500/520 DB official thread
- Thread starter Havana Shamrock
- Start date
- Mar 25, 2008
- 5,522
- Boat Info
- 2006 Sea Ray 58 DB
- Engines
- MAN CRM V8-900s, Twin Disc Drives; Onan 21.5 Generator
Did you do it yourself?
I did not. A tech did. He tested the defrost element and it was fine. He then looked for the defrost timer. At first he could not find it, so he called Sub Zero. Sub Zero indicated it was behind the unit. So, he pulled it out, only to find it wasn't there. It was in fact, in the front behind the kick plate buried behind a fan, I think.
I replaced my original ice maker in the cockpit last year. I went with the Vitrifrigo. I've had nothing but issues with it. I've been trying to get them to warranty it and have someone come out to look at it. They referred me to 2 shops. One isn't taking new customers and the other says they are too far away. They have finally relented and will be sending me a refund.
Any advice on what unit to put in there?
Tim
Any advice on what unit to put in there?
Tim
One thing about new icemakers is they need ample air circulation, and our boats don't seem to provide enough in the way they are installed. I installed an Isotherm clear ice maker; it simply wasn't producing much ice at all; a fraction of what the literature stated. I did a test and ran it out of the installed location and it started to produce much more ice. So, I doubled the number of vent slots in the hatch door, removed the air flow restriction atop the unit, and opened up the penetration to below in the lazarette. It's now producing what was advertised.
Tim - you don't specify what the issues you are having but whatever you land on make sure to take care of the airflow issue.
It wasn’t making ice consistently. Sometimes it would make a whole bucket over night, next night wouldn’t make one cube. In talking with vitrifrigo, they thought it was the water solenoid. I told them I would replace it myself but they said they didn’t have instructions.
My original thought was airflow. I pulled the unit out and had same issues.
Tim
My original thought was airflow. I pulled the unit out and had same issues.
Tim
Put a vitrifrigo in 3 years ago sold the boat and it’s still making ice maybe you got a bad one?
Dock neighbor bought a 50 Cantius brand new. They've replaced his twice with no success. M
swaterhouse
Well-Known Member
Last summer and the beginning of this summer I also had random shut downs of my generator. In my case my racor was never low.
About five weeks ago it went from random to every few hours, then to hourly and finally the in the last couple of weeks it only ran for minutes.
This week we ran it on an external tank with no issues. We blew the fuel lines out and it ran for 6 hours straight.
We have altered our summer cruise plans because of this so not sure when we will run overnight but hopefully this was the fix for use.
Might be worth a try, unless you're more sure you're sucking air.
Alex F
Well-Known Member
- Nov 14, 2006
- 9,166
- Boat Info
- 2005 420DB with AB 11 DLX Tender, Raymarine Electronics (2x12" MFDs) with Vesper AIS
- Engines
- Cummins 450Cs, 9KW Onan Generator, 40HP Yamaha for tender.
Similar dilemma started for me couple years ago. When the genny shots down in minutes, it's much easier to troubleshoot. When it runs for a while (30min or hours) and shuts down, then you're in for some time consuming troubleshooting. It started from one side and by concluding that it's running fine on the other side, I replaced all the lines on the "bad" side. Long story short, over the past couple years, I ended up replacing all FEED lines for my genny.
If you don't have vacuum gauge, I recommend installing one. It'll help you in saving troubleshooting time. Geenies are more sensitive and when I thought I had pretty good schedule for replacing fuel side filters, it turns out that my genny needed it more frequently. Long story short, after replacing all the lines, there were times when genny would shutdown on occasion. Vacuum gauge helped me narrow it down to racor (even though it looked clean and I would never think of replacing based on the looks of it).
Mine has issues running on the starboard tank which I still haven't figured out. It seems that there are quite a few of the 52DB's having this problem. There are no issues at all running on the port fuel tank. Different than your issue is my Racor fuel filter level draws down when running on the starboard side which definitely indicates air getting in the system. Another interesting fact is the siphon tube in the fuel tanks for the generator only goes 3/4 of the way to the bottom so it would be rare to have it plug up from sludge in the tank. I hooked up compressed air to the fuel feed line coming to the generator's racor filter and blew air back into the tank. I would easily hear air bubbles percolating in the tank which told me the line was clear to draw fuel. That leaves leaking tank selector valves, hoses, and fittings. In your case, I agree that making up a vacuum test assembly and locate it at the fuel tank, selector valves, and racor could be the means to find out where the issue resides. Do you have the same issue on both the port and starboard tanks?
One other thing as an edit - the generator must return fuel to the tank; have you verified the fuel return is clear and flowing?
Last edited:
swaterhouse
Well-Known Member
After reading your post a few weeks ago I
wondered if the randomness wasn't random and was my port tank being further away. That turned out not to be true.
The return and supply lines were all blown out.
I already ordered a racor vacuum guage handle. I may install a N2K guage.
The PO only made short runs the last year or so he owned it and never overnighted on a hook/mooring. Generator hours were nearly equal to mains when we purchased. We put over 200 gen hours on in 3 months last year more than the mains and would have been over 200 extra already this year if we didn't have this issue.
As a secondary issue my genny starter is starting to fail, but like everything else in this world it's on backorder. We will rebuild it when we finish up our trip.
@ttmott sounds like you have an air leak, but wanted to present my findings with my issue if anyone else has similar problems.
bmac
Well-Known Member
- Jan 11, 2008
- 1,845
- Boat Info
- 2006 58 Sedan Bridge, Walker Bay Generation 390 RIB w/40hp Yamaha, 2014 Wellcraft 232 CC w/Yamaha
- Engines
- MAN 900 CRM
I had an internally collapsed fuel supply line on the genny for my 52DB. Externally the hose looked fine but internally it would slowly collapse on itself under suction from the fuel pump. Shutdown problem solved but YMMV.
We will be putting the boat for sale shortly. Just trying to get everything in top shape.
I need to put a new TV up on the wet bar on the bridge. I'm assuming there is an outlet under the counter. I'm trying to visualize everything at home as we won't be back until this weekend. Does the fridge have to come out to get access or is there an easier way?
Tim
I need to put a new TV up on the wet bar on the bridge. I'm assuming there is an outlet under the counter. I'm trying to visualize everything at home as we won't be back until this weekend. Does the fridge have to come out to get access or is there an easier way?
Tim
- Mar 25, 2008
- 5,522
- Boat Info
- 2006 Sea Ray 58 DB
- Engines
- MAN CRM V8-900s, Twin Disc Drives; Onan 21.5 Generator
Tim,
I know its a slightly different boat, but on the 58DB there is a built in trash can right next to the bridge TV mount. Take the liner out and you can easily access the plug outlet.
Jeremygavin
Well-Known Member
- Mar 6, 2012
- 2,054
- Boat Info
- 2011 520 Sedan Bridge
2016 Sea Ray 19 SPX OB
2019 Walker Bay Generation 340
- Engines
- Cummins QSM11s
Mercury 150 Fourstroke
Honda 40hp
I think the fridge needs to be removed. I changed out my fridge a few years back and remember thinking I would have to remove the fridge in order to get to that plug.
