Replacing generator; how difficult is this?

[Per]

sooner or later i am replacing my generator and just getting some ideas to what complications may stem from that..

there is the physical part.. getting the old unit out and the new in.

i have a decent size ER, where the unit can be dropped down on a roller platform.

other than that is there much to it?hooking up exhause, fuel lines and electronics.

if anyone have done this, i would greatly appreciate any information.

*

 

[sunchaser]

Per:

Will you be using the same footprint for the new one? Do you have a waterlift muffler. If yes to both, this is a good chance to :
<ul>[*]Replace all exhaust hoses and muffler[*]Remove/replace all old small stuff now visible with genset removed[*]Install new wiring from genset to panel[*]Redo grounding wire[*]How about a new main breaker[*]Install new wiring to battery(s) and charger[*]Clean up and repaint areas opened up by removal of "stuff"[*]Use lots of protective matting and cardboard as stuff goes through hatches, doors windows[*]Have spare lifting straps/chains/hooks/clevis etc*and tuggers just in case[*]Replace/repaint genset supports if corroded[*]Install new soft mounts[/list]
How do* you intend to lift/remove unit from its current spot to outside the boat? Do you need to temporarily support your sole?

 

[FlyWright]

I've got one word to say on that...

http://tinyurl.com/5ts25j3

...and that's all I've got to say


-- Edited by FlyWright on Friday 16th of September 2011 03:52:34 PM

 

[Edelweiss]

That's funny.... LOL!! Would certainly be easier, but I don't know about that gas sloshing around in Per's engine room. Maybe just set it in the dingy and tow it along behind?

 

[FF]

Maybe just set it in the dingy and tow it along behind?


No Joke, this was how it was done on many full charter boats in the Carib in the 60's.

 

[Doc]

This dude named Killer had a boom truck. He stuck the business end into the salon on my 45' Californian MY and plucked out the old one 12 KW and dropped in the new 13 KW. I was backed in to the haul out slip in a boatyard that was closed but gave permission.

 

[Anode]

A dude named 'Killer' operating a boom truck I could deal with. Now if his name was 'Crash'..........that might give me some concern.

 

[Edelweiss]

FF wrote:
Maybe just set it in the dingy and tow it along behind?


No Joke, this was how it was done on many full charter boats in the Carib in the 60's.

I believe that!! We have our group of, dare I say homeless people, who anchor their floating abodes in the bay outside of the breakwater and live there all summer. They have their skiffs on a 50' line with a little Honda generator screaming away. They don't look like they are big enough to do anything but charge the batteries. Probably enough to keep the bilge pumps running.:ashamed:

-- Edited by Edelweiss on Saturday 17th of September 2011 11:30:09 AM

 

[jleonard]

Per wrote:
sooner or later i am replacing my generator and just getting some ideas to what complications may stem from that..

there is the physical part.. getting the old unit out and the new in.

i have a decent size ER, where the unit can be dropped down on a roller platform.

other than that is there much to it?hooking up exhause, fuel lines and electronics.

if anyone have done this, i would greatly appreciate any information.

*

*I did a generator replacement on my previous boat. I put in a Northern Lights 4.5 kw to replace an old Kohler/Lister-Petter pos.

I did a new exhaust hose and added a water lift muffler, and that was basically about it. Just connected the AC wiring to the new set, Ran the panel harness to the helm station, make up what I needed to fuel plumbing, connected the starter and called it a day.

I literally started at 8 am, the marina pulled out the old and in the new in the launch well with their boom truck, a friend helped lower the new set into the engine compartment, and I was on my way to Block Island by 3 that afternoon to start breaking it in. (no sound enclosure, that genset didn't need it).

*

 

[Codger2]

Per wrote:
sooner or later i am replacing my generator and just getting some ideas to what complications may stem from that..

if anyone have done this, i would greatly appreciate any information.

******* I would follow FlyWright's suggestion as being the absolute easiest way to solve your problem. Resulting in a lot less money and more room in the ER. Hundreds of blow boaters can't be wrong and I saw many on my cruises in the Sea of Cortez with their Honda 2000EUs putting away on deck.. Oh, I know there are those that say "yeh, but you have to carry "gas" on board. Well, unless you have a dinghy that you sail, row or is electric, you are going to have a gas can on board. A small portion of the money you save, (not to mention the labor and cost of adding a diesel generator) could be spent on replacing all your 12 volt lighting with LED bulbs, adding a big* bank of AGMs, having a nice size inverter (2-3K watts?) and "managing" your power consumption. If you do this, odds are that you won't even need a generator for that weekend on the hook. If you do, however, it weighs just 46 lbs, has a nice handle and can be stored almost anywhere, including out side with a weather cover! (Just my opinion.) Honda EU2000i

 

[Per]

jleonard wrote:Per wrote:
sooner or later i am replacing my generator and just getting some ideas to what complications may stem from that..

there is the physical part.. getting the old unit out and the new in.

i have a decent size ER, where the unit can be dropped down on a roller platform.

other than that is there much to it?hooking up exhause, fuel lines and electronics.

if anyone have done this, i would greatly appreciate any information.

