Gas or Diesel Generator

[ShipOfFools]

Hi does anyone use a deck based gas or diesel generator to generate electricity to store in deep cycle batteries or for an air conditioner while you are off shore power? How is that working for you? Thanks

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools

Hi does anyone use a deck based gas or diesel generator to generate electricity to store in deep cycle batteries or for an air conditioner while you are off shore power? How is that working for you? Thanks

Huge amounts of people’s these.

Matching the fuel in your boat’s main tanks is most convenient, diesel air cooled generators are VERY loud.

Lots of people here use the Honda eu-2000 series

[Tupaia]

Depends on your boat and your cruising. A/C then inboard diesel - expensive, heavy but quiet at night.
Charging batteries then solar is the way to go. Gas genny for back using a proper battery charger.

I personally use a Sealey G1000i and a 40 amp charger. Fuel matches my 2 stroke outboards and weighs 9kg, cost couple of hundred bucks.

[Tomodore]

Lots of 2000ish watt gas genders out there. Be sure to store gas safely and beware carbon monoxide.We used to put gen set in dinghy and run cord back to boat,bit of a pain but less noise,less fumes. Now we have solar and wind, on cloudy calm days I charge by the engine in reverse to keep a load on. After 8 years the engine has 3000 hours at that rate I am due for rebuild in another 16 years when I am 84

[mvweebles]

Portable diesel generators are generally big - 5kw on up, heavy, and loud. Not really practical. The Honda 2200i is the gold standard for portable gas generators - easily hoisted by a single person.

Your big decision is AC, and how much you want /need it. If it's a nice convenience but you can live without, solar is the way to go. If you want occasional AC and can replenish your gasoline storage fairly frequently, the Honda is the way to go. If AC is very important to you, consider installing a robust permanently installed diesel generator that runs off your main tank.

Good luck

Peter

[Jammer]

Depends on your situation and goals


A suitcase generator will not run a dive compressor
A suitcase generator is not safe to use in a storm
The CO risk with suitcase generators is much higher
Nobody will steal your permanently installed diesel generator
While people come to varying conclusions I believe the overall lifetime costs are about the same



People die from time to time from CO while buttoned up with a suitcase generator on deck to run electric heat. You think you'll be more careful but if it's cold and everyone is puking you and your crew might make a mistake.

[chrisr]

we have a built-in 6kva diesel gennie. water cooled and in sound-proof box in sound proof cabin, so quiet enough.

although we get most of our power from solar & wind, the diesel is a great back up for dull windless periods. great peace of mind knowing if you have to, you can just push the button and charge the batteries.

it also powers the watermaker and hw systems so usually cover all 3 whenever need any one.

big advantage for us is that being diesel, we don't need to carry any petrol (nasty stuff...)

but where does the fixation on a/c come from ? when did we all get so soft that we cannot cope with life unless it is air conditioned ? admittedly, we have a/c, but honestly it's been so long since it was used that i seriously doubt if it works these days.

cheers,

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by chrisr

but where does the fixation on a/c come from ? when did we all get so soft that we cannot cope with life unless it is air conditioned ? admittedly, we have a/c, but honestly it's been so long since it was used that i seriously doubt if it works these days.

It all depends on the boat, the people, and the location. Generally, if we're somewhere with shore power, we'll use A/C freely. If we're at anchor, docked somewhere with no power, etc. then we very rarely use it. But every once in a while, there's one of those hot, humid, windless days (or hot and too rainy to have much opened up) where a couple hours of A/C in the evening as the day cools down can make things far more pleasant and be well worth a couple hours of generator runtime. Especially while cooking dinner.


In our case, it's also useful to help get the boat cooled down a bit after a really hot day. Once it's cooled down some, the boat will stay cool just fine with a bit of breeze, but without the A/C, the aft cabin takes a while to cool, as it doesn't vent nearly as well as the salon or forward cabin on my boat. Up forward, the portholes and hatch do a great job of pulling air though, and the salon has big sliding windows. But the aft cabin just has 1 window on each side just above deck level, so airflow back there isn't nearly as good.