Reality check for my little generator

[skipperpete]

It might be worthwhile taking off the lid of the original electric feed pump and cleaning it out, I think there might be a filter screen under the lid.
In your photo of the Facet pump there is no sign of thread sealant on the hose Barb thread..... is it just a very tidy job or did the sealant get forgotten. If that's the suction side it could be letting air in.

[crayiii]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

It might be worthwhile taking off the lid of the original electric feed pump and cleaning it out, I think there might be a filter screen under the lid.
In your photo of the Facet pump there is no sign of thread sealant on the hose Barb thread..... is it just a very tidy job or did the sealant get forgotten. If that's the suction side it could be letting air in.

The manual for the pump said they are dry fittings.

[Pete7]

7GPH is quite low, I have one on a fuel polishing system and its 90 litres an hour. Suppose it depends on how much fuel isn't burnt and just returned to the tank cooling the FIP down in the process.

Pete

[crayiii]

The engine specs say at burns about 1gph at full load. What about the pressure? How much can I send to the racor filter?

[Pete7]

surely that is a question that can only be answered by the manufacturer.

Pete

[a64pilot]

Usually smaller pumps are 5ish pressure wise, but many can be bought that are 15 and above, stay away from them.
5 PSI is more than we think, no way can you blow 5 PSI and your dinghy when it’s at 3 PSI feels as tight as a basketball.

You show two pumps in your pictures, the top one specifically I feel sure is way more than you need, it’s way more flow than my 4JHE Yanmar needs anyway.
Excess flow capacity is not harmful though, excess pressure of course can be.

I got curious, average person can blow 1.3 PSI max, pro trumpet player can hit 1.9.

[crayiii]

I have reached out to the dealer that installed it in Martinique, VTE (manufacturer), and several other dealers for months. No one responds and none of the repair shops I've talked to know anything about these generators.

I just got a quote for a Northern Lights unit. Ton of money, ton of space but I know I can find people to work on it. Cruising Kitty is getting smaller..

[a64pilot]

If you can afford it, and I mean size and weight and not just money, you can’t go wrong with a NL from what I have seen.
I’ve never had one, I’ve only had a gas Westerbeke and my Nexgen, both were reliable, but needed preventative maintenance.

[crayiii]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

If you can afford it, and I mean size and weight and not just money, you can’t go wrong with a NL from what I have seen.
I’ve never had one, I’ve only had a gas Westerbeke and my Nexgen, both were reliable, but needed preventative maintenance.

It's in a Lagoon 42. Opted for the second 79 gallon water tank in the forward compartment and that eliminates the big Onan factory option. The dealer installed the Paguro.

It looks like the 9kw NL will fit size wise. It adds under 200 pounds. I just switched to lithium so I removed almost that amount from the same side of the boat.

Of course the (new) dealer promises the NL will be perfect but he also knows I'll be sailing across the Atlantic soon and likely won't see me again...

[crayiii]

Just tried a 7 psi 32 gph pump and the generator still does the same thing.

[crayiii]

So I remounted the small and almost silent Facet pump, installed the filter for it, made sure all the hose clamps were right and made sure it was mounted at a 45 degree angle like the manual says is there preferred way.

Started it and started loading it. It stumbled a little at first but now it's at 50amps (70%) running really well. RPMs dropped to 3540 at this load and 59hz so not bad.

No load idle is 3660 so I may bump that to 3700. I seem to remember reading that what it should be somewhere.

[crayiii]

I removed the capacitor fe the generator and replaced it with a 35uf instead of the 50 the dealer had installed. The no load volts were 133 prior and is now 126.

At 70% load, the RPMs now run at 3600 (60 hz) and the volts sit at 120.

I think I'm satisfied with that.