www.iFourWinns.com

This may be a dumb question, but other than scheduled maintenance such as oil changes, coolant flushes etc., are there any concerns running the genest for extended periods?

We only use ours once a week, but when we do it's on from about 5pm until about 7am the next day. We run the AC all night, first for the heat and then the humidity. In the morning we cook breakfast with the microwave and use the 110V coffee maker etc.

Out boat has about 27 hours but our genset is over 100 now.

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SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

I'd be very surprised if there was an issue with that - that's the same amount of time I run my trusty lil honda EU!

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V475
Chris Craft Catalina 23 w/ 300 G2
Previously-V338, 248 Vista, H210

Rub it in Genset boy!

Wish I had a Kohler 5KW in my engine bay.... Heck I just wish I could marinize my EU2000i and stuff it in the bilge!

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Brett DiMichele

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SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

I don't see an issue as that is what they are made for

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

We routinely run ours for 12+ hours at a time. Over 500 on it so far.

Make sure you check the oil regularly. Mine used a few ounces every 10-15 hrs for the first 3-400. Now it hardly burns a drop. I'm guessing this means it is finally broken in. Will be switching to synthetic oil at next change.

Best thing you can do for a genset is use it regularly and make sure it has a load on it. As in, run the water heater, battery charger, AC, refrigerators, etc... I hear they carbon up pretty badly at low load.

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2004 Sea Ray 420DB
Formerly: 2005 348 Vista

I also think switching to Mobil-1 Supersyn would be a good thing. It was the first thing I did when I unboxed my Honda, straight on Synth it went.

I figure anything that has a load on it at a constant RPM can benefit from the superior lubrocity of synthetics.

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Brett DiMichele

Run it .Its better to run them than to let sit for weeks un-run.I use amsoil 30w. They are made to run, but try to load then when running or you might foul your plugs.

Only trouble I've had with the gen is impellers. One gave up at 30 hours. Not sure why.

The other burnt up at around 350 hours when a small stick sucked up in the thru-hull and blocked 80% of the flow at the intake to the strainer. Good news is that a spare impeller is $30 and can be easily changed in 10 minutes with a nutdriver and a pair of needle-nose pliers.

If you've never experienced an impeller failure, you'll know it easily when the generator starts sounding LOUD and little/no water flows from the exhaust port.

Keep a spare impeller around and it will save your weekend outing

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2004 Sea Ray 420DB
Formerly: 2005 348 Vista

Although I have a Kohler 5kw generator installed in my 328 I've been repeatedly told never to run it overnight as the possibility of CO poisoning and ultimate death are highly probable.

Now that I've had the bejebus scared out of me, what's the concensus? Is it safe to run a generator overnight or not? I have two CO detectors installed in the cabin, one in each stateroom area. It would be nice to be able to run the genny when on the hook during the upcoming cooler nights, but I don't want to wake up the next morning and find myself at the pearly gates.

Anyone?

Nobody will tell you it's ok to run a genset all night due to liability issues. Officially, and according to all product liability lawyers, you're CRAZY to do that.

All that said, we run OURS over night almost every weekend. No pearly gates so far.....

Nights with a breeze are much better as the wind will blow the boat around the anchor so that the exhaust flows out behind the boat. Our CO's go off on still nights unless we have a towel stuffing the gaps in our cabin door. We always try to keep our cabin door shut as much as possible. Putting the camper canvas COMPLETELY up (including the snap cover over the transom door) helps immensely as well. All that said, I do trust my cabin monitors. If they go off, we open hatches and ventilate before restarting the genny.

I've taken a handheld digital CO meter out a few times. The cabin monitors seem to go off around 60-80 ppm sustained or so. My understanding is that this level will not kill you for a long time. (please do your own research here).

http://www.carbon-monoxide-poisoning.co ... evels.html

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2004 Sea Ray 420DB
Formerly: 2005 348 Vista

Right, no one will tell you it's okay to run the genset overnight. That said, I do it almost every weekend. Understandably, I'm putting a lot of faith in the CO2 monitors.

We don't stuff the cracks in the door, but I do install the camper canvas primarily to keep the dew off the boat so we can go out in the morning without it being all wet. But, it does help with the CO2 too, I imagine.

I've considered additional CO2 monitors as redundant backups to my already redundant monitors.

I have experienced an impeller failure at 86 hours on the genset. I had the marina replace it, but intend to get a spare and do this myself next time. Where is the best place to get it?

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SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

Never buy just one impeller. You WILL need a replacement soon enough. Mine crapped out one Sunday morning just as I was trying to make the coffee. It only had 43 hours on it. Genset came on, ran for about a minute and then shut off. Same thing if I restarted it. It was too early for anyone to be open, but then nobody on the water had one anyway. I had to pick mine up from Annapolis Cruisair later that week. Nice folks by the way, impellers were pretty cheap (under $10 each I think).

I also keep two impellers for the engines on board. Along with the tools necessary to replace them. Just having the parts on board isn't enough if you don't have the right tools too.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I've only found one place online so far, and they're over $30:

http://www.ess-kayyards.com/catalog/page21.html

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SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

Agree with Bill. Have spares and tools. I got mine from the local dealer. He had two kinds - one was Kohler and the other was aftermarket. I think the Kohler was around $40 and the aftermarket was right at $30. Same impeller, different package.

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2004 Sea Ray 420DB
Formerly: 2005 348 Vista