Installing a hour meter and tachometer on a Honda EU2000i generator

Total install time: Approximately 5-10 minutes.
Demonstration on how you can install a basic NON-INVASIVE and REMOVABLE hour meter from your Honda EU2000i inverter series portable generator. The key to long generator life is precise service intervals where the oil, fuel and air cleaners are regularly cleaned of any contaminants that are built up. My video isn't nearly as snazzy as some others that have modified their gen sets with a permanent hour meter. I chose to use a solution that is not invasive to the housing of the generator. I try to keep all my power equipment in like new condition and that includes the case as well. I hate the idea of drilling holes or cutting out notches in the casing just to put something so simple in. Instead I would much rather use something that can be removed at a later date that isn't at all intrusive to the unit.
The hour meter I am using is a hardline sealed hour/rpm meter. The meter is designed to last 10 years so I think that is plenty of life for my purposes. At a cost of about $30 that's cheap insurance for me to know when I should service my unit.
This procedure is technically going to be the same for ANY generator. As long as you can sensing wire around the spark plug wire this meter will work.
Hope you enjoy my video.

[@harrisonwinslow1302]

I don't understand why you would not just drill a small hole in the top cover of the generator and run the wire to the Tach that way, with your method you cannot remove the side plate anymore because there is a wire snaked through it. Thanks for video.

[@piercedasian]

+Harrison Winslow Hi Harrison, I deliberately didn't put a hole in my case b/c honestly I'm overly anal about modifying my barely used generator. As weird as it might sound so much as putting a scratch on my generator kills me let along me deliberately drilling a hole into the case. Yes it sounds outright silly but believe me when i say I'm a bit anal about things. Definitely drilling a tiny hole makes sense for a person with logic but in this case I refuse to drill. Thanks for watching.

[@robertbutler8004]

Or he could have purchased a meter without any wires period as in a vibrating hour meter.

[@CC-pl8bt]

Seriously . . . what is this guy thinking? Drill a whole . . . and stop calling them "ZAP STRAPS" they are called ZIP TIES . . . by every single manufacturer :(

[@ryancavender7700]

OMG I said the same thing, avoid all the exposed wire

[@timmmah177]

I'm anal about things like this too and I wouldn't want my nice new generator looking like a four year old wired up the hour meter. Do it properly

[@calfeggs]

I might do this with mine, although I'll probably drill a small hole, to keep the wire from getting caught on things. Good video.

[@piercedasian]

+Legend Cox Yep, drilling a tiny little hole definitely will prevent it from catching on things but I'm so anal about putting holes in my expensive equipment. Obviously drilling a hole is the cleanest and best way to do the install but I'm so anal about putting holes in things that I didn't bother on mine. Good luck and thanks for watching :)

[@MyStone88]

I'm so glad I ran into this video. I just bought two meters. One for my Honda 2000I and one for my Yamaha 2400i. It would be nice to put one on my Polaris Outlaw 450 and my two KawasakiJS750s. Do you know if it works on a two-cycle motor?

[@piercedasian]

+Joe John I believe the hour meter does. You can set the # of "cycles" that the reader is expecting. Worst case scenario is you could divide the # of hours in half and that would be your real # of hours on your two stroke. Glad you liked my vid. Thanks for watching :)

[@oxozero]

I would have notched or drilled a small hole through the housing so the wire would not run through the cover.

[@piercedasian]

+oxozero yep I considered doing that BUT my stubbornness to not put holes into my unit of any sort was what stopped me. I'm super OCD that way and it drives even myself crazy at times.

[@smes2825]

It's NOT A RAP STRAP! They are Zip ties! Other then that u did an ok job. Next vid you do, have a beer do yoga. Or something to calm you down. Hope you don't fk like you work! Lol

[@piercedasian]

In Canada we refer to them as Zap strap, or a Ty-wrap (trademark name), or zip ties. Do yoga? I probably should one day to slow me down a few notches.

[@leebrian]

Zapstrap? Not a ziptie?

[@piercedasian]

yeah guys at my work refer to them as zip ties, ty wraps, zap straps... I used to always refer to them as zip ties but lately I've caught myself calling it zap straps.... but yes, zap strap = zip ties for everyone else :)

[@leebrian]

Lol, thanks for the detailed video. I'm going to get an hour meter on mine as well after seeing the simple installation.

