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Installing a Second Generator in 68' Lazzara?

Discussion in 'Lazzara Yacht' started by Jennifer Anne, Sep 25, 2019.

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  1. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Well said. The two most important skills for a captain is making the Go-NoGo decision before a trip and knowing when it s time to call a specialist.
  2. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    You have to calibrate it for the specific gravity of the fuel by changing the gravity disc in the alfa laval to match the specific gravity of the diesel you have. If it's off in one direction it will also throw some fuel in the waste tank, if it's calibrated in the other direction it will not remove all of the contaminates. Alfa Laval also offers a calibrating service to calibrate the machine itself (aside from the gravity discs). Here's a more scientific definition of how to choose the correct gravity disc based on temperature and specific gravity of the fuel you're polishing. Some of the newer alfa lavals can be adjusted via a LCD display and don't have gravity discs to change.

    https://marineengineeringonline.com/selection-of-gravity-disc-for-purifiers-on-ships/
  3. Jennifer Anne

    Jennifer Anne New Member

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    Totally a justified concern. The fuel was "polished" by a third party for nowhere near long enough. I agree with your assumption that it must have been filtered rather than truly polished That is being redone. Our mgmt. company is very attentive and top notch... they are as baffled as we are. There are many failures occurring bt the bulk fuel tank, and the generator. Racor valve assembly showed us yesterday it was faulty and replacing that is net on the generator list.

    We had such great help and luck with Ringmaster working on our CATs on our previous boat. They caught stuff that our old team missed for years in < 20 min!! Therefore, the referral to an Onan certified tech is appropriate and a great direction to take. We will arrange it. All of these systems have a mind and personality of their own!

    Reparing the first gen is an upmost priority for us. We also want to institute redundancy in every system possible so we can travel far afield. So in short, the desire for a second generator is ours, not a recommendation of an unsuccessful tech.

    I greatly appreciate you knowledge and expertise. Thank you for your response!
  4. Jennifer Anne

    Jennifer Anne New Member

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    Totally a justified concern. The fuel was "polished" by a third party for nowhere near long enough. I agree with your assumption that it must have been filtered rather than truly polished That is being redone. Our mgmt. company is very attentive and top notch... they are as baffled as we are. There are many failures occurring bt the bulk fuel tank, and the generator. Racor valve assembly showed us yesterday it was faulty and replacing that is net on the generator list.
    We had such great help and luck with Ringmaster working on our CATs on our previous boat. They caught stuff that our old team missed for years in < 20 min!! Therefore, the referral to an Onan certified tech is appropriate and a great direction to take. We will arrange it. All of these systems have a mind and personality of their own!

    Reparing the first gen is an upmost priority for us. We also want to institute redundancy in every system possible so we can travel far afield. So in short, the desire for a second generator is ours, not a recommendation of an unsuccessful tech.

    I greatly appreciate you knowledge and expertise. Thank you for your response!
  5. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    You might have to calibrate a Alfa Laval
    Alfa laval or any other machine will be set up for a specific purpose be it dairy, Acids, heavy waters or fuel so the coalescing disks in the machine are precisely measured and weighed for each application for intended use. I've been a licensed Chief engineer for 35 yrs and you're statement is the first time that I've heard that my centrifuge needs calibrating for #2 diesel fuel... Impressed with your Google turn around on this one though...
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2019
  6. Jennifer Anne

    Jennifer Anne New Member

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    Onan 27.5 kW , 2005, 3500 h
  7. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    Ring Power is head and shoulders above the Cat dealer service provider in South Fl. and you cant go wrong with them. Its a shame that Vero Bch is the territorial demarcation line between Pantropic and Ring Power.. its enough to make a boat owner with Cats move to the space coast or Northern Fl.
  8. Jennifer Anne

    Jennifer Anne New Member

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    G
    Great advice!!
  9. Jennifer Anne

    Jennifer Anne New Member

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    HA! We're lucky to live over here!
  10. Jennifer Anne

    Jennifer Anne New Member

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    Excellent advice! Thank you for your time, knowledge and expertise!
  11. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    We have two of these on the 2009 84 Lazzara. Most issues I ve had were sensor related. Now I keep two of each sensors on board

    Raw water pumps design has been changed at some pump with the new ones not pumping as much water as the original design resulting in a loud exhaust.

    You need to get a good Onan guy. Here in Miami I used Precision Generator, very good. I had a leak in injection pump on one of them. My cat guy took the job but after getting the pump rebuild he couldn’t get it to run. He was smart enough to call Precision who got it going in 10 minutes.
  12. Mark Woglom

    Mark Woglom Senior Member

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    Live in Gilford NH. Boat in Sarasota winters, New
    Yes, it was Alacrity. I am located on the West Coast for the winter, but I’d be happy to meet you at some point.

    No, I did not install a macerator hand pump.

    The fuel issues are perplexing to me. During the years I owned the boat, I never had a hint of fuel contamination. I heard that the subsequent the owners had issues. All I can think is that the boat got some bad fuel, and the growth must have taken over.

    The generator issue that I encountered was related to some sort of cooling water temperature sensor. The issue was intermittent, but the problem went away for good once that sensor was replaced. You’ve obviously got some sort of electrical gremlin, if the unit is not giving you error codes.
  13. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I don't care how many times you polish the fuel in your 1200 gallon single fiberglass tank. You will NOT get all of the algae out. With the baffles and tank sides and lack of access it would be impossible. If you polish everything the best as possible, in 2 months you will be back to exactly where you are now with exactly the same amount of algae. You need to stop any water from getting into the tank, check the vent and fuel cap o-ring, and get a chemical treatment that will kill and dissolve the algae and keep it from growing in the future. I've been through this issue with a dozen yachts over the years.
  14. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    You also need to use the boat, a lot.
  15. Lepke

    Lepke Member

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    I have a centrifuge, but use is mainly for cleaning engine oil. It will take water out of fuel, but a good Racor probably does just as good. I use a fuel additive (Archoil AR6200) that helps the Racor remove water. I also get a mileage boost. If you have engines that return large amounts of fuel to the tank, you're already polishing to some degree. I run 2 micron primaries and I make sure I'm buying clean fuel. I never have fuel problems and I mean never in 60 years on the water. I have Detroits and found running debris free fuel makes the mechanical injectors last years longer. It also reduces wear on the injector pumps on my generators. I haven't changed a Detroit injector in 10 years and never rebuilt the generators injector pumps or changed a fuel pump.

    Attached Files:

  16. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    That's not true, it helps, but isn't a must. There have been several yachts I have managed over the years, that went through 1 tank of fuel per year. They never had algae, it's all about keeping any moisture out, and the proper additives.