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2021 Honda Generator Carbon Monoxide Indicator

Here iis wiring for a e7000 honda shows where sensor is located just wondering if all hondas are located in the same spot part #22
Ref No
22
Part Number
35610-Z37-PA0
Description
SENSING UNIT (CO)
Serial Range
1000001 - 9999999






 
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Here iis wiring for a e7000 honda shows where sensor is located just wondering if all hondas are located in the same spot part #22
Ref No
22
Part Number
35610-Z37-PA0
Description
SENSING UNIT (CO)
Serial Range
1000001 - 9999999






Well that at least gives people the shape of the unit to be looking for and it seems to be by an air vent.
 
I believe that is the sensor the Eg2800I shows the same part but with a different part number, Honda shows $175.00 for this also seen cheaper from 100.00-150.00 on other sites, when i get free time i will be unplugging to see what happens. Here is the site for this model so far looking like they are all made looking the same and maybe all in the same place, Part #12
 
Okay so I have been feeling guilty about you guys doing all of the leg work while the OP lounges around with his Generator in the Box :).

I opened the box yesterday and filled the EU3000is Genny with oil and then removed the control panel case cover so that I could get to the battery and connect it. This also happens to be the place where the intake air vent are located and so I was pretty sure I was going to see this CO sensor. Sure enough the bugger was right there and it does not look good.

CO_Sensor.jpg

That is it right next to the ignition key and if you look closely you start to see that they mean business.
The unit is self powered, I guess the battery level indication is what tells it when its time to replace the unit.
I don't think it's any coincidence that they recessed it into that metal cover. It makes sealing it in a air tight case a lot harder. Then you can see they used security bolts to hold it down. I could not see the wire loom or the air intake hole. That metal recess makes it hard to see anything. THE QR code produces nothing on my phone.

My thinking is to tackle this again when I have the security tool on hand and can spend more time with a volt meter seeing what the connector Pins are doing. I am not feeling very confident as this does not look like a cheap piece of CO kit and they certainly had tampering in mind when they set it up.

I did a trip of the unit by boxing it in and on the EU300Is the Oil light indicator does NOT come on. Only the CO indicator comes on! So that kind of blows the theory of a common wire in the loom with the low oil pressure switch.

BTW love the build quality of this generator. I was comparing it with my first generation EU3000is and wow they have made a lot of upgrades. They now using rubber grommets on everything and it is just so much more refined inside. I don't know if its just that my 16 year old unit is making more noise with age or what, but this one is like half the noise level of the old one. The old one is not at all loud, but this one is even better.
 
I think once you pull it off of there, it will be easier to see the actual air inlet. Could be as simple as taping over it since the rest of the box looks pretty well sealed.

Side note: I learned a long time ago to always have a large set of security bits on hand.
 
I think once you pull it off of there, it will be easier to see the actual air inlet. Could be as simple as taping over it since the rest of the box looks pretty well sealed.

Side note: I learned a long time ago to always have a large set of security bits on hand.
I have a pack of security bits but I lent them out to a friend and now and have to get them back.
The bigger problem in my pessimistic engineering mind is that when this much money is spent on a security device, there are typically two questions that the bosses asks the engineers.

1) What happens if they just plug it out.
2) What happens if they just seal it over.

My gut feeling is that this thing transmits data and may realize when the sensor data is not changing at all.
I am certainly not planning on hacking the thing but maybe some fish tank tubing over the inlet will allow me to lead the intake away from the unit. Second option is to just build a 6ft extension cable harness and move it outside of the enclosure. I like option two the best as it keeps the safety option in perfect working order but allows say an RV or home owner to move the sensor inside the RV\house where it is still protecting them. Tape will certainly be the first test but my expectations are not high.
 
My gut feeling is that this thing transmits data and may realize when the sensor data is not changing at all.

I doubt that. It may look for data transmitting (to prevent removal), but is there is no carbon monoxide, there is nothing to report. And adding "smarts" to actually analyze the data would probably not be cost effective.
 
I have read were Honda say these will still work if they are partly obstructed but dose not say anything about if the are fully obstructed what would happen. Have not had time to tear into mine yet i have a E6500SX, been working 12 hour shifts right now.
 
I doubt that. It may look for data transmitting (to prevent removal), but is there is no carbon monoxide, there is nothing to report. And adding "smarts" to actually analyze the data would probably not be cost effective.
Tell you a little story.
3 hours before I took the new Generator out of the box to look for this sensor, I was installing an Eaton lightning surge protector on my panel box. In order to do this I disconnected all utility power from the house and turned on my older EU3000is generator so the wife would be happy and not in darkness. This generator is in a outdoor cabinet about 4 feet from where my new electrical room is located.