[@piercedasian]

yeah they definitely help with the maintenance side of things. It is pretty critical to service generators and other small power equipment properly. There isn't an oil filter so particles keep getting circulated round and round inside the moving parts leading to premature wear. What better way to prevent that than to change the oil often!

[@veggiepowered]

I'am Your Newest Subscriber Great Videos

[@piercedasian]

Thanks for subbing!

[@friendlyhonda3187]

Thanks for the video. Not the way I would do it - I would have drilled the casing to make it so I could still remove the service cover without the hassle - but not wrong.

[@piercedasian]

yeah, I know I could've drilled a hole and mounted it on the outside but I'm too anal to drill into my pretty generator. Yes lame excuse on my part but that is just how I am with things.

[@christopherreddick5263]

That was easy! I think I may stick mine on the spark plug door with a small drilled hole. I realize ordering a replacement spark plug cover has to be cheaper if I ever needed to replace it to 'fix' the hole I drilled. In either case, great video. Still relevant today, thank you!

[@piercedasian]

Good point. I still have mine tucked away inside my generator and since installing the hour meter I think I have maybe put on 3 runs hours in total. I need to find reasons to use mine more :)

[@RogerC68]

Christ, I did the same thing on installing the meter on my spark plug cover with a small hole for the wire.

[@piercedasian]

@ john doe - zap strap, tie wraps whatever you want to call them are available practically anywhere. You remove the panel exactly how you'd remove it normally. There is plenty of wire left inside the unit to allow you to take the cover off and set it aside to do the servicing. If you listened to the video you'd know why I didn't bother with drilling a small hole in my generator case - I am particular how handle my things and drilling a tiny little hole wasn't even an option I was considering.

[@bryanwheels6174]

My god people. If you don't like the name of the straps ….just move on. If you don't like the way the door may never ever come off...…..dang move on already. His generator . He can do as he pleases. I'm just glad to know I can put one on my Yamaha. Thanks Piercedasin…..!

[@skyrace4306]

You can cut the signal wire to any length. You can even extend it (a bit) if it isn't long enough. It is an inductive sensor on the HV ignition system. There is a very clear and strong signal so no worries.

[@piercedasian]

that's good to know. I wasn't aware that you could snip that wire to shorten the length. Thanks for sharing that info!

[@rockinfigs]

Was also thinking.. Since the wire is long enough u can cut it n test it to see if it works w connectors n if it doesn't just cut the connection part away n back to one solid wire

[@piercedasian]

Steve Lee hmm interesting thought. I may give that a shot. thanks for the pointers!

[@rickmantell8152]

OK, so I've just fitted an hour meter to the exact same generator and can confirm a couple of things. First, you can cut the cable without causing any problem with the hour meter working. Secondly, I followed your instructions except for the location of the hour meter. I fitted it to a section of the generator (behind the service cover) to the left side. It's like a plastic cowling and near the sticker.There's not a lot of room there, but enough to fit. So, with my fitting you cannot see the hour meter and there are no exposed wires and you won't be knocking the meter off the external surface. Why fit it behind the service cover? For one, I won't be sitting there watching the meter tick over so there's no need to mount it externally, second there's no exposed wires and the unit looks standard from the outside. I also zip tied the wire to a couple of other internal components, but did leave enough slack in case you need to take the spark plug lead off. Cheers!

[@piercedasian]

+Rick Mantell great tips Rick. I ended up relocating mine to the inside of the unit as well similar to how you've described it. Hindsight is always 20/20 :) Glad that one can snip the wire to make the install cleaner. I didn't cut it for fear of screwing up the calibration IF there was such a dependency - apparently not. Thanks for sharing those tips. Always great to know these things.

[@rickmantell8152]

+piercedasian thanks for that. I must say that I needed your video to get me thinking though! It's a funny thing with the wiring for these hour meters. They don't actually connect to anything, they just wrap around. Anyway, mine's working fine!

[@piercedasian]

that's great news. Glad to hear that all is working well. I think I'm going to go and mod my generator hour meter now :)

[@ChrisDIYerOklahoma]

I know this is an older post...but, I think I may try this. THanks.

