It's an air cooled two cylinder model (13 kW NG, 15 kW LP). I think the model number is 04390-3. I "bought" it in late 2005 or early 2006 through an electrician as part of a remodel/addition job to my 1854 house near Raleigh NC. It cost about $3500 as I recall. I have a sub-panel (fed from the transfer switch) that powers most of the house. Ironically, the very frequent power outages almost totally stopped after I got the generator.
Thanks for all the insight on these things. The "controls" on mine are quite primitive but they work well enough. The speed control is a simple mechanical governor and the voltage regulator looks analog. Nothing that would intimidate a shade-tree mechanic. Scott -----Original Message----- From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of Dan Penoff Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2013 8:44 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: Re: [MBZ] Speaking of Standby Generators I would have to know more. Is it air cooled or water cooled? Where was it purchased? Model number? In fairness, the one thing that Generac has done right that no one else in the business has done is make a decent product for the consumer market. Their small standby units marketed through Home Despot and Lowe's are actually pretty decent for the money spent, and have a fairly high level of reliability. The other folks, such as Kohler and Onan, have tried to tap this market unsuccessfully for years. They can't make a highly "commoditied?" product because they're so deeply involved in the commercial market. Trying to make a generator based on price point rather than design is nigh impossible. Kohler's current and recent offerings, in my opinion, are too highly engineered and rely far too much on electronics. Their controls are microprocessor based and use proprietary software and hardware. If something acts up or breaks, you're screwed. Sadly, many consumers don't discover this until it's too late and they're stuck with a very expensive repair bill or a large expensive lawn ornament. Generac is an engineering house rather than a manufacturer. They design stuff themselves and base their production on volume, which is so far from what the others do it's an alien concept. That's why everything says "Generac" on it - it's someone else's product, like Briggs or Tecumseh, with Generac's exterior design for things like cooling. Case in point is the 25kW unit I got for nothing and fixed for $40. It had a Mitsubishi gas industrial engine that was never marketed in the US. Generac bought the long blocks directly from Mitsubishi and added all the peripheral parts such as fuel, drive and mounting. When the coil in the distributor failed (a system much like GM's HEI) the only fix was an assembly replacement - a new distributor - to the tune of $1600 for the part alone. With travel time, mileage and labor all wrapped up in that repair, it exceeded 50% of the cost of a new unit. The owner bought a new unit and we took the old one back. I did some research and found that the engine was common in Asia and Oceania, so I got a hold of John in Australia and he got me the coil - for a whopping $40 US shipped! This is the risk with the Generac product, but as far as the consumer stuff, parts are common and plentiful, so that's not an issue. Dan --------------------------------------- On Aug 11, 2013, at 8:29 PM, Scott Ritchey wrote: > > Dan, I have a Generac propane standby generator, about 15KW. The engine > says Generac on it but I suspect it's really made by someone else. Do you > know? > > By the way, the only time it failed to start was caused by a dead battery. > The 100 amp transfer switch is a knife-blade design so I suppose it could > stick if it hasn't operated in a long time. There is a manual override but > I don't think I'd want to open the box in a bad storm. > > Scott > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
