Sail Life - DIY 9 kW diesel generator (part 1) & head vanity countertop template

[@dangonzales2896]

I was enjoying your channel and learning from you. Very surprised and disappointed that as a very intelligent young person you are not using sustainable energy sources but are instead using expensive, pollution causing chemicals. I hope that you lose followers. Good bye.

[@SailLife]

Haha, there's always one. vaya con dios.

[@dangonzales2896]

Sail Life I know that there will be many more of us who don’t have a dinosaur mentality.

[@nichflint4717]

De er sure sagde ræven da han ikke kun nå rønnebærrene, a danish saying that I can't translate🤪

[@Paul_C]

@@dangonzales2896 ever been on a boat? Nah, don't think so, right? 🤔

[@SailLife]

There might be one or two. That's fine. I don't think there's an issue in having a diesel generator and a sailboat. Just as I don't think there's anything wrong with having a gas powered car. What about a diesel engine in a sailboat? What about a gas powered lawnmower? This holier than thou attitude gets old real fast.

[@andymullen]

only took two years, including two weeks of self-isolation, to get completely caught up on Sail Life videos!

[@mattevans-koch9353]

"Ava seems to be leaning...so we're probably going to go with that." Very smart man! You are headed for a long and wonderful relationship. Thank you Mads for another great video. The head is starting to look great. Take care and stay well and my best to Ava.

[@isobelboler5904]

Hi Mads, i have been quietly watching your channel for the past 3 years now, and enjoy every moment of it, you keep me inspired on our build project of a live-aboard Trawler and it is my Monday morning fix each week..... and yes shock horror a DIESEL powered Trawler... with a 17KVA DIESEL genset... i complete agree with you on the niceties of things as a washing machine and dryer etc... i have a saying in my shed - "if you need to ask why - you will never understand - so #%$@ off!" i have learnt so much from your channel and shall never stop watching.... keep it coming.

[@JohnMason-Hill]

I promise that if you double or triple the length of your videos I will watch every delightful second them. Who’s with me?

[@sonnybrooks264]

Love your attitude and work ethic. Keep it up because your light at the end of the tunnel is shining even more brighter ⭐️🛥

[@bartonrobinson4266]

I'm not sure my 2 cents worth is worth 2 cents, but...This is Mad's and Ava's future and build, surely the choices they make are not out of the ordinary for long term live aboard life style. Sad to see haters make issues that don't make 2 cents worth, give a shit but give a shit on your own projects, sure makes cents, that's more than 2, to many others that enjoy what Mad's is doing and applaud him. Other peoples matters don't matter if there hatters with negativity abounding out of there thinking containers..Keep up the good things Mad's, we support your decisions !!

[@bobstienke178]

Great video Mads! I’m sad to see others who angrily disagree with YOUR decisions of YOUR LIFE. I love to watch someone with an abundance of multiple skills tackle such a project, all the while videoing your progress! I’ll stick around for a while if you don’t mind.

[@jerrykeding1493]

I love your channel, it's become my favorite. Life is not just about survival, you need to enjoy it or it's not worth living and if you're going to make your own stuff it's a lot more enjoyable to have the right tools for the job. You can do everything by hand and be green or you can use power and do it faster and enjoy it more.

[@troyboyd3100]

Thank you for keeping us sane Mads. So refreshing to have wonderful Edutainment, rather than focus on the events of the day...

[@mattkelly2938]

I must say I'm quit disappointed. You didnt say "see you" at the end of the video for shame! Lol love you man take care.

[@darrenphughes]

Matt Kelly it’s off sick with the Covid.

[@coppers615]

"There's no amount of lube that would make that an enjoyable experience." LOL.

[@abbbee8918]

What a brilliant comment, and he just casually slips it in 🤣

[@ĶČXXĻ-ĀxÐ]

Abb Bee “casually slips it in” I see what you did there. 🤣

[@ehillaisd]

i was wondering if anyone else caught that and if it wasn't in fact a little freudian.

[@benlindner5285]

Haha too many rude comments are possible after that line!

