Sound Shield on a 260DA?

ChuckW said:
The one issue with side mounted genny aftermarket is you will disrupt the list of the boat. You may need to move batteries or something else to counter the weight shift, if that wasn't done already.
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Chuck, Mine is layed out like his, I do believe, and I've seen the engine compartment of your model. For ours, the water holding tank and the water heater is on the port side along with two batteries, opposite the genny, and with water in the tanks it offsets the weight of the genny, actually overly so. The genny is 200 lbs. tanks full of water is 283 lbs. The holding tank and fuel tank is at the centerline, where your genny is. I don't know about others, but I keep my water tank at least half full, and if anything, it lists to the port when it is full.

limitedwave, mine was fouling plugs like crazy because it was running rich from air starvation, that's when I brought it back to the people that replaced the carb and they found the FA in backwards. I was amazed at how quiet it was after they fixed it. I'm interested to hear if you can find out why yours is so loud.
 
Yeah...I'm interested too! I'm somewhat weary of getting down there and taking stuff apart. I'd be in the doghouse if I fouled something up. If I'm hearing you right - I should take the plate cover off of the assembly that houses the the impeller, the water pump. Once off I will be able to see the impeller and visually inspect it? I know what it should look like...will I be able to inspect it without removing it? From the manual it sounds like I can.

Next - the strainer. You say that's in one of the tubes feeding the water pump? I'm assuming its obvious which one. What am I looking for? If its free of debris etc I guess?

So the hypothesis here is that my generator is operating too loud because the water pump is supplying an inefficient amount of water to the generator. It is supplying enough water to keep it running, but if the flow of water through the pump was full, the unit should run quieter. Have I summed it up?

[As for the the weight distribution and list of the 01-03 260DA. My 260 is heavier on the port side, especially with a full water tank. In addition to the tank and heater, there's batteries, fridge, microwave, kitchen worth of food etc, and of course in the cockpit there is no starboard seating so if passengers are on board you'll be a trimmin. I think I read that they changed the cockpit layout in 2004 to help that. ]
 
@ultratiger99 - do you have a sound level meter by chance? I'm going to take mine with me this weekend and see how many decibels its putting out.

@everyone - same question for anyone with Kohler 3-5kw models.
 
Unfortunately I don't have a sound meter, I might be able to get one from work, I work in a chemical plant and the Industrial Hygiene group is in the same building as I.

You will need a flashlight to see the impeller. I'm not positive it's your issue, maybe yours is just loud for some reason. Thinking about it though, if your issue is a loud exhaust, I don't know that a sound shield will do you any good. It only blocks the noise from the engine itself.

In the picture you provided, the hose clamped to the floor on the right is your intake hose, there is a strainer in line with it bolted to the starboard side of the engine compartment. Just follow that line back to it. The strainer is just out of view in that picture.
 
I installed a sound sheild on my 04 340 sundancer and it was pretty easy. It was a kohler 5e just like yours. I paid $700 back in 2006 for the sheild at Nixon Power in Norcross Georgia. They are a kohler distributor for the southeast. Figure it will take you about 6 hours to do the complete install. In my case I had to lengthen the battery cable but other than that it was a job anybody could do. My advice would be to assemble the sheild at home on your kitchen table so that you are familiar with all the parts. Once on your boat you will be doing alot of assembly by reaching around-up-and-down etc. by feel. There is a starboard tray that needs to be slid under the genny so you may need a helping hand to lift the genny slightly to slide it into place. Also, if you are getting alot of exhaust noise when the genny is running then you probably have some blockage in the heat exhchanger. The blockage could be a piece of rubber impeller that has broke off. I have seen that a dozen times in the last 4 years from other boats on my dock.

Hope this helps.
 
I asked Kohler if they can provide a spec sheet for sound level decibels. We'll see.

Exhaust is where I'm headed...maybe a bad muffler? Hmmm. I guess first is to determine what Kohler thinks the sound level should be.
 
@bluebelly - thanks, great information. I'm guessing you think my genny might be too loud also. Heat exchanger you say...another place to look...
 
I would say that the sound shield reduced total noise in the cabin by about 20%. I expected more of a reduction but it was still worth the time and effort.
 
limitedwave,

I made a video so you can hear what mine sounds like. First scene is at the exhaust, second is the engine compartment, note, the hatch is open, with it closed you can barely hear it, third is in the cabin, and this is with the hatch open too. I couldn't close it due to using the hose for water supply. Also, I filmed my TV location since you said you don't have one yet, so you can see where I put mine. I can tell you how I installed it if you like, I didn't have to drill into anything you can see.

http://img190.imageshack.us/i/gennyvid.mp4/
 
I just had an 07 Kohler 5ECD generator installed as an aftermarket on my 270 (I realize I have a different boat than you do).

I had acquired a sound shield with the generator (I bought the whole package used). My installer did not install the sound shield. He said it would fit but the noise reduction would not be worth the maintenance difficulties due to lack of access. Now that it is installed it seems like there is more room than I had thought. For me the tight spot is the height. I still have the sound shield in my basement. I am going to live with the generator as is to see if the noise is an issue. I have heard to expect about 30% noise reduction with the shield.


I listened to your video. It is difficult to tell overall volume since there is no reference sound that has a relative known loudness. With that being said my generator sounds about the same at the exhaust. Hard to tell about the sound from within the cabin. The sound from within the engine compartment seems a lot louder than mine, certainly a lot different. Yours sounds more like a hamster wheel or something. I am not describing it well I know, but yours has a much higher pitch machinery sound than mine.

John
 
I just reread your initial post. In addition to a different boat we may have different generators if your was factory with a 2001 boat I do not believe they had the 5ECD then so the generator may have a different sound than mine anyway.

John
 
I listened to your video. It is difficult to tell overall volume since there is no reference sound that has a relative known loudness. With that being said my generator sounds about the same at the exhaust. Hard to tell about the sound from within the cabin. The sound from within the engine compartment seems a lot louder than mine, certainly a lot different. Yours sounds more like a hamster wheel or something. I am not describing it well I know, but yours has a much higher pitch machinery sound than mine.
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yeh, open the hatch while you are running, it's quite loud from the engine. the insulation does a good job on damping the noise. With the hatch open, it is pretty noisy. Close the hatch, and much, much, quieter.
 
Yeah, I brought some sound absorbtion tiles to the boat last weekend. Then it quit running due to fuel intake/starvation problems, still not fixed. So haven't got to this yet. You're sooo right though. There is a big difference in the level of sound with that lid shut.
 
The noises do not sound right. I have the same genset and sound levels are way below what I'm hearing. This is very subjective, depending upon a lot of things, microphone levels, etc. However, the sound from the cabin does not sound correct. I'm not sure what to tell you, but something is not right.
 
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