Sadler Point Marina - a day of testing the genset

An innocent looking pond like this can harbor an alligator in this area - although this one appears empty

After the inauspicious introduction to our new genset on Monday, we decided to stay an extra day and run the new genset with many starts and stops with the result that it performed flawlessly. Of course, the genset knew that experts from the marina were nearby so it chose not to misbehave now. It remains to be seen how it will decide to behave with the nearest help miles away. Only time will tell.

The genset came, of course, with oil and antifreeze already installed but I wanted to know just what oil brand and rating was used as well as the same for the antifreeze so when I added some there would be no incompatibilities. Nobody seemed to know! Everyone I called pointed to the manual and said specs were there for the oil and antifreeze. No dice for me, I just wanted to know what they initially put in it! After six phone calls and much waiting on the phone, I sort of got an answer from a local technician - essentially, it's whatever they bought in the last 10,000 gallon batch. The short answer was 10w-40 for the oil and Prestone type antifreeze but I could use anything once I drained the old out that was in the specs. Well, sure I knew that, I just wanted to know what they first put in it. Such difficulty with such a simple question!

Just on the other side of the bridge you can see a raised span, it's the Amtrak rails. Every few hours, day and night they pass by. You do actually get used to it after awhile.

We  borrowed the marina truck to do our last provisioning for our trip north. It was a Ford F-150, a very large truck, at least in my experience. We sat far above all the local traffic! After a visit to the local Walmart (the boater's best friend), we were back at the marina and preparing the boat for moving! We'll leave Wednesday morning for Fernandina at a mooring and we'll encounter a drain tide (a low spring tide) along the way just to make things interesting for the shoal spots, always some excitement.

Sadler Point Marina - the genset works!

A sunrise!

The above photo is offered as proof that not all sailboaters sleep in. I actually got up in time to see the sunrise! After all, this was the day we were to get the new circuit board for our genset. The marina was getting in a demonstration model for the Jacksonville boat show that shared the same motor and boards as the one we bought. The idea was to swap out our defective board for a good one on the boat show genset along with the starter motor we had problems with too. They would send the defective board back to Kohler for servicing for replacement to the boat show genset later.

So everything was installed and the motor turned over but then stopped suddenly. Once again it blew a 100 amp fuse in the starter battery circuit. Reading the manual (RTFM) we found that the starter motor was a 2.5 kw unit. Doing a little math (divide 12v from the battery into 2.5kw yields 200 amps required!) we discovered that the fuse was way too small. The battery could put out the amps okay and the wiring could take it but the fuse which worked fine for the Panda certainly was too small for the Kohler. So just to get things started, they jumped the fuse (no 200 or 300 amps fuses available anywhere nearby) and the genset finally started right up!!

We met Bill and Judy Robinson - they sold their house and are living full time on their boat - hummm

Our enthusiasm lasted for about 5 minutes then the genset died again. The technician heard the motor coughing before stopping which is a sign of air in the fuel. He tried bleeding the fuel using the built in fuel bleed sequence on the engine but no dice. He then manually filled the fuel filter and tried again. This time it ran without a problem. We ran it for several hours, started it up, stopped it, etc. Even so we're going to stay an extra day and exercise the genset for the next 24 hours just to be as sure as we could that all was well.

If things go according to plan, we'll leave Sadler Point on Wednesday morning for Fernandina for two days and reach Savannah Sunday afternoon and leave on Wednesday morning. At least that's the plan. It's a relief to finally get the genset running but I think the checkout on Tuesday is still important.

Sadler Point Marina - Boat Work

Typical home in the area

I wrote a long-winded critique of Kohler's quality control on Kohler's webpage. A company that ships a product that won't even start as designed when first installed ought to know of their shortcomings. It will be interesting if I get any reply or any meaningful response.

After some thought over the weekend, we're going back to Sadler Point from our weekend stay at the marina next door for the rest of the repair job on the genset. They should have spare parts arriving during the middle of the day and even if they get the genset working by early afternoon, we want to run it for at least 24 hours with multiple starts and stops to ensure ourselves that it's ready for prime time. That makes Wednesday the earliest date for leaving Jacksonville for points north. We just have to be sure the genset is fully debugged;

On the east coast, all the sunsets are over land - still pretty I think

Meanwhile, we did laundry and washed the boat - not very exciting but if you ever cruise you'll find it necessary every once in awhile.Hopefully, you won't find replacing gensets very necessary (at least not often)!

If the genset survives our break in period, our next stop will be Fernandina at a mooring for a couple of days.  It's a fun town to walk around and explore.

Sadler Point Marina - The new genset doesn't start!

We moved next door for the weekend after the sad news

Oh where to begin? The day dawned full of hope, the sun was out, the air was warm and Sadler Point Marina had two of their best techs in to do the final prep on the genset before the first turn-on. After a couple of hours, everything was finally connected and ready to go. So the start button was pushed - nothing?! There's no power at the control board. Checking the components, the tech finds a short across the terminals of the starter motor. We also find the 100 amp fuse from the starter  battery blown. Something is wrong here.

So the starter motor is removed and taken to the bench inside the building. When tested there, it seems to work as it should. Back to the boat, the starter motor is remounted on the genset and the start button pushed once again. However, now the control board doesn't energize the starter motor - nothing happens, puzzlement ensues. The genset was supposedly run at the factory for over an hour to ensure everything was in order.

Oh the docks are nice, the facility is top notch here, next door to Sadler Point Marina - but our new genset doesn't work!

