Need to purchase two new 30KW generators for my boat. Onan is $15,000 less (Onan is 29KW, Northern is 30KW) than the Northern for the two. Not looking for a bargain. Thoughts on reliability of the two? Thank you in advance.
Onan is pretty reliable. I consider Northern to be best. We have several Northern and very pleased. Their service is above and beyond. I have a friend who recently had issues with a boat he'd purchased and getting help was so easy for him. Of course, Onan is Cummins and their normal level of service. Anywhere you go you're likely to find experienced mechanics. We've put thousands of hours on Northern with no problems and a few hundred on our Onans, also trouble free.
NL without a doubt I put about 6 or 7k hours each on a pair of NL20 over about 7 years. They have over 9k now and start without smoke and still carry a full load. In all these years I can count on the finger of my hands the number of shutdowns. Maintenance has been limited to a few raw water pump, one circulation pump, two engine mounts, 1 fuel pump and one injection pump. Compare this to the 27.5 Ohnos we have in the lazzara 84 I ve been running for a year. I ve had more shutdowns than I ve had in 7 years with the NL most due to sensor issues. I now carry two full set of sensors. Already replaced two impellers. And more disturbing had both dipstick break around the same time And they only have 2400 hours. They are also louder despite having checked the raw water circuit and removed debris. It just doesn't seem that they move enough water.
Trying to be fair to both and we haven't yet put the hours on our Onan Pascal has I didn't say the following clearly and so saying it now. If I was purchasing a new generator and had the choice (we didn't on the Onan as it was factory installed) I'd always select Northern Lights. We've also been satisfied with Kohler, but there's satisfied and there's a clear first choice which is NL.