[@mso4433]

Sounds like a good idea, but putting a battery-powered device inside with all that heat will kill your tiny battery a lot sooner than it would normally die. Heat and cold are battery killers. Just my thoughts.

[@samhill5231]

Great way to route the wire from the spark plug to the meter. I am against drilling a hole in the plastic casing of my expensive Honda EU2200i genset for any reason and it just doesn't make sense to do so if there is an ingenious way of routing it like you did. I will be doing the same thing to mine when the meter arrives from Amazon. Thanks for posting this obviously very helpful video.

[@rickmantell8152]

Just one more thing...the Honda EU200i does have an hour meter of sorts, albeit rather limited. When you start the generator a green light comes on. If you've done 100 hours the light blinks once when the generator is turned on. 2 blinks for 200 hours etc. Not overly accurate, but it will give you an idea of how many hours the generator is done if you're buying second hand.

[@piercedasian]

+Rick Mantell I had NO idea that the generator had that. GREAT TIP and you taught me and everyone else here something new :)

[@JormaKovanen]

What about EU20i, AC 220V ? I have kept my own bookkeeping of hours. They are about 8500. I don't think that the green light will blink 85 times when I start my generator. I bought it from a Honda dealer, and the generator was new. That was in 2003.

[@WoolyBuggerPicker]

2003 is too old for this feature, only the later Thai made ones and on have it.

[@mattobermiller5041]

@@piercedasian As far as I know, the factory blinking light hour meter maxes out at 500 hours.

[@user-dn6rx8pb9o]

LOL, one of the worst applications and install videos I have ever seen in my 70 + years on the planet. Totally disgusting in so many ways, normal folks would never do this EVER.

[@piercedasian]

Nobody said you had to watch this. Move on.

[@dpeter6396]

Now if you need to remove that side cover which must be removed to do the maintenance.......... Notch in edge of park plug cover!

[@piercedasian]

It isn't too bad actually and I've since moved my hour meter. At the time I was overly neurotic about not drilling or cutting anything on this generator but that was ages ago. To your point I've since put in a tiny notch in the plug cover and called it a day. Works good.

[@impedancenetwork9420]

Why in the fuck are you calling those zap straps? You are obviously in the U.S. where we call those zip ties, or tie straps. I have never in 53 years heard those called "zap straps."

[@piercedasian]

I'm obviously in the US - Not so at all. Zip ties are sometimes referred to zap straps by the telecommunications industry techs so before you go dropping expletives on my channel maybe you should educate yourself on how other industries in other countries refer to certain things. Just because you haven't heard about it in 53 years doesn't make you right.

[@DurvalMenezes]

Passing the cable through the choke lever opening is genius! One question, doesn't the cable interfere when you need to open the side panel (for oil changes etc)?

[@piercedasian]

nope not at all. I leave enough "extra length" inside the generator such that it never will get tangled in anything so that I can easily remove the cover to do maintenance work. I don't like drilling holes into my equipment so this was effectively a hack to ensure I get what I need to work without affecting the stock setup of the generator.

[@afterburmer]

Nice video, although I would've installed the clock inside, that wire will be in the way of that access door.

[@piercedasian]

yep, in the end I just rerouted the cable and placed it on the inside. Honestly whichever spot you decide to place it will be just fine. I have two of these generators and one is on the inside and the other on the outside and both are still pretty easy to service.

[@stormbytes]

You can trim that wire down to size. No need to have coils of wire dangling around inside your case.

[@piercedasian]

I thought it was calibrated for a certain length of wire. If that is the case I am so gonna trim mine to length. Thanks for the tip!

[@NetworkingToolKit]

@@piercedasian Was is calibrated?

[@mowcowbell]

The comments on this video were very helpful. I have one of the Honda clones (Westinghouse iGen2500), will try mounting the hour meter inside the case instead of any drilling or altering the exterior looks of the beautiful blue case. :)

[@piercedasian]

yeah I didn't want to drill a hole in my case either b/c I'm just overly neurotic of having things look factory fresh.

[@rikmiles6531]

Seriously. Talking with a friggen engine blasting .

[@piercedasian]

my bad.