So what to do? The control panel is non-repairable by the marina, it's all electronics mounted on a circuit board. The only thing that can be done is to replace the board. But it's a Saturday morning and nothing is open and nothing is going to happen until Monday. With that we receive the bad news and an offer of a slip at a nearby marina where we can do laundry and have better accommodations. We take them up on the offer and motor down about 1/3 mile to the new marina.

Now we are full of apprehension. We just spent a new kitchen's worth of money on a genset for the expressed purpose of having an absolutely reliable piece of equipment. But already it's had two component failures: the starter motor that shorted out and the bad control panel. Is there more to come? Has the genset been stressed in some way we're not aware of (was it a display model at the boat show..., lots of moves) The last thing we want is to be out at a remote anchorage and push the start button with nothing happening!! We went after the Kohler name on the basis of it being the most reliable genset on the market but now we're not so sure. The experience today, Saturday, sure says otherwise.

We'll do boat chores Sunday and will return to Sadler Point Marina on Monday for further work on the Kohler with, hopefully, a better outcome than today!

Sadler Point Marina - Not done yet with genset installation!

It's in!!!

The yard crew worked all day today but still wasn't able to complete the installation of the new genset. It sounds simple but the details of the installation are almost overwhelming. They connected the electrical parts today but that involved pulling 6 gauge wire which is not an easy task! They installed a dedicated outlet in the galley so I could use the entire 6 kw output of the genset. Otherwise, I could only use what the Prosine charger/inverter would pass through - 3600 watts - far short of the 6000 watts the genset was capable of. Of course, the circuit had to be protected by a 30 amp circuit breaker, more delays but necessary.

The muffler was moved to the aft locker, they built a shelf for it

Ventilation had to be provided so an in-line fan was installed to exhaust the starboard locker where the genset was located. Around 4:00 pm or so, the last electrical connections were made and the fuel lines were connected but it was getting late. They still had a couple of hours left of to dos so we'll see them Saturday morning to finish up. The great event will he the turning on of the genset for the first time! I understand that it's was tested at the factory so there should  be no surprises!?

I'll then refill the water tanks and wash down the boat. It's very dirty from all the yard scum tracked aboard from working on the boat. It will clean up, it just takes some effort. So now the plan is to take off on Sunday for Fernandina at a mooring, look for good weather to round the buoy out in the channel  before anchoring at Jekyll Island, hopefully.

Sadler Point Marina - The Genset has Landed!

The genset starts its journey

The Kohler genset arrives! After three days of prep work, it was time for the installation of the genset into the starboard locker. One may ask what takes three days to get ready?  First the old genset had to be removed so a lot of cutting of hoses and electrical lines was in order. There was already a raw water inlet valve and hose and also an outlet for the exhaust. Well, we're installing a larger genset and it needs larger fittings. The raw water input was big enough, luckily, but the exhaust was too small so the existing hole had to be enlarged. The flooring had to be completely removed and redone to allow for more headroom for the taller genset. The aft locker needed a new shelf for the new location of the exhaust muffler. Holes had to be drilled through bulkheads to accommodate the flow of the exhaust hoses and the air supply to the genset. The shelf in the starboard locker had to be cut and then hinged so it could be folded up and out of the way during the installation of the genset and when working on it for maintenance items. Whenever wood was modified, it had to be fiberglassed to protect it from deterioration in the marine environment. New AC lines had to be run to accommodate the more powerful output. A new controller had to be installed in the galley for remove starting and monitoring. So all that prep work took three days.

Floating downward - hope the rope doesn't break!!

By late this morning, everything was in place and we moved Fleetwing to the travel lift well. Out came the new genset floating in mid-air, moving slowly to a position directly over the starboard locker, its new home. The opening had already been cut out some to give more room for the genset going through the hatch. They tried one way but it didn't fit and then they went in backwards and was able to "spin" the genset once it was inside the locker so the exhaust hoses faced aft. I had never believed there was enough room to do that but apparently there was.

It's a very tight fit. This way didn't work, they had to relift it and turn it 180 to get it in

So now we sit with a new genset in the locker but not fully connected yet, that's a job for Friday. We need to turn it on and see how it runs. There's a host of minor things that need doing, not the least of which is balancing the boat given the heavier genset, 150 lbs more than the Panda which will require some lead ballast on the port side. When at anchor, I'd like the floor inside to be level, even 1 degree of list is too much.

Hopefully, everything remaining will be completed by Friday afternoon and we'll be ready to leave first thing Saturday for Fernandina where we plan on picking up a mooring. 

Sadler Point Marina - waiting for genset installatoin

Would you buy a used car from this guy? :)

Well, more prep work today. The starboard locker shelf was cut and put on a hinge so it can be lifted out of the way for the arrival of the genset and then returned to it's usual position after the event. Despite the increased size of the genset, this change will allow me to have almost the same storage as before in that locker since the muffler was moved to the aft locker in a place that I didn't use anyway. However, it still weighs 150lbs more so ballast will be in order if I want a level boat.

Buried in the aft locker for the muffler

Everybody here is taking great care to get everything done in advance of having a 500 lb genset hanging in mid air that can't go in the locker because of some unforeseen problem. So work continues and now it appears that the great event will take place Thursday. That's also the day that rain is forecast with 100% certainty all day long. Today was fine, Friday will be fine but not Thursday - it kinda of like sailing. The wind is always on the nose! They will look for a window in the rain for installation but if not, it's going in anyway.

Here's the genset "naked"  Sound shields will go on later

There's a big shopping center within walking distance so we wandered over there this afternoon between genset events. I picked up some items for our dinner at a Publix supermarket, our favorite supermarket down south. So for now we're biding time until the installation is complete, hopefully Thursday now.