What Size Generator for 46 SF?

[jim rosenthal]

I would get a 10-12 kW Northern Lights. I think W'bekes are good as well, but the NL tend to be smaller, from what I have seen. Either one, installed properly, will work fine. I don't think you need a 15kW set and why spend the extra money?

NL sells an EXCELLENT genset installation video or DVD called "Don't Drown Me". Highly recommended.

[Freebird]

I've had primarily Onans and Westerbekes (and 1 Quicksilver Gen-a-Wreck, yuk!) on previous boats. No problems with either to speak of, but the Westerbekes seemed to be a little more quiet. I had never had any experience with a Kohler until this past spring. It is super quiet, and from what I've gathered, has a pretty good service reputation too. If I find myself having to replace the 15 Onan on FREEBIRD, I'll definately look at a Kohler first

[Liquid Asset]

According to their websites, the Westerbeke 15kw is 100lbs lighter that the Norther lights 15kw. That may not hold true for all of their gensets, but If you deciede to go that way, it may be a thought.

I would make sure that you look at the service points (mechanic avaliablility, waranty parts, parts avaliability where you travel) as much as you look at the genset. Your Genset is more likely to break at a time that is not good acording to Murphy.

[TedZ]

A 13 KW prime power Isuzu, the power for most of the very good generators, is under 9k with the enclosure, HE and a 5 year warranty.

There are many good generator deals out there. None come from marine suppliers.

Ted

[solanderi]

FWIW,

I have a Phasor 9.5 w/ 800 hours on my 45C and so far so good. It also has the sound shield, auto-priming fuel, all the relevant alarms etc....

I don't have anything to compare it to but it is pretty quiet and it does not cause me any second thoughts.

Greg

[OnanHater]

I'm wondering whether there is any difference in the difficulty of getting parts and service for Westerbeke and Northern Lights generators.

Does anyone here know?

According to our generator guy, the lovely people at Onan completely abandoned the model my dad has, and it takes four weeks to get parts.

[Boatsb]

FWIW I was going to rebuild a Westerbeeke 8KW diesel. brought it to my shop to tear it down and at the same time order parts. The parts were about $3200.00. Add $1k for machine work plus my labor and I just stopped. I can buy a new one for $6-7K. Westerbeeke is expensive to repair and mostly disposable. they are cheaper to buy than other rebuildable units. Keep this in mind. Will you repair or replace?

[ThirdHatt]

Westerbeke are great gensets, but their warranty and customer service is NOT what is was in the 1990's and earlier. Northern Lights has arguably the best reputation these days, and Kohler makes some excellent units as well. As long as you keep a fairly decent load on a generator (50%+), the engine should last 10,000 hours+ if it is normally aspirated and the oil is changed every 100hrs or so. The engine is the expensive side, so change the oil, fuel filters and keep a load on it. The armature side can be removed and replaced with a reman with warranty for around $1500 or so on nearly any generator, so replacing an entire generator should not be terribly common unless you have an Onan that is several hundered dollaring you to death as so many of them do.

[dwaynec]

On the 9kw Onan MDKWB that I just pulled out of the boat, I had to have the backend replaced about 4 years ago. Had to have the genny pulled as Cummins wouldn't change it in the boat (major PITA). For the privilege of hauling the thing to the cummins repair facility and letting them do their work and then hauling it back to the boat for reinstallation, Cummins was very nice and "ONLY" charged me three grand. Such a deal!!!

[saltshaker]

I have a 12.5KW Onan in my 46SF. Installed new in '96. Unit has been flawless. Routine maintanance is all it has needed. I think 12.5kw is a bit more than I need. If I had to replace it, I would go with a 10KW unit.