Kohler vs. Onan vs. Generac????

[brenndatomu]

I am def. looking at LP. The next question becomes between Air cooled vs. Liquid cooled? Most stand-by generators up to 20kw are air cooled. Anything over that is a Whole House generator from what I read and is liquid cooled. My question is it worth almost double the money for a liquid cooled generator? I know life expectancy is a lot longer on liquid-cooled. Also the stand-by (air cooled) says can shut down if they get to hot as in summer time. Like maybe they are meant to run only a few hours at a time. Is this correct?

Another advantage to liquid cooled, air cooled has a lot of real nice places for varmits to move in, they block air flow, motor gets hot...well, you can figure it out from here

 

[Preston]

What size do y'all use with the well pump and everything else. I had a 6600 Yamaha that would not run the well and the heat pump along with the rest of the house.

 

[HuskStihl]

If I remember right they had a formula on their website taking into account all the stuff you want to run, including the starting amperages. Being unskilled, I had an electrician wire (wahr) mine, and he added up the AC, pump, aerobic, appliances and came up with a number

 

[dieselfitter]

If anyone is interested, I have a 10kw genset to sell. It is powered by a 3 cylinder Perkins 1.5 liter diesel engine. It is mounted an a nice trailer equipped with electric brakes, $2500.

 

[John R]

If anyone is interested, I have a 10kw genset to sell. It is powered by a 3 cylinder Perkins 1.5 liter diesel engine. It is mounted an a nice trailer equipped with electric brakes, $2500.

How far into Mn are you?
I am in Michigan.

 

[dieselfitter]

How far into Mn are you?
I am in Michigan.

I am near Minneapolis

 

[7hpjim]

I'm in the boonies with a well pump. I just sold my 5500/8500 Genny because it was way more than we need, the kW used per gallon was just too much. The only times we're drawing more than 2000w is when laundry is being done or the stove is being used. Both of which don't need to be done during an outage. Right now we're using 950w with the big screen on, 3 people browsing, and various lights on. House is 72 throughout. I'm shopping for a 3000w inverter genny. We can go for a couple days on what's in the pressure tank, if that needs replenished I can unplug everything except the well pump until that's done. Heat & hot water is wood fired. Most houses with backup genny's have way more genny than needed.

Edit: I will admit though that I didn't sell my genny until I monitored my usage for a week or so - I'd likely suggest everybody do that before buying too.

how long is your avg outage, ours is normally 3-5 days, nice to have the kws available when it stretches to 10-14 days

 

[NSMaple1]

We used to have 2-3 day outages a few times a winter. The last couple few winters though either the power company has gotten better with their maintenance, or we've been really lucky - the longest I can remember in the last two winters was less than a day. Maybe 10 hours? This winter it''s only been 3 -4 hours, once. There were some though only a couple hours away that had multi-day outages a couple months ago. To us it just isn't worth the big investment - we can get by very well with 3kw for days. After a day or two, keeping it in fuel can be a bigger issue than not having power. If we had propane or NG, that would be different. As it is, the little propane we do have (two 20 pounders) serves us much better being hooked to the BBQ if we need to cook something.

 

[savageactor7]

We also had a difficult time in deciding between a diesel or LP generator. Gas was easily ruled out because of fuel storage and the scrambling for fuel in a real emergency.

In the end we got the smallest whole house LP gen required to meet our needs in an emergency situation...

...cause it will go for a long time on that 250 gal tank. And even longer if we decide to really hunker down and ration energy.

Pretty sure it's an 8k, has dedicated circuits that are tied in to the house circuit box, auto- turn on, and a once a week self test. Being empty nesters the first couple of times we needed it I had to search for what was NOT working. We got the Generic because other folks around here like them.

 

[krushing73]

I am def. looking at LP. The next question becomes between Air cooled vs. Liquid cooled? Most stand-by generators up to 20kw are air cooled. Anything over that is a Whole House generator from what I read and is liquid cooled. My question is it worth almost double the money for a liquid cooled generator? I know life expectancy is a lot longer on liquid-cooled. Also the stand-by (air cooled) says can shut down if they get to hot as in summer time. Like maybe they are meant to run only a few hours at a time. Is this correct?

Liquid cooled are way more expensive but are normally quieter and require fewer oil changes. Down south where we might lose power for two weeks in August, its worth buying a liquid cooled. Up north you would probably be happy with an air-cooled generator with cold weather starting kit. If your air-cooled splitter, snow blower, etc performs well, so will your air cooled generator. The air-cooled models only hold about a quart of oil which I think is dumb. Never understood why they don't offer a bigger external oil tank. Oil changes are quick and easy if you don't mind braving the elements and shutting it off for 10 minutes. If you go for liquid cooled , look for an 1800 rpm engine. Vs 3600.

