Replacing a Generator

[MIKELO]

I AM LOOKING AT REPLACING THE GENERATOR IN A LAGOON 470. THE ORIGINAL ONE NEEDS A TOTAL REBUILD FROM MOTOR MOUNTS UP. THE ESTIMATE I GOT IS NOT MUCH UNDER THE COST OF NEW. I NEED TO KNOW THE COST OF REMOVING THE OLD ONE AND REPLACING IT WITH THE NEW WESTBEKE 15KW.

[courageous cat]

welcome to the CF I was going say cheap-e cheap-e if you do it your self. anyway enjoy the forum, someone will be along to give you their experience

[jenny2]

I would go NEW better on fule,quieter plus warnty.

[Dockhead]

Are you sure you need that much power? If you size your genset for air conditioning startup loads, it will be woefully underloaded 99% of the time, which will shorten its life. You can finance startup loads with an inverter/charger with power boost (Mastervolt and Victron make these, maybe others) which will use inverted battery power to cover the momentary surges when you're starting up AC. I can't imagine how you could use 15kW on a boat that size. We have 6.5kW on our 54 foot boat and rarely manage to load it to more than 3.2kW, which is a whole shore power connection, by the way.

A smaller generator will be loaded better, will last longer and work more efficiently. If I were you I would analyze that very carefully. A smaller generator will be much cheaper, to boot, and LIGHTER, which will be especially good in a cat.

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I can't imagine how you could use 15kW on a boat that size. We have 6.5kW on our 54 foot boat and rarely manage to load it to more than 3.2kW, which is a whole shore power connection, by the way.

At a guess I would say that the OP has 15kw at 110V whereas you have 6.5kw almost certainly at 220v. Not that much difference once you take the voltage change into account.

MIKELO... Get the new Westerbeke. I poured many thousands into trying to keep an old generator running only to have the crankshaft fail within a matter of months. That forced me to make the decision I should have made in the first place!

[djmarchand]

Mikelo:

Dockhead is spot on. A synchonizing inverter like the Victron or Mastervolt will help start heavy loads like air conditioning. Another way is to use a Smart Start unit made by Dometic (the makers of Cruisaire and Marineaire airconditioners) to cut starting loads.

A 5 or 7.5 KW (at either 120 or 220 volts- KWs are KWs independent of voltage) will run any boat of your size just fine with the proper A/C starting assistance. Such a genset will run more efficiently and last longer than a lightly loaded 13.5 KW unit.

Northern Lights, Westerbeke, and Onan all make good gensets.

David