Mobile Generator

[IntoMyHealth]

Originally Posted by wingsofraven

Where is everyone storing these gas powered generators when not in use? I hope not in a locker.

I second this question. I'm not crazy even about the dinghy tank aboard and keep it in the aft swim locker. More gasoline aboard makes me a bit nervous, but I'm happy to hear so many use portable gens safely long term.



-Bill

[hellosailor]

Shallow end of the gene pool...Hey! Crabs and scavengers are entitled to eat too, remember that.


If you can safely have a propane locker on board, there's no reason you can't have a 'gasoline' locker built to the same standards, sealed off, vented overboard, big enough to store a genset or the fuel for one.


Every boat that blows up, just increases the market value of the remaining ones.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by robgrant1

I don't want to spring for a genset; so, I'm considering a Honda mobile instead. Is this a good solution or a bad one?

I hate hearing the pop pop of those honda gennies on boats or RVs.

We have a built in diesel gennie. Its a workhorse but we produce nearly all our power from solar now. A little more solar and we wont even need to run the gennie to heat hot water.

Having been a safety engineer in a past life I dont like the gasoline and CO risks. But clearly others love their honda gennies.

We're about to relocate to a higher latitude. I suspect we'll be using the generator more frequently.

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[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by wingsofraven

Where is everyone storing these gas powered generators when not in use? I hope not in a locker.

When not in use, it lives in the cockpit (bottom vented area) under a box that doubles as an extra seat. This keeps it out of the weather, out of sight and we have bike locking cable to discourage it walking away.

In use it gets tied off on the back step (outside the cockpit so no venting issues) with the exhaust pointed overboard. We have a CO detector in the cabin.

I think the yamaha 2400 has a 1.25 gal tank and it typically lasts 6-10hours (varies based on how much the air/con is running).

[a64pilot]

By scaleable I mean all built in generators I know of use RPM to determine frequency, meaning of course that they run the same RPM regardless of load, unlike an inverter generator that can slow down when the load is low, and speed up as necessary to make power.
I would think this is possible for a built in generator?

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

By scaleable I mean all built in generators I know of use RPM to determine frequency, meaning of course that they run the same RPM regardless of load, unlike an inverter generator that can slow down when the load is low, and speed up as necessary to make power.
I would think this is possible for a built in generator?

Diesels don't have the rev range of those small petrol motors, but it's possible.

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[Sailor Doug]

Inverter duty generators is the key. They have the capability of producing 60hz power regardless of motor speed. Motor rpm increases to produce more amps. They automatically change speed to match power requirements. This is why they are so much quieter. Running it on a swim platform with exhaust pointed aft is perfect. I store the fuel for it and the dingy there, four stroke outboard keeps it down to one tank. Run the generator dry before putting in a locker, easy chore if you only put enough fuel in to do the job required. A quart will give hot water for shower and top up the batteries.
Mine cannot run my air conditioning but that's OK on the hook it is cooler. We all would like a ultra quite diesel generator to run our air conditioner but it it is not always possible practical or desirable.


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[Formosa Scott]

A couple of the Yamaha generators are tri-fuel. I pulled my MASE 7.6 because it blocked access to my main engine and I plan on running one or two Yamahas on propane in it's place. I will use a small fiberglass dock box for storage on deck.

Yamaha Ef2000is Generator
Yamaha EF2400iSHC Generator

[robgrant1]

Regarding the propane generator option, this is the advice I got from someone in the business who looked into it:

Please forget I ever mentioned the Propane generator. I spoke with my mechanic and he said that a propane generator on your boat would be a mistake. Best to go with Diesel

I think there might be two issues; fuel cost and availability.

[a64pilot]

There are conversion kits for the Honda's for propane as well, some RV'ers do that as they have rather large propane tanks, it's readily available at almost any camp site and propane doesn't go bad like gas does, and it burns exceptionally clean too.
You need to see the oil in a propane engine, it doesn't turn black like it does in a gasoline or Diesel motor.
But it takes about twice as much propane to run an engine as it's energy density is lower, it cost more and propane on a boat is different than on an RV safety wise.

[rodtennyson]

Now if you really want to get ambitious you can try what I did and that was to build in my Honda 2000 generator into a sound proof box with a special designed wet exhaust and forced air cooling system. It runs very quietly on propane even under full load from the A/C. See attached specs and pictures on attached files.
Rod Tennyson
Lila Jean Catalina 375

[robgrant1]

Originally Posted by rodtennyson

Now if you really want to get ambitious you can try what I did and that was to build in my Honda 2000 generator into a sound proof box with a special designed wet exhaust and forced air cooling system. It runs very quietly on propane even under full load from the A/C. See attached specs and pictures on attached files.
Rod Tennyson
Lila Jean Catalina 375

"This was not an easy project requiring a good deal of work and material..." Really? Sounds easy enough to me. That said, I can't tackle a project like the one you describe; what would you estimate in terms of man hours? BTW, very nice write-up. The pictures didn't come through on my Mac; I would guess the box took up a fair amount of space.

[a64pilot]

Rod, that was really impressive, and a lot of math


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[rodtennyson]

The man hours in this project depend on how you fit the sound box below deck. I had to form fit the sound box in 5 pieces and then assembled them below deck by trial and error which took 4 days. If you can build the sound box outside and then fit it through the deck opening you can build it in a day.
Rod Tennyson

[ericoh88]

Rod,

Do you do this stuff everyday in your work? Impressive. At least I know how to calculate cooling in btu. Didn't know one can sound proof a Honda.

Thanks.

Eric