rgano
Guru
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2007
- Messages
- 4,995
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- FROLIC
- Vessel Make
- Mainship 30 Pilot II since 2015. GB-42 1986-2015. Former Unlimited Tonnage Master
The Nextgen 3.5 KW generator, which came to me in 2015 in this 2005 boat, had a mere 135 hours on the hour meter, but from the get go, it was a difficult beast to start. I took its recalcitrance as a characteristic of a single cylinder diesel engine, but it also liked to smoke black anytime it had a load of more than the 12-13 Amps the rooftop air conditioner placed upon it. Nextgen says it should be normally loaded to 15-27 Amps to prevent ugly things happening to the cylinder walls. A long story made short is that this last March it failed to even turn over with a couple of charged batteries behind the starter button, and in frustration over not finding anybody in town who would even look at it, I removed it in June at 225 hours and sent it to the Nextgen factory. Once they got a look at it, Nextgen estimated around $4K to fix and return it, but offered a nice discount at $5.1K for a new one. Yesterday, after three sweaty days in the August heat, I finished the installation and testing of the new generator, and I am well pleased with the results. While waiting for the generator to be delivered I installed Micro-Air Easy Start microprocessors on both the 13.5KBtu rooftop air conditioner and the new DTU 10KBtu marine air conditioner; replaced the 1400W heating element in the water heater with a 1000W element; and installed an ammeter on the generator circuit. These measures were aimed at being able to run the generator with either AC unit and the water heater running or both air conditioners while not exceeding 27 Amps of draw on the generator. I am happy to report that all this works like a charm, and the generator starts instantly without even the need of pre-heat (in this heat, who would!). The new generator came with a small panel with a starting switch and hour meter and harness which I installed in the engine compartment to allow me to start the unit there or at the power panel in the cabin - this makes for a much easier freshwater rinse of the cooling system after the boat is lifted clear of the water at my pier. I should also mention that a couple of years back I replaced the crummy Jabsco 12-Volt cooling fan (which seized up and burnt the wiring harness to a crisp because the installer failed to add a fuse) with a 120-Volt inline fan with a 30-second delay timer for a much more reliable cooling fan.
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