For the heater on the intake pipe issue we only run the heater off the 
generator output to keep the intake breather from icing up while running. You 
may need to a bit of rewiring.

 

Have you looked at SW products [They bought Hardy Diesel] T - 480 625 5195?

 

They still have 12KW water cooled with Ford engines.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dana Orzel 

Great Solar Works, Inc -  NABCEP # 051112-136

E - d...@solarwork.com  - Web - solarwork.com 

O - 970.626.5253  C - 208.721.7003

"Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988"  

P Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

 

From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf 
Of Lena Wilensky
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2016 10:19 AM
To: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Off-grid generator update?

 

I did some searches on the list for what folks are doing for off-grid propane 
generators these days, but all the threads I found were from 5-6 yrs ago, so I 
was hoping to get some more current info.

 

We're looking for about a 10kw+ propane unit (big derate at altitude), and we 
run into 2 main problem areas:

 

First is the warranty - either there are no units warranteed for off-grid use, 
or there are only a couple of models and the warranty is short (1 year).

 

Second, and perhaps larger, is all the loads that now come with the "off-grid" 
units.  The computer takes some, but mostly the "cold weather kit" aka carb 
heater must be installed in our climate (to actually start, but also for 
warrantee), and it's set up to be on a thermostat (read: "on all the time from 
Nov-April" here in the mountains).  According to the Kohler tech support it 
takes a steady 50W. We have set up older units to do battery charge only during 
the day, and have the carb heater on a manual switch, but it sounds like we 
can't really get at these circuits anymore since they're all pre-configured and 
pre-wired in the guts of the genset computer.

 

The Kohler and Onan support folks said both these issues are due to EPA 
considering off-grid use as prime power as opposed to standby, so they are held 
to tougher emissions standards.

 

Whatever the reasons, we're wondering what people are actually doing these days 
- still the standby units they kind-of warrantee for off-grid? 12RES from 
Kohler and the 13kw unit from Onan?  Generac?  Have folks been going back to 
the smaller gas units from Honda and running them more?  And how are cold 
climate folks dealing with the heating issue?

 

Any suggestions appreciated!




Lena Wilensky
  
<http://static.squarespace.com/static/52f26626e4b049d9fe1f4f70/t/52fd4d40e4b0c0844a0eb2de/1393270590052/?format=1500w>
 
www.nunatakenergy.com
970-642-5554
NABCEP Certified PV Installer:
Cert. #R02907-17
  
<http://static.squarespace.com/static/52f26626e4b049d9fe1f4f70/53067822e4b0822d0c7053a4/53067827e4b0ec57163c45c5/1392932911551/NABCEP%20PV%20Seal%20Lena.jpg?format=300w>
 

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