Marine Maintenance Services Revives A Lagoon 560

We recently hauled a Lagoon 560 at Nanny Cay boat yard to complete a quick Sea Cock check & install 2 new generators.

The original 21kw Onan in the bow had been giving endless issues despite very low hours. So the owner asked us for the solution.  After a little brain storming we ended up replacing the forward unit with a 20kw (M844LW3) Northern Lights. We also installed a 12kw (M843NW3)  Northern Lights in the Port Aft hull.

The boat is back in the water & chartering again.  The crew are very happy with the performance of the forward unit & report that the 2nd unit gives them both a perfect night time generator & the peace of mind knowing that they are not totally reliant on one unit.

M844LW3 Installation  IMG_0236  IMG_0237 IMG_0199

NORTHERN LIGHTS PUTS ON SERVICE TRAINING FOR THE MOORINGS

During the week of 27 July Parts & Power, the Caribbean Distributor for Northern Lights Generators, put on 2 training classes for the Mooring Service staff.

Technicians, Supervisors and Managers from all the Caribbean bases attended the Training Classes. The training was conducted by Parts & Power Technical Director, Dan Durbin.

The training consisted of:

  • Product familiarization and the design philosophy of Northern Lights (Reliability, Durability, Simplicity)
  • Diesel Engine theory and design
  • Engine Maintenance and Repair
  • DC control logic troubleshooting and repair
  • AC theory, troubleshooting and repair
  • marine exhaust systems troubleshooting and repair.

The Moorings has a large number of Northern Lights generators in their fleet of Catamaran Sailing Yachts and Power Cats. They have used a number of different generators in the past and so have experience with many different makes.

The comments from all the participants were overwhelmingly positive. They felt that Northern Lights generators are the most reliable generators that they have worked on. The training gave Parts & Power the opportunity to get feedback from the Moorings staff on application challenges they have. They were able to discuss possible solutions, and also got field information that will be passed onto to Northern Lights Inc factory.

The Moorings can put up to 3-4000 hours per year on some of their generators. Yet, after being phased out 4-5 years later, most are still reliably running generators.

Moorings Northern Lights Training Moorings Northern Lights Training Moorings Northern Lights Training Moorings Northern Lights Training

 

New Northern Lights S3C panel

The new Northern Lights S3C panel is p/n 22-91216.  The older version was 22-91211. The 22-91211 is the panel in most of the current parts books.

Here is a parts breakdown of the new 22-91216 panel: 22-91216 panel Parts breakdown.  Please be aware that the gauge bezels do NOT come with the gauge.  They are a separate part number.

The only way to determine which panel the customer has is by looking at the back of the gauge.  

Below is a photo of the back of the new style gauge.

The back of the new style gauge

 

Contact Parts & Power if you have any questions concerning parts for the new or old S3C panels.

FREYA GETS A NEW HEART

From Marine Maintenance Services, BVI.

Last week we installed a new heart in ‘Freya’, an Irwin 52.  The old Westerbeke had done its time so out it came and in went a shiny new 9kw Northern Lights set.

It was a tight job to get her down below and into the hole, but once in the owner was very happy with the load handling & noise level.  The decision to put in a Northern Lights generator was based on the owner’s research as to reliability.  The couple are planning to take the boat around the world.

We wish them the best of luck & safe sailing!

Here are some pictures of the installation work underway:

FullSizeRender FullSizeRender (1)

 

 

Northern Lights Parts Blowout

Parts blowout special
Part# Description List USD Sale USD Comments
24-50002 Primary fuel filter $156.95 $99.00 This is the same as the Racor 220 which is NLA
38-08001 Spare parts kit M673 $355.00 $175.00 Common parts for the Northern Lights 6 kw generator
38-08201 Spare parts kit M753 $319.00 $150.00 Common parts for the popular Northern Lights 8 kw
38-08400 Spare parts kit M844L $291.00 $190.00 Common parts for the Northern Lights 20 kw generator

Limited availability subject to prior sale.

UNBELIEVABLE DEALS ON NORTHERN LIGHTS SOUND ENCLOSURES

  • Northern Lights M843NW2 or M843NW3 Sound Enclosure, part number 05-73100.
    LIST PRICE: $2,595.00 SPECIAL PRICE: $1,406.00
  • Northern Lights M844K/M844LK Sound Enclosure, part number Northern Lights 05-70000.
    LIST PRICE: $7,950.00 SPECIAL PRICE: $1,977.00
  • Northern Lights M7536K/M773LK Sound Enclosure, part number Northern Lights 05-78600.
    LIST PRICE: $4,350.00 SPECIAL PRICE: $1,350.00

Contact Parts & Power for more information.

Prices are subject to change without notice.

NORTHERN LIGHTS CARIBBEAN DEALER SERVICE TRAINING HERALDED AS GREAT SUCCESS

Dealer participants attending the Caribbean Service Training, hosted by Parts & Power and Northern Lights Inc from 14-16 July 2015 in Tortola BVI, were all positive in their reviews and comments. There were 6 ratings of “Excellent” (5 out of 5) and 6 “Good” (4 out of 5). There were the inevitable complaints about Service Trainer and Technical Director, Dan Durbin’s notoriously bad drawings. But he always managed to get his point across. The participants were unanimous in the fact that the quality of the instruction was very good to excellent.

In addition to his decades of field service experience, Dan has been doing Service Training since the 1960’s for such organizations as the Army Engineer School, several Colleges and a variety of Diesel Engine/Generator manufacturers. He still does training for Northern Lights at customer training events in FL. Northern Lights SE Regional Service Manager, James Newball who has been with the company of over 6 years, said he even learned a few new things at the Training. James attended the training to support Dan’s efforts, and to explain Service issues that the factory is seeing around the world. It was also James first visit to the Caribbean to meet the Dealer network and hear, first-hand, the challenges faced by NL Dealers and Customers in the Caribbean.

All the participants learned about changes to the CaribbeanNorthernLights.com website. It recently received a major face lift thanks to the efforts of Jennifer Dowling and Scott Putnicki at NL factory headquarters in Seattle, WA. Information for customers and dealers is available on the website, as well as links to NL Parts & Operators Manuals, the Dealer Secured website, “Ask a Tech” inquiry link and Service Tips. A Parts Special was revealed that is only available to customers who visit the CNL.com website.

Northern Lights Dealer Service Training is challenging because of the various backgrounds of the dealers participating. Some are Mechanics looking for more information on DC and AC electric. Others are Electricians looking for more information on Diesel Engines. Dan is very good at getting the theory and hands on training across though.

Diesel engines are a continually changing product these days due to the changes required to maintain emissions compliance by the EPA, IMO and various other regulatory organizations. Although AC and DC electricity is constrained by the laws of physics, there are new products being introduced every year to meet customers increasingly sophisticated power demands, which make generators more complicated. “One of the best features of Northern Lights Generators,” commented Parts & Power MD Tom Gerker, “is that their DC logic has remained largely unchanged for over 40 years.” It worked well in the 1970’s and works well today. Despite that, NL is always striving to improve their systems, so the product continues to evolve.

That is the reason that Northern Lights and Parts & Power puts on regular Regional Training for their Caribbean Dealers.

Northern Lights Inc and Parts & Power want to extend their gratitude to the 12 participants who made the sacrifice in time and expense to attend the training, and become more knowledgeable about the product. Their Dealerships will receive a “golden wrench” next to their Dealer name on the NL Dealer Directory and on the CaribbeanNorthernLights.com website. We also want to extend thanks to the hard working staff at Parts & Power for making the event such a great success.