[RE-wrenches] Generac EcoGen problem

[Drake]

The one and only EcoGen I installed blew out its 
oil in within the first couple hours of running. 
It severely damaged the engine. Generac did the 
service and ultimately replaced the unit. It had 
something to do with the two reservoirs and the hoses.


At 11:59 AM 4/29/2016, you wrote:
>Wrenches,
>
>I service an off grid home that has an EcoGen 
>6kW Model 58181 LP gen with a Serial Number of 
>8301854. It has 1,175 hrs on it during 2-1/2 years of service.
>
>·         It appears that the crankcase is 
>filling with excessive amounts of oil.
>·         There was a Generac Service Bulletin 
>in July of 2013 which predates this generators 
>Serial Number. This bulletin alerted the 
>possibility of excessive oil in the crankcase 
>due to "incorrect routing of the pulse pump hoses".
>·         From the pictures on the service 
>bulletin (and with the SN being higher) it looks 
>like the generator in question has properly 
>routed hoses. See photo attached if you are familiar with this problem.
>·         There is an extra oil reservoir on 
>these units. The engine takes 1.7 quarts and the reservoir takes 4.2 Quarts.
>·         I last changed the oil (and properly 
>filled both engine and reservoir) at 1,124 hours
>·         Now at 1,175 hrs the generator runs 
>very roughly and blows lots of oily smelling 
>blue/grey smoke. Most of the oil is gone from 
>the reservoir so it's pretty obvious that the 
>oil has flooded into the crankcase.
>·         If the Pulse Pump hoses are routed 
>correctly and I'd say they are since the SN is 
>later than the recognized problem AND the fact 
>this generator ran great for over 1,100 hours 
>then maybe is the pulse pump itself is bad?
>·         I wanted to run this by this list 
>before talking to Generac because I know there 
>are a number of wrenches whom have experience with the EcoGen.
>·         Can I simply just drain the oil and 
>only refill the 1.7 Qts in the engine and run the unit?
>
>Thanks for your time,
>
>David Palumbo
>Independent Power LLC
>462 Solar Way Drive
>Hyde Park, VT 05655
>802-371-8678 cell
>802-888-4917 home
>
>
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