I have a customer with a Perkins from Hardy Diesel in an insulated building with a wall mount propane heater
Constant propane use most of the winter but it keeps a small building warm enuf that starting the generator is not a problem it happens to be a diesel That made more sense for his installation then block heaters and all the rest of that Plus the inverters and the battery bank are in a nice comfortable room This one happens to be a 16 kW with a Perkins power plant Bob > On Apr 28, 2016, at 7:00 PM, jerrysgarage01 <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Have you looked at Cummins, we have have great luck and no programming > issues but battery charging needs to be added foroff grid > Jerry > > > Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™ III, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone > > > -------- Original message -------- > From: Ray Walters > Date:04/28/2016 7:28 AM (GMT-10:00) > To: RE-wrenches > Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Off-grid generator update? > > FYI, generally we haven't had cold start issues with propane units, as long > as the pipe is sized properly ( as mentioned in another recent post) and the > starter battery is kept fully charged. > This is based on about 20 years experience in the Rockies with temps below 0, > but not 40 below. We don't use block heaters, carb heaters, etc. > We currently have been using Generac Ecogen, but not that happy with them. > Cheap air cooled motor, way too many computer gizmos, no on board charging > (must have AC power or PV to charge the starting battery) We even had to > call customer service to get an authorization code to set up remote start. > This is off grid with no internet or cell service; ridiculous. I hope > Generac reps are lurking here, because these are really not much better than > the crop of stand by generators. > IMO no off grid generator should have a phantom load, or require cell > service to commission. What happened to the old water cooled Kohlers? > > R.Ray Walters > CTO, Solarray, Inc > Nabcep Certified PV Installer, > Licensed Master Electrician > Solar Design Engineer > 303 505-8760 >> On 4/28/2016 11:17 AM, Jeremy Rodriguez wrote: >> Check out Gillette generators. Made in Indiana >> 12.5 kW w Subaru >> >> Jeremy Rodriguez >> Solar Installation And Design Expert >> All Solar, Inc. >> 1463 M St >> Penrose Colorado 81240 >> >> Sent by Jeremy's iPhone. Sorry for typos and shorthand! >> >> On Apr 28, 2016, at 10:20 AM, Lena Wilensky <l...@nunatakenergy.com> wrote: >> >>> 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 >>> >>> www.nunatakenergy.com >>> 970-642-5554 >>> NABCEP Certified PV Installer: >>> Cert. #R02907-17 >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >>> >>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >>> >>> Change listserver email address & settings: >>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>> >>> List-Archive: >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html >>> >>> List rules & etiquette: >>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >>> >>> Check out or update participant bios: >>> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List-Archive: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org >
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
