What's the best gen for a Hunter 380 ?

[StellaetRichard]

Hi Everybody !

Last time we posted sthing was in March of last year ... "From NY to Florida along the coast" ... We are planning to bring our boat (Hunter 380, 1999) to our condo dock in Hallandale (Golden Isles) Florida. We are now close to our departure and have a lot to think about ... Richard, my husband, has still in mind to make it mostly by the sea if the weather is on our side, but I have the feeling that we will stay within the intracoastal. Anyway, we will leave the Champlain lake around June 24 and we don't care if it takes 2 months to do it, we are planning to take the summer OFF ...
We already upgraded our GPS and electronics, etc ... We would like to install a generator in the starboard locker at the swimming platform. Does somebody knows what would be the best gen for our boat ? Any advices would be appreciated.
Thanks a lot !!
Estelle (& Richard)
Québec, Canada

 

[Tribu336]

If you do a search in the "Forums" section, you will find all kinds of advice on the subject.
I have been looking at buying a generator myself and my preference goes to the Honda products like many other sailors (quiet, relatively affordable, reliable, etc. etc.).

Have a good trip down south! I wish we could do the same...

 

[seadaddler]

Panda

I have a 4200 Panda diesel in the port side cockpit locker on my 2007 Hunter which was installed at the Hunter factory.
So what type of Gen. are you looking for is it the small Honda's which will not run the AC on the boat.
I also sailed my Hunter 36 from Montauk ,NY to east coast Florida and than around the keys to Punta Gorda,I did the trip almost all ocean except 1 day into N.Carolina
Nick

 

[StellaetRichard]

Thank you but I don't find much on the subject. I did few research on the Net and the nextGen Ultra Compact Marind 5.5 kw seems interesting. The price around $ 7000 with the enclosure, the dimensions are just 23 long x 17 wide x 20 high, and weight is only 230 lbs ... It is a 10 hp, 2 cylinder Kubota diesel engine. It is freshwater cooled and completely marinized. The 60 Hz AC power should produce enough to run my air conditioning unit along with electronics. It's operation speed is just 2800 rpm, rather than the 3600 rpm typical high speed gen-sets. They say that it reduces noise and vibration while extending operating life. The price: $ 6910 with enclosure.
This is what the publicity says but I tried to find a site with reviews or ratings but did not find any.
Another gen that seems interesting is the Northern Lights but it is quite heavier and expensive (about $ 8842 without the enclosure). It runs at 1800 RPM ...
I just saw Nick's message and will make research on the Panda 4200 ... If anyone have infos on these gens, please let me know.
Tks
Estelle

 

[rtmccue]

Entec west

We had a Panda or should I say 2 on our 376. When I replaced it I installed a Entec west It was great and they are a really good co.
http://www.entecwest.com/ It was in our aft cabin we took out the seat. That was a great boat sails well

 

[StellaetRichard]

Re: Entec west

Thank you !! Didn't know this brand. I will check it right now ...

 

[Chuck Creel]

also might consider MAse generators. I have been looking also to install in my H-31.

The foot print seeems rather smaller and lighter than the onans, northern lights, and most others. Right now I have the honda 2000 which will not run a 16k BTU air unit but the EU-3000 will but they require gas and the MAse is diesel.

http://www.masenorthamerica.com/products1.php

 

[StellaetRichard]

Any one had bad experiences with their generator ?

Yes ! The Mase looks interesting. With a Yanmar engine ...
Generator 5.5 kW (#IS5.7)

PRICE: $6,499.00

Engine: Yanmar Diesel L100V
Maximum Power: 5.5kW – 120/240 volts – 60 Hz
Continuous Power: 4.8kW – 120/240 volts – 60 Hz
Dimensions: 29-1/2" x 18-1/2" x 23-1/2" (LxWxH)
Weight: 286 lbs
Sound Level: 56 dBA at 7m
Cylinders: 1
Fuel Consumption: 0.25 - 0.55 gal/hr




I have now many to compare:
Kohler, NextGen, EnterWest, Westerbeke, Northern Lights, Fisher Panda, and Mase ...

 

[Ron McCoy]

I did the total research on gensets for our H 386 a few years ago and spoke to all the vendors at the Annapolis boat show that year. My limited criteria was to find one that would fit into the aft lazzerate (per Hunter design), weighed not more than 250# and produced enough electricity to run the A/C plus. Many of the gensets out there are too large (volume wise) or too heavy for the H386 as I wanted to counterbalance the weight of the fuel and waste tanks on the port side. The Entec West with it's sound enclosure fit my criteria. When I pulled the boat two years ago, I had the yard install thru-hull fitting for the sea-water strainer and exhaust hose. I did the rough-in of wiring and hoses prior to the haul out. The Entec has proven itself a winner. It's easy to maintain, has a great fail-safe system to shut it down if something goes astray and doesn't make that much noise (I sleep at night with it running). It's a great system and produces 35 amps at 4.2KW. Yes, it's going to cost you about $9500 once you add the installation and parts. For me, the Honda portables are just too hazardous to your life - they were never designed to be used on a boat and for the most part don't generate enough power for other than the coffee pot. Portables also require having too much gasoline on board and I don't want to deal with the CO risk - like not waking up in the morning. Go with the Entec West and get something that's safe and effective. What's your life worth?

 

[StellaetRichard]

EnterWest or NextGen ?

