Let’s talk generators....

[wkearney99]

Holy checkbook batman. Kholer used 6.5kw generators are expensive!

It's a boat. What did you expect? Gensets are optional on a lot of entry-level and smaller boats precisely because of their cost.

You might think it was being a busy-body when I asked about the leasing question, it wasn't. It was to feel out why anyone would wander down this road if they knew how much a genset would cost. Now you do. Perhaps now you understand why I asked that.

 

[ranger58sb]

My thought is what're the chances of reaching out to Marlow and inquiring if they have any records on this boat from when it was originally built. Mainship was absorbed by Marlow, but I have no idea if they still maintain or have access to the records. Sometimes going to the source is useful.

Often worth a shot, but in this case I've read in several places that Marlow hasn't got squat for Mainship records.

Complicated somewhat by the fact that ACs used to be a dealer-installed option, not a factory thing. Don't know when that started changing... but it does maybe surface another opportunity. The boat owner may be able to identify the original dealer, and that dealer may have some records...

-Chris

 

[sbu22]

If my antique Kohler goes, a Honda 6500eu inverter is going in the hole. I use them for my biz. Bulletproof.

Air cooled, quiet. Would only need to work out the exhaust and insure sufficient air in for cooling.

 

[foggysail]

If my antique Kohler goes, a Honda 6500eu inverter is going in the hole. I use them for my biz. Bulletproof.

Air cooled, quiet. Would only need to work out the exhaust and insure sufficient air in for cooling.

You might face an insurance challenge placing that into the innards of your boat along with getting rid of the heat generated.

But your old Kohler....mine is a 7.5KW that parts are no longer available for.

 

[sbu22]

Foggy: have you tried Wavetop for parts? Knowledgable people with an amazing inventory:

Jim or Hob Bonnett
Wavetop Technology Inc
New Bern, NC
Office 252-636-0715 M-F 9-4
Cell 252-626-5388
http://www.wavetop.com/prod-kohler-parts.htm

Please elaborate on the "insurance challenge".

I don't see supplying sufficient cooling air flow as a significant hurdle.

 

[Martin J]

Just make sure you get a slow running genny 1800rpm not a 2800rpmScreamer

 

[sbu22]

The Honda eu6500 engine rpms vary in proportion to load. They max @ 3600 rpm. Gaffers love them on movie sets due to inherent low noise. That's where I discovered them. A lot of racket from the old gensets is mechanical, not exhaust.

 

[FF]

"The Honda eu6500 engine rpms vary in proportion to load."

Perhaps in some distant future boat noisemakers will use this feature.

As the RPM matches the load the horrors/short engine life of under loading depart.

 

[High Wire]

You can’t be serious thinking you can put an air cooled Honda under the deck???
Carbon monoxide poisoning and heat will be problems. Venting gasoline tanks and filling the fuel tank will turn your boat into a bomb.
I went the on deck Honda route for a year and can tell you that solution is overly hyped here. Battery charge and running a refrigerator is one thing. Trying to run air conditioning is very loud even with an inverter generator like an eu Honda.
FWIW my eu2000i struggled with starting a 4amp freezer box unless that was the ONLY thing being powered. One 16kbtu ac, water pump, and blower would trip it immediately.

 

[foggysail]

Foggy: have you tried Wavetop for parts? Knowledgable people with an amazing inventory:

Jim or Hob Bonnett
Wavetop Technology Inc
New Bern, NC
Office 252-636-0715 M-F 9-4
Cell 252-626-5388
http://www.wavetop.com/prod-kohler-parts.htm

Please elaborate on the "insurance challenge".

I don't see supplying sufficient cooling air flow as a significant hurdle.

Yes, I believe the company in NC that I contacted a year ago last spring was Wavetop. I needed the end cap that injects into and removes the raw water from the heat exchanger. At that time they were out of them and were back ordered. After waiting almost 2 months, I had one fabricated at a local welding shop.

But I think you are right in your suggestion. If anybody would have a Kohler part, it would be them.

Now as to a potential insurance challenge, a Honda air cooled engine/genny is not rated/certified for use inside an enclosed vessel. If the insurance company became aware that something of that nature being used without ABYC stamp of approval I doubt they would provide a policy. In case of a claim, they may not cover the loss. ABYC sets the standards for boat manufacturers.