Suggestions on Generator

[bherron]

I am building a pontoon boat, (20' x 8') basically a party boat. I want to know if running speakers and lighting (rope lights), is possible. Do I need a generator for that kind of load? If yes, then what do you recommend? What can I do to eliminate noise from the generator? Thank you for the help!

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Suggestions on Generator

If you are running a conventional audio system (no monster power amps) and don't go nuts with lighting you can get by with a large deep cycle battery to run those accessories and leave the starting battery for that job. The two batteries can be rigged to charge from the engine but depending on how stout the charging system is, the engine may not keep up with the load so installation of an on-board charger would be necessary. But you need 110 AC available at the dock to charge the battery using an on-board charger..

 

[jlinder]

Re: Suggestions on Generator

For the lights you may want to look at LED lights. They draw about only 10% the power. (A quick web check showed incandescent at about 5 watts/foot and LED at about 0.5 watts/foot.

Be prepared for a big cost though. The LED I found came out to about $5.50/foot, but if you plan to run lights a lot and compare that to what extra batteries/charger cost you might find it cheaper.

With incandescent 12 feet of rope would draw 5 amps, the LED version would draw only 0.5 amps. You could run LEDs all night with no problems

 

[gotbait]

Re: Suggestions on Generator

A few years back i purchased a small off shore boat and will be stepping up this year. I've reasearched quite a few but keep coming back to the sportcraft 26' walkaround. This seems to be a boat that can be trailered without too much trouble and is in the size and price range that suits me. Any opinions?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Suggestions on Generator

honda makes a small generator, that is the quietest on the market, it could be mounted on the stearn, and using a 12 dc transformer, you could operate all the 12 volt stuff you wanted.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Suggestions on Generator

Gobait -- It's impolite to hijack someone elses thread, confuses people, and in this case, has absolutely nothing to do with the topic. If the boat you are looking at is an I/O your questions should go there. If its a trailering issue, then the Trailers area is where it should go.