[@DrDennis]

Wire is always in the way when you take off dude civer

[@piercedasian]

Its not too bad to be honest but I have since relocated the meter where the wire doesn't interfere.

[@99kevin99]

Thank you!

[@9k2ub]

Great fun opening the maintenance door afterwards

[@piercedasian]

yes yes, I know... it can be a pain but no holes drilled and that was what I wanted for my generator. Others can easily just drill a teeny little hole in the top but I chose not to.

[@bobfreestone1752]

Thankyou so much for a wonderful tutorial. My generator is about to be uprated !

[@piercedasian]

+Bob Freestone you're welcome. Thanks for watching :)

[@01cissy]

Most excellent video. Quick and to the point. Good job !

[@piercedasian]

thanks!

[@Grey-ke9gd]

Excellent reference thanks!

[@piercedasian]

You're welcome!

[@rockinfigs]

im sure you can cut the wire in the middle somewhere and install connectors so you can easily disconnect the wire to take off the service panel if you dont want it permanently hardwired through the hole

[@piercedasian]

Steve Lee I wasn't 100% sure if I could do that or not and opted to not gamble on trimming the sensing lead for fear of it not working properly with my generator. It was minimal work to zip tie the extra sensing lead. The hour meter actually can be easily removed from the sensing wire if need be as it is just a "loop through some holes to hold it in" setup. In any case, the install is relatively clean and most importantly I didn't drill a single hole anywhere on my genset :)

[@rockinfigs]

Cool.. Yeah I prob won't cut the wire either now u think about it... Gotta order my meter.. Thks for the vid

[@piercedasian]

not a problem. Thanks for watching!

[@joaquintall5180]

Excellent video! Finally got the motivation to fasten the hour meter/tach to my 2000i

[@piercedasian]

glad you liked the vid and the fact that I routed the wire through the choke hole. Some people give me hell over that (rightfully so I guess). I just don't like holes in my chassis.

[@joaquintall5180]

Yeah, cutting a hole in my truck's roof for my ham radio antenna is not going to happen either(!) What I did on the gennie was to cover the tiny access opening I drilled into the case, with the meter itself. It's unnoticeable, it looks very clean, neat and most of all, functional. Again, thanks for taking the time to make the video!

[@piercedasian]

yeah I could've done the same with mine but me and drilling holes = never good outcome no matter how small the hole is. That being said I'm glad you got a hour meter installed on the generator. It is absolutely required to know the "mileage of your gen set".

[@yosuecaridad944]

So everytime i need to open the sideplate, iwill have to remove the sticker? I see a mess with the wire when changing the oil

[@piercedasian]

+Yosue Carded it isn't that bad actually BUT since I published this video I have remounted the hour meter inside the unit towards the back of the compartment so that it is clean and hassle free. I just don't like drilling into my generator case (call me super anal retentive).

[@yosuecaridad944]

+piercedasian believe me. I wouldn't either. I saw a bracket on ebay to mount it right over those 2 screws where you passed the cable. Im still debating if going with the 1000$ honda or the smarter tools ap2000iq. I have not read bad things about that one. Off course the honda IS the 2000 king inverter. Cheers

[@piercedasian]

That way I see it is the money you spend today won't be wasted as the Honda has an extremely well established and proven track record. I could've easily walked into to Costco to buy a cheapie Honda copy but I opted to spend the extra funds on what I REALLY wanted and I have ZERO regrets doing so. Sure it costs more but the satisfaction knowing you bought a quality product is enough reason for me.

[@yosuecaridad944]

Yes sir. That is a big true. I think i will have to say goodbye to a 1000$ and avoid a lot of headaches in the future

[@piercedasian]

you'll be glad you purchased a Honda :)

[@marshallcollins8634]

So now how do you get the cover off. This should be titled HOW NOT TO INSTALL AN HOUR METER.

[@piercedasian]

The cover comes off easily since there is slack in the wire. I've since relocated the hour meter to inside the cover but the point of why I did it this way was to not drill any holes into my generator's housing. I'm neurotic and want to maintain the like factory new condition of my gear and modding things even if the mod is super tiny would drive my OCD into overdrive.

