Do you regularly start your diesel tractor as maintenance?

[ultrarunner]

Engines like this? We run this one once a month at the bank I work for.. 1250DFLC

Yes, but most are in the 150 kW range... no pre oiler... yes to the block heater.

 

[GManBart]

This one does not have a pre-oiler. It has 2 block heaters that run all the time.

The block heater might make as much an improvement as a pre-oiler....warm oil moves quickly, pre-oiler or not....either way, it's very smart.

 

[buickanddeere]

Commercial buildings and hospitals start their diesel emergency generators on a mandated schedule.

The gen sets are usually inside a climate controlled enclosure above the dew point. The gen set often has a block heater keeping the engine warm. Usually the gen sets are operated under load to warm up and test all the equipment.

 

[coalguy]

Interesting discussion. I understand from the posts that equipments that must be always ready must be started on a regular basis, since start-up wear is not the critical issue then. But my experience at starting a diesel engine at temperature in the 0F to -40F range (I had many both old and new electronic injection ones) is that it is very hard on the equipment (not just the engine), and that it take a very long time to get everything heated-up. Leaving the tractor idle for a few minutes only pre-warm it before use, and will not get the oil hot. Two block heaters help tremendously (one for the engine and one for the transmission), but if I am not going to use my tractor for snow removal, I won't start it. For batteries it is a different story. In winter, I cannot left them without a battery tender for more than a month. All my oils and greases are high quality synthetic, and most of my batteries are ODYSSEY (the best ones for me so far). In summer time, or more clement temperature, it is much less critical.

 

[GManBart]

Interesting discussion. I understand from the posts that equipments that must be always ready must be started on a regular basis, since start-up wear is not the critical issue then.

Many people seem to disagree with that.

 

[ultrarunner]

There really isn't any choice... the State will come in and examine the maintenance log to ensure standby hospital generators are run under load... here it was weekly without exception.

Later the Air Board got evolved and won... emergency hospital generators are limited to how many test hours per year... which works out to about once every two weeks...

All the gen sets I maintain are located outside in concrete block enclosures... it rarely ever gets to freezing here... and multiple alarms are set with one indicating low coolant temperature.

 

[Billrog]

Though it's nice to hear the information on standby generators this is a different situation from our equipment they have many other components to be tested that could compromise their primary function. Tractors are expected to run many thousands of hrs. I'm not to sure this is the case with standbys. Very interesting reading your post ultrarunner.

 

[wmonroe]

The gen sets are usually inside a climate controlled enclosure above the dew point. The gen set often has a block heater keeping the engine warm. Usually the gen sets are operated under load to warm up and test all the equipment.

The different power plant that I work at either have two or three backup diesel generators (depending on whether they are a one or two unit plant) and they the coolant at normal operating temperature at all times in case they are needed. They startup and go to full rpm and then go to full load so there is no time for them to warm up. I believe they have the oil circulating also but am not sure on that.

 

[wmonroe]

Though it's nice to hear the information on standby generators this is a different situation from our equipment they have many other components to be tested that could compromise their primary function. Tractors are expected to run many thousands of hrs. I'm not to sure this is the case with standbys. Very interesting reading your post ultrarunner.

Very true, our tractors have other components that are not shared by gensets that have to be considered.

 

[Billrog]

The last posts have brought to may attention a standby generator I helped install for a water district to run the pumps in the result of a power failure last spring. I'm now going to contact them to set up a scheduled plan to make sure their operational when needed because I'm sure no one has even given them a second thought since the installation and just taking it for granted. This is a small water district with a 100 customers and nobody really in charge of maintenance until after the fact.