Adding Generator to Carver

Keep in mind where you might step as you move around the boat or where your honey might want to lay out. Then there's boat washers, and what the next potential buyer will think about it. The reason for going solar is to save fuel. That doesn't sound like it's your concern.

They are mounted on top of my hardtop, 3 Kyocera 245watt panels.



It's not only saving fuel, it's always (even with little sunlight) charging your battaries. You need an extra bank for sure, don't run an inverter on your engine or small house bank!!

She'll need a haulout to put in the throughhull for the raw water feed and sea strainer. There'll also be an exhaust, but that may tie into your motor's exhaust. It's seperate from the inverter. I'd leave the inverter as a backup or for when you want some power but not a motor running.

Didn't need that last sentence. I got over a foot of snow yesterday. At least I'm supposed to be cruising in the Carolinas in a couple of days.

My boat is 34', 36 LOA. I'm having a 3000 wat inverter/charger mounted in the salon storage compartment - in the floor - along with four house batteries (not in the engine compartment). Star Marine will not mount an inverter in the engine compartment. The inverter/charger will be networked to the genset (which is in the engine compartment). When a predetermined amount of voltage drop occurs the system will turn on the genset to take over while the house batteries recharge. Once the house batteries are recharged it will shut down the genset and run on batteries. It's a very cool system, totally automated. The network module is only $300+ but the entire system including a 7.5 kw (gas) genset is $25k+- more for diesel. If I had to choose between the genset or the inverter system I would go with the genset.

To put the genset anywhere other than the engine compartment seems silly to me. You want the genset plumbed into your gas tank so you don't have to worry about running out of fuel. You also need two thru hulls. One for cooling water and one for exhaust. Personally I would have a pro do it due to all of the safety issues.

Do it right the first time.

Cheers,

babyc34

Ya, I thought the moderator was a bit harsh on you but he did post multiple messages stating to post brand specific. Oh well - live and learn.

I've owned a Carver 3207 (1983) for a few years now. I agree with almost all the other replies, you don't want the gen on the flybridge. I know there's an acre of potential space up there (and another acre of empy space behind the floor board, the kickboard at the upper helm) but you are not going to want a running gen up there. First it'll act like the head of a drum and amplify the noise into the salon. I know, I tried mounting a very small air compressor up there for the air horns and that was a bad idea. That's also one of the nicest hang-out spots on the boat whether you're at the slip or on the hook, night or day, and even the smallest generator is going to be annoying if you're handing out on the bridge at night sipping drinks, or coffee in the morning while you run the gen to fry the bacon on the stove in the galley below.

We do have a genset but we almost never use it. If we're going to overnight away from the marina we just load the coffee-table-sized ice chest on the aft deck with lots of ice and turn off the refrigerator once we drop the hook and shut down the engines. Just a lot quieter and easier and less hassle. I still have been thinking of mounting a flexible solar panel on the aft bimini though, just for a back-up supply. I always get nervous even just with lights and VHF and regular radio running that I'm going to kill the batteries and be stranded somewhere with dead engines. I know that's a silly fear though because I've got three batteries on the boat and the genset.

My inverter and batteries were mounted in a huge storage compartment in the floor of the salon. Even when I opened the hatch and stuck my head in there I had a hard time seeing where they were mounted and that was a 3000 wat inverter and four batteries. Don't you have storage in the same area? I know that they are different models but most boats have tons of storage compartments. There has got to be some place other than the engine compartment or on top of the boat to put it. How about under the seats at the table in the salon? I used Star Marine in Oakland. Call Ian and ask him where he would put it on your model Carver. He's probably worked on every model boat there is.

By the way, for the horn - try using a small 2500 psi tank with C02. Put an adjustable valve with a pressure gauge and send about 60 psi to those air horns. They will sound great! You will want to secure that tank so that there is no way under any conditions that is will break loose and roll around. It's unlikely but if the valve got broken off you will have a rocket that will blow right through the hull.

Good luck and happy boating!

I had a double set of horns that worked off of a Freon tank, which you can't buy anymore. I make beer and I carbonate the beer with C02 rather than sugar. The Co2 tanks are very small so I brought it down to my boat and hooked it up to the horns. I tried 10 psi and just got air. I worked my way up in 10 psi increments until I got that magic sound. It works great! It makes all of the other horns at the marina on the 4th of July sound pitiful.