Any of you replace your generator before?

MiamiAG

Is it true you need to remove the engine to make room to remove and replace the generator?

Thanks,

Art

Aqua_Aura

Pretty sure it needs to be removed unless you break down the old and new one and maybe remove some front and top main engine parts. You being diesel there might be more room. Only experience I have is looking at it in my engine bay. 

MiamiAG

Thanks. That's what I want to confirm. This would add significant expense to replacing the generator and may push me to go gen-less. I would prefer to find a way to replace it without having to take the engine out.

J3ff

Just buy my eu2000 for 850 bucks and call it a day  

Cableguy Greg

What is wrong with your genny?

MiamiAG

Cableguy Greg said:

What is wrong with your genny?

According to tech, error 1000, locked rotor error and engine speed low error. Won't turn on.

Says it seems to be an issue with the electricals and he would need to completely remove it a redo the rotor.

Liberty44140

Depends on the boat. When I had to remove the generator from my Rinker 310 the mechanic said the port engine had to come out. I called Rinker and Randy Rinker assured me that was not true and Randy was of course right, just removed alternator and heat exchanger and the genny came out. 

J3ff

what kind of generator is this? 

MiamiAG

Kohler 5KW

PickleRick

If you're just gonna throw it away I'll save you the trouble and haul it off for you😄

Is it in an insulated case?

MiamiAG

It is in an insulated case. I'm actually trying to find a tech that will tell me it can be fixed in situ rather than chucking it. The last tech that came to see it couldn't figure out a fix for the errors and said that the rotor had to be re-wound and so it wasn't worth doing.

As life would have it, or "this being a boat...", I need to take off the heat exchanger to clean it because I'm getting too hot at full throttle. If I do need to replace the generator, now would be a good time because removing the heat exchanger would likely open up enough room to remove it as one piece.

Of course, the $6,000 for a new geny and the $2,000 to clean the heat exchanger may force me to delay this endeavor until next season.

PickleRick

If you decide to replace the genny give me a price on the old one. I make a trip by miami once a year. 

Liberty44140

Given your situation I agree it should come out of the boat but hopefully you can find someone to go through it for a decent price and fix it 

PickleRick

If you could remove it yourself a local electric motor shop could probably do that work.  Many diesel gensets installed in diesel powered boats are not ignition protected.  

Black_Diamond

who would bother rewinding a rotor on a 5kw genny?  Just replace the part. Cost more to rewind and then epoxy seal. 

If the whole thing had to be replaced I’d go Westerbeke. 

PickleRick

A place in Greenville call j&h motors.

The rebuilt many pto clutches for us in the past.  

MiamiAG

Why Westerbeke over the diesel
kohler?

Liberty44140

Agree with BD, when I had a gas kohler 5e rebuilt I was able to have a good shop rewind the stator for $400. I tried to have them rewind the rotor and no go, just wouldn’t work, had to buy a new one from kohler for $1300. Overhaul of electric side was all in a painful $5k. Should have just bought a used one online. 

J3ff

I would just buy a honda 2200i and use it on the swim platform.. they're 1000 bucks.. and the inboard generators ALL are terrible and cause problems. . 

J3ff

Miami what year and model... a friend of mine is real good with these, I can refer you to a thread he started when he basically took his apart. 

Michael T

@MiamiAG.....as Al will tell you the Westerbeke is more reliable, quieter and I heard it also runs cooler making more peak power. I think it may be smaller too. I also seem to remember Al saying the Westerbeke did not need a sound cover - it was that quiet ..... so maybe easier to install? If so you could take the kohler out in pieces and swing the Westerbeke in?

MiamiAG

J3ff said:

Miami what year and model... a friend of mine is real good with these, I can refer you to a thread he started when he basically took his apart. 

2013 Kohler diesel 6EKOD

PickleRick

The boat we chartered this past spring had a westerbeak with thousands of hours. The boat is chartered as "ice cold ac" in the keys so you know that thing runs non stop year round and is over 20 yrs old.

He had replaced the generator side several times, mostly due to corrosion issues caused by the salty air over the years.

I wouldn't call it quiet but it was impressive that he had never done any major work to the engine in 20 years.  

It was quieter than my "quiet" generac inverter generator while running my ac.  Quiet generators are not so quiet with a heavy load on them. 

Ive not worked on kohler diesels.  Does kohler even make their own diesel engines?  I work on Kubota diesels all the time.  All the equipment my boss owns is bobcat or kubota and all run Kubota engines.  Like most diesels, the pre maintenance is kept up they live long trouble free lives.  

LaRea

J3ff said:

I would just buy a honda 2200i and use it on the swim platform.. they're 1000 bucks.. and the inboard generators ALL are terrible and cause problems. . 

Sorry man, I just can't agree with this.  My Kohler 5E has provided 14 years of trouble-free service (8 years under my ownership).  It starts every time, and it doesn't consume plugs or burn/leak oil.  I had to replace some fuse holders, total cost about twenty bucks.  Other than that, it gets routine maintenance and regular exercise.  

YYZRC

J3ff said:

I would just buy a honda 2200i and use it on the swim platform.. they're 1000 bucks.. and the inboard generators ALL are terrible and cause problems. . 

The same logic would suggest that we would all be better off with a Honda 9.9 mounted on the swim platform instead of our problematic stern drives

From a cost perspective, sure, a 2200 can't be beat.  But you've got to store the 2200 when not in use, you're running wires to hook it up every time and you're storing gas on board somewhere.  Sounds like a lot of hassle, especially in Florida where you can boat all year long.

And to @LaRea's comment, my genny has also been reliable, save for a $15 duck bill valve and some maintenance (plugs, impeller, etc).  Knock on wood.

PickleRick

The Honda is a very reliable generator.  Just not very reliable when it falls off the platfrom and sinks😄

I see them used commercially all the time.  They take some abuse.   I refuse to work on the ones that will be used for tailgating at Clemson games.

I like the idea of an inboard as I could run the AC while under way.  I won't do that with more than idle speeds using my generac(near identical to the Honda)

Handymans342

PickleRick said:

The boat we chartered this past spring had a westerbeak with thousands of hours. The boat is chartered as "ice cold ac" in the keys so you know that thing runs non stop year round and is over 20 yrs old.

He had replaced the generator side several times, mostly due to corrosion issues caused by the salty air over the years.

I wouldn't call it quiet but it was impressive that he had never done any major work to the engine in 20 years.  

It was quieter than my "quiet" generac inverter generator while running my ac.  Quiet generators are not so quiet with a heavy load on them. 

Ive not worked on kohler diesels.  Does kohler even make their own diesel engines?  I work on Kubota diesels all the time.  All the equipment my boss owns is bobcat or kubota and all run Kubota engines.  Like most diesels, the pre maintenance is kept up they live long trouble free lives.  

Koehler uses Yanmar and so do Kubota

PickleRick

Thanks handy!

MiamiAG

The sad part for me, folks, is that this generator was/is brand new. I purchased it with the boat in 2013 and because of my ignorance, I didn't maintain it properly. It literally has zero hours on it.

During the last hurricane that hit the Keys, power was out for quite some time and water got into the bilge and stayed there for a long time. This seems to have caused rust damage to several components and now I see it has happened to the generator.

Curiously, the generator started up just fine several times after the hurricane but recently seems to have run into the problems I listed above. Whether it was damage from saltwater or simply not running it, it now seems to have these electrical problems...

I guess the above is indication that I really don't need a genny the way I boat but we are doing more long-trip cruises now and a genny is a backup that I do feel I need.

Willhound

Not to mention that especially where you are you need it to run the AC when not on shore power.

MiamiAG

Real feel is 106F today.