Boating in homelike comfort for more than a few hours at a time takes more electricity than most battery systems can provide, but adding a generator to the mix gives boaters a constant feed of power. A generator is a rather involved upgrade, but it can be boiled down to a few basic steps.

Determine Your Vessel’s Power Needs

There’s a big difference between the power requirements of a 40-foot cruiser and a 30-footer. Take air conditioning, for example. Both boats may have it, but one might need a 20,000-Btu system to chill down the salon while the other can get by with 5,000 Btus. So, the bigger boat will not only have more systems to feed, but each one is larger in scale. That means step one is simply figuring out how much power is enough. And remember that bigger isn’t always better. Generators are designed to run under load, and if you regularly run one at less than 25 percent of its output and don’t typically run at closer to 50 to 70 percent of load, it will often lead to soot formation, poor piston-ring seals and clogged injector tips.

What if you need only minimal juice? In that case, could carrying a portable generator aboard make sense? Maybe so, but these usually hold enough fuel to run for just eight or nine hours. If you want electricity for longer than that, you’ll have to carry a gas can and plan to refuel from the deck of a pitching, rolling boat. Obviously, that raises safety concerns. Plus, these generators generally aren’t marinized for use in the saltwater environment. As a general rule of thumb, carry-on generators have limited applications on boats.

Determine Your Boat’s Available Real Estate

The biggest limiting factor in how much power you can bring aboard will be engine-room space. Generators are often shoe-horned in, which makes for tough maintenance, but even tougher installation. You need a solid, level mounting surface, as well as room for cables and hoses. Also consider access to the area, because it won’t do you much good to buy a generator only to discover it doesn’t fit through the hatch.

Mounting a Boat Generator

Generators are weighty, and they require secure mounting. Screws or lag bolts aren’t sufficient—you need stout through-bolts or hefty brackets. Think of it like mounting an engine in a boat, because, well, they are engines. True, the generator won’t be bearing any thrust, but all that weight creates an awful lot of leverage when the boat rocks and rolls. If you’re adding a generator to a boat that originally offered one as optional equipment, check with the manufacturer to see if pre-tapped mounting plates were laminated into the stringers. You may have an ideal mounting point ready and waiting for you.

Plumbing a Boat Generator

Ready to start running hoses? You’ll need a cooling water feed via a through-hull with a seacock, and an exhaust run. Intake lines need to have a sea strainer between the seacock and the generator, and should not depend on a scoop-style through-hull, which can force water into the generator when it’s not in operation. Exhaust lines need an anti-siphon loop installed at the manufacturer’s recommended minimum height above the waterline.

Obviously, you’ll also need to get fuel to the generator. In the interest of minimizing the hazard of mixing up fuels and increasing the workload, most boaters want to choose a generator that burns the same fuel as their vessel’s powerplants and tap into the existing supply. Otherwise, installing a fill and vent lines will be necessary in addition to installing the tank itself. You’ll also need to plumb in a fuel filter between the tank and the generator.

Wiring a Boat Generator

Wiring is a stage that can get quite tricky, and the bottom line is that you must follow the manufacturer’s specifications for both the boat and the generator. That said, there will usually be cables for an externally mounted battery for starting the generator, the AC output, and you may wire in a remote-control panel above decks, as well. Care must be taken to make sure that all wiring is up to manufacturer and ABYC specs, and that it’s supported and protected from stress and chaffing. AC wiring must be done as per the manufacturer’s recommendations. Note that generators must also be grounded and bonded in accordance with USCG regulations.

Insulating a Boat Generator

Generators can be notoriously loud. If your boat’s engine room isn’t thoroughly insulated, choosing a generator contained in an insulated soundshield is a smart move. Adding acoustic insulation to an engine room after the fact is rarely as effective. Air intakes, exhaust type and mounting will also have an impact on the noise and vibration levels.

So, is adding a generator to a boat really all that involved? You bet it is, which is why few DIY boaters ever even consider giving it a shot. It’s also risky to try installing one yourself from both a safety and a reliability/longevity standpoint. So, 99 times out of 100 this is a job best left to the professionals.

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Most boat and yacht owners take care when it comes to their vessel’s engines, but unfortunately, few pay the same amount of attention to the generator. And what is a generator, after all, but another engine. In fact, in some ways marine generators live an even more difficult life than a boat’s primary propulsion. They may sit for extended periods without being used, get pressed into service for hour upon hour, suffer from deferred maintenance and live in a compact corner of an engine room. If not properly maintained, they’re subject to failure. So be sure to treat your boat’s marine generator with respect, including:

• Following the Manufacturer’s Recommended Maintenance Schedule
• Performing Pre-Trip Checks
• Preventing Generator Overload

Following the Manufacturer’s Recommended Maintenance Schedule

As is true with any internal-combustion engine, generators have regular service needs. The specifics will vary from unit to unit, so this is one of those cases where the best we can say is to follow the manufacturer’s recommended procedures. You can expect most marine generators to require regular daily-use, checks on fluid levels and oil- and fuel-filter changes at specific engine hour intervals; air filter cleanings and/or replacements; water/fuel separator replacements; belt checks/tensioning/replacements at specific intervals; impeller inspections and changes; and sacrificial anode inspections and replacement. Remember, this isn’t a complete list so be sure to check the owner’s manual to find out what else is required, along with the timing of each check or replacement.

Performing Pre-Trip Checks

Each and every time you leave the dock, the generator should be on the pre-trip checklist even if you don’t think you’ll be running the generator on that specific voyage. Again, we suggest consulting your generator’s owner’s manual, but as a rule you’ll see these items on the list:

• Visually inspect to be sure ventilation is not impeded.
• Make sure the water intake is not impeded (including checking raw-water strainers, and making sure seacocks and valves are open).
• Visually inspect wiring connections and mounting hardware, to make sure nothing has vibrated loose.
• Check belt tension.
• Check all fluid levels.

On top of checking these items every time you run your boat, there are also some things you’ll want to look at on a regular basis if you haven’t run your generator for more than a week. These include:

• Starting the generator, visually inspecting for leaks, and listening for unfamiliar noises.
• Running the generator for 15 minutes or so under load, while eyeballing the temperature and making sure it holds steady.
• Visually inspecting exhaust to make sure it’s not producing excessive smoke.
• Test the charge on the starter battery and top it off, if required.
• Check hose clamps to make sure they’re tight (and tighten if necessary).

Preventing Generator Overload

Your boat was likely outfitted with an appropriately sized generator from the start, but sometimes the units aren’t quite up to the task. In other cases, you may have added or upgraded systems on the boat and increased the electrical load. Either way, it’s important not to overload your generator or failure may be one flick of a switch away.

Judging how much is too much can be difficult, and overload breakers are meant as a backup measure, not the first line of defense. Still, most often, boaters who overload a generator realize it after the fact. So whenever the generator is running, be on the lookout for signs of an overload. One of the most common is overheating. If you notice the temperature gauge is peaking higher than normal, or if you hear the generator working harder than usual, reduce the load immediately. Another common sign is failing systems. If the air conditioning is struggling when you run the microwave, for example, you’re overloading the generator.

If there is soot buildup at the generator’s exhaust port or it looks abnormally smokey while the generator is running, take that as a sign it may be overloading. There can be other causes for excessive or dirty exhaust, such as fuel, air or injector issues. But overloading can cause it to happen, too, so if you suspect that could be an issue the first step is to reduce load and see if it continues.

When you flip those switches aboard your boat you want everything to work, and you need power for that to happen. In other words, you need your generator. So treat it wisely, give it the maintenance it needs, prevent overloads and you’ll keep that marine generator running reliably for years to come.

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