Generator on Camano 31?

[Xraycharlie]

Do the Camano 31 Trolls come with a generator? If not how do you power things on an all day cruise or run the A/C while anchored out?

 

[Carolena]

Ron will likely chime in soon, as he has a camano without a generator. What I can say is that few of them (maybe 1/3) seem to have generators. I say this having researched every Camano for sale on the East Coast last year when we were looking for a new boat. I don't think any of them were factory installs, becuase there were many different brands and the installs varied. Having come from a sailboat without a generator, we got by without A/C when on the hook thanks to good fans, lots of hatches, and the fact that the boat is always bow to the breeze when anchored. I do know of at least one Camano that was using a portable Honda genny to run the A/C.

 

[rwidman]

Many Camano owners have had gensets installed. Others have not. If you want a Camano Troll but want a genset, you can shop for one or add it.

Surprisingly for some folks, a genset is not an absolute requirement for a cruising boat. As Carolina pointed out above, many sailboats do not have gensets. I would guess many smaller trawlers are the same.

I have a large house bank and inverter so I can use my microwave, coffee maker etc. The engine makes hot water so the only time I miss a genset is when I might otherwise turn on the air conditioning. Usually when anchored there is enough breeze to cool the boat.

 

[South of Heaven]

My new boat doesn't have a generator and thats the way I want it. One less engine to deal with....

I'll be using my Honda EU2000i from time to time.

 

[MiltonP]

Belt Driven gen on my Troll

All day cruising is covered by the belt driven SeaPower Generator but you wouldn't want to idle the main at anchor. The idea is you could cool the boat down on the way to the anchorage.

 

[rwidman]

All day cruising is covered by the belt driven SeaPower Generator but you wouldn't want to idle the main at anchor. The idea is you could cool the boat down on the way to the anchorage.

A dockmaster at a marina I got fuel at once told me about a Camano that used to be at his marina where the guy could idle his boat at 1000 RPM and run the air conditioner. Of course, I thought he had been smoking something but after some research, I found out about that SeaPower generator which is a large capacity engine powered generator, regulator, inverter that will power 120 volt AC powered devices including the air conditioning.

I don't think the company is around anymore and it would be more than a DIY installation needing a custom engine bracket, belt, etc. Someone offered to sell me the basics for about $3K but I decided not to bother.

We do pretty well without running the genset underway and I figure if it's unbearably hot, we can spend a lot of nights in marinas for the cost of installing and maintaining a genset.

Anywhere you put a genset on that boat it's going to be in the way of something and hard to access for maintenance.

 

[FlyWright]

Lots of blowboaters and small trawlers get along safely with the Honda or similar generator. I love my eu2000i.

 

[Bob Cofer]

+1 on the Honda.

 

[janice142]

A Yamaha genny has a fuel shut off valve. Turn off the fuel and four minutes later the carburetor is empty and the generator shuts off. Instead of one pull to start it takes three however...

 

[psneeld]

http://www.fabcopower.com/generat/bgen.htm

Try looking at this one...there are others.

 

[DavidM]

Looks like a successor to the old Sea Power system.

I should note that it is not good for a diesel engine to run long term at low rpms and load which will be the case if you run your propulsion engine overnight for A/C while at anchor.

If you do, then run the engine up to high load in gear for 10 minutes the next morning to burn off unburned fuel and blow the soot out.

David

 

[janice142]

http://www.fabcopower.com/generat/bgen.htm

Try looking at this one...there are others.

Yes, I did consider this option.what appealed to me most was the fact that diesel power was already aboard Seaweed. Another fuel supply would not be needed. The noise of my engine idling and more were deciding factor against this solution.

What I wanted was a way to run my 5000btu air conditioner when it was stinking hot.

Mini-lesson in power draws for inexpensive wall banger room a/c units (as tested with a kill-a-watt meter)

BTUs --- Cooling watts --- Fan only
5,000 --- 500 ------------------- 50 (actual 455-465, and 45)
8,000 --- 800 ------------------- 80 (actual high 70's and 80)
11,000 --- 1,000 ---------------- 110 (approximately 10% and 1%)

So if you consider a standard $150 cheap room air conditioner, wattage requirements are at just less than 10% of BTUs.
I bought a Moby-Cool.com cover and am pleased with my low dollar solution. Scott is the owner of moby-cool and he's great.

Article: http://janice142.cm/Articles/Moby-CoolInstalled.html

For those times when the breeze is gone, I can start my Yamaha in the cockpit. I have an adapter that goes from generator 15A to boat 30A. I simply plug in the boat and all is well with my world.

Yes I have a CO monitor, two as a matter of fact. One is inside the cockpit door and the second is higher and in the pilothouse. CO monitors need to be high incidentally.

One more side note the on the room a/c units. All three first started only the fan. About a minute later the cooling part kicked in. I have a Haier 5k BTU with the dial on/off (NOT digital controller) and she runs fine using my original square wave AIMS1000 inverter. Of course my battery voltage falls fast!

Inverter bought at http://theinverterstore.com
A year ago I upgraded to a 1200 watt pure sine wave from the same company.

Another diversion: I used the AIMS1000 for the year I was at anchor without touching a dock. Thatwasa most excellent year. The inverter worked flawlessly until I tried to run my microwave with digital controls. Square wave does not play nicely with a digital controller.

All the best. As for me, were money and space plus noise not issues I would have the smallest diesel generator I could find. Noise is important though.

I did see Tesla batteries hooked up to a 3k solar array that did power a Tiny Home out west. The owner builder of the tiny home spent $19,000 on his set-up. It was elegant though impractical at this time aboard small boats. Someday though...!

In the meantime a portable generator sure does open up options when it is miserably hot. Solar provides 100% of my power needs EXCLUDING air conditioning. I could not be happier and am so grateful for the final two panels that pushed me over the top.

Here is my Moby-Cool:

Right now I am sipping iced coffee. Life is wonderful afloat!