[@azclaimjumper]

I've just added a Hardline Hour Meter, no tachometer, to my new Eu2200i. My Eu2000i was stolen. Like B4, I drilled a hole on the spark plug side of the generator, up near the front of the handle. Yes, I had to loosen the front & remove the back of the generator then pull the 2 eexterior halves apart, insert a metal scraper & hold it so when the drill is through the case it it comes in contact with my scraper, not the plastic gas tank. TIP for STARTING your generator after a long period of non-usage: Put ethanol-FREE gas in the tank, laced with Seaform. Leave the Filler Cap vent CLOSED after adding gas. Turn the Switch to ON, now shake your generator which allows the gas to expand creating pressure. Wait a couple of minutes. Now turn the Filler Cap vent to OPEN, close the choke, pull the handle & it should readily start. This is the procedure the Authorized Honda Dealer uses here in Nevada to start brand new generators & they only put 15-25 oz of ethanol gas in the generator's gas tank. SeaFoam vs Sta-Bil - this is WHY I add Seafoam to the ethanol-FREE gas. weingartz.com/expert-advice/2017/01/fuel-stabilizers-sta-bil-or-sea-foam/

[@piercedasian]

yeah ethanol gas = evil! Great tips. I will definitely be trying that on my own generator the next time I need to start it and it hasn't been run in a while. Thanks for sharing!

[@Thesimplehomeowner]

you can cut the wire on the meter, no issues there. good install, thanks for the video.

[@piercedasian]

Thanks for the tip!

[@MrFr0zte]

What do you do when it is time to take the panel off to service the generator? The wire is now holding the panel to the generator without much slack to move it out of the way.

[@piercedasian]

There is plenty of excess wire that will enable you to pull the panel away without a hitch. I personally would like to have the panel come off without having to move wires BUT I wanted the absolutely ZERO invasive install on my generator as I am very apprehensive on putting ANY kind of holes into my generator's housing. The wire that came with this hour meter will EASILY allow you to pull the panel back a foot or two without any issues.

[@turbovan65]

I would have put it inside the housing for two reasons: to protect it from rain and damage, and to avoid having a wire coming out.

[@piercedasian]

After about a year of using it on the outside that I ended up tucking that on the inside like you suggested. You can't even tell it has an hour meter on it now.

[@sunnyvalejedi]

A whole lotta nope. I used double sided tape and mounted on the gas tank, inside the case.

[@piercedasian]

yeah I know... I'm neurotic about modding my minty generator. Quite silly of me actually but it worked like that for years before I decided to relocate the meter to the hour meter to the inside of the unit.

[@NarrowRoadTraveler365]

How accurate is it? In all of the video's I have seen, it seems to jump around. Once its on for a minute or so, does it even out?

[@piercedasian]

fairfield1987 if the tach is a decent quality unit that allows you to configure the # of spark cycles and you've got it setup properly it works surprisingly well. This particular generator has an electronic governor that keeps the RPMS very precise and thus I've found that there is minimal RPM drift. I think sometimes you get erroneous/erratic readings because the signal pickup wire isn't wound tightly or neatly around the ignition wires which can cause it to pick up stray EMI/RFI interference which can mess up the readings. So far I'm very happy with my unit and since it's install I have logged over 50 hours of run time which signifies that it needs an oil change whereas before I would know no differently and would always be guesstimating the run time :)

[@FrankPerkins]

Thanks for the walkthrough. I'm going to install this on my gen.

[@piercedasian]

You're very welcome!

[@MrSTOUT73]

What is it you're tying off at 2:41???? What are those wires?

[@piercedasian]

just tying up the extra wire for the hour meter.

[@jeffeeeeeee]

The lithium battery is supposed to last around 3 years, was wondering when its time to change battery will the meter store the running time? Or will it be lost during battery replacement? Thanks for posting vid.

[@piercedasian]

Hi Jeff, glad you liked the video. On my hour meter the battery is not replaceable and is expected to last between 8-10 years. I am sure that by that time I can crack open the case and replace the lithium cell but I'm betting that the hour meter will reset back to zero hours since it likely doesn't use "non volatile memory" which can store data without power.

[@dannyj5688]

@Jeff E...From what I can understand, from other video's, once the battery dies, the whole unit has to be replaced....The batteries are not replaceable.

