Generac Standby Generator

[countryguy]

Anyone have a whole house standby generator or knowledge of them? I have a Generac 16 KW that was installed in 2007. It has worked flawlessly until 2 weeks ago when the electricity went out. The generator started automatically as it should however there still was no electricity. I called the dealer that installed it. He thought it was the voltage regulator but after waiting 10 days for the part and installing it, there still was no electricity being produced. Now he thinks it is the alternator that needs to be replaced at a cost of $2500 for parts and labour! This sounds absurd. I've asked him for a breakdown of part and labour costs but so far I have not received an answer. I called another dealer and am waiting for a quote from them.

Gary

 

[petek]

Boy you are having a run of bad luck  

 

[cfz2882]

fixed those(and similar)before

I have fixed a few of those- one unit I fixed under warranty had a wire break loose from the slip rings-one I have in the shop now keeps the starter engaged after engine start,grinding the pinion against the flywheel.If you want to repair the generator yourself,post the model#and I will check if it is the same model I have in the shop

 

[wayupnorth]

There are some of my neighbors have Generacs. I hear them once a week cycling but have never heard they had any problems with any of them. After the big ice storm in January 1998, when we lost power for 2 weeks, those started being installed. I have a Craftsman that I bought when the ice storm started, and it runs everything in the house I need. Problem is, that it eats 5 gallons of gas in 5 hours.

 

[realvanman]

GenerJunk has a very bad reputation

But FIRST get rid of any "technician" who is really just a "parts swapper", and is taking the "shotgun" approach with YOUR money. Indeed you should not pay for any parts that were installed to replace parts that were still good.

One who knows what they're doing will diagnose the problem and any faulty parts BEFORE buying any new parts.

I HIGHLY recommend the good folks on this site:
https://www.smokstak.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=1

I specifically linked to the Onan forum because all of the excellent generator technicians hang out there. Many have GenerJunk experience and will be able to walk you through the troubleshooting process.

Keith

 

[countryguy]

The Generac is model # 0052431. I have little mechanical/electrical skills so I don't plan on repairing the unit myself but I would like to be educated on what has to be done. From the research I have done, the alternator seems to be in the $300-500 range. I don't understand how labour could be $2000, even at a high rate of $100/hour that would mean 20 hours to replace the part? Something just isn't right.

 

[realvanman]

I understand your frustrations

There are a few tests that should have been carried out on the generator, before the regulator was ordered.

These tests can quickly rule out a problem with the generator, and narrow the possibilities down to the regulator or wiring.

As a further test, the regulator can be bench tested if the technician knows how, just to make double sure that it is indeed truly the problem.

Since he evidently did not do any troubleshooting, he still does not know what is actually wrong. He may very well have ended up with a bad regulator out of the box, or there may well be something wrong with the generator.

As mentioned above, the problem could be as simple as wiring or brushes. All of these things should be ruled out at the very beginning of the troubleshooting process.

I'd still recommend a chat with the guys on the Stak, even if only to help you make sure that you have a competent technician.

Keith

 

[earthling177]

Whether or not the generator was broken and then got fixed, and supposing that it *is* now fixed, has the technician made sure that the transfer switch (which cuts off the utility and patches in the generator) is working properly? Because one can spend a whole week diagnosing and "fixing" a generator but if the transfer switch is broken, it will still not work.

Not that I'm judgmental or anything...

Good luck!

 

[countryguy]

Before the service guy came out to look at the generator, I had an electrician out. He checked and tested the transfer switch and said that everything was OK. He was the one that diagnosed that there was no electricity coming into the transfer switch. He also checked the generator and thought that the voltage regulator was OK. He didn't have the schematics for the generator so couldn't diagnose what the real issue was.

 

[beekeyknee]

Apparently the Onan Generator would be the type of generator that would be up the average AW.org members alley. Vintage and made in USA. Something new (or old) to look into.

 

[realvanman]

That or a good old Kohler generator

I have several in my collection.

 

[countryguy]

*Update*

The generator guy has been no help whatsoever....even so far as to not return my phone call which I made to him about 2 minutes after receiving an email from him yesterday morning. I called another dealer to get an estimate of the cost to replace the alternator and I have not heard from him either. Generac is offering a 10 year warranty on new generators if purchased by Sep. 01 so I have decided to get a new one. The electrician I had out last week will do the swap out of the old one. He knows someone that is looking for a small engine so I may be able to sell the engine out of the generator. It is going to cost me more than I had anticipated but hopefully I will have piece of mind for 10 years.

 

[circlew]

Generac - why make the same mistake twice!

There's a reason telephone co.s, fire & police stations, hospitals, nursing homes, etc. usually stick with either Cummins, Kohler or Caterpiller gen sets.

Cincinnati Bell Telephone uses Cummins equipment exclusively, both permanent and trailer mounted.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Some of my neighbors have those Generac whole house units that run from propane that is stored via underground tanks. Most had them installed after all the hurricanes we had in 2004. As far as I know they are all working fine, although one house that has one has been vacant as the owner had to move into assisted living.

 

[circlew]

Engine RPM's

Another thing to look for is one whose engine operates at 1800 RPM instead of 3600 RPM. Many of the less expensive units intended for residential use have the 3600 RPM engines, while most commercial grade have the 1800. The 1800 RPM engines usually last longer with less maintenance.

 

[Chetlaham]

Generac

Electricians call them Genecrap. I'm not kidding. And they can't even use a simple ATS 2 wire start circuit but that might have changed. As Cirle W said there is a reason why Cummins, Cat act are used in real emergency applications.

If you want a real generator go for a 1,800 rpm liquid cooled unit. For low cost or outages that don't occur often go for 3,600rpm Kohler.

 

[askolover]

I considered installing a generator for our house but being right beside the hospital and police departments our electricity is never off for very long at a time.

 

[dartman]

Car hit a pole right down the street and killed power to my neighborhood. House next door has solar with backup batteries that will run critical stuff for a few hours. Of course seeing how it only affected 837 homes they took their time fixing it. Power was out for 12 hours but luckily our old fridge still has good door seals and insulation. The ice hadn't even started to melt when power came back. Would have been nice to have some kind of generator even if all it could do is the fridge and some lights. I have big and small computer UPS's on the pc's and av stuff but they only run half to a few hours max depending on what's on them. Fortunately that doesn't happen very often and usually they fix it quickly. Last ice storm power went out 5 hours but it was high teens low twenties so it got pretty cold in here.

 

[tolivac]

I was wakened by a partial power failure-called GUC and it was fixed in less than an hour!