I have another thread about electrical consumption but had another question regarding generators. I am looking at diesel units in the 8-10kw range. The generator will run about 80 hours a week, two weeks a month. The thing is of an 80 hour week maybe 40 of those hours will be near the rated load and the other 40 hours I will be drawing 2,000 watts or less. The generator salesman I was talking to said that is not good for the generator and will cause wet stacking. Is this a real problem or a wives tale? I have heard of wet stacking before but have never seen firsthand damage from it and I have a dozen things with Diesel engines many of which idle quite a bit. I don't want to spend 7k on a new generator and mess it up though.
Wet stacking generators
- Thread starter bdog
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Rock knocker
Veteran Member
The generator won't be idling, it'll be running full RPM, just not under a load.
bigdeano
Platinum Member
If you're worried about it just hook a heater up to put a little more load on it. It would probably only be a problem in cold weather I would think.
100 td
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40 hours full load, 40 hours 10~20% load. That a **** of a lot better than just about any hire generator gets! If it is a quality made generator I wouldn't be too concerned, if it a chinese engine, well, what's the difference in the scheme of things! If it's an 1800rpm set, (most likely) the engines are capable of a lot more hp if they were running up around 2800~3000rpm, so they are fueled accordingly, but realistically when the genset is running at full load, the engine is only at 65% of rated load at higher rpm, and should run for ever and a day. If it's a 3600 rpm unit, smaller, lighter, generally noisier but depends on deadening, and when it's running full load on the set, the engine is working at full load, probably less of these about, they generally cut out at about ~11/12kw.
DieselBound
Elite Member
Can't say I'm the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to generators, but my understanding is that RPMs are to be fixed in order to match up with the generator head's required frequency. The only thing changing on a given engine's operation is fueling.
Diesel engines are good at managing load fluctuations because their torque curves are well suited for such. Most diesel engines' torque curves are at lower RPMs than other engines. And in general, diesel engines will last longer than others simply because of their fuel (oil-based means better wearing).
Diesel engines are good at managing load fluctuations because their torque curves are well suited for such. Most diesel engines' torque curves are at lower RPMs than other engines. And in general, diesel engines will last longer than others simply because of their fuel (oil-based means better wearing).
Industrial Toys
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I mostly run an Onan/Kubota 7.5 for backup. That's not to say it gets a lot of hours, but in the summer, it is not impossible to have a house load of a couple hundred watts, A fridge, some wal warts and security stuff mostly. I have never seen evidence of wet stacking. It's probably more an issue with bigger sets. A customer has a new 100K unit that basically just runs fire pumps and emergency lighting. I'm guessing, they are going to have an issue, especially being new and computerized.
I often run 5K of load into a hot tub in the summer. Mostly for excercise under load. You in Texas could run some AC units!
I often run 5K of load into a hot tub in the summer. Mostly for excercise under load. You in Texas could run some AC units!
DieselBound
Elite Member
IT, what is that genset that you have? Mine's a 7.5DKDFL (circa 1993). I picked it up about a year ago and am now closing in on finishing the setup for the installation. I have some concerns whether I might run into issues powering some of the computerized crap I have: (computers themselves are off of a UPS), washer, stove and fridge having circuit board stuff (also my water filter's head). Per my local utility's billing, my average electrical use comes out to about 14kW/day: only real electrical draw is my water heater (4,500W, I believe); probably will need to figure on some sort of sink.
Industrial Toys
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7.5HDKAL. Came out of a book mobile. I had to get the stator rewound. I never had an issue with clean power. I have a 200 amp ASCO ATS, and basically you would never know you are on aux power. My computer is also on a UPS as is a phone system, but that's about it.
I have electric heat, so of course that mostly get's shut off in the winter during an outage and the stove gets fired up.
I rewired my hot water heater for 110V so the elements don't get calsified as quickly and when I run my smaller backup (Yanmar 3.7) I save a little power. Never noticed any lack of hot water.
Oh, I do run my gensets all only 240volts into a transformer and never have to worry about balancing loads.
I have electric heat, so of course that mostly get's shut off in the winter during an outage and the stove gets fired up.
I rewired my hot water heater for 110V so the elements don't get calsified as quickly and when I run my smaller backup (Yanmar 3.7) I save a little power. Never noticed any lack of hot water.
Oh, I do run my gensets all only 240volts into a transformer and never have to worry about balancing loads.