[@jeffeeeeeee]

@@dannyj5688 thanks for the reply...... believe it or not battery still operating.....have 210 hours on the Honda gen Very happy with both.

[@lavers_1]

is it accurate ? i mean if I timed it against my phone timer start/stop ?

[@piercedasian]

It seems reasonably accurate. I can't vouch that its accurate to the exact minute b/c it is pulse based (from the spark plug) so any reading anomalies would be a result of interference in the pickup line. Overall the idea is to give you an approximation of run time to the nearest 10th of an hour which I think is quite reasonable.

[@lavers_1]

@@piercedasian thx for the reply! it's probably better for me to use this than trying to recorded it myself on my new riding mower as I will mess it up anyway in the end. lol

[@rvsam4u]

Good job. Thanks for the video

[@bryanwheels6174]

I'm also glad you didn't drill a hole . Good Work bud !

[@piercedasian]

Yeah I get a lot of clack for not drilling a hole but in all honesty I couldn’t bring myself to doing that because I like my stuff to be in factory fresh condition. I use my generator lots in all sorts of conditions but when it gets home it gets the royal treatment every time before being put away. Probably why my things at home are so old and look like I just bought them!

[@bryanwheels6174]

Im the exact same way with everything. Cheers. @@piercedasian

[@justliketolook]

Before you wrap the wire around the spark plug wire drill a small hole where your going to put the meter and run the line through the hole this way when you want to take the cover off and on the wire won't be in the way . Or just leave the meter on the inside .

[@piercedasian]

+justliketolook absolutely I should've drilled a hole but I didn't do so by design b/c I didn't want to modify my case at all (call me anal that way). I ended up putting my hour meter on the inside of the generator after I did this vid so that it was hidden away. Not like I need to stare at it while it's operating...

[@justliketolook]

+piercedasian be sure to place a shut off valve just behind the bend in the gas line where the gas line comes out of the pump . This will let you shut off the gas going to the carb and it allows the generator to run all the gas out of the carb so you won't have and gumming up of gas and it keep the generator running good . Its a easy install . It takes about a minute to use up the gas in the carb then it will die out . The way it is now when you shut the knob off it leaves gas in the carb and that okay if your using it every day but once you know your not going to use it for longer than a week then that gas starts to gum up .

[@piercedasian]

yes that is a mod I am actually going to be doing this year on my gen set. I've hesitated in the past but gumming carbs pee me off enough that I can't stand cleaning mine out every other year....

[@justliketolook]

+piercedasian I think I'm also going to install a on off switch on the inside so I can shut off the fuel pump when I turn off the gas with the valve so the pump won't be running and causing pressure in the pump . this way the generator will still be running and using up the gas in the line and carb with out harming the pump and causing any back pressure .

[@piercedasian]

hmm true that. I bet honda did that by design to not include a fuel cut valve for fear of frying that super expensive electric fuel pump.

[@azclaimjumper]

Thanks for taking time to show how easy the installation is. Your video is informative, interesting, & is the reason I come to youtube; looking for DIY videos

[@piercedasian]

+Bill Cole yes installing an hour meter on pretty much ANY power equipment is super easy. My method probably isn't as "pro" looking as some others but I don't like drilling holes into ANYTHING just because... well... I pay good money for my equipment so I'm a bit obsessive and "anal" about things. Thanks for watching and consider subscribing if you like my channel :)

[@azclaimjumper]

+piercedasian I just subscribed, I've previously check the "like" box. IF I pull the buy trigger on the generator, then I'll definitely also buy the Hardline Hour/Tach meter. Do you know if the 12v outlet can be used at the same time a 120v outlet is being used? Do you know if the 12v circuitry when using the 12v outlet will prevent a battery from being overcharged? Yes, I know the 12v outlet charges at 8 amps.

