Entec West Genny advice.

JDCAVE said:

I phoned March. They have this one for list $318USD:

https://www.marchpump.com/pump/815-pl-beer-magnetic-drive-pump/

and a Stainless version

https://www.marchpump.com/pump/815-ss-c-beer-magnetic-drive-pump/

I have to go through a distributor and they found one in North Vancouver one for me.

It turns out they have the 4 of the SS version in stock and are willing to sell at a 15% discount as she wants to move out the stock. Price would be $359 USD which suits me just fine.

I'm going to give this a whirl, plumb it up, put it through some baby-step tests and watch temperatures carefully with a pyrometer.

Jim

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That's a pretty good price. My distributor wants $323 US in Seattle.

syjos said:

That's a pretty good price. My distributor wants $323 US in Seattle.

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Yes, and no shipping and wait times, which is a bonus.

I picked it up and got some stainless (316) fittings to plumb it in line. So the only problem is: it’s open to the elements and it’s air cooled. If I keep it long term I have to figure out how to keep the odd slash getting to it. Possibly some sort of vented box. Definitely a possible point of failure.

Jim

JDCAVE said:

Yes, and no shipping and wait times, which is a bonus.

I picked it up and got some stainless (316) fittings to plumb it in line. So the only problem is: it’s open to the elements and it’s air cooled. If I keep it long term I have to figure out how to keep the odd slash getting to it. Possibly some sort of vented box. Definitely a possible point of failure.

Jim

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You got a great deal, especially in BC.

The elevated metals in the oil test is probably caused by not having an oil filter on the engine.

From the pump in your picture, you might have the older version of the Entec. I'd like to see a picture of it so I can see which version you have.

According to the fellow at QDS (Quality Defense Systems) only a few Entec West Units came with this water pump design. Here are some photos.

I've not seen that pump before. All the ones I'm used to seeing is the one that was sent to you.

The pulleys and the belt is the same.

Do you know what year it was built? Installed?

The Farymann Diesel tag indicates. 02 2008, which I take to mean February 2008. Not sure when Entec got it for marinization. The PO installed it in 2012, I believe. He obtained it from someone who had the unit for sometime before deciding not to install it in their boat. It only had 20 hours on it or so when we bought the boat in June 2013.

Edit: apparently the belt is not the same. According to QDS they indicated a different belt for the “brass/bronze one” in the above photo.

Jim

JDCAVE,

I have this same genset in my 34 chb I bought recently. Mine has 520 hours. how many hours did yours have when the pump died?

Did you get this figured out?

jointcustody said:

JDCAVE,

I have this same genset in my 34 chb I bought recently.

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...I’m so sorry!

Roughly 250 hours. There were several versions of this Genny. Mine was one of the few that had that water pump. I’m in the process of installing a March 815-C. Fingers crossed it works. I’ve got it mounted. Now putting on the coolant hoses. I probably will have to sacrifice the sound enclosure.

Jim

JDCAVE said:

...I’m so sorry!

Roughly 250 hours. There were several versions of this Genny. Mine was one of the few that had that water pump. I’m in the process of installing a March 815-C. Fingers crossed it works. I’ve got it mounted. Now putting on the coolant hoses. I probably will have to sacrifice the sound enclosure.

Jim

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Those generators are very loud without the enclosure. We installed the March pump outside the enclosure when retrofitting clients generators.

I know that the pump you are installing is for the fresh water side but it does not have to be inside the enclosure.

Ok. This is the installation roughed in. It looks nice, but when I turned it on (no coolant) there was a bejesus noise coming from the bearings. So I took it home and put some sewing machine oil in the two locations calling for oil. It worked fine and recirculated water in a bucket for 25 minutes but the pump motor was too hot to touch. It seems to me that the claim by March Pumps that this pump is continuous duty is suspect to me. I just don’t think I can rely on this setup. I think this pump is vulnerable to failure because of overheating and corrosion.



I think it’s time to abandon this project and move on to a new install.

