Generator common etiquette

[wileecoyote]

I was wondering, for those of you that have rafted up at Aquapalooza(other large event) before. My Refrig won't work on 12V anymore, and ice only lasts for so long. How do you keep food and drink cold without running the genny? With that many people all jammed into one area, do people run them? I ran it on July 4th because I was on the end of a 5 boat raft up with my exhaust pointing away, and there were high winds. Ran it while everyone went to sleep(no one in the water)

 

[wetpaint]

I can only speak to moorings and when at a dock......It should be shut down from 10 pm to 8 am........In your case, you were with buddies so it might be accepted with them knowing your lack of refridgeration.......

 

[Sea Gull]

Don't run a gas generator if there are people hanging around the swim platform and don't run it if anyone is swimming anywhere near the back of your boat. Aside from the CO issues, it is dependent on how much noise your genset makes, how much wind there is (and what direction it's blowing) and what your neighbors will tolerate.

My impression of Aquapalooza is that it's a few hours, not an overnight. You should be able to put a couple of blue ice packs in the fridge to keep it cold as long as you don't open it too often. Use a portable cooler for the stuff you need easy and repeated access to; like beer, wine and soda.

 

[Presentation]

Use a cooler or don’t join the raft up or simply accept that the refrigerator will not be running for a few hours and keep the door closed.

 

[Henry Boyd]

We don't have a gen, so I can't answer the etiquette aspect of the question. But because we don't have the gen, we take a couple tricks from our sailing days. we use the blue ice packs in the frig when on battery. I realize Wilee has no 12v operation on the frig, but they do seem to be very efficient coolers. Also where ever possible when we are going for weekend, or longer, we freeze when possible food that is planned for later in the trip.

Henry

 

[osd9]

I can only speak to moorings and when at a dock......It should be shut down from 10 pm to 8 am...............

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but if you are referring to 'in a slip at a marina', I certainly wouldn't tolerate that next to me......maybe just for maintenance....but if you are at a dock....aka...in a slip.... and you need power, then plug in.

I'm not very familiar, but I would guess that some town/municipal docks don't have power readily available. However, if I'm tied up directly behind you at the 'wall', and you're running any motor all day long.....8am to 10pm.... with a wind blowing in my direction I'd find that rude.....but if that's the accepted practice....then so be it....

 

[wish2fish]

aside from your question. but how hard can this be to fix? I thought these refrigerators work by heating up the coils in the back. Sounds like the 12v heating element is bad.

 

[spikedaddy99]

aside from your question. but how hard can this be to fix? I thought these refrigerators work by heating up the coils in the back. Sounds like the 12v heating element is bad.

A fridge not working on 12V can be as easy as a blown fuse, or as difficult as the power supply not switching from 120 to 12. In my case on my 1988 300 weekender, Norcold doesn't make the power supply anymore. So, either I had to replace the fridge, or run the genny occasionally (and pack lots of ice)
Mike

 

[xravenx]

aside from your question. but how hard can this be to fix? I thought these refrigerators work by heating up the coils in the back. Sounds like the 12v heating element is bad.

Very hard to fix since there are no 12v heating elements on refrigerators...........the coil on the back is a refrigeration coil that gets warm / hot due to refrigerant (not Freon) being in it.

John

 

[Alegria]

This is my first boat with a genny, so I too am interested in your question. I like mine as it a Westerbeke and it only runs at 1800 rpm so I think it pretty quiet on board. I think it comes down to safety and common curtosity. During the day in a raft up I don't think curiosity is an issue with my kids yelling, music playing, etc... I doubt you would hear it enough to bother anyone. At night curiosity becomes the issue and if I was in a quiet cove I would not run it after the hours posted up by Seagull.

Now as far as safety I would hesitate to run it with the kids swimming or hanging on a raft off the back of the boat during the day.

One of the boats in the raft up at Aquapoolosa ran theirs. It was loud in the water that was about it. But there was a pretty stiff 8K breeze from the bow too.

I would make sure there was a good breeze and no one behind me too close.

What do I know I am just a noob. I do have 3 CO detectors on board though. One hard wired which works, as at times as I idle at the dock and the breeze is off the stern I get the low CO beep from it. Then 2 battery operated ones with the digital read outs for further help which I use when the genny is on anytime...

 

[Redhook98]

I am planning on running mine through the day when rafting out at Fairview this weekend. Mine is very very quiet and has never been an issue when rafted up. At night if there is a good breeze, then I will open the from hatch and shut the genny down. Worse case scenario, I will start it up periodically to chill the frig and charge the batteries, then shut it down.

