Tested: Honda EU22i

The frustrating thing about camping is that you have perfectly good 240V AC devices ready to go, but unless you have an expensive high-capacity lithium set-up, you can’t always use them.

Even with lithium, you don’t get a free ride; the batteries aren’t necessarily going to be able keep up with your use of a caravan 240-volt air conditioner, microwave, hair dryer, coffee machine and everything else, especially if there’s no sun to top up the solar.

This 240v dilemma was magnified during a recent, mid-winter caravanning trip to the Red Centre. After a run of freezing cold mornings during a period of bush camping, we were starting to miss not only waking up to some warmth, but also having a half-decent coffee from the pod machine.

The good news was that we had a new Honda EU22i to try out. This model arrived in early 2018 as the replacement for the popular EU20i, and has a few updates to make it an even better option when out bush…

Heave-ho

The EU22i weighs 21.1kg, much the same as the EU20i it replaces and about average for a generator of around 2kVa output (2.4kVa in this case).

The Honda has a durable grab handle but once you add the 3.4 litres of fuel and 0.44L of engine oil you’re looking at about 25kg, which is a lot to carry around. Put it this way, when I got to an area clear of spinifex about 10 metres from the van, I was glad I didn’t have to carry it any further.

There’s no way to sugar coat it - if you want a generator big enough to power heavy current draw items like an air conditioner, it’s going to be heavy. You could leave the unit on a slide out extended from its locker, but then you face the issue of exhaust fumes close to the van and, of course the noise.

The Honda is at least fairly compact; measuring 509mm long, 290mm wide and 425mm high.

What’s new?

The GX120 engine (replacing the 98cc GX100 in the EU20i) is a 121cc four-stroke OHC single-cylinder unit with an 8.5:1 compression ratio.

The good news is that power delivery of the EU22i has upped 200watts over the EU20i in both peak and rated outputs: they’re now 2200watts and 1800watts respectively. For 12vDC battery charging, the maximum output is 8.3amps. There are no USB or 12v auxiliary power ports on the unit, just a two-pole 240v outlet.

Also changed on the EU22i is an oil alert for low engine oil - firstly a warning light and then a cut-out switch stops the engine if oil level has become critically low.

Another new feature is the fuel shutoff valve, which allows the engine to burn the remaining fuel in the carburettor to help avoid stale fuel problems, or the carburettor gumming up with old fuel after being stored.

A new metal insert around the recoil rope helps reduce the chance of damage to the generator body (the EU20i relied just on the plastic case, which was easily damaged by the nylon recoil rope).

The oil filler has a wider, deeper lip to reduce the chances of spillage, and inverter cooling is improved with new ducts allowing for more even air flow over internal parts  and better air flow overall.

Power to the people

With the Honda accessory cables connecting them you can link up two generators together to double output watts to 4400watts. But you’d really be running a lot of 240v gear at camp to want this kind of gennie back-up though.

With the single EU22i’s 2200watt output, we were able to run the Dometic Freshjet 3200 on the van in heating mode for several hours each morning.

The Freshjet has a 1360watt power consumption in heating mode but had a soft start mode. This means the unit is designed to draw as little power as possible to get the motor spinning (a non soft-start aircon can need up to roughly four times its running current draw to get the motor spinning, and is likely to not even start up on a gennie like this).

With the heating belting out hot air at full blast to thaw us out and the 1000watt pod coffee machine pumping out a coffee, the Honda did a fine job of keeping the power up.

It took a few pulls at the starter cord to get the fresh new generator going but each start-up after that was almost instant. The relatively small and low-compression engine doesn’t need a heave on the cord to get going.

Noise issues

Noise is always going to be an issue with a petrol generator, and the EU22i doesn’t change that bare fact. However, like its predecessor, the EU22i has the Eco Throttle feature, which runs the generator at lower rpm for reduced noise and fuel consumption.

If more power delivery is needed, the Honda automatically throttles up to 4000-4500rpm. When full, the EU22i’s 3.6-litre fuel tank will run the gennie for up to eight hours in Eco-Throttle mode.

Because we had neighbours (albeit the closest were a good 20-30 metres away) we were reluctant to run the generator before 8am and much after dark. Any generator is going to disturb the peace and quiet of a bush camp. At least with Eco Throttle engaged, the Honda was pretty subtle about it, with a claimed 53dB at seven metres.

Would we buy one?

There are cheaper gennies on the market, but the Honda has stood the test of time, and the new features give it an edge over many of its lower-end rivals.

The EU22i retails at $2099 (although a quick look online reveals more attractive pricing than that) and warranty is four years for domestic and one year for commercial use.