Quick gyro

just to add to the list of failing Kohler parts:
generally speaking we had very little problems with our 2 x 1991 Kohler 16,5Kw genny's (4000 and 3500 Hrs) the last few seasons we run them approx 200Hrs /season, total of the two

a few years ago we had a loose / worn out pulley on the raw water pump
last year we had a sticky starter, clutch doesn't engage, due to age / corrosion,
this year we had the same on the second starter. I had ordered a new starter from a supplier in Rome (200euro) delivered in a couple of day's. the old unit can be refurbished , and keep it as a spare.
On the generator block is a thick flexible (multibrain) ground wire, that broke, due to corrosion and vibration. Repaired with standard flexible electric cable.
In the electric controll box are a few relay's (12V!) that I also keep as a spare


all orriginal hoses (oround the yanmar engine), for cooling water, oil and fuel, feel a bit cracky when pushing on them, (from age)
I'm wondering if I should replace them all, preventively ?
 
The sticky starter motor problem is something I have experienced with the Kohler genny I had on my last boat but not on my current boat. FWIW I used to give it a whack with a big spanner and it would invariably start working. Sometimes the old fixes are the best!
 
Just out of interest how many hours do you reckon you put on your genny in a season and have you ever had any issues with it because you use it such a lot? Or is it a case of the more you use it, the more reliable it gets?
I do find the more you use your generator the more reliable it becomes, and the big question I always get asked is how many hours will it do?

I have seen a number of Onan generators with over 27,000hrs on them even some into the low 30,000+hrs. I personally would replace anything with more than 20,000hrs as overhauling works out to expensive.
 
Anyone see the qwick gyro on display at SIBS? I was told cica £20K + VAT for the 20 tonne version, plus fitting. That's only £5K cheaper than Seakeeper 5.
 
At the Quick stand at Cannes I was told that one ten is better than two fives. Also the technician said my boat would need the twenty (not two tens) which is huge, heavy and expensive. I'm not convinced that he had a good mental image of my boat and I think (hope) he overestimated it, but he seemed confident. The Quick seemed very simple in design.
On the Seakeeper stand, the Dubai based technician seemed convinced that a thirty (the battery operated one) would do the job. When I explained my trawler boat is tall, he thought even better, using the logic that if it rolls easy then it will stop rolling just as easy. The Seakeeper is a technological tour de force, and while the gaurantee sounded long it isn't when it runs constantly in the background. The price he quoted was retail in US$ and in the US.
 
if it rolls easy then it will stop rolling just as easy
Was that chap talking of stabilization under way or at anchor?
If the latter, his view makes some sense, but if the first, that's plain BS imho.
A round hull with a long roll period, cruising at D speed, typically needs a roll-contrasting force for longer than gyros can handle - which is the reason why you mostly see fins on these boats.
 
Was that chap talking of stabilization under way or at anchor?
If the latter, his view makes some sense, but if the first, that's plain BS imho.
A round hull with a long roll period, cruising at D speed, typically needs a roll-contrasting force for longer than gyros can handle - which is the reason why you mostly see fins on these boats.
He did say that full displacement boats were hard to stabilize. I didn't actually say to him mine was a semi d.
He talked about at anchor and at low speed, but I can't remember how fast
The overwhelming impression I got was that on a large expensive vessel the stabilization cost is negligible but on a small boat the cost is vast in proportion to the boats value.
But getting an actual ballpark cost from either company was hard, although they were both eager to do a proper quote.
My wife was not impressed
 
They gave me an idea of cost over the phone but were very clear it would need proper survey to confirm, to install two small units on a 40ish footer (due to space) circa £2,500 + cost of units, (to fit one larger unit was considerably less due to costs associated with lifting extra units into boat) very loose guide but seemed reasonable to me.
 
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The Seakeeper man did say that you can use two units if space is a problem, that's the first time I have heard that about Seakeeper
 
Just remembered something said at the Seakeeper stand. If you get the thirty, the guy said get two big batteries (250 or 300) start the gyro up while on shore power, then spend a fun, comfortable day on the water, then come home to recharge on shore power. No geny. For me he painted a really good picture
 
Just remembered something said at the Seakeeper stand. If you get the thirty, the guy said get two big batteries (250 or 300) start the gyro up while on shore power, then spend a fun, comfortable day on the water, then come home to recharge on shore power. No geny. For me he painted a really good picture

this is how i imagined it could work for smaller boats with the cost saving of an MC2 vs seakeeper paying for a couple of big batteries maybe even lithiums.
 
Just remembered something said at the Seakeeper stand. If you get the thirty, the guy said get two big batteries (250 or 300) start the gyro up while on shore power, then spend a fun, comfortable day on the water, then come home to recharge on shore power. No geny. For me he painted a really good picture

Just for clarity, you mean the Seakeeper 3, not the 30.
 
I was talking with osmotech, they said the Seakeeper 5 is being replaced with 6. The 6 retails at $40900, the 5 at $32340 and with only 37Kg heavier flywheel the $8560 difference in price works out $231 per KG. The flywheel must be made from unobtainium :D

They did say it will perform 20% better than 5, so for a little extra weight you're getting reasonable extra performance.
 
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