Generator Rebuild or replacement

belliswood

Member
Nov 21, 2011
320
Colonial Beach, VA
Boat Info
1996 370 SUNDANCER
NAME: DAWG HAUS 3
Engines
7.4 EFI 454
V-DRIVES
My Westerbeke 6.0 runs good but just recently stopped putting out electrical voltage. At first it stopped altogether but after messing around with it some it started putting out 90 volts. Should I have it rebuilt or just replace?

I Keep the boat in Colonial Beach Virginia so any suggestions on who could work on it would be appreciated.

Thank You
Barry
 
Barry, I am over in MD. There is a well known Motor Shop over here that does wonderful work. It is owned by Mennonites. You would need to get gen out of boat, unfortunately they do make "house calls". They are extremely reasonable in regards to pricing and work on all types and brands of electrical and gas gennys. But as I stated, you have to get the gen out of the boat and bring it to them. May be able to remove gen from motor and just bring that half. Maybe give them a call and inquire. Once across the Nice Bridge, they are approx 30 min drive. They do have a phone (most Mennonites do not). Business name is Wengers Motor Services, 301-373-3873 - ask for Jesse. I have been taking electric motors and gen to them for 25+ years, never had a bad experience. I was just there this past Friday and he had a Kohler 5E there he had just re done. Good Luck.
 
If the generator is running but not putting out voltage it most likely can be repaired in the boat. It may have bad capacitors. Do some Google searches and save yourself some big $.
 
Agreed. A repair in the boat would be the way to go. Hard to find a qualified repair person that will come to the boat for a respectable cost, mat least here in very Southern Maryland on the Western Shore. If Barry can do the repair himself, certainly would be the way to go. I ended up doing just that when having to replace the coolant circulating pump in mine. Looked all over (locally) for someone and everyone put me "on the list", but I would never hear back after several weeks. The process and repair were certainly learning experiences, along with a substantial savings.
 
If the generator is running but not putting out voltage it most likely can be repaired in the boat. It may have bad capacitors. Do some Google searches and save yourself some big $.
It's more than likely a capacitor. Cheap and easy fix.

Your symptoms are identical to when my capacitor went out. To test, make sure all breakers are off. Start the generator. Turn on the water heater first. This usually made mine start putting out the correct voltage.
 
Diodes or capacitors. Rule that out before you put it on the firing squad. Good luck getting anyone to look at a gas generator. Around here, they're like Holy Water to a vampire!
 
My Onan in my old RV crapped out 2 years ago (ran but no power). My RV tech threw a bunch $$ at it and finally, it went to Onan for the fix. By the time I was done, I could have bought a brand new one with a warranty.
 
My Westerbeke 6.0 runs good but just recently stopped putting out electrical voltage. At first it stopped altogether but after messing around with it some it started putting out 90 volts. Should I have it rebuilt or just replace?

I Keep the boat in Colonial Beach Virginia so any suggestions on who could work on it would be appreciated.

Thank You
Barry

Barry, try George Smith. His company is Clean Marine Electronics. George is a dealer for Cruisair, Marine Air, Kohler, Westerbeke, Norcold, Vacuflush, etc.

His phone is 703 847 5142
 
Another option would be to call Richmond SeaRay and get a recommendation from him.

He put a great deal of time and money into mine before we took possessio, I just can't remember who he used.

I do have some capacitors here for a 4.5 if any of those help

Barry just to ask as this was mines issue, does it have a governor and have you checked the oil in it? Mine wasn't putting out enough power to run the boats electrical needs. Turns out it was just the governor and it was low on oil.
 
Barry, try George Smith. His company is Clean Marine Electronics. George is a dealer for Cruisair, Marine Air, Kohler, Westerbeke, Norcold, Vacuflush, etc.

His phone is 703 847 5142
Thanks for recommending George. However I have been trying to get him out to service my Air conditioners all summer. Find out he is now retired. Will not even answer my messages.
 
Thanks for recommending George. However I have been trying to get him out to service my Air conditioners all summer. Find out he is now retired. Will not even answer my messages.
Wow, he worked on my A/C earlier this summer (July) so the retirement must have been recent.
 
George Smith has not retired. He just sold his home in Colonial Beach
 
I would second Wengers Motor Services if you need to rewind the Stator. If it is something less significant "Diode or Capacitor" a tech like George could be the ticket. On my last boat I had a Kohler 6.5cz which was rewound by Wengers. I had a tech remove the Genny and deliver it to Wengers, and then had him reinstall it.
 

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