Air cooled Diesel Generator marinisation

[superheat6k]

Has anyone done this - taken a small, say 3-4 kVA, portable diesel generator and made it work, safely, as a boat installed unit ?

Converting to full water cooling probably a non starter, but mounting a pump to injection cool the exhaust should be perfectly feasible, so just need to provide a cooling air flow.

I would like a genny on my next boat, but see spending around £5-6 k for something that will likely do less than 10 hours per year seems a bit of a folly. I reckon I could find a decent donor unit for less than £500.

 

[jerrytug]

It will already have a cooling air fan, you need a large diameter hot air outlet, and seperate cold air intake (trunking) which will be an impossible nightmare unless your boat has a funnel..

 

[Trundlebug]

For only 10 hours use a year you'd be better off enlarging your battery bank and fitting an inverter.

Silence is golden

 

[lw395]

Being on a boat with an air cooled diesel is probably not my idea of leisure.
I could be tempted to revive the petrol micro generator thread.
There are quite a lot of small, electric start water cooled motorbike engines about.....

Being the sort of person who likes a fairly simple life afloat, hot water is nearly as desirable as electricity, so I'd def want the genny water cooled.

 

[mattnj]

Ah ha!
My micro gen project!.

I have one working....finally...but couldn't be bothered with the hassle/negative vibes from the forum :-(

If you search YouTube for Honda gx25 water cooled youll see a water cooled exhaust on a small engine.....made it super quiet and ran cool.

Although I ended up with a 2.5 Hp in the end not the gx25.

 

[sarabande]

as a guide, I have a 7KvA air-cooled diesel genny (Yanmar LA series) on the farm. It's in a hush box approx 2ft by 4ft by 3ft, with a slinky steel 2.5 inch tub leading to a 1 ft cub silencer.


There's no way I would think of recommending that to be installed on a boat; the noise is so pervasive. Does the job of providing power beautifully, though.

 

[Norman_E]

It will already have a cooling air fan, you need a large diameter hot air outlet, and seperate cold air intake (trunking) which will be an impossible nightmare unless your boat has a funnel..

Add to that, the noise from an air cooled diesel will drive you crazy.