I worked in the
BVI for a couple seasons, yacht
maintenance on transients,
charter boats and cruisers. I saw a lot of FP units, and frequently they'd be a mess and difficult to deal with. HOWEVER, most - if not ALL - of the issues were related directly to either piss-poor
installation (crammed in a locker with inadequate air and poor
exhaust system design); or equivalently poor
maintenance.
There were issues with inferior
exhaust elbows for a while - and when one of those lets go inside that tiny enclosure with all the exposed electrics, bad things happen. that was mostly on the really small units though -
single bangers mostly.
the slightly larger ones had a little more space inside the enclosures and seemed to have slightly higher quality components and assembly. When i found units that were adequately installed and maintained, I found nice little gensets that ran well - albeit at 3600
rpm usually, and for go d knows how long in the end.
I did install a couple of the 12 kVa units on some
emergency vehicles here about 6 years ago (along with
remote rads and related piping); and they've been running flawlessly so far.
In my opinion, the 12 kVa units are a good piece of kit, if installed properly and maintained. Will they go as long as a
Northern Lights 12 running at 1800
rpm? probably not - but they also don't weigh a ton and require a large
engine room...
YMMV... Find a reputable installer/tech, and listen to their
advice, and follow the manufacturers instructions... then good luck!
bg