Generator motor mounts - sound isolation

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Westiculo

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2017
Messages
271
Location
US
Vessel Name
Rose Mary
Vessel Make
42 Grand Banks Motoryacht - 1985
The raw water pump on my generator (westerbeke 8BTD) has been leaking since well before I bought the boat, completely rusting out and destroying one of the mounts. I fixed the pump, but the generator is really loud since the mounts aren't doing their jobs anymore.
Any recommendations on what mounts to get?
I want whatever offers the best vibration isolation for soundproofing. The engine weighs a bit under 500 pounds.

Thanks!

See pictures, good vs bad.
 

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Following along as I'm in a similar situation. Though, I'm one to believe the rotten frame rail is leading to more movement and noise than bad mounts. Mine are extra squishy which I think would make for excellent dampening if not for the compromised steel stringer.
 
Soft anti vibration mounts are part of a System.

The exhaust , fuel supply and electricals must be able to flex with the noisemaker.
 
Rather then re-engineer what was well engineered from manufacturer, get a replacement set of engine mounts and you will be good to go.
The enemy of good is better.............................
 
My solution - not to say it's the best, but it seems pretty good. The mounts are from tech products, the heavy-duty stable flex. Pretty dang cheap, but seem high quality (also are in stainless). The whole setup is stronger than the original. The original had the steel rails which seem strong, but they were mounted to a single 3/4 inch piece of ply which was suspended between two aluminum capped stringers. I doubled up on the ply, and suspended it between all 4 stringers, making it much stronger even without the steel rails. Added a little glass for abrasion resistance and waterproofing. Hoisted the machine with a couple of home depot turnbuckles off of a clothing bar also from home depot that I had laying around the boat. No problems. Pretty simple fix.
 

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also, it was impossible to remove the bolts because they were too rusty. The trick was to hoist the generator some so the pressure is off of the feet, then get under the feet with a hack saw and go to town. I hope to never do that again. The bolts must be grade 8, because they completely destroyed my dremel and oscillating tool bits.
 
My tech found the exact same problem with my Northern Lights genny in March when doing the annual service. The weep hole in the pump was doing it's job and signaling that the pump was going bad. Unfortunately it had ruined one mount. He bought replacement mounts (two to a pack) and left the other with me.

I have just looked at it and it is a Lord 283p-220.
 
On my Defever, I have a Westerbeke 12kw that had the same issue. I bought some blower mounts from Grainger that have been great and are still in place to this day. I mounted them on two sections of painted (treated) 2x4s to get the generator a little higher to make it easy to work on and clean underneath.

As you look through Grainger's selection, you want to upsize the mounts and look for those that handle some side loading to handle the boat's healing and pitching.
 

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