Stinky Westerbeke Gas Generator :-(
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- čas přidán 7. 10. 2019
- As much as we love having and rely on our Westerbeke generator, sometimes it can be very stinky and I was wondering if there's any suggestions as to how we might overcome that.
- Generator: Westerbeke 4.5 Kw BCGTC @ 60 Hz, gasoline powered &
carburated
Filmed July, 2019.
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Be sure to follow along with all our adventures aboard Boogaboo, our 1998 Sea Ray 330 Sundancer - our fifth Sea Ray! I invite you to take a look at my ever expanding 'Sea Ray 330 Sundancer' Playlist for this boat here: • Sea Ray 330 Sundancer
Boat Specs;
- Model: 1998 Sea Ray 330 Sundancer
- Length (bow to transom): 33’-6”
- Beam: 11’-5”
- Dry Weight: 11,200 lbs
- Fuel Capacity: 225 U.S. gallons, 850 litres
- Draft: 33”
- Dead Rise: 17 degrees
- Engines: 2 x 7.4 litre Mercruiser Bluewater, Multi-Port fuel injection, gasoline,
freshwater cooled, rated at 310 HP
- Transmissions: 2 x Borg Warner Velvet Drives, in Vee-Drive configuration
- Generator: Westerbeke 4.5 Kw BCGTC @ 60 Hz, gasoline powered &
carburated
- 12,000 BTU, reverse cycle heating/air conditioning
- Shore Power: 2 x 30 Amp, 120 V connections
- Freshwater Holding Tank: Single 40 U.S. Gallon tank
- Waste (black-water) Holding Tank: Single 34 U.S. Gallon
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Paul, Love your videos, and thank you for them. My generator service tech installed a new muffler from Vetus along with a exhaust gas/water separator and new exhaust hose and clamps. Installed it was about $800 US. We have a Sundancer 400 with a Westerbeke 7.2Kw Gas generator. What an incredible difference it has made. I would guess the noise level is half. Also a full tune up WILL make a difference as the engine will run much cleaner.
Again thanks for your videos.
I like the questions you ask as you like to have practical applications/solutions for them. That being said, is it possible to rig something on the sea ray to make yours exhaust underwater for a test. Something cheap, maybe PVC from your side outlet. Water cooled so not hot enough to melt anything. Just a thought. That would let you see if is what helps the smell and noise.
Hi, great videos. We run a 12kw westerbeke diesel gen on our semi livaboard currently based on the Thamrs in England. It is great, runs at fixed 1500 rpm and will run all day and night quietly with no smell, generators which smell ( in my experience) are because they are not used regularly and not serviced. We don’t have an underwater exhaust but I would specify that on future boats. My boat is a Dutch steel motor cruiser ( 42ish feet) and is well insulated. Prior to this boat we have had grp boats both trawler type and sports cruisers most with gen’s some of which I have had fitted, all have been great with good insulation and good maintenance they are a super necessity if you go “ off grid”. I know you don’t want this comment but I have run twin diesels for decades and other than when visiting or chartering “well used but not maintained “ yachts or motorboats I have never experienced diesel smells. If engines are well used and well maintained with a well engineered vessel your diesel concerns, I am glad to say, will be a long gone worry! Look forward to seeing your choice, best wishes Harry.
I have a 40 Nordhavn and the gen is submerged but still when conditions are right you get some smell. Not like my gas gen did on my last boat. Submerged as well. diesel is just better to me. Same with the RV. Carb engines have always had strong emissions. Great part is no spark plugs or ignition wires to deal with. New to me boats are always fun to get to know. And you guys are going to love the loop!! I am sure you already consider the draft on your next boat. Ours is 4 ft 9 inch and had no problem with most of the loop. People recommended not too much over 5 ft on draft . We plowed once or twice but no biggy. Have a great day!
Paul, thanks for all your great videos.
This comment isn’t intended to be a Sea Ray bashing but be very aware if you’re looking at a 2000 era Sea Ray.
Had a 38 aft cabin with twin 3126 cats surveyed last week. Deck, transom and stringers were wet. $1300 learning experience. Take a hammer with you and do a pre survey.
