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Old 10-12-2008, 16:00   #1
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generators

Seems I read story after story of problems with generators. So overall for those of you who have them, how has your generators performed as to the amount of "problems" been (don't seem to read of "the solar panels died" much)?
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Old 10-12-2008, 16:05   #2
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Don, most problems with Gensets are from lack of use. You can't let them just sit around then put a lot of demand on them. There are lots and lots of units that perform perfectly. You are not going to get many folks starting a discussion with "My generator is working fine and has been for a long time." Unless there is a "but" after it.
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Old 10-12-2008, 18:07   #3
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Quote:
So overall for those of you who have them, how has your generators performed as to the amount of "problems" been (don't seem to read of "the solar panels died" much)?
Often what you read is not what is most often. You generally don't hear about problems with solar panels mostly because there really are fewer of them and they just don't tend to break down, make noise or cause a hassle when they don't work. Generators are after all engines connected to a generator. The worst of all possible things. An extra engine begs for trouble, but they do a lot of work and take a lot of maintenance. If you ignore the work it only gets worse, but that isn't different than everything else on a boat.
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Old 10-12-2008, 18:40   #4
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No generator is going to be perfect for its entire life. The variables are which brand you buy, how you treat it and how well it is maintained. Do those things well and it will probably treat you well.
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Old 10-12-2008, 20:37   #5
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Generator problems that I run across most often are due to: 1 long periods of not running. 2 Corrosion due to Generators getting wet 3 Bridge Rectifier failures (Westerbeke). 4. Gasoline generators are prone to "gumming up" the carburetor due to the new "Government (read ethanol) fuel.

One example of a major generator failure occured to me on a yacht that was kept in "mothballs" in Florida for a few years......The generator ran fine for about 20 hours.
Then, at an anchorage in Nantucket, WHAM smoke.....lotsa smoke....sparks.....
The windings shorted out.......come to find out, that the shellac that seals the windings is great food for some bacteria/bugs........it only took one bare wire to cause the whole mess to blow......By running the generator frequently and getting it up to heat kills those varmints.
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Old 11-12-2008, 07:38   #6
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As indicated above, gently, regularly used generators are like gently, regularly used diesel engines. If you are nice to them, they run well for a long time.
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Old 11-12-2008, 12:23   #7
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Originally Posted by bstreep View Post
As indicated above, gently, regularly used generators are like gently, regularly used diesel engines. If you are nice to them, they run well for a long time.
Diesel engines dont like gentle use, they tend to get glazed bores, running a generator lightly loaded will kill it, try and keep it 1/2 to 2/3 loaded and change its oil and filters regulalry nduse it ften and it will love you
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