Jim

Jim, You have an ammeter, clamp on, correct?

Have you run the pump and used the ammeter to monitor the current drawn and then compared that reading to the nameplate spec.?
Maybe there is something physically wrong with the motor/pump so it draws to much current without tripping a breaker or fuse.

If there is a problem with the pump, regardless if it is the motor or the pump, and it is under warranty then get another.

Jim, You have an ammeter, clamp on, correct?
Have you run the pump and used the ammeter to monitor the current drawn and then compared that reading to the nameplate spec.?
Maybe there is something physically wrong with the motor/pump so it draws to much current without tripping a breaker or fuse.

If there is a problem with the pump, regardless if it is the motor or the pump, and it is under warranty then get another.

JDCAVE said:

Ok.

View attachment 114595

I think it’s time to abandon this project and move on to a new install.

Jim

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I think that is a wise decision.

Being a former Entec NW dealer and having an Entec Generator in my personal boat for 15 years, I suggest you look for a replacement.

It worked ok for me 15 years and I put up with it's issues because of space limitations on my boats. But, I feel that I got my moneys worth having paid $3,500 for it in the late 90's and using it on two different boats. If I had not replaced the engine on it towards the end, I would be a lot more happy.

Thanks “C”. I will give that a go.

Jim

Any developments? Im following this. I want to know how this works out when my pump dies. I looked at mine the other day, pump looks identical to yours.
Thanks

Full disclosure....I am very happy to be rid of my Entec 4200.

Before I put ?hitty ?hitty bang bang to rest I pulled it up and out of the sound enclosure a number of times to service the heat exchanger and replace the zinc - not easy. I also ended up abandoning the two "siamesed" pumps and wired a 120 VAC March pump into the generator output for the raw water and plumbed a DC Johnston circulation pump into the coolant loop (a toggle switch to power on the DC pump was added to the start panel).

If pump parts are hard to obtain, removing your current seized coolant pump and adding a DC pump might be an option - there is probably a better way to wire the pump so it starts on engine start-up.

Just a thought - good luck

Wils

hi all,

slightly off topic but definitely entec.

we have a 4200-D and i'm in the process of replacing the fuel valve. i got the kit that mastry made up when they owned entec. has anyone installed this kit? it involves rerouting most of the fuel lines.

any help is welcome.

Wils said:

Full disclosure....I am very happy to be rid of my Entec 4200.



Before I put ?hitty ?hitty bang bang to rest...

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Yes... I’m going to be rid of mine as well.

Love the nick-name!

Jim

i seem to be the odd man out. we've had ours for 17 years (1770 hrs) and yes we've had some problems but most were the result of the boat mfg. the 2 problems that tied back to entec were 1) faulty capacitors. entec changed sources 15 years ago and we still have the same one. 2) failed fuel valve. i got their kit and we're back in business.

Entec Genny is now fixed! Surprisingly easy!



Jim

JDCAVE said:

Entec Genny is now fixed! Surprisingly easy!

View attachment 117465

Jim

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You gonna tell us what the fix was?

Looks like you jacked the Entec up and put in a NL?

slowgoesit said:

You gonna tell us what the fix was?

Looks like you jacked the Entec up and put in a NL?

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Viewing the picture, the placement of the major components ..... Looks just like my NL

These guys had something they had fabricated that looked like a coat rack, that came in 3 parts: two posts made of square tubular aluminum shaped like an inverted “T”, and a strong SS tubular beam about 1.75” diameter and about 7’ long (more or less). They had two hoists: 1 to lift the genny and one to slide it along on the beam. Everything could be disassembled, and raised up and down with different sizes of blocks. We used 10” blocks for blocking yachts that we borrowed from the boat yard. Very efficient. Once everything was set up we had the exchange done in a couple of hours.

Jim

slowgoesit said:

You gonna tell us what the fix was?

Looks like you jacked the Entec up and put in a NL?

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LUGGER

Looks Great Jim, we now have two ways to fix an Entec West Genny!