Generator for a 40ft yacht to run Fride and Air conditioning ?

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shogun

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Anyone have any ideas on the cost of a generator to run a fridge and air conditioning unit on a 40ft in Barcelona ?

I have a price from a spanish chandler but it is 'off the wall'
 
Guess you first need to add up the load you intend to place on the generator, then you need to apply a diversity factor - like all that load will not be draw at the same time, so you only need a bit less, then you should add a bit more for spare - say 25%.

Reckon on £1,000 per Kw + installation. I'm thinking if you have Air con then you have probably got other power consuming goodies that the mate, and probably you, will just have to run. So, knowing nothing about what else you have I would guess that you need about a 5 or 6 kva set. If a generator has not been installed before then pumps, water locks, cooling arrangements, fuel feeds and the control panel will all have to be added on and fitted - say £1500 - £2000 on top of the cost of the set.

Now we have £7000. I shall leave you with that thought which will now, no doubt, be modified by fellow forumites.

We have 40ft boat with a 4.5 Kva - no aircon - no problem.

Hope this helps.

DD
 
There are two types of generator 1500 rpm and 3000 rpm. Although the manufacturers don't like to admit it 3000 rpm's are lifed at 400 to 600 hours - it's very rare to reach 1,000 hours. 1500 rpms are lifed to at least 8,000 hours. Needless to say the 1500s are twice price or more so you need to decide how many hours a year you will run it and how long you will keep the boat.

As I've said around here before the yellow jersey for reliability (amongst 1500's) is Northern Lights closely followed by Westerbeke. Never taken much interest in 3,000s but Fisher Panda has an appalling reputation amongst the cruisers we know and I can't think of a 3000 that anyone has spoken well of..

As somebody else said you will probably pay around £8,000 for a good 1500 and try to get at least some of the fitting free.
 
Hi kellys eye
A bit concerned about your statement that all high speed generators have a short life We have a mitsubishi based generator typicial of all small units you have to service carefully and at a regular interval.
Can you please state what problems your friends have had.
Have they had a blocked filters and cooked the unit or is it raw water feed and again blocked or is it simply lack of maintaince.
I really would be interested as I would like to prevent a major problem
 
There are in fact three types of generators - 1500rpm 3000rpm - and DC generators that run at the speed needed by the load. DC gennys are therfore quieter and should last longer and use less diesel. Up convert to AC for an inverter and you have as much AC as you need. A big battery bank will give you AC at any time without the need to start a genny.

We have 1050 Ah house battery bank, 2500KVA inverter and a 4KVA DC genny which charges at up to 280 Amps. We even run our Aircon/Heating unit from the battery bank.
 
I've been contemplating a DC genny and the only one I could find was produced by HFL. I'm having trouble contacting their agents and have also been told that they only do a 12V version and I need 24V.

What make is your DC genny and where did you get it?

Many thanks,

Jerry
 
>high speed generators have a short life

Certainly regular servicing helps. Also anode changes are critical, many (all?) generators have dissimilar metals in them.

One basic problem I see is that to start a diesel engine from cold and run it immediately at 3,000 rpm isn't going to help it's life much. The bottom line of it though is they are only designed for a short life and that's what they deliver before the repair and rebuild costs overtake the cost of a new one. There's not much you can do about that except watch it fall apart - as we did with a 3000 rpm Dolphin unit that came with the boat and we subsequently changed for a 1500 model.

The first time I heard about 3000 units' life was from the guy who runs Mecanique Plaisance in Martinique. His workshop was littered with dozens of old 3000 units with hours as low as 50 and none more than 600 (ours failed terminally at 550). He's been servicing generators for many years and said he's never come across one with more than 1000 hours. We've subsequently met a boat whose 3000 generator has more than that but he's rebuilt it a number of times.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Fischer Panda 4000 AGT. Good boat show discount 'till end of Jan.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ref my other posts, if anybody is thinking of buying one ask what its design life is and see if you get an instant and straight answer.
 
Hi all
Yes I made a mistake I should Have fitted a DC unit but as i have cooking as well as ac I would need a larger inverter possibly 5kva. So the costs go up made the wrong decision but it works very well dont really use the ac when cruising only in the winter mooring.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ref my other posts, if anybody is thinking of buying one ask what its design life is and see if you get an instant and straight answer.

[/ QUOTE ]

The web site gives a 5 year or 1800 hrs warranty - something I hadn't bothered to check before I bought mine. I'm even more pleased now that I went for the DC option.
 
Call me a cynic but Fischer Panda knows full well that cruisers don't strictly follow their service guidelines partly because there aren't FP approved agents everywhere but mainly because cruisers generally do their own servicing for cost reasons. Thus the warranty is invalid.

The other get out clause is "faulty installation" particularly if you do it yourself.

If you want to know more about FP, type - "Fischer Panda" + problems - into Google, it's quite eye opening. I'm not having a go at FP in particular it's just that if any one is thinking of buying a 3,000 rpm you should really check what you're getting into.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Is it a good idea for liveaboarders to have generators?

Is this regarded as an essential piece of kit?

[/ QUOTE ] This could start a whole new thread!!!!

If you use a lot of power and spend a lot of time at anchor then its a choice between running your engine or buying a genset to recharge the batteries. It seems crazy to me to run a 56 HP main engine with all the noise and extra servicing costs. You must be increasing your annual engine hours threefold.

Our DC genset will be a lot cheaper to replace when it finally fails and its so quiet it can't be heard atall on deck. When below deck its the vibration that tells you its running.
 
Tell me a bot more about your DC Genset please? Like how bigs your boat, how much juice do you get out of it, how much is it installed and how big is it?

Crikey I love a question I do.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Tell me a bot more about your DC Genset please? Like how bigs your boat, how much juice do you get out of it, how much is it installed and how big is it?

[/ QUOTE ] 42ft CC Legend - max charge current of 280 amps - Fischer Panda wanted £1800 to install it , so I did it myself!!! Check their web site for size, but its about 15" X 16" X 22" - and its fitted under the aft cabin bed!!! I've added lots of extra sound insulation - I wish I'd gone for the special anti-vibration feet for another £250.
 
I couldn't comment on DC generators, I've never had one or talked to anybody who has. One thought though, if you go the 220v route you can fit 220v kit such as fridge and watermaker. If you go industrial grade these are much more robust (much longer life, less servicing and thus better value) than marine 12v kit. And, of course, you can supply your 12v needs as well.
 
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