*

*I did a generator replacement on my previous boat. I put in a Northern Lights 4.5 kw to replace an old Kohler/Lister-Petter pos.

I did a new exhaust hose and added a water lift muffler, and that was basically about it. Just connected the AC wiring to the new set, Ran the panel harness to the helm station, make up what I needed to fuel plumbing, connected the starter and called it a day.

I literally started at 8 am, the marina pulled out the old and in the new in the launch well with their boom truck, a friend helped lower the new set into the engine compartment, and I was on my way to Block Island by 3 that afternoon to start breaking it in. (no sound enclosure, that genset didn't need it).

*

*just WOW!

i have already waterlift and good condition exhaust hose, fuel lines etc.

How did you get the old from its position to the hatch where you could yank it up with the boom? on some sort of rollers or?

*

*

Sunchaser: good points, will make sure to include these.

*

FW: LOLZ, yes there is always the Honda option. I probably dont need anything more than that, but somehow i feel obligated to have a working diesel generator..just hate the feeling of having a non-functioning system onboard.

 

[jleonard]

"How did you get the old from its position to the hatch where you could yank it up with the boom? on some sort of rollers or?"

3 of us lifted it out. I tied some* old 5/8 line around it to make a sling point, then used a 2x4 thru it so we could use our shoulders/legs to lift. Up 1 1/2 ft then put a plastic crate under it to rest so we could take another bite on the 2x4. Then up and onto the cockpit deck. Total lift was only about*2 feet.

Reverse of this to get the new one into the hole, but the new one was lighter. That winter when the boat was on the heard I put in a new larger thru hull and strainer, as the original was marginal in size (but good enough for the original install for 1/2 a season).



-- Edited by jleonard on Monday 19th of September 2011 12:35:14 PM


-- Edited by jleonard on Monday 19th of September 2011 12:36:11 PM

 

[Per]

jleonard wrote:
"How did you get the old from its position to the hatch where you could yank it up with the boom? on some sort of rollers or?"

3 of us lifted it out. I tied some* old 5/8 line around it to make a sling point, then used a 2x4 thru it so we could use our shoulders/legs to lift. Up 1 1/2 ft then put a plastic crate under it to rest so we could take another bite on the 2x4. Then up and onto the cockpit deck. Total lift was only about*2 feet.

Reverse of this to get the new one into the hole, but the new one was lighter. That winter when the boat was on the heard I put in a new larger thru hull and strainer, as the original was marginal in size (but good enough for the original install for 1/2 a season).



-- Edited by jleonard on Monday 19th of September 2011 12:35:14 PM



-- Edited by jleonard on Monday 19th of September 2011 12:36:11 PM

*how did you get it from the ER up onto the cockpit deck? or did they put the boom all the way in where they could lift it out of the ER?

when the hatch is open on my boat, there is a nice big access into the ERbut not a lot of places to brace anything against

 

[jleonard]

"how did you get it from the ER up onto the cockpit deck? or did they put the boom all the way in where they could lift it out of the ER?"

I answered this.*We manually lifted it with a sling and a 2x4 and put it in the cockpit. Then I backed the boat into the launch well and the yard's boom did the old/new exchange. Back to my slip and we manually set it back into the ER and made the connections.

 

[Per]

ok now i got it, you lifted it up just enough to put the crate under it. then re-calibrated your sling and lifted again this time onto the cockpit.
thanks

 

[jleonard]

Per wrote:
ok now i got it, you lifted it up just enough to put the crate under it. then re-calibrated your sling and lifted again this time onto the cockpit.
thanks

*Yes. I guess it was easier to do than to describe

 

[FlyWright]

Per,

I spent last weekend on the hook with my new 660AH house bank and I didn't need the Honda. It was my first tripon the hook*with the new Xantrex LinkPRO battery monitor, so I wanted to see what she'd do.

I used the inverter for microwave and coffee. The fridge ran all weekend on*12V. Even ran a 110V fan since the batts were doing well. I never saw less than 83% charge on my battery monitor. And I left my LED spreader lights on all night for fishing, the 12V TV ran much of Sat night and Sunday for the games, and lots of non-led lighting. I really didn't even try to conserve just to test the system.

