DWABoat
Well-Known Member
- Aug 13, 2019
- 1,012
- Boat Info
- 2001 280 Sundancer
1989 220CC Cuddy Cabin
- Engines
- Twin 4.3 w/Alpha Ones
5.7 Mercruiser Alpha One
I love those Honda’s also. I use the smaller 2000’s for work.Usually they mount it safely on the transom!
It does kind of make me wonder, though, how much extra engineering it would take to make a Honda EU series generator ignition-protected. I've seen those things running before at events and they are dead silent unless you're within about 5 feet of them. The other thought I had is what if they were in a sealed enclosure with their own forced air ventilation?
Obviously this glosses over ideas about fuel supply, electrical connectivity, cooling and exhaust elimination.
But for some reason those Honda EU generators feel like space age technology relative to your bog standard Kohler generators, especially since they output pure sine wave AC and are so quiet. I can't even find any Kohler marine generator sound ratings, but Honda's numbers shows even their entire model line under 70 db(A), with the 10kw unit just slightly over at 73.
I’m no engineer, but I think the problem would be more than ignition protection. The exhaust on a dry exhaust engine runs very hot while, in comparison, wet exhaust runs a lot cooler. The exhaust manifold with standard gas engine could flash off some gas fumes just by the heat of the manifold inside an engine room. I don’t think a water cooled exhaust could do that.
So I guess Honda could enter the market for Marine generators and would likely take a lot of business.
Some marine technician please correct me if I am wrong. I am curious also.