[@piercedasian]

awesome thanks! If you do buy the generator you'll LOVE it. Nicest generator I've seen so far (next to higher priced models of course). Super stable power, starts on the first 2 pulls and runs smooth and quiet. I ran it once at a campground all night on FULL load and nobody even noticed it when I had it tucked away in the bush... No regrets from me at all. Good investment. For the charger you cannot use both the ac and dc outputs at the same time. You'll damage the alternator. The DC charger is unregulated and not stable like the ac side is and it can overcharge batteries IF left long enough. Usually with 12 volt batteries this isn't an issue since the 12 volt battery stabilizes the voltage much like how a car battery does that for a car. Just err with caution if you're going to use it all the time to deep charge batteries. If in doubt buy an ac powered battery charger to precisely charge your batteries. They're lightweight, inexpensive and "smart" so as to not damage the batteries you're charging and because it runs on ac that means you can run other ac powered devices at the same time :)

[@azclaimjumper]

+piercedasian I bought my EU2000i yesterday. I'll get delivery of my Hardline hour meter/tachometer on Monday & will install it. I, however, will be drilling a small hole in the case to feed the pickup wire to the hour meter. I want to be able to remove the generator side access panel without having to disconnect the hour meter pick up wire. I also plan to spray paint my generator Blue, which is Yamaha's color in hopes of reducing the size of the bullseye that the criminal element has for the RED Honda generators. The place where I bought my generator has a cable running through the handles of all Honda Generators to deter theft. That tells me these generators hare high on the criminal elements "wishlist" Hopefully, the different color on my generator won't attract the same attention as a RED generator. After 20 hours, I'll be changing the oil to 0W-20 Amsoil which is a 100% man-made synthetic lubricant. I also plan to modify my generator so I can add a 2nd gas tank. I'll be doing the same modification I saw on youtube, entitled, "Honda EU2000i improvement. One of a kind."

[@piercedasian]

Congratulations Bill! You'll be very happy with it. Rather than drilling a hole into the unit why don't you just buy the "camo" version of the generator. This ways you won't have to paint it and it will have that perfect factory look to it. The camo unit blends into the background quite well. As for the cable through the handle it is really more of a deterrent for a passer by than it really is an anti theft mechanism. The handle doesn't have any metal going through it thus it can be easily sawed off and the generator removed from your possession. honda actually sells a high security handlebar guard but I'm not sure how effective it really is. Something to consider if you're worried about theft.

[@4davidsimpson]

What should I do if they don't sell ZapStraps in my area?

[@piercedasian]

can you order them online? You could use twist ties that sometimes comes with garbage bags or with electronics (they wrap cords from the factory with them).

[@akbychoice]

Use tape

[@ericbarker3351]

Get a life ?

[@kaisha69able]

David Simpson who give a shit what their called??

[@josephburkhalter5105]

Harbor Freight will sell you about 50 for 2-3 bucks. Lowe’s for about 6-8 bucks. Don,t buy short tiny ones, almost useless except for little jobs. JoeB

[@CitizenOfBabylon]

Battery only lasts 2 years and is non replaceable... So in 2 years you'll have no idea how many hours.. Buy a real one.

[@piercedasian]

it has been more than 2 years and so far the hour meter is still going strong.

[@farlesbarkley1022]

Best reply ever. Also, even if the hour meter died, you shouldn't be left with "no idea" of the hours...hopefully you are paying just a tiny bit more attention to the gen than that. I have a gen that I bought 4.5 years ago...I know how many hours are on it, pretty close, at all times...if the hour meter quit I wouldn't just suddenly completely forget that

[@mso4433]

Actually the Hardline has a 10 year battery. Most of the hour meters do in fact have 2 year batteries. That's why the Hardline costs twice as much, but worth it.

[@RussellWHanson]

ZAP STRAP!!!!!

[@piercedasian]

lol ty wraps, zap straps... all the same to me :)

[@vk2icj]

Thank you,, well done

[@piercedasian]

you're welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@Delphi450r]

“Zap strap”? 🤔

[@piercedasian]

its a term that our company uses to describe zip ties. I used to work for a large telecommunications company and that's what we all called it.

[@Delphi450r]

Interesting, what’s the ZAP term for?

[@piercedasian]

I think the technicians just called it ZAP straps b/c they were "quick" to tighten. Not sure why but that term has stuck with me for the past 20 years.

[@stephensmith980]

That wire is going to be in the way when opening the door. Bad installation

[@piercedasian]

I know it isn't ideal BUT I did not want to drill holes into my generator. I'm neurotic that way that's why.