Mastervolt Whsiper 3500 120VAC 60 Hz 3600 rpm (Problems)

My Whisper 3500 120V 60Hz, 3600rpm was made in 2003.



I have 1130 hours on it. In 2006, ( at 160hrs) right after I bought the boat I too had problems with the temperature sensors. I found out from the Mastervolt dealer in Rhode Island ( back in 2006) that the premature failure of the 3 sensors was endemic of that series genset. They explained that too much current was passing through the 3 sensors and causing them to fail. So they sent me a retrofit relay board. You pull all the sensor wires off the main board and connect them to this new board and then connect a few wire form the new relay board back onto the main printed circuit board. The new relay board effectively isolates the 3 sensors for the current on the main board.



This board is installed at the location where the name plate is screwed onto the top of the genset. You remove the nameplate , pull all the wiring through, make the connections and then screw the new relay board in place of the nameplate. Problem is that you are trying to put 5 lbs of stuff in a 4 lbs bucket if you know what I mean.



So 2 weeks ago, I went to start the genset and poof..smoke and sparks at the remote start panel. Then nothing.



Tried to start it from the panel on the genset...nothing



Removed the remote start board and there was multiple indications of electrical component failure: smoke caps, burned resistors, etc.



Remove the main board on the genset and found the same thing.



Removed the retrofit relay board and found 2 wires that had chaffed. One wire was to one of the three sensors and the other wire was the AV voltage wire coming through the current measuring coil. This could have easily turned into a fire.



So the root cause of the failure was the retrofit kit relay board jammed all these wires into a confined space (for which the wire harness was not originally design to do) and caused these wire to chafe and short out. The end result being 120VAC getting sent through the entire low voltage ( 12VDC) ciruit and components.



I immediately found a Mastervolt dealer here in Almerimar Spain, and we ordered the 2 replacement boards. Only the main printed circuit board has arrived, but we went ahead and tried to hook it up figuring we did not need the remote start panel board to get the genset going. Upon hooking up the board and trying to start, I immediately observed that there was no sound from the lift pump (click click click, etc). measured the voltage to the lift pump and it was full DC. So went and ordered a new lift pump, along with 3 new sensors figuring these guys probably saw the big AC voltage too.



At this point I email tech support at Mastervolt and told them what was going on. I learned that the new main pcb that I received had been revised from the earlier configuration and they said I did not need the retrofit relay board anymore. I did complain that although I appreciated their efforts in 2006 to fix the premature sensor failures in the field, I was very disappointed that they obviously did not conduct any life cycle testing on their band-aid fix. They had the balls to tell me that: as part of the regular maintenance of the genset I should have been periodically opening it up and inspecting the wiring......



So I am about $1600 into this thing and this morning I did get the genset running...it seems to run a little faster than before but I can adjust that easily.



Besides this problem and the failed sensors back in 2006, I have also had to remove the raw water pump and have it rebuilt. I also have a very small oil leak that is impossible to find..very frustrating.



I was reading the workshop manual for this genset last night(which I found on the mastervolt website) and it shows you where the mysterious oil screen/filter plug is. It is on the lower left side look at the genset. There is no way to service it without removing the entire genset from the sound enclosure.



So moral of the story here is: if you have failed sensors (could be any of the 3), call mastervolt and demand a new main printed circuit board.(not the retro fit kit)

and (2) if you're in the market for a new genset...don't buy a Mastervolt....I called to enquire about price and delivery on a new genset as seen on their website ( my model or the next bigger size) and was told all of the Whisper gensets are out of production, they have no inventory, these models will be replace by the new "GXP Series" which will not be available for delivery until early next year....WHAAAAT ??????



So thats my sad story, hope it helps someone else in the trouble shooting process...good luck



John

My response to Mastervolt USA


Edward,

You wrote: The maintenance schedule for the generator always states to look over all aspects of the generator making sure connections, wiring, bolts etc. – are all secure.

I have read and re-read both the installation manual and the users manuals (both USA editions) and I can not find any reference to a maintenance task that involves opening up the alternator and inspecting all the wires and connectors for damage or degradation. Perhaps that direction is missing from my manuals and was added in later versions?

I maintain that the mod kit was akin to trying to stuff 5 lbs of crap in a 4lb bucket if you know what I mean. That space inside the top enclosure of the alternator housing was not originally designed to accommodate something the size of the mod kit. It was designed to handle the air flow in and out of the engine intake, locate the current measuring coil, and route some of the wires from the main PCB to the engine.

It is now evident that: when in 2004- Mastervolt discovered the endemic problem of the pre-mature sensor failures-they scrambled and put together the mod kit AND also revised the circuit on the main PCB to eliminate the over-current problem with the sensors. This effectively quarantined the defective product to just 1 or 2 years worth of production quantities. They sent out free mod kits and crossed their fingers that they would see minimal warranty exposure before the 2 year warranty expired in 2005-2006 on those effected generators. That's just smart business practice.

They should have followed up on the users that installed the mod kit and sent them the new revised main PCB board when it came on-line.

What is lost here is: the users and purchasers of this type of equipment expect the product to outlast the warranty period and meet or exceed the specified service life of the genset which at a minimum should be some multiple of 2000 hours per the maintenance schedule. (10,000 hours). That same user group does not expect to the life of the product to be substantially reduced because of the installation of a recommended field modification kit ( see attached).

Mastervolt Tech support has provided the required information to get the genset running again...but it stops there. I have no recourse or facility to recoup the parts plus the labor that was re-invested in this equipment. I have just 1100 hours on this genset and hope it might make it to the first 2000 service interval before it has to be replaced!!!

So with respect to your assertion that some sort of regular inspection of the wiring should have taken place.......well as the saying goes ' Don't add insult to injury"

John Dinsmoor