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Generator Etiquette


Thomas C King

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I have a question on generator etiquette, would you normally not run it at all if you are parked within say, ten metres of other boats? We recently re-moored a short distance from our prior mooring so that we could get a usable internet connection for work. We just had a boat neighbor knock asking us to turn our generator off, which we did.

 

We run it from about 0800 to 1700. It's a Honda EU22i and for me I never expected it to be a problem because after a few metres it just creates a gentle hum. I can see a few general options:

 

1) Never run the generator near moored boats (and in our case, never moor near boats because this would mean we couldn't work). I suppose we could moor near boats that also run generators.

2) Ask if it's okay to run the generator. I asked a fisherman recently and he was fine with it. On the other hand, someone might politely say it's fine and yet it really bothers them. Or some people might just not want you to talk to them.

3) Run the generator until someone complains. If it's only a minority that would take issue with it, then I can see this as being an option, but I don't like it...

 

Thoughts?

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It is not only the noise (which travels much further over water and can be more intrusive 100 yards away than it is next to your boat) but also Carbon Monoxide.

If the adjacent boat is down-wind of your generator then you could be pumping CO into his boat and setting off his CO alarms - it is for this very reason that CO alarms are compulsory for the BSSC

 

9 hours per day seems excessive (and expensive) , are your batteries knackered ?

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9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

9 hours per day seems excessive (and expensive) , are your batteries knackered ?

No, but we only have a 7amp charger for a 100amp LiFePo4 battery. I'll see if we can get something bigger for a 2200W generator.

 

Quote

Get a decent battery bank, solar and a better  charging regime.

We decided to buy a generator over solar for now, because solar won't cover us in Winter. How do people work in Winter without making noise? Fair enough if it drives people nuts, we'll try to keep away from people for now. I didn't think it a problem because quite a few other boats seem to do it.

 

Edited by Thomas C King
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Generator etiquette?

 

Chuck the bloody thing in the cut and be done with it.

:angry2:

 

 

(Can you tell I don't like generators? Especially ones run from breakfast while bedtime)

16 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

I didn't think it a problem because quite a few other boats seem to do it.

Would you apply this argument to other things in life?

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People get funny about generators.  I have one but I only use it regularly in winter.  From end of feb to end of October-ish it gets used roughly once a week to run my washing machine.  Never had anyone complain.  Running one all day is excessive.  Sort out your charging and battery situation.

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Just now, doratheexplorer said:

People get funny about generators.  I have one but I only use it regularly in winter.  From end of feb to end of October-ish it gets used roughly once a week to run my washing machine.  Never had anyone complain.  Running one all day is excessive.  Sort out your charging and battery situation.

Even in this case, I'm still none the wiser how people are getting electricity in Winter. Unless running an engine is the thing to do, even though it's louder?

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Terrible things that are realy a thing of the past. They are annoying at any time of day. Opposite our mooring is a long stretch of straight exellent moorings alongside armco and with some rings. A bloke turned up last week and moored dead opposite us and ran his poxy generater at least twice a day, he did this inside the 8 till 8 recomendation but it was still a pain. There was loads of space of empty mooring just a few yards up the cut he could have stayed and ran his gennie to his hearts content without effecting anyone.  Its the ususal story of bad manners that seems to be getting to be the norm over recent years.

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2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Terrible things that are realy a thing of the past. They are annoying at any time of day. Opposite our mooring is a long stretch of straight exellent moorings alongside armco and with some rings. A bloke turned up last week and moored dead opposite us and ran his poxy generater at least twice a day, he did this inside the 8 till 8 recomendation but it was still a pain. There was loads of space of empty mooring just a few yards up the cut he could have stayed and ran his gennie to his hearts content without effecting anyone.  Its the ususal story of bad manners that seems to be getting to be the norm over recent years.

Thanks for sharing, I can understand the pain. How many yards is a 'few' to you/what would you consider to be an acceptable distance? I think we might have just misjudged the distance, but it's hard to tell without getting a few opinions.

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I get electric by going cruising which doesn't really fit with living on a boat and working 9-5 which is why I don't live on the boat.

 

If the current working from home continues I might review that decision but I would be looking at solar for charging and would do some long cruising hours on a weekend and some short cruising during the week during the winter.

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56 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

How do people work in Winter without making noise?

In the Winter there are 30,000 boats less cruising about so it is much easier to find somewhere with no boats within (say) a mile of either side of you, make as much noise as you like it it affects no one but yourself.

 

If you only moor on 'moorings' then expect to upset someone else who only moors on 'moorings', there are about 2000 km of banks you can 'wild moor' against and disturb no one.

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

Thanks for sharing, I can understand the pain. How many yards is a 'few' to you/what would you consider to be an acceptable distance? I think we might have just misjudged the distance, but it's hard to tell without getting a few opinions.

Its up to you. The bloke here was doing nothing wrong, in reality he was between 8 and 8 but his batteries were knackered and he was looking at getting solar after we chatted with him. He was new to boating but to me it just seems obvious that if there is a whacking great space further up at the same location with no other boats I would have simply moored there rather than smack opposite our moorings. Even the best quiet gennies have an annoying hum to others. In all honesty over the years when needed I have run my boat engine to charge the batteries or sometimes solar and today we are plugged in but have a travel power fitted. There are many options but petrol gennies are pretty crap. We did have a petrol gennie on our first boat years ago but the options were fewer then.

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Thanks all. Seems like in the short term we should get better antennae for our mobile broadband hub, so that we can moor further away from people, and/or get a solar panel. And in Winter it's apparently easier anyway. Alternatively, maybe some day we'll be allowed back in our offices.

