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Installing a new generator?

Had a couple of brand new Kohlers that I was never very happy with, one of them was so bad I noticed Clear Channel abandoned it when they when they moved studios a few years back.
 
ChiefEngineer said:
Discuss the diesel fuel and low temperature. Had a gen set we ran heaters on the block. We used a fuel additive from the coop to keep it from gelling but had no special heating of the tank. It handled Indiana winters well.

Got tired of cycling and causing the load to switch on the Cummins set. Found it had a provision to run without load switch and was programmable. (Not eprom but an old rotating timer) Thi feature of running independent of load switch is great.

The cost of a trade for generator could exceed buying it outright. A station did a trade on a BMW and by the time tax on the trade was considered the car would have been cheaper if purchased outright. Any time I see a trade and am told there is no expense it never considers the taxation of the trade. Many times the trade is valued at a higher price to allow for more station airtime.
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We get by with just the additive in Louisiana. Our winter is only 30 days anyway.
 
Just a brief note about Kohler's small, aircooled propane generators (RES series.) Even though they're marketed as residential units, Kohler also warrants them for light duty commercial use, and they appear to be the only ones who do this. I'm in the process of buying one for a low power site in Arizona.
 
My two cents worth is just two items: Have UPS' on everything that needs to stay up during the transfer to the generator - (which might be a few seconds for the generator to spool up) - such as your remote control. And a dummy load for the generator. Better to test the gen set under load without having to disturb all of your critical on-air functions.
 
chrish said:
Had a couple of brand new Kohlers that I was never very happy with, one of them was so bad I noticed Clear Channel abandoned it when they when they moved studios a few years back.
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I've got a 15 year old Kohler 100KW propane at my studio site. It's been solid as a rock.

I just installed a Kohler 100KW diesel at my transmitter site this past year. Uses a turbo charged John Deer engine. 500 gal tank under the generator. This unit has been great as well.

There were some issues with Kohlers a couple of years ago, but I think they've straightened them out.

My experience has been great. ymmv.

jdiamantis
 
The Kohlers I had seem to have head gasket problems and would spew engine oil everywhere, its been some time so I really can't remember what engines we are talking about
 
Can't agree with testing only into a load. Alls that tella me is the system will heat a load. We set the exercise clocks to run the sets weekly on line, and expect a call from the remote control each week. This tests the switchgear as well as the machine. And, any time I have a night call - tower lights or whatever - I make it a point to go out and yank the master utility disconnect and stand there in the dark and see what happens. This is the only true test of the system. A time or two, I've stood there silently in the dark. I'd rather have that happen at 2 ayem than Thursday morning at 8.
 
littlejohn said:
Can't agree with testing only into a load. Alls that tella me is the system will heat a load. We set the exercise clocks to run the sets weekly on line, and expect a call from the remote control each week. This tests the switchgear as well as the machine. And, any time I have a night call - tower lights or whatever - I make it a point to go out and yank the master utility disconnect and stand there in the dark and see what happens. This is the only true test of the system. A time or two, I've stood there silently in the dark. I'd rather have that happen at 2 ayem than Thursday morning at 8.
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Weekly is a little over kill, but I get your point. I like to pull the switch on the building about once every three months and watch everything change. That way, I can be sure it's doing it properly. And if for some reason it does not switch, or switch back, I'm there to catch it. For example, what are you going to do when, during one of your weekly tests, the switch gear does not switch back to shore power, but the genset shuts down after it's cool down cycle? You're gonna be off the air until you can get up there. And yes, that's happened to me.
 
In addition, you should consider permanent magnet alternator excitation (PMG) and 2/3 winding pitch for lowest source impedance and best response to transients and dynamic current loads presented by most switched power supply equipped transmitters today as-well-as the SCR controlled power supplies mentioned earlier. Be careful on sizing especially on diesel engines. Too much overhead and insufficient loading is a bad thing and can cause a lot of issues over time. To run without load is a slow death so run with building load and if that is not at least 75% of the capacity, install cam-locks and switching so that load bank can be applied about every two years, 80 to 100%. Note the difference between Stand-by and Prime ratings, the latter could present air quality licensing issues. Are you going to want it to run for hours at a time or weeks? Not all offer the important *"loss of coolant"* sensing and shutdown, a big killer of gensets so you might want to check to be sure it has that feature called a Murphy switch.

Regarding FEMA or govt providing you one... Don't count on it anytime soon!

All the best,

w/
 
Watt Hairston said:
Not all offer the important *"loss of coolant"* sensing and shutdown, a big killer of gensets so you might want to check to be sure it has that feature called a Murphy switch.
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Or the equally important "loss of oil pressure" sense/shutdown. I still remember that hole in the side of an engine where the rod went went through back in the 90's.
 
We have prealarms for pressure and temp. They get coolant every two years, batteries every three, hoses and belts every four. PMI is essential, if you want reliability. I've not had a switch problem. We've gottan a couple of the new (I think) Zenith switches which transfer in phase and I like them better than the delay on transfer older ones from Onan. Half an hour a week turns the fuel once year or so. I got a couple of Kohler sets with Dear John engines and a couple of Onans with Onan engines... and a little Onan with my fave, a 300C.I.D. Ford industrial/pickup engine which runs on natural gas or propane. I also like the current Cummins diesels uin the new Onans which crank at idle and then ramp up to speed. I'm not crazy about spinning the thing up to 1800 RPM sans oil pressure and then loading it, even with coolant heating. It's a dance however... at what point do you say 'enough redundancy'?
 
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