[@douglasrobbie7394]

I would encourage you to consider cooling this diesel engine powered generator using an electric magnetic drive water pump instead of the motor driven impeller pump. The pump would get its power from the generator directly so it would run only when the generator is running. And it can be a single speed pump supplying a stable volume of cooling water since diesel will be running at a fixed speed. These pumps can last 10K hours vs the 100's hours for the typical flexible motor driven impeller. For an example of cruiser who did this switch, see youtube Catamaran IMPI from about 4-5 yrs ago

[@SootHead]

Diesel is the most practical solution for you. Go for it. It's not anyone else's business but yours. Go for it!

[@LucScheffers]

Hi Mads, The fact that electricity is your thing, you might, with this nice generator, fully up to specs for a Oceanvolt system. Propulsion and Hyrogenerate the battery pack. So at least you can do some programming as well:) Just a note, you vids are going soooo fast in the DIY parts. Would like to see/learning more about thoughts, the welding and plasma cutter experience, etc. In all, thanks for the work, edits and vids and keep safe!

[@mrwattsclass107]

Mads, you are really upping your game. Stay safe.

[@dgberry01]

I personally like the dramatic look of the dark counters. But that is me. You and Ava make it to the styles that please you.

[@FlyingAl2006]

Add an optional air pump and you can also use it to refill Scuba tanks. I want to live aboard full time as well, so have been researching stuff and planning. Have seen a couple of setups where they used a small engine such as yours and had a water maker pump, and air pump, and alternator. So you charged batteries anytime you made water or filled tanks etc...

[@garry7263]

Hey Mads, I was going to suggest using Corian for your counter tops. It is durable and completely waterproof. Has many colors and textures like marble and granite. Is that composite the same thing? Don't worry about anyone telling you that you aren't "green" enough. You want to live comfortably, but you also want the reliability and safety for sailing deep water. Solar is not going to save you in storm, but the reliability of diesel will. Electric is great if you have limitless funds. Personally, electric is great if you can afford it but still having the reliability of diesel is necessary. Maybe good ole Dan "Mr Green Perfection" Gonzales will finance the rest of your build since he thinks he can think for everyone else. Its not his boat, so screw him. You are the Bob Villa of boats. Love your youtube. Keep it up.

[@Garryck-1]

"Solar is not going to save you in storm, but the reliability of diesel will." If you think diesel will save you in a storm, you're not only deluded, you also have no idea of how to properly deal with storms.

[@garry7263]

@@Garryck-1, go ahead and keep your sails up. I would take them down and use power to keep the bow into the wind. I have not been in a storm on the ocean. I have been on Lake Ontario in 25 foot Catalina, in a storm with 40 foot seas and I'm still here. That was only doing a small crossing from the 1000 islands. Personally, that experience has kept me from doing anything more than day sailing. My point was that it is better to have redundant systems, especially if you are blue water sailing. Diesel is reliable. If you think that I believe that diesel will literally "save" you, you are sadly mistaken. I wasn't explaining how to "pilot" a storm. Why did Dan wait till now to storm off? Mads already has a diesel power plant? Mads has more demands than what solar or wind can provide. He is expecting that he can be completely self sufficient from shore power. More power to him (pun intended). If you use your stored energy up for washing clothes, making youtube videos, cooking, and whatever else, that could possibly leave you without power if the unexpected happens. Just because you believe in sailing doesn't mean you have to be a minimalist. I don't watch Sail Life to find out how to go "green". I watch because Mads is completely rebuilding his sailboat, by himself, AND doing an awesome job of it. What he doesn't know, he finds out and isn't afraid to do it himself. He has a great personality and his content should be watched by anyone with a fiberglass boat, powered or sail. Having the knowledge to fix something is valuable . I have no doubt that Mads will know what to do when any trouble arises.

[@DuncanDumbreck]

Your channel is a gold mine for me. You keep doing things like the diy generator and the diesel heater which I've been considering for our own boat build. Keep up the excellent work.