Mark
3 comments so far and they all were thinking the same thing I was, exhaust under water. I have been on several larger cruisers that have under water exhaust and it was much easier on the nose and ears. Also adding some solar panels as mentioned is becoming more and more effective with supplemental power options. Lots to research in the next year.
Thre is a sound shield on the exhaust of our Westerbeke. For the most part it is very quiet even with the exhaust above water in the same manner as yours is. I've never had any issue with it being smelly, at least no comments or complaints from anyone so far. I just find the sound level is completely different in different moorages. I believe that's just acoustics. I'd look at a tune up and sound shield that may help.
I have an express fisherman with twin 300 Merc verado outboards , but my generator is a fisher pander 4K diesel generator. It exhausts under the water so it's pretty quiet and almost a nonexistent smell. I can pretty much run it all day and it will use very little diesel .
I had a 7.2kW on my 360, ran it for about a hour in the morning and a hour in the evening typically. Never had an issue with odour and only a real noise issue if exhaust was on dock side. Boated on G’Bay so rarely had anywhere to go far from the boat while genie was running, if it had smelled, we would know. Gennie had about 340 hrs on it when we sold the boat. It had one full tune up over that time plus yearly oil / filter / plug changes. Your boat seems to have big hours so your genie likely needs full overhaul including carb.
The boating you do dockside the air is still and you will always smell a genny unless it’s got some kind of exhaust filtration. Big battery bank with inverters & solar is the way now. Facelifted 2003 onwards 370da or bigger with the hardtop has the room for panels also
We follow a couple of full time RV'ers on CZcams and I was intrigued by the fact that they could run their A/C units all day via their solar/lithium setups once they upgraded. Problem for us is that we don't have any usable real estate on Boogaboo to place the panels. And no, I'm not going to start putting them on the canvas tops. Seen that on another #boat and it looks down right goofy, IMO ;-)
Love my diesel westerbeke -12.5 k on 550 Sedan Bridge, 1993. Also planning great loop, 2022-ish, but will probably swap out for a Sabre boat, Diesel engine
The Sabre Yachts are nice boats, as is your Sea Ray. We loved our 400 Sedan Bridge, but with gas engines, it was underpowered. Hence, the move back to an express and our current 330 Sundancer.
Here is a thought, and it could work even on the current sea ray, increase the size of the house battery bank to compensate and add as many solar panels to the roof as you can and get to where you don't need a generator either gas or diesel.
Ha there
Have you ever considered a large battery bank
I came across a sail boat couple with the same problem so they put a good size battery bank in and like you they wanted to run the a/C just for a few hours at night or during rain storms
The CONVERTER they had was large enough to run the a/C about 4 hours but the problem they had was when the air conditioner compressor kicked in it would trip the CONVERTER
They looked around and found a company that made a device called a soft start
Once installed there air conditioner
did fine,but they needed a lot of solar to recharge during the day
You have 2 454,s to IDLE all day like you mostly do that would recharge your bank
Like your videos and your excellent seamanship
Thanks
Hi ,I fallow you from miami fl,I have same boat ,nice videos ,I am learning from yours videos a lot ,thank you.
Thanks for watching!
"Let's keep things civil. We're not on Clubsearay.com" that cracked me up :-) It's so true!
Yes, dad, but true.
Consider an inverter/lithium battery combination with a heavy duty alternator. If you are running a genny to charge devices it seems like overkill. A sufficiently size battery bank may allow you to run a/c when tied u or at anchor.
Throw a small inverter/generator (gas) in a compartment if you really need to supplement the inverter.
Ya.
Hi Paul, we had our 1998 Sea Ray 400SB with the Caterpillar 3126 420hp almost 3 years. We've been very satisfied with these engines. Running smooth, good fuel economy, no smoke and not noisy. The generator was a Westerbeke 8.0 BTD Diesel one. This was a piece of sh.... compared with Onan or Kohler generators. Loud, slightly higher rpm and stinking. No sound insulation and exhaust above the waterline. An absolute no go. Try to avoid this. But anyhow, you have to build your own opinion. Greetings from over the pond.