 

[bigduby]

So I am finding all of this very interesting since I've never rafted up and will be doing so soon with the new boat. So do you split up the boats if it is an overnight raft-up? In the heat of summer I couldn't imagine not running the gen/AC at night to be able to sleep.

 

[wileecoyote]

I was more concerned about the safety aspect. Mine is fairly quiet(as quiet as a QS 6.5 gets I guess) and you can only really hear a slight purr and the water flow out the side. I was nervous when rafted up that my exhaust is on port side and if there was another boat there, would it ingest the fumes into their cabin? I can't imagine 5-8 boats all tied together running generators would be healthy. Seems there are quite a few of us who are just a little uneasy with the silent killer hovering around! More than likely I can run mine for an hour or so to keep everything up.

 

[Presentation]

......do you split up the boats if it is an overnight raft-up? In the heat of summer I couldn't imagine not running the gen/AC at night to be able to sleep.

If you are going to run the generator, yes, you leave the raft-up.

You may want to make sure the other people in the raft up know your intentions before you join the raft-up.

You may make them upset of you are in the middle of a raft-up and no one else intends to run a generator and they all get their anchors and lines set then you leave the raft-up leaving a hole in the raft-up.

 

[wileecoyote]

aside from your question. but how hard can this be to fix? I thought these refrigerators work by heating up the coils in the back. Sounds like the 12v heating element is bad.

You would think you could still get parts as well, but good luck! Seems Norcold would rather you buy a new one, because the cost isn't that much more(depending on the part). I've had the board out of mine to test the circuits and relays(non-serviceable switches according to Norcold manual) and I'm pretty sure I have a bad transformer. At some point I may try to find a vendor with something that will work to replace it, but for now it's a 110 only! Transformer steps the 12VDC into somewhere around 23VAC to run the compressor. To answer your question, Not as easy as you would think!:smt021 This will have to be for another thread at a later date if I ever get it fixed.

 

[Presentation]

You would think you could still get parts as well, but good luck! Seems Norcold would rather you buy a new one, because the cost isn't that much more(depending on the part). I've had the board out of mine to test the circuits and relays(non-serviceable switches according to Norcold manual) and I'm pretty sure I have a bad transformer. At some point I may try to find a vendor with something that will work to replace it, but for now it's a 110 only! Transformer steps the 12VDC into somewhere around 23VAC to run the compressor. To answer your question, Not as easy as you would think!:smt021 This will have to be for another thread at a later date if I ever get it fixed.

Consider getting a 12V DV to 120V AC converter and installing a transfer switch. Flip it one way and you are on your normal 120V supply. Flip it the other way and the power is coming form the 12V DC to 120V AC power supply.

 

[Sea Gull]

I'm not sure my above post was clear. DO NOT RUN A GENERATOR IF PEOPLE ARE SWIMMING BEHIND YOUR BOAT.

There are also a lot of good reasons not to stay rafted for the night. The need to periodically run a genertor is just one of them.

 

[rondds]

Ok, isn't someone going to come in and save lives by urging folks to NOT go to sleep with the genny running? Good way to wake up dead, etc.

 

[Presentation]

Ok, isn't someone going to come in and save lives by urging folks to NOT go to sleep with the genny running? Good way to wake up dead, etc.

OK, I’ll take a stab at it.

When it’s very hot out I will sleep with the generator running.

I leave the exhaust fan on and have taken multiple precautions including having 3 CO detectors in the cabin, 1 hard wired and 2 with battery power, 2 smoke detectors. I check them often, have a fire extinguisher in the cabin as well as in the cockpit and the built in system, have an escape plan, the front hatch, in addition to the cabin door, keep a close eye on our boats maintenance and condition, and more…..

Could we still have a catastrophe? Sure.

I could also die crossing the street. To increase street crossing safety I look both ways, use the cross walks and have patience. Still I could die crossing the street.

We all need to make a personal choice. Personally I’ll keep crossing the street.

I’m not going to spend my life hiding under a mattress at home.

 

[tobnpr]

If I had a gas boat, I'd have a diesel genset and a small, dedicated diesel tank.
Not running a generator on the hook, 24/7, in Florida during the summer, just ain't an option.

My neighbor's 33 GW came standard with a diesel genset even though it's a gas (OB) powered boat. I don't understand why more manuf's don't do this as OEM and avoid the issue of generator CO dangers altogether.