2006 marlin generator / cabin heater

[kylepribell]

hi guys, new to the forum, just bought our first 06 GW marlin 300.

Trying to figure out where to start with the generator, i have no power at the panel in the cabin, i have tried and tried to get something at the panel but nothing. Is there a fuse or something somewhere for that panel?

Also we tried to run the heater side of the A/C unit with out any luck, what is the sea cock cooling when running the A/C or Heat?
i am guessing that works like a heat pump and reverses to produce heat or A/C?
Has anyone ever ran their heat out of the water? is it safe or do you need cooling water?

just trying to figure this boat out. thanks guys!

 

[Fishtales]

Hi,
Going to assume you are unfamiliar with the boat. Not trying to insult.
- Go to the AC/DC panel. The Fischer Panda controls are at the bottom. They were either PF4200 diesel or a Kohler gas.
- Go to the deck plate at at the aft cockpit floor. Open and pull the seacock lever for the generator. Check your fuel source and make sure you have diesel or gas.
- To Operate press the on button on the panel. Going by memory. I believe the on light illuminates. If not, you may have a power issue. Is this your issue?
- Press and hold the start button. You should hear the genny trying to start. If not, you could have a solenoid or starter issue. They seem to go often.
- Once the generator starts, release the button. Once running for a few minutes you can switch from shore to generator on the panel.
- Its like a car, if it doesn't start in 5-7 sec, release the button. Let things cool and try again.

 

[Fishtales]

The wiring diagram isn't very good. It shows a 1A fuse at the rear of the boat.

 

[Fishtales]

Make sure the battery that is used to start the generator is on. These are the rotary switches at the aft of the cockpit. There are resettable fuses there too. Hit they while there.
If the battery isn't > 11V you won't start or see an indicator light. Does the generator hour panel illuminate?

 

[Fishtales]

AC will run reverse. Just set the temp to the highest temp. There is only one seacock for the AC. Whenever you run the AC it needs to be opened.

 

[Fishtales]

For heat, you really only have a couple of options. An electric heater when the genny is running!... or a propane heater that is placed in the helm area.

 

[kylepribell]

I got most of that figured out, the problem I am having is that the generator switch panel doesn’t light up or do anything in the cabin, wasn’t sure if there was a fuse somewhere or if I have to dig deeper to find out where I should be getting power from..

As for the A/C compressor, we had it running for a couple minutes on shore power with sea cock open but wasn’t heating up so we shut it off. Didn’t want to mess anything up. Maybe it’s low on Freon?

 

[Fishtales]

If low on refrigerant I don't think that will hurt anything. It takes a while to cool. First thing, run it at low temp and see that it cools. Then adjust for max temp and see how it performs. It isn't going to be a great heater, but it should warm a cold space.

 

[Fishtales]

You'll have to take the ac panel down and locate the wires and trace them back. There should be a set of wires labeled start/stop switch wiring harness. This harness runs to the aft of the boat, I'm guessing direct to the generator. Likely a fuse in the generator. There is a fuse that is located aft (1A) per the drawing that I discussed earlier, it appears this is for the #16 wire set for the CO monitor so disregard that comment.

 

[Heartly Fishing]

I would NOT be surprised if your A/C is cool only even when the control shows a heat setting.

 

[kylepribell]

I would NOT be surprised if your A/C is cool only even when the control shows a heat setting.

Really? Why do you say that? Why would it say heat and not have it?

 

[kylepribell]

Got into part of the problem over the weekend, there is a round 1amp fuse located on the back side of control panel in cabin, I jumped that with a piece of wire and it lit up and works.. hit the start button and just clicked.. took starter motor off of genset and it doesn’t look healthy inside, got to figure out a way to see if I can get some leverage on pto side and break it free.. hour meter only reads 20.8..

 

[DennisG01]

Did you try jumping the starter once you had it off the genny? Does it spin up then? Or, if you have it back on the genny, try jumping a GOOD 12V right from a battery - see if things spin over then.

Where are you located? The colder the water, the longer it may take to make heat - and not be super warm when it gets there, either.

 

[kylepribell]

Did you try jumping the starter once you had it off the genny? Does it spin up then? Or, if you have it back on the genny, try jumping a GOOD 12V right from a battery - see if things spin over then.

Where are you located? The colder the water, the longer it may take to make heat - and not be super warm when it gets there, either.

got the starter out. It spins fine out of engine, won’t turn engine over though.. need to manually get a hold of something on engine and try and break it free..

like i said earlier, didn’t try the heat for more then about 2-3 minutes before shutting it off due to lack of knowledge of the system.. it’s blocked up in my driveway now.. might pull off seacock for a/c unit and run a hose thru it to see if I can get some heat out of it.. located in NJ. Waters cold here now..

 

[DennisG01]

Get some penetrating fluid (PB Blaster, for example) into the cylinders - squirt a bunch in through the spark plug hole. Let it sit for a day, spray some more, let it sit. Then try spinning it. It could be locked up - but it could also still be the starter (too old/weak). If you can get it spin normally by hand (keep the plug out), then the most logical thing is either power supply issues (voltage, bad cables/connections) or bad starter.

Yes, you can run AC with a hose. As you asked about above, it is a heat exchanger - and it could very well be that you didn't run it long enough. Were you getting good flow through the hull discharge? Is the compressor unit clean... and the filter (if your system has one)?

Be sure to winterize the system after you're done. Just push AF into the system backwards, through the discharger.

 

[Fishtales]

those genny starters for the FP generators don't seem to last long. prob the starter. when you remove and replace pay attention to the bolt holes and the bolts that come out. one is shorter than the rest and you need to put the short one in the right hole or you will have an interference issue that will cause you a lot of pain and money.... didn't hapen to me, but I was told by the factory about it when I changed mine out.

 

[Meanwhile]

For flushing or winterizing I bought one of these. Makes it easy to run the genset off a hose.

 

[Fishtales]

works for troubleshooting on land I'd say too. good idea.

 

[Heartly Fishing]

Really? Why do you say that? Why would it say heat and not have it?

I think the control panels are all "standard" and are marked for cool/ heat. Mine has that but I know for a fact mine is not reverse cycle and cools only.

 

[Fishtales]

The only way it heats is if you set the temperature higher than it is in the boat unfortunately.