What to do...

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Mumm24

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29546
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45
For some reason my 2001 350 Mariner did not come with a generator. The previous owner said he boated on Lake Michigan and did not need one. I boat on the Mississippi river and would really like one..I didn't go on any trips last year because of it. Do I:
1. Spend $10,000 to have one installed
2. buy the Honda's parallel and still have money to buy tender/dingy.
Generator would add value to the boat, but having the portables would obviously be a lot cheaper and having a dingy would save on gas if Im just going to the beach or a short ride.
Thanks, Matt
 
Option 3; Spend $5K on a generator and install it yourself.

http://www.mmair.com/marine_division/gasoline_generators

Of course, the typical caveat is that this is probably an expert level install, safety wise, and such. The one advantage though is that Mermaid has an excellent tech support department, and their target customer are marinas and boatowners wanting to do it themselves.

I installed a Mermaid Air Conditioner myself on my last boat, and I found their tech support quite helpful.
 
Option 4: find someone who is converting from gas to diesel and buy their used generator.
 
I am in the same situation with my Santego. I have the 16k A/C unit in the boat and have tried a 2000 watt honda to no avail, not enough to kick the air on. I did find a site that sells inverter generators at 3000watt that should work. They are light enough at 70 lbs to move around and I think that would be the way I would go. The site is www.josephabrams.com
 
No Go, Dan,
The 70lb Kipor Generator will not start a 16000 btu A/C. I have one and it will pull about 23 amps if you bring the load on in small steps. It was originally sold as a 3000 watt generator, but the same unit now carries a 2000 watt rating. If you hit it with one big load (15 amps or more) at once, the generator will choke and blow it's breaker. The IG3000 on that website, which used to be sold as a 3500 watt unit is about 135lbs and should start that A/C unit as will a Honda EU3000. But that's a lot of generator to haul on and off a swim platform.

For the time being, I have given up on Air Conditioning when away from the dock. I use a 2000 watt Inverter with a 100 amp charger, and use the portable Generator to re-charge the batteries from time to time
 
Hi Paul. I agree the Kipor wouldn't work, I tried that as well. The site that I listed also has a 3k watt Magna as well a Boiley 3k. I haven't heard of either of these brands but they both weigh in at under 80 lbs, are ultra quiet and should pack enough punch to kick it over. I'm hoping anyway. They also cost about $1,000 bucks. I just wonder how good they are? Maybe too good to be true!
 
The portable generators subject has been beat to death...I think it is a given that the 2 Honda's will run your a/c. I would buy the Honda's...way, way, way cheaper and will do the job. Get a inflatable with them and save money on short trips & your still at half the cost. If your boat didn't come with one, it is way to costly to put one in! If you sell your boat, however, you will have a lot harder time selling it and you will have to take a hit on resale.
 
I'm with "44" The Honda Gen. works. A friend of mine mounted the honda to his glass swim platform and built a box around it with starboard. When he runs the gen. he opens two sides of the box. When closed, he sits on it like a bench. Helps a touch with the noise to.
 
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