Phasor

[irwinsailor]

Has anyone had any experience with Phasor marine products?

[tomj]

We installed (ourselves) a 37.5 HP Phasor engine with the ZF/Hurth 150A downangle transmission several years ago in our 1975 Alberg 37 Yawl. The engine is 4 cyl and is relatively quiet and very smooth (compared with the original 25HP Volvo MD-2B). Beta sells the same engine - not sure what trans they use. The only problem we had was with the transmission which after about 300 hours was very reluctant to go into forward gear. Hurth gave us a new trans and it seems to be OK. Only limit on the engine is that Phasor provides a crankshaft pulley with only a 3/8" groove which limits the size of the alternator (we have the 'optional' Balmar 70-80 (80 amp) alternator which is about the largest size you can use with the small belt. Phasor says that's the limit due to the water pump cannot take much more tension. We always have some black dust around the front of the engine even though we've ensured proper alignment, and we keep the belt REALLY tight. Beta marine engines are equipped with a multigroove (microgroove - like the serpentine belt on your car) pulley system for the crank and water pump (Balmar has the same groove option for their alternators) which might allow better belt traction. The Phasor makes a neat and compact installation for those with small engine compartments. Engine parts are available at Kubota dealers - The only thing Phasor supplies is the heat exchanger system. Our engine has the salt water pump (Oberdorfer) installed on the accessory drive underneath and to the rear of the injector pump, although Phasor now provides the pump on an accessory drive on the front of the engine. To make a long story short, we are satisfied with the installation.

[SolyMar46]

I can tell you my experience with a Phasor 6kw. It was problematic from day one. After the original installation and running for about 1 hour, I left for the Bahamas. When I went to run it again, it would not start. Loose wire on the oil pressure switch. After fixing that, it started. Ran for about 3o minutes and when I added a load(the AC), the pully on the generater sheared the bolts and the pulley just spun on the shaft.
Came back to the US and they fixed it.
Then after hurricane Wilma, we needed the Genset. At this point, it had less than 100 hours and less than two years old. The mixing elbow leaked around a broken spot at a weld. They would not warranty the elbow, and I had to buy a new one. They had redesigned the elbow, so they knew they had a problem, but their answer was they did not warranty any part that touched salt water.
It is also very loud, so I would look at another brand

[mobetah]

I repowered with a phasor 50hp engine. I love the Kubota engine but hate the service and the engineering provided by Phasor. The engine overheats .... With no satisfaction from Phasor I contacted Beta to inquire what they did to keep their engines running cool (they also use 50hp Kubota engines to build on) .... I was told that Phasor was a dealer for Beta the first year they were in business and stole the design for the heat exchanger from Beta ...... Beta soon discovered that their heat exchanger was too small and redesigned the whole system ... I was told that Phasor never fixed the problem on the heat exchanger design they stole from Beta. After much complaining, Phasor agreed to fix my problem. They supplied a FREE Oberdorpher 302M pump however, I had to pay their dealer nearly $500 to install it! I was told if that didn't do it, they would install a new heat exchanger just like the one that was on the boat. I couldn't see paying the huge fees to install a heatexchanger identical to the one I already have. The pump does cool the engine however the pump's impeller falls apart after about 20 hours run time. Apparently the large pump (+/-30 gallons per minute) is starved for water on the upstream side or blocked on the downstream side. I'm on the thrid one after about 45 hours. I don't think you can compensate for a heat exchanger that is too small with a water pump">raw water pump that is too large!

The boat has been stored for over a year now and I have not attempted another fix but I definately would not purchase another Phasor product.

[irwinsailor]

I bought a Beta generator about 3 years ago from Pat "never monday" on this board. I am quite please with it.

[never monday]

Universal, Phasor, Nanni and Beta all use the same base engines.

[irwinsailor]

Are there any other Beta owners out there?

[tomj]

Yeah, I got the same heat exchanger story from BETA when I asked them about a 'microgroove' (like the serpentine belts on your car) crankshaft pully and waterpump pulley for my 37.5 HP PHASOR that they supply on some of their engines to run a higher output alternator (since PHASOR doesn't use microgrove belts on their engines). Before I re-engined our boat, I had enquired about the BETA equivalent to the Phasor. When I subsequently contacted Beta about the pulleys, I was sort of 'chastized' for buying the Beta, and then heard the whole story about the heat exchanger........I've had absolutely no problems with overheating with the Phasor and the 'bootleg' heat exchanger....so far anyway. Lots of transmission problems, but that is a Hurth/ZF matter....