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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
I don't hold out much hope - this is the second unit I've had and the first one did the same thing. The place where the warranty work is being done is an official Honeywell repair depot and they mentioned that they've had "lots" of them come back with hunting throttle issues.
..if you read through this thread you'll also read of lots of others with the same issues.
It's far too common.
The only carb adjustment that could possibly settle it was to richen the mixture. That will settle it down (the same as my method of putting the choke on half way) but either way screws with fuel economy and emissions. The actual throttle is controlled by a small servo motor which is driven by the brains of the genny - there doesn't seem to be adjustment method to stop the hunting either.
I thought about adding some circuitry to slow the signals to the servo motor (and possibly mute the hunting issues) but the problem with that is that it would prevent the generator from ramping-up quickly while in eco mode when the generator is suddenly loaded down.
In the end I keep coming around to "It shouldn't be doing this" to begin with.
I'm still planning to sell the genny when I get it back, fixed or not.
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PrivatePilot
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03/13/10 05:57pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
The problem is that it's impossible to make sure the generator is always loaded enough when running overnight. When we retire we shut everything off and the genny is only running to keep the batteries topped off.
In the summer we don't need to run it all night unless we want AC (At which point it's not in eco mode and doesn't hunt obviously), but in the winter when we boondock it's a necessity to keep the batteries charged - the furnace cycling on and off all night long can really take a toll on the batteries otherwise. This leaves the generator with very little load on as the converter stays in float mode most of the time, only cycling to high rate charge once every hour or two. Even when the converter is on high rate charge it's not taxing the genny much and it still hunts.
I don't want to have to leave an electric heater, TV, or something on simply to provide enough load to stop the Honeywell from throttle hunting. It should be totally unnecessary and adding load to stop the hunting is just a bandaid solution IMHO, not to mention it causes increased fuel consumption for what is effectively a total waste.
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PrivatePilot
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03/12/10 07:38pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
FWIW, Mine is in for warranty work again - we went boondock winter camping a few weeks ago and put probably 20 hours on the genny.
Although I'm still amazed at how this thing sips fuel, old problems were still evident - the throttle hunts to the point where it's terribly annoying. I eventually resorted to running it with the choke at about 1/2 in order to get it to settle down but this had a corresponding effect with fuel economy obviously and shouldn't be necessary to begin with.
Secondly, when I shut it down to refuel at various points on the weekend and then went to restart it just about tore my fingers off a few times - the kickback and pull on the recoil rope snapped it out of my hands with such force that I had sore fingers for days. This happened at every warm restart.
Assuming I get the unit fixed up under warranty a second time it's going to be going up for sale and I'm going to invest in a kippor. I just can't risk relying on the Honeywell any longer.
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PrivatePilot
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03/12/10 02:17pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
I am in Toronto and cannot find the HW in any of the Home Depot here - sheesh...
Costco Canada (www.costco.ca online only) will have the HW1000i for $100 off later this month at $329. But I was looking for the HW2000...
Denis
I think the fact the supply of these generators is drying up everywhere (seemingly, based on what I read here) speaks volumes as to the quality and reliability issues being experienced.
I know first-hand that Costco was seeing a LOT of these come back when they were selling them here in Canada which is probably why they're not physically on the store floors anymore.
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PrivatePilot
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03/07/10 06:40am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
I'm going to try the inline fuel line this summer - so long as it's primed first it shouldn't be an issue - I'm just going to put an A/B fuel tap so I can switch from the built in tank to the external line easily.
However, considering my experience with this genny so far and our extensive boondocking planned this summer in hot climes (in other words heavy AC use) I'm thinking about selling it and buying a big kippor.
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PrivatePilot
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02/23/10 05:11pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
To follow up on my own story, my replacement unit is doing OK. I've put about 40 hours on it so far and it's doing still running but the wandering idle issue is still irritating. If anything the new unit is worse then the old one, even with a light load on the generator the throttle wanders all over the place.
Last weekend I resorted to running with the choke half on - this would settle down the wandering throttle, but in turn caused the unit to consume noticeably more fuel.
My jury is still out on whether or not this will be a long term generator for me. At this point I'd not recommend it to anyone based on my initial failure and questionable replacement.
