Tom Ring wrote:

Or you could just burn gasoline in a 2000W Honda which costs about
$1000, makes almost no noise, is quite light, and will generate less CO2
than the fuel cell system will when you get down to reality since the
fuel cell system is actually powered by the fairly inefficient
electrical grid. And it will cost a ton less as well as delivering 20
times the peak power with commonly available fuel.

BTW, the 1000W EU1000i model will deliver 1000W at 3.8 gallons per day,
and 250W at 1.7 gallons per day. The unit is listed at 790 USD. 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 also wonder where one would get the energy to refill the hydrogen for
the fuel cell unit when in a place like New Orleans after Katrina.
Gasoline would still need to be hauled in, and would probably be more
efficiently used providing power directly from a smart generator than
splitting water to make hydrogen which would then be used in a fuel cell.

tom
K0TAR

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