Making room for the generator
07 January 2011 | Vineland Ont. Canada
Derek
Making room for the generator.
I have to make room in the engine room for my 5.5 Kw. generator but this has a cascade effect.
I need to move the batteries and their boxes from the engine room. I want to relocate the batteries to below the salon floor aft. A new 12 gal hot water heater installed 2 years ago now occupies this space. The hot water heater will be relocated to engine room. If it sound like a vicious circle you would be right.
Hot Water Heater
The hot water heater will be relocated to platform built in the engine room portside between aft end of the port fuel tank and the aft Engine room bulkhead. This space is a dead space between the Vetus water muffler and shipside as the floor area follows the curve of the hull and is generally difficult to get to. The all stainless steel hot water heater is, rectangular in shape 12.5"x12.5"x30" long, so there will be a storage area 15" X 30" above the heater and a small area below it.
Batteries
I have 3 Blue Sea battery boxes each holding 2-6 volt battery. I can't fit all 3 boxes with batteries into the space below the salon floor to my liking. I will go with two boxes 4-6 volt total 450 amp-hrs.
The refrigeration (almost forgot)
The refrigerant unit will require relocating. At present I have only 1 refrigerator (Cold Beer) unit, the second refreeze (Ice for drinks) unit will be installed later. I will build a platform portside fwd close to the deck head for both units.
The units are water/air cooled, the engine room ventilation system will be piped to ensure that there will always be good airflow for cooling.
Engine room ventilation
I am installing 2-4" 230 CFM fans (as there is none) that will exhaust and or vent into the port side cockpit separated fwd and aft coaming storage pockets. An 4" low profile screw on vent hood will be fitted over each opening, each vent hood can be removed and replaced with a screwed on cover to seal the engine room from the weather deck if need.
Each blower will be connected to a DPDT switch so they can independently switched from blowing to venting the engine room as needed. The switches will be mounted on the steering stand.
I will post more info on the Marinzing of the Onan generator so