Small Diesel Generators

[River Cruiser]

I’ve had 2 Westerbeke generators, a 6.5 gasoline powered and the 8.0 diesel on my current boat. The 6.5 was trouble free, the 8.0 had low compression because of seized rings. This I believe was the result of light loading, I rebuilt myself using parts from a tractor dealer. Sourcing parts from the engine manufacturer instead of Westerbeke saves a lot of money. Most boat owners complain about the cost of parts from Westerbeke but on the flip side Westerbeke has a very large dealer network to support owners when service or parts are required. All in all I’ve gotten excellent service from my Westerbeke generators and there will be no more light loads on the 8.0.

[sailorboy1]

My wife's calibrated ear saved us yesterday. She hear a sound change and went and checked water flow and all there was was maybe some steam. Shutdown the marvel and I expected to find the sw pump belt loose because had removed it the other day, but that was it. Turned out the inlet strainer and hose was clogged again from this blob of something all the way to the thru hull. Then I looked good at the belt and found it was cracked and wouldn't have lasted long.

Running without the high temp shutdown connected has risk! I'm looking into a flow sensor as I think that makes more sense than these stupid temperature switches.

None of this has to do with the crap that high speed generators are, but ranting sometimes makes me feel better.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

None of this has to do with the crap that high speed generators are, but ranting sometimes makes me feel better.

Hey, it's better than throwing tools. Potentially less expensive too.

[dave948]

Originally Posted by Q Xopa

I have just happened across-
https://www.empresascarbone.com/nues...a/generadores/

Generadores. (sorry in Spanish)

At a local metal supply place here in Panama. For a 4.5kW Diesel gen for $700 I thought it is worth a play with.

They had em listed $800 and change. He ended letting me have it for $700 as me and the Missus buy a fair bit from him.

Honestly I am not expecting too much from it but at that price it is worth a try.

I am thinking to put in a sound deadened deck box and maybe weld up a water mixed exhaust.

I'll keep you posted.

I have the same generator (branded different) for land use. The motor is a Chinese nock-off of a yanmar L series engine I think. It's thirsty when loaded and your going to need a really long cord. These are obnoxiously loud.

[Scatterling]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

... the Italian marvel ...

So it's reasonable to assume you don't have Fiat or Alfa-Romeo on your list of future rides?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Scatterling

So it's reasonable to assume you don't have Fiat or Alfa-Romeo on your list of future rides?

Do they make RVs or trawlers?

meanwhile my wife saved the day again with the gemerator seawater strainer clogging again. It only took 8 hours of runtime. Must be one of cute fat manatees stuffing weed into the inlet

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Exile

Hey, it's better than throwing tools. Potentially less expensive too.

somehow 2 days ago while putting the heat exchanger back in a ratchet wrench and extension "disappeared"

[Exile]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

somehow 2 days ago while putting the heat exchanger back in a ratchet wrench and extension "disappeared"

It's the 'Bilge Gods' again. They were simply trying to prevent interior cabin damage by preventing you from throwing those tools out of frustration.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by Scatterling

So it's reasonable to assume you don't have Fiat or Alfa-Romeo on your list of future rides?

The new Alfa Spyder looks pretty cool, but don't think I'd want to own one. I've owned Moto Guzzi's and raced Ducati's. Great fun, but ultimately couldn't decide if they were the most brilliantly engineered machines in the mx world or the absolute worst. They seemed to be both, and often at the same time. Both supremely fun rides, but there was a lot of tool throwing back in the garage. No bilge gods think goodness, or I'd be buying a lot of new tools.

[a64pilot]

You mean the Fiat Spyder?
Do you know who makes it, and where it’s made?

[Exile]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

You mean the Fiat Spyder?
Do you know who makes it, and where it’s made?

I thought it was an Alfa, at least badged as such. Weren't the old ones Alfa's? A friend of mine just bought one in Miami. Not sure who owns the marque these days but wouldn't be surprised if it was Fiat. Don't know where it's made.

[Scatterling]

Originally Posted by Exile

I thought it was an Alfa, at least badged as such. Weren't the old ones Alfa's? A friend of mine just bought one in Miami. Not sure who owns the marque these days but wouldn't be surprised if it was Fiat. Don't know where it's made.

Apologize for the thread drift, Don. The Fiat Spider is made in Japan. It's a rebadged Mazda Miata.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Scatterling

Apologize for the thread drift, Don. The Fiat Spider is made in Japan. It's a rebadged Mazda Miata.

I bet it works then

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Do they make RVs or trawlers?

meanwhile my wife saved the day again with the gemerator seawater strainer clogging again. It only took 8 hours of runtime. Must be one of cute fat manatees stuffing weed into the inlet

The strainer clogged again in just 2 hours!!! I think the generator is trying to clean the growth off the hull that is growing on that premium Seahawk paint.

[Saltyhog]

Although I completely agree that 3600 RPM generators are not in the least optimal, their main positive benefit is low size and weight. So if you just don't have the room for a big 3 cyl. 1800 RPM NL, your left with one of these smaller, noisy, vibrators. I also am a little surprised that yours is an air cooled engine and yet water cooled gen-head. Never heard of that. I bought a (yet to be installed) Entec West. Single cyl. 3600 RPM and has a reputation for vibration, but it does seem to be fairly well engineered. Both the engine and the gen head are freshwater cooled via heat exchanger. Roller bearings on the crank and ball bearings on the cam. We'll see in a couple of years.

My Harley has prepared me for dealing with vibration. A Harley wrench once told me "You need to lay wrenches on these things pretty regularly.". The same holds on these one lunger diesels. Also, Locktite is your best friend.

Regarding the plugged up raw water intake, my theory has been to oversize the thru-hull a bit. This lowers the flow speed of the intake water and my theory is that this pulls in less crap. That's my theory anyway and I'm stickin to it. If you're in really munged water, nothing's going to help. I knew a power boater who would anchor up and then swim under the boat and stuff extension hoses in the gen set and A/C intakes. Assumption being that the deeper water would be cleaner. Claimed it worked.