2001 28TE owner here...generator????

[Mike Monte]

Hello All:
I have a (see above) boat....love it.....we have an ac unit that was in stalled at Standish Boat Yard...(2004?). It runs great on shore power....now my wife wants to run the ac unit (PLUS 'fridge) at anchor.......ok.....................I have a harborfreight 2500 inverter generator (that I use for my sound company) that is used for small events..... Will it power the ac and 'fridge??

[Norseman]

A generator will add a lot of weight, complexity and expenses.
(Yes, I know the Wife Factor, had 3 wife’s and numerous girlfriends, you can’t win, if you do, life gets miserable)
At anchor you usually have a nice breeze and all hatches open, with bug screens of course, nice and quiet, no generator needed)
At a marina or at a boat yard, no breeze, noisy, dusty and AC needed, fortunately there is shore power to run the AC. Problem solved.
If wifey still makes your life miserable, suggest big batteries and big solar panels to power the AC.
(Air Condition only needed when the sun is up and it is warm and stuffy below. Nobody stays below when the sun is up. When the sun is down, cooler below and people go downstairs to sleep, but not as hot because the sun is down, hence less need for AC)
Been there, done that; Lived on a boat in the Caribbean year around without AC back in the 80s. Also part time cruising Florida and Bahamas for 14 years with no AC, another sailboat.
On the Albin 28TE, we run AC when docked at a marina because we have shore power. Not needed when anchored,
Hence no generator needed, at least not here in South East Florida and not for us.
Your mileage may vary of course and if wife is hot, go to a marina:)

[Revtech79]

Hi Mike,
I have a 2005 28 TE with a 10k BTU AC. I easily power the AC and the fridge with a 2000i Honda inverter generator. I also have a 1800 watt inverter that runs off the house bank batteries. It can start and run the AC unit. (although obviously I don't run it long this way, battery draw down is way too high). The high load is only at startup of the AC. After startup it drops to around 600 watts running.

[Serenity]

I would think most portable generators, 2000 watts and up would run a nominal size ac unit (6000 BTU). However, I would exercise caution due to carbon monoxide being emitted by the generator. Recently, a couple were killed by CO while docked at a Fire Island, Long Island, NY marina from CO that leaked into the cabin.

[RobS]

..... Recently, a couple were killed by CO while docked at a Fire Island, Long Island, NY marina from CO that leaked into the cabin.

Ironically he was a retired NY City Firefighter. I never heard if that was an inboard generator or a portable one. Most marinas do not let you run generators .... but Cherry Grove is not most marinas. Very sad.

[catalina_mike]

I have tested my Honda 2000i at the dock for AC startup running. It worked fine but I did do it with the charger off until the amps dropped down. I have not used it at anchor as there is always water to jump into to cool off but I wanted to test to see if I could.

[Mike Monte]

Last week I finally tried my Harborfreight 2500 generator on my boat.
(I have a Marine Air 10,000 BTU AC unit.)

With the gen plugged into the shore power inlet I was not able to start the AC unit while the 'fridge and battery charger were on.
I turned off the fridge and battery charger and-then the AC unit would cycle on.
Once the AC unit is past its start-up stage I can then add the battery charger/'fridge to the system.

As our season heads into the final month we may try a night on-a-hook.

[go.boating]

GET A EASY-START FOR THE AC