We've been making ours that way for 20 years. Not only is cleanup a breeze, but we're not filling up the local landfills with those stupid little plastic cups.
Careful here. Your paper filters are doing the same. Pretty much nothing breaks down in modern landfills, not even paper. We use a stainless steal French press. Grounds go in the water, nothing into a landfill.
I cannot understand for the life of me why people need to pollute the anchorage with a generator, especially first thing in the morning. Just boil water on the stove and use a Melita.
Agreed, there should be no reason to run a gen and disturb anyone else's morning.
And Honda generator owners: No, it is not the least bit quiet. The racket from those things carries quite effectively across the water a considerable distance, as does the stench of the exhaust. Sure, you might be upwind of it, but anyone unlucky enough to be downwind of you is not.
Since my first camping trip at age five months, I've been able to survive camping and boating trips without a generator. In fact, I revel in it. Simplifying our existance by limiting power needs is one of the reasons we go out.
I'm with Mainesail. The generators, and the inconsiderate people who run them at all hours, are ruining the experience for the rest of us.
I don't own a Honda generator yet, but plan to soon. Yes, they produce noise. Yes, they have exhaust. But so do the onboard, built in units. They can disrupt a quiet anchorage just as easy. You have to be considerate when using all types of things in anchorages. To me, the morning and after dinner is pretty much out for all disruptive things.
When I get my Honda, I will run it in anchorages. During the middle of the day to top off batteries if it has been cloudy for a couple of days and the solar isn't getting enough juice or to power tools for boat projects. When we leave to go cruising, we won't have any other options. And if you use it appropriately, how is it any different then an outboard motor on dinghy?
Sailing doesn't have to be like camping. Many of us don't want it to be. I also don't want it to be like living in an ocean side condo. I want it to be boating. It's somewhere in-between the two yet different from both.
Now, back to the OPs question about safely storing the generator. The generator in question has a 1.1 gallon fuel tank. He is planning on storing it on a Hunter 240, I would guess that the interior volume is less than 40 % of the length/beam/ height but will use 25% since that is more conservative. That would be an interior volume of around 275 cubic feet (that's about the same as a full size van).
Gasoline has a lower explosive limit of 1.4% and an upper explosive limit of 7.6%. Below 1.4%, it's too lean to be flammable, above 7.6% its too rich and there is not enough oxygen. The odor threshold for gasoline is 7.4 part per million, which is 0.00074%. Based on the vapor pressure of gasoline, it roughly expands 4 times is liquid volume size when spilled.
So where am I going with all this. If you were to spill the entire tank on the generator onto the floor on a day above 70 degrees, there would be a chance of creating an explosive atmosphere in the boat (LEL of 1.6%). However, that is highly unlikely. You would have to leave the generator with the cap off and turned upside down.
What is more likely is that you would spill a small amount of gasoline (a spill of only 0.002 gallons would be above the odor threshold and you would smell it) or the cap would not be vapor tight and the odor from either would be a nuisance.
When gasoline vapor becomes an issue is when it is stored on a boat in a tank that is in an area connected to the bilge. On most boats the tanks are located below the floor boards/interior lining and in an area where there is no impediment to the bilge. Since gasoline vapors are denser than air, they will settle down into the bilge which is generally a confined space. This will allow an explosive atmosphere to develop below the floor boards, undetected. Then it could be ignited by a float switch, bilge pump or some other electrical device below the floor boards.
Personally, I have no issue with having a generator with a small tank (under 2 gallons) stored in the boat. I have no experience with this particular model but think it might be a problem with nuisance odors based on a cheap cap. I have friends that store Honda 1000 and 2000 generators on their boats with no issues. Personally, I will store my generator in my cockpit locker that is not connected to the interior of my boat. That is where I store my gasoline tank for my dinghy and my spare gasoline Gerry can.
Just my $0.02.
Jesse
