Kippor Generator - note of caution

oakleyb

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Have had a kippor 2000 that ran perfectly over the last 4 years. However today it started smoking and caught fire. Fortunately the fire in the electrical ciruits didn't ignite the petrol tank above. Looking at it the cause was possibly down to a fuel hose leaking onto cable which melted the insulation and then shorted causing fire. Worthwhile checking yours if you own.
 

dom

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Wow, a warning as to the dangers of running petrol gens, especially cheap ones, anywhere other than dry land?
 

Giblets

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One would have thought that a leaking fuel hose would have been spotted and rectified long before cable insulation was melted causing a short.
 

dom

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Are fires not dangerous on dry land?

Lol, but I'd still rather peg it from a boat yard or the back my of my garage than play fireman in my cockpit :rolleyes:

Seriously, anecdotal evidence is by its nature limited: it may be unrepresentative of the data and our cognitive biases causes humans to be more impacted by exceptions than the more likely outcomes. Although where exceptions carry grave consequences it can make sense to take them seriously and to this end the Boat Safety Scheme notes:

"Fire & explosion – the mishandling of petrol and leaking fuel from generators have resulted in spectacular incidents and that have seriously injured people and wrecked boats."

Worth a read for anybody using a gen aboard: https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/stay-safe/generator-safety/
 

KellysEye

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Kippor generators are 3,000 rpm and have a life of 500 to 1,000 ours, fitted by the previous owner, committed suicide at 550 hours. 1,500 rpm engines and generators have life of 8,000 hours+ if serviced properly. I have never heard of generator catching fire before.
 

gertha

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Dear mr or mrs Kelly eye
the Kipor 2000 is a portable petrol generators, they run at 4500 revs.
By definition portable indicates they cannot be fitted.
My guess is what ever was or was not fitted it was not a small portable petrol generator.
If anyone chooses to fit a small portable generator in there boat it will not be the engine that dies, this said with best respect to the couple that died from monoxide a few years ago.
Simon
 

geem

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Kippor generators are 3,000 rpm and have a life of 500 to 1,000 ours, fitted by the previous owner, committed suicide at 550 hours. 1,500 rpm engines and generators have life of 8,000 hours+ if serviced properly. I have never heard of generator catching fire before.

You seem to have the wrong end of the stick again. These are portable generators not installed generators. They are also petrol not diesel!
You broad brush view of generators is not accurate and takes no account of engine manufacturer or quality of said parts and installations. The least reliable high revving diesel generators seem to be single cylinder Fisher Panda types. There are other high revving engines by different manufacturers that are not tarred with the same brush. My own 3000rpm diesel generator is a twin cylinder Perkins. Since lots of small boat engine are designed to rev beyond 3000rpm, how do you conclude that they dont work in generators? Poor installation I can understand but dont assume because your was a pile of poo that everybody else's is
 

weustace

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If it's the Kipor IG2000, it's an inverter generator, so will run at variable speed depending on load. The output is then rectified electronically and chopped back up into something approximating a sine wave.
 

oakleyb

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We never had any problems prior to this and only lightly used it. The problem I believe was down to sub standard fuel piping being used in manufacture. As always I Googled after the event and read similar accounts.
 

NormanS

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You seem to have the wrong end of the stick again. These are portable generators not installed generators. They are also petrol not diesel!
You broad brush view of generators is not accurate and takes no account of engine manufacturer or quality of said parts and installations. The least reliable high revving diesel generators seem to be single cylinder Fisher Panda types. There are other high revving engines by different manufacturers that are not tarred with the same brush. My own 3000rpm diesel generator is a twin cylinder Perkins. Since lots of small boat engine are designed to rev beyond 3000rpm, how do you conclude that they dont work in generators? Poor installation I can understand but dont assume because your was a pile of poo that everybody else's is

Why complicate the issue by bringing in installed diesel generators? The one at issue is a small "suitcase" petrol generator.
 

RichardS

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Why complicate the issue by bringing in installed diesel generators? The one at issue is a small "suitcase" petrol generator.

It was KellysEye who started this particular hare running by saying that his gennie was "fitted by the previous owner". He might be referring to a suitcase portable petrol generator which was, somehow, fitted to the boat but that seems a bit unlikely.

Richard
 

NormanS

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As far as I can see, KellysEye made no mention of diesel, but you brought in that particular red herring.
KE said something about his generator being "fitted". Well now, I have a small petrol generator fitted in a locker. Needless to say, it doesn't get used when it's fitted in the locker. On the very infrequent occasions that it has been used, it is placed out on deck. I suspect that KE may have expected us to assume similar usage.
 

NormanS

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Am I back on "ignore" again? See post #13. ;)

I suspect that "fitted" cannot possibly mean the same as "stored" or "kept" but we must await the arrival of KellysEye. :encouragement:

Richard

No, you're certainly not on "ignore". :D

I say that my generator is fitted in my locker, because it's not just chucked in. It fits in to a dedicated space, and is locked into place. If I had said that it was installed, that would mean (to me) that it was arranged to be able to be used, with implications for exhaust systems etc. As you say, we await clarity from KellysEye.
 

geem

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No, you're certainly not on "ignore". :D

I say that my generator is fitted in my locker, because it's not just chucked in. It fits in to a dedicated space, and is locked into place. If I had said that it was installed, that would mean (to me) that it was arranged to be able to be used, with implications for exhaust systems etc. As you say, we await clarity from KellysEye.

He brought up the old chessnut about diesel generators being more reliable in 1500rpm format than 3000rpm format. This doesnt apply to petrol imvertor controlled gensets. So he does mean fitted diesel not petrol in my opinion. If you expect to get clarity from KellyEye, you might be waitimg a very long time........
 

NormanS

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He brought up the old chessnut about diesel generators being more reliable in 1500rpm format than 3000rpm format. This doesnt apply to petrol imvertor controlled gensets. So he does mean fitted diesel not petrol in my opinion. If you expect to get clarity from KellyEye, you might be waitimg a very long time........

I know that this is not worth arguing about, but maybe you can point out where KellysEye mentioned the word "diesel"? You did, and as I said, it's a red herring.
 

Frank Holden

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Where were we before the bunfight started??

Ah yes, Kipor generators....

I guess I was lucky... mine - a 1000 jobby - and 'jobby' in the scottish sense fits... was 'fitted' down the back of the boat and was used in dark and gloomy anchorages when the wind didn't blow and the sun didn't show....
Bought in Chile early 2007... first played up in mid 2007 ... mid austral winter... played up again in 2008... 2009... 2010.... gave up on it in 2011.... and left it ashore for any fool willing to take it...

Its only redeeming feature was that it took Honda parts.... ended up more Honda than Kipor...

Total POS..... guess I was lucky it didn't try to incinerate me....
 
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