Generators on a Charter Boat

Some charter boats have generators. These are small diesel engines that convert fossil fuel to DC electricity that is stored in the battery banks and AC electricity that is used to run the air conditioning, microwave, and AC outlet plugs around the boat. They are slightly less noisy than the main drive engines. Typically they should also not be run when heeling the boat. When installed they can be used to charge the batteries or run an air conditioning system. Luxury!

A generator is a fairly simple system with a start/stop switch and another switch to change the power source between shore power and the generator. Since the engine is diesel, in cold climates, you’ll need to preheat the cylinders with a “Preheat” toggle switch. The electricity supply to the boat typically switches over automatically from the battery banks to the generator once it is on. Other than special instructions from the Charter base, there is not too much more you need to know about the generator system than presented here.

Depending on how much you run the generator, you’ll need to check the oil level. IE every day if you are running it every day.