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PrivatePilot
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10/24/09 08:59pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
any suggestions (from anyone) on where to buy a low profile hour meter to add on that isn't over expensive?
Not sure where you are located, but in Canada Princess Auto carries them. If you're in the US, I'd check out a local farm supply or farm equipment dealer as they often have them.
Of course, there's also eBay. I'm sure there's tons of them there.
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PrivatePilot
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10/09/09 04:45pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Thats exactly what one of mine was doing right out the hole.
Assuming you didn't have warranty to cover the issue, what was the resolution?
If mine hadn't stalled the second I covered the hole (leading me to believe that the issue was more then having a hole where there shouldn't be one) I would have been tempted to just put a self tapping screw in the hole to stop the leak, but considering it was less then 6 hours "old" at that point on the first run none the less, it irked me.
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PrivatePilot
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10/01/09 06:09am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Here's a pic of the location of the fuel leak - the red arrow points the hole where fuel is exiting the carb. You can see where it's run down the carb and onto the primer button and fuel lines below.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2563/3968810019_213b105791.jpg
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PrivatePilot
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09/30/09 11:19am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Well, news update with good and bad news.
Good news is that the warranty service center called and said my Honeywell 2000 was ready for pickup.
Better news was that Honeywell provided a brand new unit as a replacement. Apparently the inverter unit was the problem on my old one and replacement was cheaper then repair.
So, I got it home, fueled and oiled it up, and then got the bad news.
First, I noticed metal shavings on the oil drain plug. Not a huge quantity, probably leftovers from machining, but one must wonder how many shavings are actually in the crankcase.
Second, I thought that I'd remove the spark arrestor before ever having started the generator (and it would be presuambly easy to remove) to investigate the possibility of adding an "after muffler" to quiet the unit more. I quickly discovered that one screw was cross threaded from the factory and I was going to strip the head off of it if I continued to try to remove it.
And last but not least, after startup I was dissapointed to not only discover that the brand new unit has the "wandering idle at zero load" issue (albeit a bit less dramatic) that my original unit had, but was leaving a puddle of fuel underneath itself.
I removed the rear access panel and discovered fuel leaking out of a hole at the top of the carberator. I'm confident that this is the exact same issue that someone was inquiring about earlier in this thread. Looking at things it almost looks like the carb was machined incorrectly or something is missing. Placing my finger over the hole immediately stalled the generator and it acted as if it was flooded afterwards and wouldn't restart.
I gave up at that point, put the panel back on, and it's going back to the warranty depot again today.
Clearly there is some quality control issues on these units.
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PrivatePilot
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09/30/09 10:42am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
1.) Has anyone figured out how to attach an external fuel tank? Did you do it with a tapped gas cap or a splitter/valve switch on the fuel line?
The former was suggested to me when I brought it up earlier, but the latter would seem to be the easier so long as a primer bulb was inline to the "T" joint to make sure all air is out of the line.
2.) Anyone attached an hour meter to it? (so you can keep track of useage?)
Simple, just wire it into any +12V grounded source, a convenient source of which is on the 12V charging port.
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PrivatePilot
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09/26/09 05:16pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
The gen has compression, good spark, the bowl is full of gas but wont start no matter how many times you pull it.
This is the same thing that happened to mine when it died - I pulled for 20 minutes (thinking the fuel lines had ran dry and wouldn't prime thanks to the laughably bad priming system on it) and then I discovered that it was actually the controller board that had went dumb and it had reduced the throttle to below idle.
I manually advanced the throttle and it started right up, but of course, had no output and zero control over itself at that point.
Try manually advancing the throttle and see if perhaps you have the same issue?
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PrivatePilot
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09/26/09 02:46pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Dropped it off at the service center this morning. Will report back what the results are.
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PrivatePilot
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09/24/09 06:01pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Is that pinging noise odd sounding? Sort of like someone tapping on a odd sounding bell continuously? If so I think I might have the same sound.
Yep, I'd say that describes it. I've ruled out a loose screw or nut rattling around inside the unit as it's simply been through too much "rocking and rolling" while traveling for anything like that to be still making noise. I suspect something inside the recoil, personally.