[@belledetector]

Hi Mads. Love your channel. Always fun, educational and generally entertaining. - On the subject of your cabinet doors and drawer fronts, I would like to bring to your attention that Shaker style cabinet fronts, are constructed with the stiles (the left and right part of the frame) spanning the full height of the cabint door with the rails (top and bottom part of the frame) inserted into the stiles. You panel inserts should then be parallel to the stiles and not the rails. The obvious reason is the resulting strenght of the construct, and visually it looks right.. Your preliminary example of a drawer front is made in the Boston style, where the inserts are parallel to the rail, in which case it pleases the eye if the rails are wider than the inserts... - However that design is rarely used put on its side. Point is; whatever design you chose, it makes sense to have the vertical part of the frame (stiles) extend the full height of the drawer front or cabinet door, if you catch my drift ;-)

[@shawnmcauliffe5072]

Hey, Mads I've meant to mention this before. If I were you, I'd refurbish the boat exactly the way you are. Because in the end you, and Ava of course, will be the ones living on her. I find it healthy to mentally edit all post with "you should do this and that" and "I would that and this" to "You could do this". Feedback, fresh ideas, alternative views are all awesome but they can be a bit overwhelming. You seem pretty good at filtering all that, so I'm confident you are beating a course that will get you to a place you both will love!

[@philgray1023]

Thanks for our weekly dose of "I can do this". So many waits, it's getting like Hitchcock.

[@Skyrmir]

Ava has a good point. Walk around boats with light interior vs dark wood interior. I love the dark wood myself, but it can really turn a sailboat into a cave. The lighter colors really make the space feel bigger.

[@velascobruce]

Sending good vibes to you and Ava!!! Hope to meet you both some day.

[@benmac7315]

I like the explanation of why you need the generator etc at the end

[@rubenmolina8849]

When you install your generator, try to avoid a direct tension on your engine flywheel. You would put a lot of load on your jornal bearing. They are designed to have a concentric load. Install a that be drive by flexible coupling, from there you can put a pulley to drive your generator. With out worrying belt tension.

[@benlindner5285]

What does this mean, are there typos: "Install a that be drive by flexible coupling"

[@pierrelapointe8511]

Nice information Ruben, hope Mad get that!

[@jlha1]

yes because usually the large generator is mounted directly in line on the crankshaft,

[@pezpengy9308]

thumbs up just for saving 8 grand. spiffy job sir!

[@rwilco3289]

Well, a quasi-subliminal 1.759 seconds of `Oh, glorious sanding' is better than none at all. Thanks, Mads! 😉

[@tombarker3608]

You must get a great feeling of satisfaction designing and building items for Athena. Looking good to me. Hi Ava.

[@edwardhovitz1753]

I'm with Ava - I can imagine light gray the best choice for laminate tops.

[@Miko92ster]

I have nothing to do with sailing or boat building for that matter. But I love your videos. You seem like a cool guy and its fun to watch some one do what they love :) cheers!

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

Nice call out to AvE Mads!

[@Paul_C]

Black, basically that is a bachelor's colour. Thinking gray is like saying goodbye to that life, I think it would be more enjoyable. Grey it is.

[@darrylmcleman6456]

A special HEllO to Mr.Generator and Mr.GRINDER from CANADIAN Westcoast.CHEERS

[@mikaelreichel3759]

Yes, as said, there will have to be several fanbelts of the V type to carry the load. They can perfectly transfer the power and the fact they slip is actually necessary to cope with the energy pulses and inertia. Small helicopters reliably use a cluster of the very same kind of belts to transfer 100+HP from engine to rotorsystem at around the same RPM.

[@stefanbusuttil]

Thank you loads for your videos, they are highly interesting. I personally come from a so what warm climate. I take the impression that you are constructing the boat for cold climates. My suggestion is that you also think about warm climates (eg include AC, having good ventilation) maybe one day we will meet in Malta :-) Wishing you all of the very best, pls do stay safe and healthy

[@RYBAT]

Haters be Damned. Mads, What ever works for you, Works

[@chrischapman2955]

Wait, what? No ""see you" at the end? You're throwing me for a loop Mads, lol 😎.

[@aserta]

I'd use a variable speed setup with an electronic controller. The gennie spits out 50hertz only if it's not under load, the speed of the whole setup will be dampened by the load and that will translate to the engine, consumption/wear. I know it's likely to be a very small margin, but for how cheap that kind of setup would be, and the fact that you know how to install the electronics/no issues programming, you'd be ahead of the game considerably vs others. It's just a thought, i'm unaware what the load on a boat would reach out to be, you know that best, but on my generator, there's a variable speed setup with a mechanical governor, one day, if i have time, i'll swap it for electronics, as they are far smoother (hence my suggestion for electronics, given that you're on a boat).

