Northern Lights Diesel Generator

[baronbradders]

I have been reading the Electrolux travel pack topic with interest as I am in a similar situation to OP of that topic; i.e. Soon to be having a liveaboard boat built (as soon as the house sells!) and I have been recommended the the travel pack mated to a barrus 50.

 

Rather than hijack that thread I'd like to ask a couple of questions here.

 

Having guaged our needs the diesel gen route does seem to be the most sensible option and the internal engine room setup that I have on my current design would have enough space to fit both the barrus and the generator.

 

However by doing this I would effectively be having two diesel engines on board so my question is this, is it feasable to have just the diesel generator and have propulsion coming from an electric motor?

 

And if so would an electric motor be man enough for tidal river situations, and would going down this route affect the resale value of the boat should I wish to part with it in the future?

 

Oh, and another thought, can the diesel generator be piped up to provide hot water in a similar setup to a normal engine? This would be of interest anyway as if i'm going to be running the generator for power it would be useful to have it providing hot water too.

 

Many thanks.

Paul

[Yoda]

I have been reading the Electrolux travel pack topic with interest as I am in a similar situation to OP of that topic; i.e. Soon to be having a liveaboard boat built (as soon as the house sells!) and I have been recommended the the travel pack mated to a barrus 50.

 

Rather than hijack that thread I'd like to ask a couple of questions here.

 

Having guaged our needs the diesel gen route does seem to be the most sensible option and the internal engine room setup that I have on my current design would have enough space to fit both the barrus and the generator.

 

However by doing this I would effectively be having two diesel engines on board so my question is this, is it feasable to have just the diesel generator and have propulsion coming from an electric motor?

 

And if so would an electric motor be man enough for tidal river situations, and would going down this route affect the resale value of the boat should I wish to part with it in the future?

 

Oh, and another thought, can the diesel generator be piped up to provide hot water in a similar setup to a normal engine? This would be of interest anyway as if i'm going to be running the generator for power it would be useful to have it providing hot water too.

Many thanks.

Paul

 

Now that is a very good idea. it all depends on the generator installation as to whether it can be piped up with a calorifier (heat exchanger) but I see no reason why not. You will need to have it piped to a skin radiator though to dump any excess heat. I would say that if the geny was on for charging batteries there would also be enough heat for hot water and cabin heating.

[NB Willawaw]

We have a twin coil calorifier with the engine putting hot coolant water through one coil and the diesel heater

putting hot water through the other.

We have a fixed water cooled genset which we use for a couple of hours a day for evening meals and a bit of battery charging. This is not routed through the calorifier, but I can see the benefit.

 

Can you get calorifiers with three coils ??

[elessina]

I have been reading the Electrolux travel pack topic with interest as I am in a similar situation to OP of that topic; i.e. However by doing this I would effectively be having two diesel engines on board so my question is this, is it feasable to have just the diesel generator and have propulsion coming from an electric motor?And if so would an electric motor be man enough for tidal river situations, and would going down this route affect the resale value of the boat should I wish to part with it in the future?

You would need a very big generator (the compact ones have around 5 hp motors), approx same size as your engine, if not bigger for inefficiencies, so may as well go down the Electrolux TravelPower route!!!!Ian

Can you get calorifiers with three coils ??

Yes you can, a good idea if having a generatorIan

[baronbradders]

You would need a very big generator (the compact ones have around 5 hp motors), approx same size as your engine, if not bigger for inefficiencies, so may as well go down the Electrolux TravelPower route!!!!IanYes you can, a good idea if having a generatorIan

 

Thanks for the replies.

 

I think I'll forget the diesel electric ideas that have been rambling around upstairs in that case.

 

I'm still very interested in going for a diesel genny as appose to the travel pack. I will have to look into the water heating idea further though.

 

I was planning on going down the triple coil route in any case as the original plans are for heating and water provided by engine, back boiler and Webasto.

 

If I go down the route of fitting a heat exchanger to the genny one of them is going to have to go, but which. The Webasto/eberspacher or the back boiler?

 

It's not easy this boat designing lark is it?

[blackrose]

It's not easy this boat designing lark is it?

 

No it's a headache - but a sort of fun headache!