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8 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

Thanks all. Seems like in the short term we should get better antennae for our mobile broadband hub, so that we can moor further away from people, and/or get a solar panel. And in Winter it's apparently easier anyway. Alternatively, maybe some day we'll be allowed back in our offices.

An easier - longer term (i.e for when matters return to normal) is to get a larger battery charger AND more batteries one battery of 100 AH is really too small - even if you are cruising.

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1 hour ago, Thomas C King said:

Even in this case, I'm still none the wiser how people are getting electricity in Winter. Unless running an engine is the thing to do, even though it's louder?

As I said, I only use it regularly in winter.  I try and limit my electricity consumption in winter.  My charger is 50 amps, so 2 hours charging gives my a bit under 100 amps, but I'll call it 100 because my solar is still doing a bit.  My fridge uses about 40 amps a day.  That leaves me about 60 amps to play with, which is plenty to run a laptop and have some LED lights on with.  In the darkest depths of winter, early dec to early feb, I'll generally turn my fridge off and keep food cold by storing in the front cratch.  If it's unseasonably mild, I'll turn the fridge back on and run the genny for 3 hours instead of 2.  Then once a week I'll do a longer charge of 6 hours plus to get my batteries 90+% fully charged.  Often this is done by moving my boat.

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I really hate generators. Not just when they are really loud, but when one can hear the nearly sub-sonic faint rumble at all. What is the point of trying to relax in the countryside on a boat when there is a constant faint rumble (or worse) of a generator. And this applies to you too. Why bother to live on a boat when you have constant engine noise for most of the day? Is it just because it’s cheaper than a house? Why not just put a caravan next to the M6?
 

I can appreciate that some people have to run a generator for an hour or two a day especially in winter, and one way to make that more bearable for others is to let them know how long for / when you will be turning the damn thing off. But that is no consolation if the answer is “in 9 hours time“.

 

Running generators and inflicting the noise on others is very selfish, exactly akin to tipping your Elsan out on the towpath, chucking your rubbish in the cut, not clearing up your dog poo, playing loud music  etc etc. Anti-social behaviour. Your choice - are you a considerate person or a selfish anti-social one?

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44 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

Thanks all. Seems like in the short term we should get better antennae for our mobile broadband hub, so that we can moor further away from people, and/or get a solar panel. And in Winter it's apparently easier anyway. Alternatively, maybe some day we'll be allowed back in our offices.

All the above...................................

 

 

 

 

 

                                                        .............................................and get rid of the poxy generator.

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3 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

I really hate generators. Not just when they are really loud, but when one can hear the nearly sub-sonic faint rumble at all. What is the point of trying to relax in the countryside on a boat when there is a constant faint rumble (or worse) of a generator. And this applies to you too. Why bother to live on a boat when you have constant engine noise for most of the day? Is it just because it’s cheaper than a house? Why not just put a caravan next to the M6?
 

I can appreciate that some people have to run a generator for an hour or two a day especially in winter, and one way to make that more bearable for others is to let them know how long for / when you will be turning the damn thing off. But that is no consolation if the answer is “in 9 hours time“.

 

Running generators and inflicting the noise on others is very selfish, exactly akin to tipping your Elsan out on the towpath, chucking your rubbish in the cut, not clearing up your dog poo, playing loud music  etc etc. Anti-social behaviour. Your choice - are you a considerate person or a selfish anti-social one?

 

To the OP - see what I mean?  People get really funny about generators.  In the main, boat engines are far noisier and create far more vibration than generators.  The exception is those awful frame generators, which are often located on cabin tops just to ensure the sound carries as far as possible.

 

Most of the time, If I walk 2 boat lengths away from my genny, I can't hear it at all.  The only time that isn't true is when I'm in an extremely quiet spot with hardly any ambient noise and there's no wind.  Then it's just faintly audible as long as I have line of sight.

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There is nothing much more intrusive than the continuous running of an engine of any type, whether it be car, boat, generator, plant machinery etc etc.

 

Possibly the only thing worse is music with an annoying repetitive drum or bass line.  

 

The 8 to 8 'rule' is not a target but a limit.

 

 

 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

I really hate generators. Not just when they are really loud, but when one can hear the nearly sub-sonic faint rumble at all. What is the point of trying to relax in the countryside on a boat when there is a constant faint rumble (or worse) of a generator. And this applies to you too. Why bother to live on a boat when you have constant engine noise for most of the day? Is it just because it’s cheaper than a house? Why not just put a caravan next to the M6?

I'm not really sure what you mean, our fridge is far louder. But you know, it's our preference, not yours...

 

Ignoring the ascerbic tone, the intention of the original post was not selfishness, but selflesness; thinking of others, requires knowing what they think.

Edited by Thomas C King
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1 minute ago, The Happy Nomad said:

There is nothing much more intrusive than the continuous running of an engine of any type, whether it be car, boat, generator, plant machinery etc etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some are much worse than others.  In addtion to frame generators, I'll add vintage diesels.  They don't make a hum which eventually you tune out to, they make a thump-thump-thump which is impossible to ignore.

 

Of course, enthusiasts love to hear them because they're being subjective.

3 minutes ago, Thomas C King said:

I'm not really sure what you mean, our fridge is far louder. But you know, it's our preference, not yours...

 

 

Your fridge may need repairing.

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2 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Some are much worse than others.  In addtion to frame generators, I'll add vintage diesels.  They don't make a hum which eventually you tune out to, they make a thump-thump-thump which is impossible to ignore.

 

Of course, enthusiasts love to hear them because they're being subjective.

They sound lovely........................as they pass but not run whilst moored.

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1 minute ago, The Happy Nomad said:

They sound lovely........................as they pass but not run whilst moored.

They sound interesting as they pass.  And good luck to their owners, listening to that, breathing those fumes - but they bring me coal so bless them all!

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