As those frequent readers of my 7knots postings know, my Fischer Panda generator has been nothing but a problem since it was installed. So far it has been back to the factory 2 times, is on its second motor (which was installed last January with 730 hours on it), and now appears to need yet another motor at about 1200 hours! Fischer Panda blames me for these failures, siting operator error and improper maintenance procedures! No other system on BlueJacket even begins to come close to the failure rate of this generator and if you were to see this boat in a marina, you'd know that it is probably the best maintained boat there.
Several weeks ago the motor failed again and a few days ago I pulled the valve cover off and discovered a valve broken spring, and 2 bent push rods. I had a mechanic come out and look at this and they determined that a valve tapped the piston which will require it to also be replaced. They didn't go far enough into the motor to determine if the crank shaft was damaged or what caused the failure, be it a slipped timing belt or whatever. They said that for this small of an engine that I should just replace the entire motor.
I am not a litigious person, but I was sick and tired of companies building "marine products" for which they charge a premium (and Fischer Panda charges an extreme premium) and then not standing behind the product when problems occur. I decided to sue Fischer Panda and New England Boatworks (who dropped the generator from a fork lift while installing it). I've heard from a lawyer that they might be willing to settle this case by providing a new generator & paying my legal expenses. I sure hope so, otherwise I'll be installing a different generator in early January. Man this sucks!
This is my last posting until mid-January as we're headed back to the States for the holidays. We wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
-- Geoff & Sue
Log ID: 322
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