"..just hate the feeling of having a non-functioning system onboard."

If you remove the old genny, you will no longer have an non-functioning system onboard.

 

[Per]

Thats very impressive... You never even fired up the Honda?
does the monitor inform how many AHs you used up total?

 

[FlyWright]

Yes, it shows instantaneous current flow, cumulative AH used and % of capacity remaining of the house bank.* It also displays voltage of house and start banks.* When I headed for home, it still indicatedsomething like 50 hrs remaining.* I don't trust that yet, but it made me feel good.

Here's the link and a list of the features:

LinkPRO Battery Monitor

Performance Features
<ul>[*]Read your battery bank like a fuel gauge[*]Provides critical information about the status of your battery bank[*]Displays voltage, current, consumed amphours and remaining battery capacity[*]Secondary battery bank voltage monitoring[*]Auto sensing battery voltage inputs[*]Large backlit LCD Display[*]Quick nut mounting construction[*]Programmable alarm relay[*]Shunt selection capability enables flexible system integration[*]Splash proof frontpanel[*]500 Amp shunt included[*]CE and e-mark certified[*]Displays time remaining[*]Communication/expansion port[*]Stores a wide range of history events in internal memory[*]Advanced programmable alarm relay[*]Battery temperature sensor input[/list]

-- Edited by FlyWright on Monday 19th of September 2011 07:06:30 PM

 

[Edelweiss]

Per wrote:**how did you get it from the ER up onto the cockpit deck? or did they put the boom all the way in where they could lift it out of the ER?

when the hatch is open on my boat, there is a nice big access into the ERbut not a lot of places to brace anything against

*Per

I think your engine room is just like mine? *You have a 38' Cali right? *Generator mounted across the stringers, just ahead of the main engines? *The yard lifted mine out with a cherry picker crane through the salon door (boat out of water of course). *

They took the outside door off the salon, lifted and removed both floor hatches in the salon over the engines. *They*stuck the telescoping crane mast through the door and lowered the hook. *The 7.5 kw Onan had a lifting eye that was balanced just right. *They removed the motor mounts, tied a tailing rope to the genny and lifted. *One guy sat on the front cabin floor and used the tailing rope attached to a come-along, through the front engine room access door to keep it from striking the engines. *Turning the genny sideways they gained clearance by allowing it to slide a little between the mains as it was lifted. *Once they had it in the salon, they retracted the boom and brought it right out the door! * Took me longer to take the sound shield off and disconnect plumbing and wiring, than it did for them to remove it from the boat.

 

[FF]

ALL SOC units need a while ( multiple charge & discharge cycles ) to get accurate , learn your battery banks ability.

"I used the inverter for microwave and coffee."

Almost nothing.

"The fridge ran all weekend on 12V."

Depending on fridge quality usually 60 -100ah a day

"Even ran a 110V fan since the batts were doing well."

Amperage unknown, inverter load hours? , 1.5A in 120v is 15A in 12v.

I never saw less than 83% charge on my battery monitor.

Removing perhaps 250Ah from a 660Ah battery bank should give a different reading , after the system settles down.

But a quality SOC meter IS the way to keep up a bank, and get 6 or 7 years of life instead of 2 or 3 .

 

[Per]

Edelweiss wrote:Per wrote:**how did you get it from the ER up onto the cockpit deck? or did they put the boom all the way in where they could lift it out of the ER?

when the hatch is open on my boat, there is a nice big access into the ERbut not a lot of places to brace anything against

*Per

I think your engine room is just like mine? *You have a 38' Cali right? *Generator mounted across the stringers, just ahead of the main engines? *The yard lifted mine out with a cherry picker crane through the salon door (boat out of water of course). *

They took the outside door off the salon, lifted and removed both floor hatches in the salon over the engines. *They*stuck the telescoping crane mast through the door and lowered the hook. *The 7.5 kw Onan had a lifting eye that was balanced just right. *They removed the motor mounts, tied a tailing rope to the genny and lifted. *One guy sat on the front cabin floor and used the tailing rope attached to a come-along, through the front engine room access door to keep it from striking the engines. *Turning the genny sideways they gained clearance by allowing it to slide a little between the mains as it was lifted. *Once they had it in the salon, they retracted the boom and brought it right out the door! * Took me longer to take the sound shield off and disconnect plumbing and wiring, than it did for them to remove it from the boat.

*mine is in front of the stbd main, you could'nt just drag it out..

i am sure we will figure something out though.


-- Edited by Per on Tuesday 20th of September 2011 03:22:35 PM