 

[Mad Professor]

I've been looking at refurbished military diesel units. They are designed to run in the heat, cold or high altitude 24/7. Can be had with sound suppression and cold weather kits. They come with built in fuel pumps that you can run a hose to an external tank (275-gal oil tank) or 55-gal drums.

Only thing I'm concerned about is if things get real cold and the fuel jelling. Could get a few drums of kerosene just in case.

 

[Mad Professor]

I've been looking at refurbished military diesel units. They are designed to run in the heat, cold or high altitude 24/7. Can be had with sound suppression and cold weather kits. They come with built in fuel pumps that you can run a hose to an external tank (275-gal oil tank) or 55-gal drums.

Only thing I'm concerned about is if things get real cold and the fuel jelling. Could get a few drums of kerosene just in case.

 

[rev_2004]

Thanks for all the info & help. I dont think I want a Generac but, I have decided it is between Kohler, Onan, & Winco. Also have decided that although I think liquid would be the best route to go it is a little bit to expensive. I think I will stick with a air cooled. Supposed to be meeting with a couple different guys on each brand. Will let you know what I decide.

 

[krushing73]

One other bit of generator advise is put the generator under full load at least once a season for long enough to heat it up and really test it. I hear a lot of folks who's generators crank during the run tests but fail when they need it. I caught a problem with mine last summer when it got hot. The intake and exhaust gaskets were rotten and it overheated after 20 minutes under load. Would have never noticed it during test mode.


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[rev_2004]

One other bit of generator advise is put the generator under full load at least once a season for long enough to heat it up and really test it. I hear a lot of folks who's generators crank during the run tests but fail when they need it. I caught a problem with mine last summer when it got hot. The intake and exhaust gaskets were rotten and it overheated after 20 minutes under load. Would have never noticed it during test mode.
Thanks for the advice.

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[Mad Professor]

Or kn

One other bit of generator advise is put the generator under full load at least once a season for long enough to heat it up and really test it. I hear a lot of folks who's generators crank during the run tests but fail when they need it. I caught a problem with mine last summer when it got hot. The intake and exhaust gaskets were rotten and it overheated after 20 minutes under load. Would have never noticed it during test mode.


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or know how to spark it with a battery to restore the polarity

Old timers know how to do this for their tractors and truck gennys

 

[krushing73]

Or kn

or know how to spark it with a battery to restore the polarity

Old timers know how to do this for their tractors and truck gennys

I've read about that but never had to do it. My 17kw briggs has two huge donut gaskets made of foam rubber one on the intake air side and one on the exhaust. They keep the motor from recirculating the hot air in the case. I'd check those things every year. If you see any foam rubber in the bottom of the generator, it time to get new donut gaskets. I think all the air cooled units have them.
As you can imagine rats and squirrels love them.

 

[firebrick43]

Diesel storage can be a pain to as you can get algae in the tank and water vapor. Propane can be stored forever with no issues. Propane if you own the tank is much cheaper( 99% of the time) to boot. Also propane will give you twice the oil change life than gas or diesel. As far as air cooled vs water cooled. If you plan on running 1000 hours a year, a 1800 rpm liquid cooled, 100 hours a year then go with a 3600 liquid cooled. If realistically you will only use it the typical 20-50 hours a year then aircooled. If you know you will probably move in 5-7 years get a transfer switch and portable as you will never get your money out of it. the units controls will be unavailble for purchase more than likely in 20 years on any residential system so dont plan on the motor/ genny lasting longer.

 

[VancleVector]

I've had little success in more appropriate RV forums, so thought I'd try here. I have a 20kW Kohler diesel generator on my RV with remote radiator (in lower bay next to generator). The coolant will get to 240 (according to gauge) on really hot days and when I go back to turn it off, its boiling out of the overflow tube on the plastic reservoir. There is a black reservoir on the unit itself with a 16lb cap, new thermostat. Now it may be that I'm not getting enough airflow across the radiator coils (1HP squirrel cage blowing hard), but I am looking for other reasons that the coolant in that plastic reservoir would be boiling repeatedly and the generator itself seems fine and not shutting down from its overtemp control.

 

[rancher2]

I've had little success in more appropriate RV forums, so thought I'd try here. I have a 20kW Kohler diesel generator on my RV with remote radiator (in lower bay next to generator). The coolant will get to 240 (according to gauge) on really hot days and when I go back to turn it off, its boiling out of the overflow tube on the plastic reservoir. There is a black reservoir on the unit itself with a 16lb cap, new thermostat. Now it may be that I'm not getting enough airflow across the radiator coils (1HP squirrel cage blowing hard), but I am looking for other reasons that the coolant in that plastic reservoir would be boiling repeatedly and the generator itself seems fine and not shutting down from its overtemp control.

Have you checked the cap to make sure it is working at the proper psi rating. I would shoot the system with a temp gun and see if it is running 240 that is very warm for a diesel motor. Is this a factory install or a add on? Are you losing coolant and having to add?