Hi Ron !
Thank you for your answer. Wish we went to Annapolis like you. Because of the small space we have and weight limitations, we discarded most generators. Enter West was our second choice. My husband was very interested by the NextGen (2 cylinders). It is very compact and should less noisy than the 3 cylinders. Have you heard about the NextGen ?

 

[StellaetRichard]

I meant 1 cylinder ... don't know much about it, my husband knows. He says that there is less vibration (and noise ?) with a 2 cylinders than 1 cylinder. We are going to our condo in Hallandale, Florida, this Tuesday and will certainly visit gen dealers. We will also look for refurbished ones. $ 10K is a lot of money ... The CO detector will also be an addition. The MASE gen may fit...looks good also.

 

[Ron McCoy]

I too looked at the NexGen system and was not impressed with air-cooled stator system. That's where the heat is generated. The NexGen requires an enclosure to "capture" the heat, a fresh air intake and an overboard (outside) air discharge along with a blower fan to move the hot air. Otherwise the heat can build up in a small enclosure resulting in generator overheat or just "overheating" the compartment which in the summer tends to heat up the boat even with the A/C at full blast. Many gensets run at 3600 rpm for technical reasons (I forget the reason), while some run at half this rpm. The slower gensets are less noisy. I selected the Entec West (runs at 3600 rpm) as the stator is water cooled (via a heat exchanger), has a separate sea-water pump (no impeller to change) which starts up when the gen-set is started and fits my H386 very nicely. Good luck on your search. Keep us posted.

 

[Jerry Clark H356 SV Persi]

Northern Lights

I have a Northern Lights 5KW on my 2003 H356. It has 3 cylinders, runs at 1800 rpm and is quiet without an enclosure. I had a custom enclosure made for ours and we run it all the time when we are not at the dock. Fuel consumption is about .25 galons per hour or about 6 gallons per day. I have 1650 hours on it and only change the oil and impellers. I run HVAC, TV, HWH and all functions and have never overloaded the generator. When we leave the dock, we turn on the generator and when we return, we turn it off and hook up to shore power. We have had multi-day runs with no interruption. We have it mounted in the port locker and we sleep with it running and are not bothered with the light hum we hear.

It is a heavy duty generator and will run for a long time without having to rebuild. You should take a very hard look at the Northern Lights.

 

[JEB]

Re: Northern Lights

I have a 2001 380 and the PO installed the NexGen 3.5kw in the starboard locker. It runs well and provides enough power for AC and batt. charger I can't run the AC and the water heater at the same time though. They have provided great service on the phone and in person at the factory. They are only about 30 mins. from my house. It is quite a chore doing any service work in that lazarette though.

John

 

[StellaetRichard]

Is the Farymann Diesel 4.3 kW interesting ?

Thank you for all the infos, we still have time and we are considering used or refurbished ones ... Most new ones are around $ 10 000. Farymann is around $ 5000 and look interesting although it's only one cylinder. Don't know about the vibrations. It's probably more noisy than the more expensives. We tried to contact the company to have the installation sketch and specs but got only a very basic drawing.

 

[seadaddler]

$$$$$

Do yourself a big favor and get something good and reliable because GEN are only good if they work when you need them new or used you need good reliable service,parts,they don't always work without problems and if you try to go cheap you make be very sorry and unhappy I am only trying to tell you from experience because they do start acting up for many reasons and I know people who were very sorry some times.
Nick

 

[StellaetRichard]

Re: $$$$$

Hi Nick !
We are just coming back from our boat. We live in Quebec Canada, our boat is in NY, on the Champlain Lake. Not yet though. Still 2-3 months to wait. The season is very short here. You are lucky to live in Florida. We are presently waiting for our private dock at our condo in Hallandale, Fl. And the boat will stay there permanently. We were suppose to get it for June but it appears that we will have to wait a little longer ... The good thing is that we have more time to get prepared. We have almost no experience of the sea ... We are presently upgrading our electronics (Garmin 4210), we will replace the radar (for a Garmin 18HD) and move it. It is on a post at the rear of the boat. We need the space for the generator. The post goes thru the locker for the gen. We have a light mast. We were told that there is no problem to put the radar on a light mast. We will make sure of that before doing it ... Thank you for your advice regarding the choice of a gen. You are right. Better a choose a good one that we will always be happy to use. It is always too expensive when it's bad quality. We will keep it in mind and let you know our final choice. My husband is presently on his laptop shopping for an internet antenna ... to put on the top of the mast ... we will also install a GWS 10 Wind sensor ... We buy everything in the USA, via internet. I see that you are online. Hope to hear from you again.

 

[seadaddler]

From NY

We are from Long Island,NY and retired in Florida in 2008 and yes we love it sailing so much more here in Florida but being retired makes the big difference.
We are on our 2 week cruise sailing up north now anchored in Clearwater,Fl and the weather is really warm,good luck with your boat.
nick

 

[StellaetRichard]

Re: From NY

Good for you !! Do you have a WI-FI signal booster on your boat ??

 

[seadaddler]

No Booster

I don't have any Wifi booster as of yet but don't need a booster my wife just got a Droid with Verizon unlimited interent and it has hot spot so I am using my note book right now and wife is checking emails same time.
I was going to get wifi setup on boat but now with her droid we won't and don't need TV antenna either we watch TV on her laptop it's great and 29.00 per month added to our cell pretty good,we get weather on it and so much other still learning it all,we love it.
Nick