Portable Generators Can Kill

[Kit_L]

Interesting and useful post, IMHO; I did not know that these portable generators produced so much CO. Our generator is diesel (Kohler) and has a wet exhaust that discharges just above the waterline, so I imagine these are quite a bit safer.

But reading all posts has firmed up my intention to add a solar system, inverter/charger, and a decent house bank to the vessel.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by LakeSuperior

Common sense warnings are exceeding easy to ridicule. But many folks don't grow up on the farm or in the rural countryside working on "stuff." We know there are many stupid ways to kill ones self or friends and family members. Just read the news...

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[GordMay]

Warning Labels I’d Like to See on Common Items:
On gloves: For best results, do not leave at the crime scene.
On a fridge: Refrigerate after opening.
On alphabet blocks: Not for children. Letters may be used to construct words, phrases and sentences that may be deemed offensive.
On a calendar: Use of term 'Sunday' for reference only. No meteorological warranties express or implied.

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by MartinF

Any sailor who runs a portable generator on his yacht should read this scary report.

https://www.propublica.org/article/c...ontent=feature

In summary, a generator can kill you even thru a slightly open hatch.

If you think portable generators are 'scary' you must be terrified of throw rugs, stairs, bedding, power tools, etc, etc, etc.

So lets cut the hyperbola. Yeah, portable gensets pose a potential hazard, but at 70 deaths/year (in the US-according to the article), the actual risks are quite low.

I also take exception to you statement "If you managed to kill your wife and children, like the guy in the story". The guy did what his (ex) wife asked, and by the account, warned her of the risks. From that point it was her responsibility, not his.

Perhaps portable gensets should come with a warning that says: "If you're stupid, please don't use this product."?

[Dieseldude]

Originally Posted by nortonscove

You do realize that diesels create more particulate than gas. Usually by about 13%. They may burn less fuel but are easily as bad and most likely worse than gasoline.

I'm not too concerned with soot from diesel equipment. It may mean some more work cleaning the boat. The explosive potential of gasoline is probably the greatest concern. Storage and handling of gasoline aboard has its safety issues. I'd rather endure some diesel soot than blow up the boat. Any internal combustion engine will make CO, so that's an equal hazard.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Dieseldude

I'm not too concerned with soot from diesel equipment. It may mean some more work cleaning the boat. The explosive potential of gasoline is probably the greatest concern. Storage and handling of gasoline aboard has its safety issues. I'd rather endure some diesel soot than blow up the boat. Any internal combustion engine will make CO, so that's an equal hazard.

The hazards are NOT equal (at least for CO). Although Diesels will produce some CO, gas engines produce FAR more.

[Dieseldude]

Ok Scorpuis, Good point. I stand corrected if precise exhaust gas analysis is considered. But in a broad sense CO output of diesels can still be a hazard if it wafts into interior spaces. Regardless of CO content, any IC engine exhaust displaces air.

[carstendenmark]

What can I say ? Go electric !

[billcrowley]

rslifkin - my terrestrial “10-year” CO alarm lasted about 3 years on my sailboat before emitting a low-battery alarm.

[Lizzard]

Originally Posted by carstendenmark

What can I say ? Go electric !

Good idea. Just be careful where fumes from others are coming into your living space.

I’m not afraid if CO. I just know it killed my 28 year old brother and almost killed me.

I’m afraid of nothing. I’ve ejected from a fighter, had a race car catch fire, crashed two little planes and have been married for 30 years.

[Dieseldude]

Originally Posted by carstendenmark

What can I say ? Go electric !

With what will you charge your electric equipment? What is more reliable than an IC engine? A few days of no sun, and solar charged batteries become expensive ballast. Perhaps expensive, but diesel can be purchased at most ports in the world.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by MartinF

If you had managed to kill your wife and children, like the guy in this story, you might not feel so light-hearted about CO.

I only ask that you read the article. Before I read it I might have said "the generator is outside, I'm safe"
M

It's not making light of it...it's your exaggeration and implying built in generators don't have similar risks that they are responding to.

With a reasonable amount of care, they can be quite safe.
With poor care, built in generators can be quite dangerous.

[Medic 4 U]

This is why I use Pure Sine Wave Inverters. They are silent, efficient, better for the environment, my pocket book (fuel costs), and my health (no CO). And I have several smaller ones for specific appliances (refrigerator, 1/AC system, salon, 1/guest berths). I removed my generator (a heavy 6.5 KW Onan Gen set), but do have a light weight small Honda portable I can put out on a 'floating island' away from my boat (on a 10' illuminated flexible rod). Have never used it, but have it if I ever need to use it to recharge my batteries, or need to sit for an extended time W/O running my engines.

And I can get 12-14 hours of AC use before I need to recharge the 8 group 31 AGM battery bank. I have 2 separate (isolated) starter batteries, 1 for each engine. I also have 145 amp alternators on each engine, so they can easily each recharge 4 batteries each, in 4-6 hours, as AGMs only go from 14.4 down to 10.5 VDC.

I just use my AC power efficiently, and am considering implementing some solar to help recharge batteries as well, but that may wait, as I'm thinking bigger boat first...

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Medic 4 U

This is why I use Pure Sine Wave Inverters. They are silent, efficient, better for the environment, my pocket book (fuel costs), and my health (no CO). And I have several smaller ones for specific appliances (refrigerator, 1/AC system, salon, 1/guest berths). I removed my generator (a heavy 6.5 KW Onan Gen set), but do have a light weight small Honda portable I can put out on a 'floating island' away from my boat (on a 10' illuminated flexible rod). Have never used it, but have it if I ever need to use it to recharge my batteries, or need to sit for an extended time W/O running my engines.

And I can get 12-14 hours of AC use before I need to recharge the 8 group 31 AGM battery bank. I have 2 separate (isolated) starter batteries, 1 for each engine. I also have 145 amp alternators on each engine, so they can easily each recharge 4 batteries each, in 4-6 hours, as AGMs only go from 14.4 down to 10.5 VDC.

I just use my AC power efficiently, and am considering implementing some solar to help recharge batteries as well, but that may wait, as I'm thinking bigger boat first...

Assuming a typical 105amp-hr for a group 31, that's about 10kwh of storage of course, you can only use around 50% if you don't want to quickly trash those expensive batteries, so assume 5kwh of usable power from a fully charged bank.

Of course, running the main engines 4-6hr for charging and so much for fuel savings and no CO. Plus 4-6hr is likely not going to get them up to 100%. Probably more like 90-95%, so even 5kwh is being generous.

Back calculating that would imply your air/con only pulls between 350-400w on average to get 12-14hr of run time. Your average 12k BTU air/con will draw something closer to 1200-1500w.

I suspect there is significant information being left out.

[rwidman]

Whenever the subject of portable generators on boats comes up, a bunch of people pop up stating that they routinely run a portable generator on their boat and they are not dead yet.

This is true of course, but the ones who have been killed by portable generators are no longer around to present their side of the story.

Running a portable (gas powered) generator on a boat is a pretty risky thing to do. There are risks to boating, but the generator increases the risks dramatically.

I don't (and wont) run a portable generator on my boat because I like being alive too much. It bothers me when other people encourage "newbies" to run portable generators on their boats when these people don't understand the risks involved.