After about 25 minutes I had the Surge protector installed and I turned back on the Main Power and then the Inverter. As I was waiting for the Sol-Ark to finish it's 300 second delay on restarting after a power outage I suddenly heard a weird low pitched loud beeping sound. I had never heard the Inverter make this sound before and I was perplexed.
I started to think the Surge protector must be somehow messing with the Sol-Ark. So I quickly powered off the Sol-Ark and then realized the sound is still there. I looked up and there is my First Alert Smoke and CO alarm blaring at me, but not with a typical high pitched sound but a much lower pitched beep. Then I started to hear a female voice saying "Warning Carbon Monoxide Levels is at 250 in the Utility room". Suddenly it like Duh the Generator outside is blowing CO into the room through the open door and the exhaust fan is not pulling it out fast enough.

I switch back on the Inverter and close the Door and the voice comes back saying CO levels at 270 then 20 seconds later 230 and so forth until it gets down to 150 and the 10 seconds later the alarm is off. A couple of minutes later the inverter was back on line and I switched off the generator from inside the house and noticed that my phone on the dining room table had a crap load of alerts on it from the Smoke detector.

The point of this long story is that if this little $86 device with built in Wifi can give fairly accurate CO measurements and transmit it over Wifi and voice it would not surprise me at all that a $170 CO module inside a generator can at least transmit the data back to the Inverter board and send a signal if it thinks the sensor is malfunctioning.
 
The point of this long story is that if this little $86 device with built in Wifi can give fairly accurate CO measurements and transmit it over Wifi and voice it would not surprise me at all that a $170 CO module inside a generator can at least transmit the data back to the Inverter board and send a signal if it thinks the sensor is malfunctioning.

But how is clean air considered malfunctioning? Unless there is an air movement sensor in there, I can't see it being an issue. Bet if your wifi CO sensor was in a sealed bag, it would just continue to think everything is fine.

In any case, if the module is actually available for purchase, I think this whole bypass thing is less of an issue. I personally would still want to be able to bypass things if it was an emergency though, even if that means having a spare on hand. Usually the clock does not start on the sensor's EOL timer until you pull a tab or otherwise activate the battery.
 
I am waiting for response from Honda as to what the life expectancy is for these sensor, I would suspect since they are showing up in the two generators i posted then the the life of these are well under 10 years maybe in the 5-6 years don.t know when those two gens. came out, my es6500 came out in 2021 if i am correct still shows no sensor part number. A buddy has a nice boat with a co installed on his engine and he says it is only good for 5 years before it flashes to tell him to change it, said he was told the time starts when you plug it in to harness and start the engine not while it is setting on the shelf.
 
But how is clean air considered malfunctioning? Unless there is an air movement sensor in there, I can't see it being an issue. Bet if your wifi CO sensor was in a sealed bag, it would just continue to think everything is fine.

In any case, if the module is actually available for purchase, I think this whole bypass thing is less of an issue. I personally would still want to be able to bypass things if it was an emergency though, even if that means having a spare on hand. Usually the clock does not start on the sensor's EOL timer until you pull a tab or otherwise activate the battery.
I would expect that there are always small changes in the CO concentrations coming into the sensor. Maybe bouncing small numbers between 1ppm and 10ppm. If it see's it staying at 0ppm for 10 minutes when the generator is running it might assume the sensor is bad and throw an error. Remember these things are designed to win Court cases, so they probably don't want an 8 year old sensor dying while the battery is still saying it's has life left in it or a defective sensor in a fairly new unit fooling the owner. Remember some people are really dumb. They will go through life assuming that the sensor will save them even when they do dumb things like put the generator in a closed garage. Once Honda puts that sensor in the generator they assume a liability that it will stop the generator if the Co levels are high.
 
A guy on Facebook says that cutting a yellow wire works. He wrote:

"I've seen alot of questions come up with the new EU2200 models regarding the CO Minder sensor. To successfully delete/bypass the sensor cannot simply be unplugged, it will still eventually trip low oil switch and kill motor. The yellow wire from ICM to CO Minder Control unit must be cut and terminated. Doing this will still utilize function of low oil switch and AC output. . . . ."

244340126_10220182405650347_6151131704505819355_n.jpg

A guy on Youtube says that unplugging the harness at the rear right behind the control panel (which happens to include the yellow wire) works.

