 3000A running and 3500A starting capability with 57 dB rating (25% load at 23 feet). I have stood next to a couple of them running and they are indeed very quiet. The ratings on the HF web site are overall very good.

One thing is that if you do get a generator and you have a circuit analyzer, it will complain about an open ground. You should make a bonding plug which will tie the neutral and ground together. One is easy to make. Get a heavy duty 15A plug at your hardware store. Open the shell and then take a piece of wire and connect the silver (neutral) terminal to the ground terminal. Do not connect the gold/brass (hot) terminal or that will make a direct short. Close the shell and if desired, seal off the opening with a bit of silicone sealant. Then you can plug this into one of the 15A outlets. The reason is that power poles have the ground and neutral tied at the breaker box. Since the Generator does not have this, you will need to provide this bonding. That is what the plug does.