Thank you Stefan, appreciate your insights. Anchor Girl and I were just talking about our next, potential Boogaboo. Still debating whether we go full diesel or staying with big old gas engines. Oh well, don't have to make that call right now, still lots of time and options....
@@BoatingWithBoogaboo Hi Paul, you don't have to ask a European boater. Almost all bigger boats, let's say from 35 ft on are running with diesel engines. Way more fuel efficient and fuel costs are pretty high in Europe. And in my opinion diesels are suiting better to bigger boats as they have more torque at lower refs, which means they run more quietly.
Following. Interested to see if there is a solution because the Westerbeke 7.2 on our SR 400 Express is a little on the stinky side and I feel is noisy as well. It runs great and doesn't skip a beat with a 2 a/c load on it. I do feel that if the exhaust exited under water that it would be quieter, on the exhaust side, but there still would be harmonics and sound of the engine at the back deck. No one ever complains, I just wish it could be quieter.
Paul, I can't wait to see what y'all are shopping for and what you end up with. My wife and I want to do the loop as well at a certain point and we know our current Express, even though perfect size for the two of us plus dog, it's not gonna cut it in the efficiency department. Cheers! Pearce
I'm hoping that a full tuneup will help with the exhaust smell, so fingers crossed. As far as the noise is concerned, I'm going to be installing an auxiliary muffler that will help dull things down quite a bit. Put one on our last boat (czcams.com/video/U6S1_542Zvg/video.html) and it really helped. The only issue that we may still have is the fact that our current genny runs at a continuous 3,600 RPM, with or without a load on it. Just the way that machine works, but I think that the whining of the aperture will still be apparent. No real biggy, just sayin'. . .
As for our next potential #boat, it will most likely be something not too far off of your 400 Express, but would definitely have an aft cabin for more storage, or for when we have the granddaughters staying with us. After having our big 400 Sedan Bridge (czcams.com/play/PLKhjT5kr2l2FaABQJSn3VVqd6SN930ICt.html) for six years, we've come to realize that the express style cruiser is very comfortable for the two of us on many levels.
First, I sure hope you currently have CO detectors below deck. Your Mercs pump out plenty of CO underway and your boat creates a vacuum as you move along sucking in CO which can buildup in the cabin. I suspect your current carbureted Westerbeake is probably running rich which is what is creating your odor. I would look into if there’s a possibility of converting it to Direct Fuel Injection. DFI is more efficient as an added incentive. There are several things you can do to lower the noise of your current generator. First, is it sound or are you additionally dealing with harmonic vibration that seems to be sound. Have you checked the isolators at the mounts? Secondly, have you considered sound deadening matting? Easy to apply and remarkably effective. As for your Looper, I have had nothing but a great experience with Onan using a 3cyl Kubota Drive engine. Solid as a rock!
How did you run an auxillary exhaust for the generator?
I'll have a full installation video fir the installation I did on our current boat, coming up. . .
A thought (not on diesel vs gas, as that will come later). You have spoken previously about the range of your current boat and have talked about average fuel consumption. To truly determine usable range, your need data on consumption across your RPM range along with speed at each RPM. That will allow for meaningful range calculations. The primary range constraint is Grafton to Paducah, about 230 or so miles, but you have the river with you for a lot of the way, which is where the RPM-specific fuel data is key. If you already have this data, OK. If not, advisable to start getting it. Hope you have fuel flow meters, etc.... Nellie May.
When i say large they had only 4 batts
Hey Paul. We run a westerbeke 8.0 btda diesel generator. It's loud and it stinks. It definitely needs a tune up but I know that's not going to fix the noise and smell 100%.
I have considered adding the second muffler to help with the noise.
That said, friends of ours run a diesel Onan. It exhausts under the water and it is like night and day.
Virtually no smell and oh so quiet.
My tip for what it's worth would be to find a boat that exhausts underwater.
Cheers!
Yes Chris, that does sound like a good option, but time will tell what we find for the next #boat. . .
Changed the brushes ?
Underwater and more solar. Generators are generators and all smell.