So, it would seem that cutting or disconnecting the yellow wire does work.

Based upon the exploded parts diagram I was able to view here (Part #16), it looks as if the sensor is mounted on the right side of the generator to the right of the control panel (outside of the control panel compartment) but inside the generator compartment (just behind the area depicted in the photo, above).

If anyone wants to tear down the unit, this youtube video (which uses the Australian EU22i variant of the EU2200i) will probably show you how to get access to the area where the sensor is located. At 2:02, you'll see where I suspect the sensor is located on the U.S. variant, though in the Australian unit depicted in the video, there's nothing there because this unit doesn't have a CO Minder. Note that the Australian variant is also 240 volts, and so I wouldn't expect the inverter or other parts to look anything like what's in the U.S. version. I linked to this only because it probably depicts how to get the case open.
 
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Thanks for the excellent info.
I have to look at my 3000is and see if it uses the same harness.
 
Having thought about it a bit more and based upon all the evidence, I suspect that the wiring harness shown in the photo and the video is the one that connects to the CO sensor module. If you unplug it by pulling it loose from inside the control panel area (as shown in the Youtube video), you get the same effect as cutting the yellow wire, but it is more easily reversed than cutting the yellow wire (as shown in the FB post). Disconnecting the harness also removes the other wires from the sensor, but they probably just provide power to the CO Sensor and communications between the CO sensor and the button/LED module on the control panel.

It would be interesting to just unplug that harness and leave the button/LED module plugged in, and see what happens. I'm guessing that it'll show a sensor error LED, but that the generator will otherwise work. If that's the case, it also suggests that the generator will continue to work even after the CO sensor reaches EOL.

Most CO sensors used in residences have a ten year fuse built in. I suspect that the CO sensor has the same fuse, e.g., a 10-year life. If anybody tests these theories, please post the results here.
 
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Having thought about it a bit more and based upon all the evidence, I suspect that the wiring harness shown in the photo and the video is the one that connects to the CO sensor module. If you unplug it by pulling it loose from inside the control panel area (as shown in the Youtube video), you get the same effect as cutting the yellow wire, but it is more easily reversed than cutting the yellow wire (as shown in the FB post). Disconnecting the harness also removes the other wires from the sensor, but they probably just provide power to the CO Sensor and communications between the CO sensor and the button/LED module on the control panel.

It would be interesting to just unplug that harness and leave the button/LED module plugged in, and see what happens. I'm guessing that it'll show a sensor error LED, but that the generator will otherwise work. If that's the case, it also suggests that the generator will continue to work even after the CO sensor reaches EOL.

Most CO sensors used in residences have a ten year fuse built in. I suspect that the CO sensor has the same fuse, e.g., a 10-year life. If anybody tests these theories, please post the results here.
I think the guy on Facebook said that if you disconnected the whole harness that the generator will shutdown at some random time period like 8 hours or 20 hours. It makes sense to me as I assume that the control board must be monitoring the CO sensors battery level. I suspect the 10 year sensor life span is dictated by that battery voltage going low. It would make sense to match the battery capacity so that it expired just before the sensors life span was used up.
 
I think the guy on Facebook said that if you disconnected the whole harness that the generator will shutdown at some random time period like 8 hours or 20 hours. It makes sense to me as I assume that the control board must be monitoring the CO sensors battery level. I suspect the 10 year sensor life span is dictated by that battery voltage going low. It would make sense to match the battery capacity so that it expired just before the sensors life span was used up.

The guy on FB who talked about the generator going off at some random time was referring to disconnecting the harness to the button/LED module, and not the harness to the CO Sensor.

Those are two different harnesses: (1) The harness to the button/LED module connects to the button/LED module on the face of the control panel. It is over on the left hand side of the control box. (2) The harness to the CO Sensor connects to the sensor itself. The CO sensor is near the front right corner of the generator, outside of the black control module housing and up against the red generator housing. That harness goes to the back right corner of the black control module housing depicted on the photo.

If you disconnect the harness to the CO Sensor (as shown on the Youtube video), you get the same effect as cutting the yellow wire (the yellow wire comes off the sensor along with the rest of that harness). That reportedly will completely disable the CO Sensor and the unit will never shut down (per both the Youtube video and the FB post). If you simply disconnect the harness to the button/LED module, you'll just disconnect the button and the LED. The sensor will still operate and shut the unit down, but you won't get a light telling you and you won't be able to use the reset button.
 
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