[@sailingsolo5290]

I love the generator. I would put another shaft on it and propeller. Just to have a back up to my back up to my sails. I have often thought of this . Seen it on a few trawlers

[@steveburton5825]

You might want to do some "engineering" on the belts... a "fan" belt like the Cement Boat guy is using is nowhere near heavy enough to run that kind of a load. It will slip like crazy and last about 10 minutes under full load. While it can certainly spin the alternator/generator, as soon as it starts producing power to draw from, the loads are going to go WAY up. Take a look at some of the 150A alternators on some of the boats in the marina and they are running 2-3 of those belts. Balmar as I recall has some handy HP to KW conversions for how much "belt" you need.

[@lixloon]

Multiple V-belts need to be precisely matched to evenly distribute the load, think instead about automotive style ribbed serpentine belts.

[@paulslevinsky580]

V-belts are much more forgiving and (probably) much more readily available around the world. I would add independent sprung tensioners that will always stand duty and keep each belt snug. Independent tensioners would also allow minor deviations in belt length.

[@philgee6901]

Agreed. Best look at toothed belts as used on Harley Davidsons. Gates Polychain. Sprockets are silly expensive however.

[@RVLifeNOW]

Steve, we just put in a 175A alternator upped from the 120A as part of our new lithium battery installation. The only thing that would drive this large of an alternator is a serpentine belt. I should have had a serpentine for the 120A but got by with using a slightly larger pulley on the alternator and using a Gates, Green Stripe, belt. No other belt would last. Mads should really be going with a serpentine belt.

[@hommie789]

KW to HP conversion is easy, take the KW and divide by 746 to get HO. So 9 KW generator requires 12.06 HP.

[@Scramasax]

Mads I think you need a toothed serpentine belt to drive that generator. Way less stress on the bearings and way stronger. In my opinion you also should run the diesel in the nominal RPM recommended by the manufacturer. Without googling anything my guess is 2700rpm. That way you get the most energy efficient power the short while you need it while the diesel already is some what too small for the generator.

[@simonhewitt750]

Hi mads make sure you allow take up for your v drive. The belt drive needs to be run for a few hours and then retensioned. Also use a good quality belts such as optibelt,dayco or Carlyle .

[@graeme-sailingskeptic]

Oh the places you'll go with Ava on Athena!

[@johntremain8403]

When you design the piping to relocate the oil filter and the HX, consider adding ball valves to serve as high point vents and low point drains to simplify routine maintenance. BTW, nice gusseting on your bracketry. Your welding is getting pretty good. Hoping to see some beveled corner joints in the future. Bummed you didn't go 110/120V, but I get it... It's Europe. Stay safe!

[@aserta]

On the exhaust, replace the star drive bolt with hex head/standard, you never want that kind of bolt head on an exhaust, doubly so on a marine application.

[@tfoodplease]

Ya!!! Bringing joy to a crazy week!

[@tomblough3257]

Mads - you should look at the power curves for the Perkins 402 and set your pulleys up so you are running the engine at the max HP point.

[@dbriggs1689]

Love your informative videos and positive attitude.

[@SailLife]

Thank you so much :)

[@Sciolist]

Gabrielle of sea4see just finished galley on his boat. Granted he's a yacht master and has lots of friends who are proper professionals, but still it's interesting to see difference as well as similarities between his & your project.

[@dougf94912]

Mads I have black countertops in my kitchen and bathroom and the show drips and soap stains readily. I'd vote for gray or some mottled look.

[@bowencampbell]

"We're probably going to go with that...." Get used to saying that.

[@svbarryduckworth628]

In these difficult times we must get used to living under marital law.

[@PitWChannel]

"We are probably going with that" ;-) Mads is clever and kind enough to keep his wife to be happy!

[@robertreifsneider5314]

Was thinking the same thing. :)

[@DrMarkGB]

That line had me burst out laughing! Happy Wife，Happy Life！ Took me a while to learn that one. Some battles a not worth fighting!!

[@benlindner5285]

Actually black is the hardest to maintain. Ever talk to someone that has had a black car? They wouldn't do it again unless they loved washing and polishing it daily.

[@chappyd5109]

I think you are great. Don''t worry about the "mis-fits of science." After looking at the web-site for AVA, I couldn't help but notice she may have a lot of downsizing to accomplish...

