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
>>> 
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