I'm taking mine to the service depot tomorrow to get it looked at for the no-output issue. If the jingling noise gets resolved at the same time I'll consider it a bonus.
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PrivatePilot
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09/23/09 08:30pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Well, things were going good with our i2000 until this evening. It had been running for about 8 hours and suddenly quit. I assumed it had run out of fuel as I wasn't paying much attention to it and expected it to quit around the 8-10 hour mark anyways.
I checked the gas level when I finally did get around to (trying to) restart it and although it was low, the tank wasn't "dry". I just assumed that because it might not have been sitting perfectly level the draw line might have sucked air.
I filled it up and proceeded to start it. I figured the lines were dry so I primed the bejesus out of it and choked it but it refused to start. Eventually it started to lope a bit like it was trying to start but it wouldn't catch and actually take off.
Eventually I pulled the plug thinking I had perhaps flooded it at that point, but it was still dry.
Replaced plug, pulled off rear panel and checked carb to see if there was fuel at the bowl. Sure enough all looked good, but more pulling yielded the same results.
So, on a whim I manually moved the throttle servo while my BIL was pulling on the cord and it started to show more signs of life, eventually starting up.
However, something seems awry - the throttle control servo just kept slowly ramping the engine up to wide open, and the "Output" light never came on signifying the generator was making power. I played with the throttle manually trying to see if I could get it to settle down and initialize, but eventually it just stopped responding at all.
Now it's all back together but the throttle control is doing nothing (it's barely above idle at it's current setting) and it's making no power.
Thankfully my brother in law has a nice Kipor that we plugged into for the evening to top up the house batteries as it's going to be near freezing tonight and we're relying on the furnace..and no gennies allowed overnight here where we're boondocking.
Guess I get to see how the Honeywell service experience goes for me.
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PrivatePilot
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09/19/09 08:36pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Does anyone else have a metallic rattling noise (high pitched) coming from theirs?
Mine has had one since hour zero and I can't narrow down what's causing it. It's not even noticable from some angles but at other angles (facing the exhaust side) it's a slight "pinging" that can be maddening after a while.
Ours is outside puttering away as I type this - we're boondocking for the weekend. Still pleased overall (It's a heck of a lot quieter then my old Champion) but the pinging noise is getting to me.
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PrivatePilot
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09/18/09 08:01pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
you can try turning the plastic screw on the carb, in 'clockwise' a little bit 1/2 to 1 turn.
Will this richen or lean the mixture?
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PrivatePilot
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09/08/09 06:47pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
Does your Honeywell in eco mode run really smooth?
In eco mode, with zero load, mine does not idle smoothly - the governor seems to bounce the idle up and down, not finding a middle ground where it can settle down.
With a little bit of load, it settles into a smooth RPM range and stays there though.
I've considered calling Honeywell and seeing if there's anything I can do about this. It is a bit irritating when the genny is running under such light load (while in standby waiting for a load for example) and it's bouncing all over the place RPM wise.
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PrivatePilot
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09/07/09 08:52pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
I'm not sure those two pictures are corresponding - the top one (which was indeed the one I was thinking of) shows what appears to be a flat looking plate where the starter would bolt on with the bell housing behind it) but the bottom picture of the internals doesn't seem to show that same looking plate.
Could just be my perspective though.
Perhaps 83trekker (who posted the internals pics) could post some more photos of the starter mounting area? I think that there's lots of interest in this - I'm half tempted to take apart my own this week to look into the situation more.
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PrivatePilot
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09/06/09 07:21am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Official Honeywell Generator thread..talk about em here!
I saw someone else's pictures of this genny (in this thread I believe) which showed both a spot for the starter *and* battery. I think that the logistics of setting it up could be minimal with a little electrical knowledge and, of course, the actual starter.
I could be wrong but I would think the biggest issue would be finding a starter that fits unless it's some sort of "standard" size or something - not sure. The battery compartment that I saw in the pics looks like it would fit one of the easy to find standard sized gelcell batteries.
I'd sure be interested to know - I'd have mine wired up with remote start/stop in a heartbeat if someone can source a compatible starter.
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PrivatePilot
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09/05/09 05:55pm |
Tech Issues
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