4 to 6kw gas genset wanted

[captddis]

I'm with Scott as I've never seen (or heard of) a boat where the engines were in any way tied to the blowers. Please understand I'm not trying to make light of anything, and am sorry this tragedy struck so close to home for you. By the same token, how did you/they come to the conclusion that firing up the genset caused that explosion?

Not trying to be picky or whatever, just curios. I've owned lots of gasoline powered boats, several of which had gensets (including my 41 Hatt), and I've never been concerned about onboard explosions. Like Scott said, the old sniff test only takes a second, and I trust my nose over the electronic one that's on the boat. CO monitors are always checked on a regular basis as well, but that too is something that can fail. It then becomes a matter of taking proper precautions to ensure I don't wake up dead having enjoyed sleeping the comfort of AC while running my genset.

Both Onan and Kohler had provisions for the blower to run 5 minutes before letting it start.
These were on demand generators.

[Freeebird]

Both Onan and Kohler had provisions for the blower to run 5 minutes before letting it start.
These were on demand generators.

Yeah, but he was talking about primary engines. I can see where on demand gensets would need such a feature.

[dottieshusband]

I'm pretty sure Chuckie went on to be a star in some horror flick....pretty sure. Lots of folks have gas boats and generators that do just fine.. But when something goes bad, it's really bad. A couple of years ago at Louisville Landing Marina, a genius was troubleshooting his gas engine.. I guess somebody told him to check to see if his plugs were firing... So he pulled a couple and laid them on the head, ignition wire attached, planning to watch the spark from the electrode.. So he cranks the engine, and it starts.... With raw fuel blowing from the open spark plug holes right into the sparking electrodes...yep, didn't end well. And just last summer at Concord Marina, a gas Sea Ray was fueling and apparently putting raw fuel into a very hot engine compartment. When the ignition switch was hit...wah boom...young teenage kid fueling, 1st day on the job, jumps into the burning boat, pulls a dazed, confused, and burned boater from a certain death... Nothing wrong with a gas boat, just more vigilance required.

[Freeebird]

I hate to admit it, but I did the spark plug trick on an outboard and damn near lost my eyebrows! LOL

Had a guy blow himself up in a houseboat at Caney Creek next dock over from mine. I wasn't there at the time, but the story was, he poured gas into a carb on his houseboat, then went forward and fired it up. The going forward part is what saved his life as the resulting explosion separated the hull and the deck. Seems it blew him through the windshield and onto the dock, and the boat sank in its slip.

[jim rosenthal]

Tell us what that felt like, Bird.

[oscarvan]

Everyone that has spent some time on the water has a gas/propane boom story. Yes, with vigilance it can be done, but all it takes is one mistake, doesn't even have to be yours and it's a horror show.

Diesel it shall be with electric for cooking.

[Freeebird]

Tell us what that felt like, Bird.

Well, it felt sorta dumb. Brought whole new meaning to the phrase, "checking for fire". Oh yeah, the boat was on a trailer.

I wasn't behind the motor, but it was pretty "enlightening" to see that big ball of fire belching from that 35 HP flamethrower. It didn't do any damage as fortunately there was nothing behind the boat. Could make for a pretty interesting trick or even defense mechanism in the future.

[Freeebird]

Everyone that has spent some time on the water has a gas/propane boom story. Yes, with vigilance it can be done, but all it takes is one mistake, doesn't even have to be yours and it's a horror show.

Diesel it shall be with electric for cooking.

Yes, and most everyone who has such a story got it second hand vs experiencing it first hand. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does, it can be pretty spectacular. Having an accident with a propane tank generally involves a special kind of stupid.

[Boatsb]

I remember being woken up from a good nap when the boathouse up the street blew up. A Moron found he had a fuel leak and used a household fan to clear the area. Destroyed many boats and the a hole had the gall to live.

Should have been a Darwin moment.

Another time a saw a guy with a coffee can on top of the carb with a few holes in it trying to start an engine with a bad fuel pump I think, Didnt blow himself up but mad a pretty good flare when it backfired. Didnt even get burned. Darwin missed again.

I've owned both gas and diesel. I like diesel better for many reasons but the ability to do stupid things is not one of them,


Since I was a kid I was warned of the dangers of leaking fuel in a boat. I was always careful not to blow up and even made it through a trip where we ruptured a fuel tank. Id not say gas is unsafe. Id say some boaters are.

[Freeebird]

Looking back over the years, I would have to say the dumbest thing I ever did (but got away with) was draining the fuel from one of the two tanks on my 26' Wellcraft Sedan Bridge using an electric drill pump... sitting inside the ER with the tanks.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, and that was all I had to work with. I guess it was a blessing that I had just had that tank filled with as much water as fuel as it was early in the season, and no doubt there was a LOT of water in that fuel. Made it to the end of the marina before I lost my port engine having just taken on fuel. I clamped the fuel line onto that drill pump really good, and ran a length of hose from the output end of that pump to a five gallon can... several times. It was nice, dammitt, and I had a date with a very pretty girl! Wanna talk about dangerous things?

How many of us have died or seriously injured ourselves (physically, psychologically, financially) over a pretty girl? Even the diesel ones are killers.