[RE-wrenches] GENERAC Generator Issues

Dana dana at solarwork.com
Thu Apr 8 16:24:02 PDT 2010


Hey there Phil,

 

I know it is not polite to say something  if you cannot say something
nice, but hey buyer beware. My .02.

 

If you haven't had to deal with a Generac you are in for a huge
surprise.  I have  dealt with a variety of generators for close to 22+
years and I have only seen one Generac that works regularly [ a 30 KW
water cooled] and not one other that lasted more than 6 months, I have
seen them on having major trouble holding the HZ [floating +/- 4 HZ]
catching on fire, after a fire and flat out blown with parts hanging
out the side of the cylinder, controls that were fried as "on fire
again?". 

 

For those of us that have had to deliver the " Bad News" to many an
off-grid home owner that their generator was not going to get fixed,
we call them Generwrecks.

 

I would not be the first kid on the block to 1 - buy one and 2 - sell
one. 

 

I'd give it a spell of others using them and great reports on how well
the work.

 

Thanks,  Dana Orzel

 

Great Solar Works, Inc

web - www.solarwork.com

E - dana at solarwork.com

V - 970.626.5253

F - 970.626.4140

C - 970.209.4076

 

"We have been slow to give up on the myth of the Earth's generosity.

Rather grandly, we have overdrawn our accounts."

Barbara Kingsolver - Water is life.

 

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Phil
Undercuffler
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 4:57 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Kohler Generator Issues

 

At the risk of jump-starting a flogged horse, if you'll forgive my
mangled metaphors, I wanted to chime in on this thread with some new
information.  Generac has been working to develop a generator
specifically for the off-grid market.  I don't know much about it and
we don't carry generators so I'm not trying to sell it, but I think
that any company that's willing to develop products specifically for
our market and not void warranties for normal operation should be
commended.  I have a preliminary spec sheet that I would be glad to
send to any who request off-list, but the bullet points would be:

PURPOSE BUILT FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY APPLICATIONS. Designed specifically
to interact with off-grid renewable energy applications, Generac
introduces the first generator intended for alternative energy
interaction. Capable of tying into an inverter and battery storage
system, this provides the cleanest running, low emission solution to
recharging house batteries.

Sponsored in part by the Propane Education and Research Council this
development was based on the following design goals

.        Propane operation 

.        6kW prime rating 

.        5,000 life with 500 hour maintenance intervals

.        Minimum 17% efficiency 

.        Noise rating of 65dBA or less

It's a 2600 rpm (not a typo -- that's really half-way between 3600rpm
screamers and the old-fashioned 1600rpm thumpers) air cooled, two-wire
start unit, 6kVA continuous. 

I'm trying to dig out more information about any tare loads,
electronics or chargers, and release date, and will pass that along as
I find out.


Phil Undercuffler
Conergy




 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Kohler Generator Issues
From: jason pozner <zzyyzzx11 at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, March 30, 2010 5:11 pm
To: jryago at netscape.com, RE-wrenches
<re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>

Jeff,

When we purchased a 12K unit for a client, the distributor
conveniently waited until after the purchase to mention the fact that
Kohler wouldn't warranty off-grid usage, and to instruct our customer
to not ever mention anything other than it was used for grid-connected
standby.  To pacify the perfectly crafted words I had for him, he
mentioned that Kohler had an off grid unit coming available in the
next couple of months addressing all of the fore-mentioned concerns.
This was about 2 years ago, and I now see where he intended his smoke
to go.  I have never heard of such a unit again.

When that same client needed another generator we shopped around and
found Cummins-Onan to be great to deal with.  Simple start up
procedure, quieter than that Kohler 12K, 2-wire start, and their price
for a 30K generator was 800.00 cheaper than my Kohler distributor
could give to me even though it was our first purchase with them. Thus
far I have been pleased with Onan.  

To answer your question, we have never been contacted by Kohler.

Jay Pozner
Nunatak Alternative Energy Solutions




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