Your last generator Maintenance Run

[ultrarunner]

Even in mild SF Bay Area I have block heaters 24/7 on the emergency generators.

One went out once it was readily apparent when starting

 

[grsthegreat]

My 22kw Generac never likes the cold weather, makes funny noises, sounds like slight hiccups, finally smooths out. And that's in 10-20 degree temps, usually as low as it gets here. Always wondered about putting a heat kit on it, but only thing I've done is religiously put a smart charger on the battery twice a year.
It's never failed but doesn't sound happy in cold, surging for a short while.

Reminds me to go run my little 3200 Champion inverter today. This time I'm plugging both a heater
and a dehumidifier into it after it's warmed up a little.
It's becoming harder to start, partly because I don't start it every month.
On a number of small old engines I've found that just a whiff of starting fluid
in the air filter element seems to get a pop or two out of the engine, which seems enough
to pull the gasoline through the carb and get the engine going.

I use winter kit on mine, but a lot of my customers do not. Then again, if I don稚 plug in my diesel trucks and my tractor, they too have issues with starting in coldest part of winter

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

Hard starting on propane and Nat gas engines is mainly due to the very narrow air/fuel ratio they will run at compared to gasoline. Newer units falling under NSPS1 and NSPS2 standards are much more problematic as they are running quite lean compared to where most older units tended to be set. Older units were set for best performance without much regard to emissions.

Block heaters don’t help much in this regard since gaseous engines don’t require a choke for cold enrichment (gasoline engines require this due to liquid fuel condensing in the intake manifold and cylinders) but some units now include starting enrichment to help get them to fire.

Other winter options are oil and battery heaters mainly to reduce the parasitic load and help it crank faster and tank heaters to ensure adequate fuel supply. Much of the issue on vapour propane units is the lowered fuel pressure which in turn causes a leaner mixture.

In any case, my personal preference is a diesel unit, followed by gasoline with propane or Nat gas as my last choice.

The latter two as mentioned before are very sensitive to mixture and any deficiency from fuel pressure to even slight vacuum leaks can make them impossible to start or hunt. I’d rather plan to have fuel available than stand out in a storm trying to get my generator running. If you’re not someone who can manage the fuelling or fiddling with engines and hire a pro then a plumbed in Nat gas unit with a service contract is a reasonable choice.

 

[Blaszer]

Alright, attempted to run a load test yesterday, 12/15. Katolight 70kw turbo diesel unit. Hooked an amp clamp in right above the transfer switch.

Running 3 heat pumps, 1 Mr. Slim ductless unit, two electric ovens on Clean, two electric dryers, and various other lights, ceiling fans, appliances, etc.

I was able to keep around 220 amps for about an hour (total rated amps are 292, thus keeping around 75% load). I turned the main house breaker back on and let the generator do it’s 15 min loaded cool down and 5 min unloaded shutdown process.
During the summer, I could load it up to 100% running the pool and spa pumps (4 total).

 

[Fallon]

Propane boils at -40f. As it boils it cools itself down (why BBQ tanks often get covered in frost even when warm out). Of its below the boiling point it wont turn to a gas from liquid.

You end up needing a larger tank for larger use cases (generators) not because of run time, but because you need all the surface area to absorb heat & keep the propane turning into a gas. I'm not clear on the formulas, but it can get problematic below -15 or so in many cases, depending on the setup.

 

[90cummins]

Alright, attempted to run a load test yesterday, 12/15. Katolight 70kw turbo diesel unit. Hooked an amp clamp in right above the transfer switch.

Running 3 heat pumps, 1 Mr. Slim ductless unit, two electric ovens on Clean, two electric dryers, and various other lights, ceiling fans, appliances, etc.

I was able to keep around 220 amps for about an hour (total rated amps are 292, thus keeping around 75% load). I turned the main house breaker back on and let the generator do it痴 15 min loaded cool down and 5 min unloaded shutdown process.
During the summer, I could load it up to 100% running the pool and spa pumps (4 total).

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Any numbers on fuel consumption?

90cummins

 

[grsthegreat]

Propane boils at -40f. As it boils it cools itself down (why BBQ tanks often get covered in frost even when warm out). Of its below the boiling point it wont turn to a gas from liquid.

You end up needing a larger tank for larger use cases (generators) not because of run time, but because you need all the surface area to absorb heat & keep the propane turning into a gas. I'm not clear on the formulas, but it can get problematic below -15 or so in many cases, depending on the setup.

my tank is underground

 

[Blaszer]

Any numbers on fuel consumption?

90cummins

It sits on a 200 gal base tank, and there was no measurable drop in level yesterday (sticked the tank), it would have to run for several hours. Last outage we had during the summer was 38 hours, and we used about 70 gallons in fuel, so averaged around 1.85 gal an hour. I figure a total run time of 4 days before needing a refuel (not sure how low the pickup is in the tank).

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

Usually the pickup is 1-2” from the bottom to avoid picking up water.

On that note, it’s a good idea to get some water finding paste and dip the bottom of the tank once in a while and pump out any water that collects at the bottom. You can smear a little paste on a stick and it will turn from yellow to pink if water touches it.

With that much of an investment in fuel I would also be 100% sure you never introduce any biodiesel to the system as it creates no end of issues when stored for a long period. Make sure you maintain the levels of a good diesel stabilizer and algicide and you shouldn’t have any issues.

That whole setup will serve you well for many years with just a little maintenance. Katolight units are widespread and pretty decent example of simple and reliable engineering. The only downside is they were bought by MTU from Germany and the old product line is dead to them so your only support will be aftermarket.

 

[3930dave]

He is actually in the middle of a largish town but at 60 Cents per kWh it痴 cheaper to produce his own especially with the heat benefit.

He has no utility connection so needs a redundant unit. The utility wants $300 per month to be connected without using any power.

With the natgas in use, figured it was a sizeable settlement, or a major industrial site.

For anybody in the business (doing their own labour), nice cost saving move....... heat and electrons are usually a fortune in the far Nord.

Rgds, D.