A Generator decision

[Gina Marie]

I have a friend who has purchased a 1976 46C. He believes his generator needs to be replaced after having two seperate companies come out and tell him without major fact finding and cost he should consider a new one as the cost of repair on an original Onan 7K could be throwing good money on a uncertain unit.

He boats where I do in South Florida, can any one recommend a company as well as a generator that he should look into. Thanks for your help.

[ThirdHatt]

Tell your friend to get a Northern Lights 8KW from John at Florida Marine Tech down in Riviera beach, FL. They are great guys. If he can wait until the end of next month, he can get "boat show" pricing b/c the Ft.
Lauuderdale show is the last weekend in October.

Gooc Luck!

[Mike36c]

Yep, Wait till the Ft. Lauderdale boat show and buy a NL. BTW the 8KW and the 9KW are the same size and weight. I just turned 2500hrs on my 2004 9KW NL with zero issues.

[Pascal]

check americasgenerators.com that's where the previous owner got the norpro isuzu 18, about 4 years ago. i'm happy with it... just passed 2000 hrs with only a couple of oil press sensors. i had to redo the head following water ingestion due to faulty install, but it could have happen with any brand.

easy to service...

last time i looked the norpro 18 was selling for arond 10k with a very nice enclosure...

[Captned]

Get a Phasor with a sound shield from Martin at Merril Stevens, Miami. Tell him Ned sent you. No wait, he might charge you more...

I have a 78 46c. It fits great.

I have been very happy with my 12.5 Phasor with sound shield.
Total price ? Around 9K. A NL will run you 13K+.

All my filters are upright. Full service from the front. (well except for draining your coolant.)

Have a great day.

Captain Ned.

[ThirdHatt]

CaptNed, The NL's aren't quite that much if you shop around. I got my 16kw around $11k and was out the door with SS for well under $13k. The 12kw will be lss, of course. Boat show is next month!

[jim rosenthal]

Well, it's the right time of year to be buying a genset. Boat show specials are coming up. We have had a couple of threads here on this topic. Favorable reviews have been forthcoming on: Northern Lights (mine), Westerbeke, Kohler, (Karl), Norpro, NextGen. Most of the complaints about Onans have not been about the sets themselves, they have been about parts, parts costs, and the cooperation or the lack thereof of the company that sells same. There are a lot of old Onans running around, so they must have been fairly well-made. I don't think I have seen anyone suggest that an Onan decades old get overhauled- we seem to have one opinion on that, which is that it isn't worth it.

[Trojan]

I would like to know just what was wrong with my generator before I purchase a new one on the word of a mechanic. The Onan is an old work horse. Most mechanics don't like to work on older units. They don't like getting dirty. They would rather sell you a new one. Unless you have internal engine trouble or a bad generator unit. I would look at repairing it. It also depends on the hours on the unit. My Onan is 32 years old and runs like a new one. $500. bucks or $1000. in repairs is still a lot better than 10/15K in My book. Unless you just want a new one.



BILL

[ThirdHatt]

Trojan, It's not the $500 or $1000 this time, it's the $500 or $1000 EVERY time until you have pretty much already paid for a new set but still have the old one giving you trouble, not to mention the headaches of LOSING POWER! If you have a second generator to rely on, that is one thing but with just one on board, a newer more reliable genset makes boating MUCH more fun!

8kw units should be well under $10k new with SS. My friend bought a new NL for $6700 a few years ago from shopping around. THAT is a BARGAIN! You could look into low hour used gensets that are newer and maybe spend $3-5k.