Noisey Kohler 5E

gack

I finally got time to do some overnights at Fire Island last week, but wife and I had trouble sleeping due to generator noise.  I problem I know I have is that the genny continues to hunt which tells me I need carb. work.  But other then that, it seemed excessively loud.  Would  a new muffler fix this or is this just the way it is?  I have the full enclose around the 5E.  Haven't had a chance to look at the muffler yet but genny only has 20 hrs. on it.

randy56

Lot's of noise you are not use to at home, water slapping, air conditioner, the genny is probably the same as the rest. If you have a boat buddy with genny listen to his, probably same debacles. When on the hook my wife has to take sleeping pill..  You did not drink enough alcohol. LOL 

JPC

My 5e was a bit loud and not putting out as much water as I thought it should. I replaced the impeller and now have lots of water and a quieter generator at the exhaust. 

rasbury

Hey, for most of us on the forum, that sound is the sound of victory! Do you really need to run it all night? Maybe some batter operated fans are in order for night time bliss.... 

Black_Diamond

I'd start with replacing the raw water impeller. Should not be loud. 

Mine runs with the service door off the sound enclosure. You can stand next to the boat and barely know it is running. Even down below it is extremely tolerable. 

I did upgrade the strainer last year to the Forespar T-150, I really think it helped on moving water easier over the original strainer. I replaced my impellor this spring after 2 seasons of pretty good genny usage and the old impellor looked great. Not even any cracks showing. Even 1 season was dicey before on the impellor. 

rasbury

I would not describe mine as loud, however, if your out on the hook, no other noise from your boat and your in q quiet area, I'd think I would say mine is "loud". I have never run it with the cabin closed up running the air and would be curious how loud it would be. Why would the impeller have anything to do with the exhaust noise? When you change the impeller, change that stupid coupler behind it...

Liberty44140

Mine is not that loud, it has sound shield like you do. I guess what is the definition of loud? Loud like a scarab? We can hear it down below but it is a pretty light vibration. If we were sleeping up front and the A/C was on I dont think we would hear more than a light humm. Outside in the cockpit we hear it so on the hook on a calm day the Admiral prefers it not be on but again its just a light noise and not offensive. Outside of course you can hear it like you would any engine with overboard exhaust but its not loud enough for another anchored boat to hear it. Your freinds Sea Ray may have more/better sound shielding in the engine room so his being quieter is possible but our dock mates have 33 & 34 Sea Ray's from the mid 2000's and my generator sound is simmilar to theirs. Theirs could be quieter I guess not not a noticeable difference. 

wm61356

The muffler is the "water lift" type....which uses water to help reduce exhaust noise. If the water flow is less than it should be, the generator will be louder until the muffler fills with water.

Bizmark

How steady should the flow of water be out the exhaust? Mine spits and spurts and that makes it sound loader than I think it should from outside the boat. Do you have the same issue?

gack

@Bizmark, yes mine spits and spurts also which may be why it is louder than it should be so maybe a new impeller would help.  I think the constant hunting of the genny also added to difficulty sleeping.