[@shopshop144]

You've got the line of the year "--there's no amount of lube that's going to make that an enjoyable experience"!!! Suggestion on your vanity top, if you have enough 'scrap', make the rim around the undermount sink so it appears thicker then just the laminate itself. You usually add material to the outer edge, so the top appears thicker, like 3 cm, so just do something similar on your cut out. You also might want to consider not caulking the vanity top in permanently since to get access to the faucet mounts in such a tight area it might be easier to just pull the whole and sink out as a unit (and install it as one too). Lastly, dark colors in tight spaces make the feel of a space smaller, where lighter colors seem to add to the space. Dark colors also suck up details, for whatever that's worth.

[@CarlD01]

What happened to the "See you" at the end? I feel strangely incomplete now. lol

[@Champsvisions3d]

nice job. good thing you have the shop! see you next week

[@polderfischer8565]

Hey! If the Waterreservoir is from VW, you should change the black cap for the upgraded blue one. Greetings

[@VmaxBR549]

The injector pump govenor is an overspeed type govenor. What you need is a speed regulator govenor. A simple bolt on belt driven govenor will do fine. No electronics needed. Just a thought (;-) TP

[@Mr1966killa]

i always look forward to a little GLORIOUS SANDING ..LOL... as long as you're doing it ...lol keep on truckinn brother !!

[@Mr1966killa]

or ross lol

[@Scramasax]

That Cobra steering pedestal has some play in the bearings even when factory new. One way out of it is to exchange those ball bearings with the same measurement roller bearings.

[@greenzne]

12:20 Love that AVE talk..

[@mikeskelly2356]

While the Perkins is still out in the open, you might want to consider installing a 'remote' oil drain. Just a 90 Degree ell screwed in place of the drain plug and a pipe extension out to a more accessible location, terminating with a female fitting to accept the pipe plug once more. Regular oil changes are the life of any engine, and you will enjoy not having to fight with a hot plug under a hot engine, and then trying to catch all the dirty oil...

[@benlindner5285]

Mike, Mads mentioned that the oil filter was buried but that he had a plan for relocating it, he probably is going to do something about the fill as well.

[@americanix7951]

You could make a paper pattern for the stainless piece for the pedestal. And if you can weld aluminium you can weld stainless just different rod for the tig.

[@tom5605]

You could easily build a bracket and use an automatic tensioner pulley.

[@bluejeans725]

MMmmmmm Diesel Powered Pizza, Puuurrrfect.

[@chrissaucier121]

Becoming quite the welder!

[@miklpotts817]

All Marinas in Ont Canada shut down until April 18th! Can you upload a few extra vids? Great channel! absolute favorite!

[@Greggspies]

Great idea making a genset will the exsaust need cooling?

[@andreasweber5638]

See Youuuuuuu 🖖

[@tomporter2164]

just an idea for when you install the electrics-- put a low voltage protection relay on the output of the generator so that you cannot have power going to the distribution board until the voltage is correct

[@wdinns]

having 1 or 2 wind generators will help also, for when you are sitting and the wind is still blowing

[@PaulWarren64]

Perhaps an adjustable spring loaded belt idler would make moving and adjusting the belt easier.

[@mysurlytrucker7510]

I used a wind generator, it worked pretty well , not sure what's wrong with gas i used it for decades not a problem when using it just turn of at bottle fst then cooker, that way never any gas in line .

[@svbarryduckworth628]

Might it be possible to fabricate the new pedestal bracket and throttle/shifter mount out of fiberglass? Maybe building a mold... Imagine how much fun that might be!

[@nucopia]

Another great video Mads thanks for sharing

[@seanlathbury5410]

NOT to start a controversy but I completely support the diesel generator. My generator will run 12 hours on 4 1/2 gallons of diesel. The exchange in fuel for comfort is no contest.

[@MobilMobil-kv5ke]

About that Stainless Steel steering pedestal - There is phenomena called “galvanic corrosion” where the contact surfaces of differing metals corrode. Unless your mated parts and fasteners are the same metal, you WILL experience corrosion.

[@SailLife]

The plan is to isolate the two parts with a nice little gasket :) Sure there will still be contact between the stainless bolts and the aluminium pedestal but a bit of grease goes a long way to keep the water out.

