WHODATHOUGHT

I am looking for an good economical way (yes I used that on a boat subject) to put a generator on my Sonic. I was looking at used onan, Kohlar and westerbeke gensets, but because spending $4000 on a genset is not in the current budget for boating this season but $2000 is. So used seemed to be my only choice. Until I ran across this unit from honda which sells new for about that and produces 4kw of power. It is the Honda EV 4010 Generator. It has liquid cooled engine. here are the spects.:

Dependable, Quiet, Twin-Cylinder Liquid Cooled Honda Engine
Compact Unitary Design for Easy Installation
Oil Alert®
Temperature Alert
All Maintenance Points Easily Accessible
2 Year Residential Warranty
1 Year Commercial Warranty

Specifications

Engine 12.2 HP
Twin Cylinder
OHC Four-Stroke
Liquid-Cooled
Displacement 359 cc
Fuel Consumption Rate .66 gallon per hour @ full load
AC Output 120V:, 4,000 W (33.3A)
Starting System Electric Starter
Ignition System Transistorized Magneto
Noise Level (dBa) 66 *

Dimensions (L x W x H) 25.59" x 19.09" x 14.17"

Required Compartmental Dimensions 26.22" x 20.19" x 14.60"

Dry Weight 202 lbs.


So if I put a raw water pump, and a closed cooling heat exchanger on it in place of the radiator. Fit it with a proper flame arrestor and spark shield the generator brushes (it already has electronic ing.) and water jacketed muffler why would this not work? It seems no different than when we fit car motors in boats if we fit them with all the right safety equipment.

I know this seems like a lot of work to some but this is kind of what I do for a hobbie and if it works and saves 1800 bucks that I can spend that on some other goodie like a GPS chartploter.
Sorry for the long post but I would like to here your thoughts on this.

Andy

Gary Anderson

Bad idea. God forbid you should ever have a problem, your insurance may not cover you. And forget about resale, you'll have to pull it all out to get a surveyer to pass it. Do it right, get a USCG approved unit.
Gary

Crazyhorse

Yup, what he said. Buy U.S.C.G gensets. I can appreciate your concerns on cost but you'll have a small fortune into converting the Honda. You can find marine gensets around for a reasonable cost, both new and used.