Our generator is dead.  We had it checked out, and the windings are shot.  Even though the engine part still works, repairing or replacing the backend doesn’t make sense compared to just getting an entirely new machine.  

So the old one has been removed and I’ve begun shopping for a replacement.  Removed is such an easy word to say, but it was not an easy thing to do.  A Northern Lights 12kW genset weighs over 800 pounds.  It took a series of lifts with a chain hoist and an I-beam to move the thing from the boat to the dock, onto a cart, and then into a truck.  I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures.  Whenever those 800 pounds were swinging in the air I always seemed to have something else on my mind.

Usually a failure like this is an opportunity to rethink the situation and make it better.  But in this case I’m not finding anything that I think needs to be improved.  The Northern Lights was a great generator.  It died from old age, neglect, and a dose of salt water.  The 12kW was way overkill, so I think the next one will be about half that size.  Otherwise, I’d go right back to the same thing… if it weren’t for the cost.  Northern Lights generators command a hefty premium, so instead I’m looking at the Kubota-based sets from Phasor and Beta Marine.

For the same reasons that I can’t repair the old generator, I can’t really sell it either.  So what do you do with a working engine that is not useful or valuable?  Let the kids take it apart, of course!  The kids are going to diesel engine camp this summer.  They’ll dissect it under Ben’s tutelage and then put it back together.  I’ll get some pictures of that for sure.