[@martinsachs3837]

the perfect rpm for the diesel are best tested when its mounted in the boat. engine sound varies greatly by resonance of the hull. please consider delaying the rpm test run til shes in the boat

[@steveburton5825]

Most generators have a specific RPM they need to be driven at to output at the correct frequency (e.g. 50 or 60 Hz). The Onan generators for instance run 60 Hz at 1800 RPM while they can run 50 Hz at 1500 RPM.

[@benlindner5285]

@@steveburton5825 The small Chinese generators run at 3600 RPM for 60HZ, can't imagine how long they would last at that speed.

[@AndyUK-Corrival]

WHAT! No “See you” with friendly wave this week...😫. Or did I miss it. Going back to check...

[@stuartschnare152]

Great work. Anxiously await these videos , every week. Your problem solving abilities never fail to amaze me. Stay safe.5

[@usdrealm1]

One day I hope you'll open that bilge up and show us how much sawdust has worked its way down there.

[@rad2038]

i know its long shot but you can make your boat hybrid with a battery pack and bigger generator replace diesel engine its costly but make it simpler and in long time more economically efficient

[@drunkenfoolable]

The generator looks great! have you thought about running the dive compressor off the perkins directly? It could be simple to belt drive the compressor or a water maker off the perkins.

[@pocketchange1951]

👍👌❤🇨🇦, Mads is working and making progress, as for me not so much, left my body impression in the couch, lockdown

[@eptyr12]

Can you try a lithium battery bank with flex solar panel on the bimini top to compliment the rigid ones? You should be able to power everything within reason. Delos has some extensive videos on how they did it. You will of course have to use the dinosaur squeezings some. Just a thought.

[@benlindner5285]

Delos is in the tropics. Way up in the frozen North where it is dark for half of the year they would freeze before they starved relying on solar!

[@airgead5391]

Doohickeys and glorious sanding, what could you wish for more on a sunday?

[@toddabrahamsson1797]

You may want to consider Edson Steering products for your helm. Edson is located in Massachusetts USA. Their products are of superior quality.

[@toms4123]

Mads, you certainly continue to have my support for whatever you do. And should I (not happened yet) feel something you have done is not for me, I do it differently. No need to step into a pulpit to announce hell and damnation though? 🤔

[@stephencoster9532]

Hiya to you both, how are you doing? I worked on gen-sets for UK film & TV I would hate to try & count how many but the smallest was 25KVA the largest 1MVA paired as one, load sharing. Did Euro 96 football with a pair of 1meg sets at Sheffield. Yours is cute. Great work in concept & execution, loving it! Some were perkins, some volvo, cummings etc. Keep safe & take care...

[@qbatomas]

As always - great video! I've decided to put a comment (wanted to do that for quite some time now) about something not related to Athena - it is sad to see that poor, lonely and neglected guitar in the background. I know there are other priorities, but I hope she will get restored too :-) Fingers crossed! :-)

[@mikenewzealand4525]

Very very clever

[@bernadettetreual]

If you want to keep your setup simple: An old school cook top is much more robust than an induction cook top.

[@martinchenard7999]

Mads: I wanted black countertops and Ava wanted grey countertops, so we compromised and went with the grey. As others have said get used to that...lol!

[@franktartan6808]

Mads can do it all! Mads what is the Covid situation over there? Thanks for another great video!

[@MrSocrate86]

Good evening, it is with pleasure that I watch your videos. Congratulations. I have a simply technical question because I do not always understand English well. How much power does it take to run a 10kw alternator? The diesel engine must at least make this power? is there a rule to calculate the power required? Thanks again. And good luck for the future.

[@thesteve7397]

10 kW is equivalent to 14 HP. The alternator is at best around 75% efficient, so the Diesel engine needs to be about 18 HP.

[@adamcroft9007]

Dear mads, enjoyed the video ! Do you have any plans to have a submerged turbine generator to generate a small amount of electricity. Similar to the one la vagabond has?

[@paritoshsingh9235]

Are you going to drop the use of reflex stove now in this newly designed galley

[@milkoberben2963]

If you would have a victron energy Inverter you could use that remote start feature in combination with the inverter low voltage relay switch

[@alesquire9180]

Great video as usual