To Add Or Not Add A Generator, That Is The Question...

rondds said:
Vince, did you have a cigarette when you got off that generator? ;-)

One reason I passed on the '03-07 vintage 340DA - ROOM TO ROAM in the ER. I had had enough of that cramped situation with my previous boat.
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I call it bilge yoga. The joys of trying to get the lower intake hose back on the water pump. At that is the "easy" side.
 
I have no corrosion on Just Ducky's windshield frame. Clean and covered when not in use is a good thing.
 
Bucit said:
"When you Great Lakes boaters are just talking about boats during the 5-6 months your boats are in storage, our boats are not just sitting in the sun. We are out having fun with them."

I was going to say the same thing.
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Some friends and I were talking about some future trips a couple weeks ago and then reality set in....we're at the end of the season....it's over, I'm pulling my boat next week. Normally I wait a couple more weeks but I want to get ahead of the rush because I have a couple things to do. How many hours you have on your boat?
 
Another cool feature about the 380...SS windshield standard.
 
Very true Scott. Sometimes that break gives you time to restock your wallet which would be nice. Down here we pay year round.
 
I know the generator question was asked long ago in this thread but here is what I did when faced with the same choice. My 300 didn't have a genny and I felt it was a necessity to be able to use the air/heat microwave and keep the fridge cold for 2 -3 days away from the dock. I didn't want to put the huge $ in to the install and decided to go with a battery bank and an inverter. 8 years later it still works great on the same batteries although my total amp hours are less and I do have to conserve better. I put a bank of 3 8D AGM batteries (750 ah) and a 2500 watt xantrex inverter charger. My total cost then as about $2,500. With the new lithium ion batteries the space taken and the weight of the batteries is greatly reduced and the amp hours can be greater. I can go to sleep with my air running and not worry about asphyxiation or bothering the people I'm rafted to. I have a friend with a brand new formula 33PC and that genny noise sucks, the sea rays are not to bad. I'm looking to upgrade to a 400 DB and already started planning on an additional battery bank and inverter.
 
Sweet
I have 10 six volt batteries as house batteries and a 2500 watt inverter. In all it is 1100 AH but I have been told to only use half of that. After a few days out when I get to shore power it takes 8 hours at 120 AMPS to charge the system fully. I run the generator 2 hours a day mostly some time up to 4 if it is cold or we are cooking a lot of things. When they installed the inverter they only set it up so one side worked from the inverter.
Questions
Are both sides of your electric panel hooked to the inverter
How many AMPs does your inverter/charger put out when it is charging
Did you put on large alternators on your engines to charge them. I have two 70 AMP alternators that will both put power into the house system once the four group 27 start batteries are full charge.
 
Hi Northern, you have 2 30 amp shore power connections. I don't think the inverter would power both of your ac/heat units at the same time so I can understand why they probably did it that way. I set it up so my shore power line runs into the inverter and out of it because it's a charger also. I have the link 1000 remote that works like a gauge for how much has been drawn from the bank and also so I can vary the draw for charging through the power sharing part of the program in the link. We have spent 8 days one time out on the hook and off of shore power. For that time I brought out a honda generator to recharge the bank. Your 6 volts are probably flooded batteries so its not recommended to draw more than 50% down. My AGM's I would just worry about the volts dropping to much. I bet you love the big inverter set up as much as me. There have been times that my friends with the genny's only had problems and would go back to the dock and other times I told them to stay over night and I would give them an extension cord to keep the fridge running LOL.

I have thought a lot about the alternator set up to charge them but honestly there is only a few times where I have needed it and I have learned how to step down the charging rate so I can use a small honda 1000 to do it. I have my set up totally separate from anything else on the boat. I believe my inverter charger will charge at 120 amps DC when at shore power.
 
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Sweet
Sounds like you have it figured out. They set the 6 volt batteries and inverter to operate alone and only be charged by the generator. We have 10 hour runs some days so it was a waste to just charge off the generator or shore power. We have 2 refrigerators and 120 volt lights. We draw 15 to 20 AMPs most of the time. Do not use the batteries to make heat, run stove or run AC as the draw would be too much.
This year we had the generator fail at the north end of Vancouver Island so with a bit of turning off things we were able to keep going. We ran the Port engine to charge the batteries at anchor and make hot water for showers. The Inverter we have will not run the watermaker being water misors we could get 4 days on the hook before we had to find water.
 
I have owned 3 larger boats before my 34ft sea ray, which I have now with no gen.. Never used my gen set on previous boats.. Live in SF Bay, cruising various location, but always tied dockside. Understanding if interested in anchoring, gen set needed. Personally, I enjoy docking way than anchoring.
 
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