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#1
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
The day that Irene came thru, I didn't lose grid power as such, but did
have a series of outages that lasted 2-3 seconds apiece. Unfortunately, these were enough to kick on the generator, only to stop a few seconds later when the grid returned. And so it was on, off; on, off; on, off ..... So now the generator's broken. Battery won't even try to crank. All I get is a grinding sound. Battery charger still shows a green light, so I assume that a connection(s) has come loose or some sort of fuse blew. Any ideas? Also, can this type of thing be fixed by an electrician? I do have a service contract with the co. that installed the Kohler, and they really know their business, but they are severely swamped with repair tickets, which is understandable. Finally, can the automatic transfer switch be adjusted to keep the generator from kicking on until grid power has shut down for 10 seconds or so? Thanks,Jack |
#2
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
On Sep 7, 4:53*pm, Way Back Jack wrote:
The day that Irene came thru, I didn't lose grid power as such, but did have a series of outages that lasted 2-3 seconds apiece. *Unfortunately, these were enough to kick on the generator, only to stop a few seconds later when the grid returned. And so it was on, off; on, off; on, off ...... So now the generator's broken. *Battery won't even try to crank. *All I get is a grinding sound. *Battery charger still shows a green light, so I assume that a connection(s) has come loose or some sort of fuse blew. Any ideas? A grinding sound would seem to indicate that most likely either the starter is bad or that it's not getting full power to be able to correctly spin out and engage. If that's what it is, it's fairly easy to diagnose and fix, depending on how accessible the starter, soenoid, etc are. Also, can this type of thing be fixed by an electrician? *I do have a service contract with the co. that installed the Kohler, and they really know their business, but they are severely swamped with repair tickets, which is understandable. *Finally, can the automatic transfer switch be adjusted to keep the generator from kicking on until grid power has shut down for 10 seconds or so? * Thanks,Jack From the problem it sounds like an engine problem, not a generator problem, so an electrician would not be my choice unless he's one that does generators. If it's only a backup generator and since you have a service contract, I'd just wait if I were you. As to transfer switch adjustability, I guess what you may or may not be able to adjust would seem to depend on exactly which one you have. The on/off cycling several times should not have caused the problem you are having. To burn out the starter it would have to crank the starter for a long time. If it makes you feel any better, a neighbor had a $7K Generac that was about 6 years old fail after 5 hours of hurricane duty. His guy did come out and the generator itself is cooked, beyond repair. He's got a whole new one on order. I wonder if these things are really worth it. With the high cost you also get increased complexity and more things to fail. And if it does fail, it costs a bundle to fix. For $500 or so you can get a breaker panel kit and a receptacle installed and then use one of the manual start generators that can be had for $400. I'll bet your yearly service contract costs more than that. There are applications where you need it to start automatically, eg where there are critical loads and no one available to get there in time to start it up. But for the typical homeowner, I think the expense isn't worth it. |
#3
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
"Way Back Jack" wrote in message . .. The day that Irene came thru, I didn't lose grid power as such, but did have a series of outages that lasted 2-3 seconds apiece. Unfortunately, these were enough to kick on the generator, only to stop a few seconds later when the grid returned. And so it was on, off; on, off; on, off ..... So now the generator's broken. Battery won't even try to crank. All I get is a grinding sound. Battery charger still shows a green light, so I assume that a connection(s) has come loose or some sort of fuse blew. Any ideas? Also, can this type of thing be fixed by an electrician? I do have a service contract with the co. that installed the Kohler, and they really know their business, but they are severely swamped with repair tickets, which is understandable. Finally, can the automatic transfer switch be adjusted to keep the generator from kicking on until grid power has shut down for 10 seconds or so? Thanks,Jack To prevent the generator from trying to start in the event of a power outage, there is a switch behind the front panel that you'll need to flip to the off position. |
#4
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
With cars, they have to run for a full minute or more, to
recharge the battery. so, it's likely your generator is fine, but your starting battery is discharged. My guess is you can get it going with a jumper pack, or car and jumper cables. Battery that low, probably permanantly damaged. As to setting the sensetivity and timing, not sure about that. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org .. "Way Back Jack" wrote in message . .. The day that Irene came thru, I didn't lose grid power as such, but did have a series of outages that lasted 2-3 seconds apiece. Unfortunately, these were enough to kick on the generator, only to stop a few seconds later when the grid returned. And so it was on, off; on, off; on, off ..... So now the generator's broken. Battery won't even try to crank. All I get is a grinding sound. Battery charger still shows a green light, so I assume that a connection(s) has come loose or some sort of fuse blew. Any ideas? Also, can this type of thing be fixed by an electrician? I do have a service contract with the co. that installed the Kohler, and they really know their business, but they are severely swamped with repair tickets, which is understandable. Finally, can the automatic transfer switch be adjusted to keep the generator from kicking on until grid power has shut down for 10 seconds or so? Thanks,Jack |
#5
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
Way Back Jack wrote in
: The day that Irene came thru, I didn't lose grid power as such, but did have a series of outages that lasted 2-3 seconds apiece. Unfortunately, these were enough to kick on the generator, only to stop a few seconds later when the grid returned. And so it was on, off; on, off; on, off ..... So now the generator's broken. Battery won't even try to crank. All I get is a grinding sound. Battery charger still shows a green light, so I assume that a connection(s) has come loose or some sort of fuse blew. Try charging the battery. Just like with a car battery, that extended on- off-on-off cycle can drain the battery very quickly. Have you used a multimeter to check the battery's voltage across the battery terminals? -- Tegger |
#6
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
Probably a smaller starting battery than most car batteries,
but the function is the same. High amp, short time use. To get the motor started, and then the alternator recharges the battery. Likely the same result -- never got a chance to recharge. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus www.lds.org .. "Tegger" wrote in message ... Try charging the battery. Just like with a car battery, that extended on- off-on-off cycle can drain the battery very quickly. Have you used a multimeter to check the battery's voltage across the battery terminals? -- Tegger |
#7
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
On Sep 7, 6:08*pm, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote: With cars, they have to run for a full minute or more, to recharge the battery. so, it's likely your generator is fine, but your starting battery is discharged. It might be a bad battery, but it's not an issue of it not running enough to recharge it. These automatic systems have a charger to keep the battery at full charge using line AC power when the generator is not being used. Presumably by now, days later it's had plenty of time to recharge. He also indicated that the battery charging indicator showed green, which usually means the charger believes the battery is fully charged. Whatever it is, I agree it sounds like something between the battery, starter solenoid, and starter. My guess is you can get it going with a jumper pack, or car and jumper cables. Battery that low, probably permanantly damaged. As to setting the sensetivity and timing, not sure about that. -- Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus *www.lds.org . |
#8
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
wrote It might be a bad battery, but it's not an issue of it not running enough to recharge it. These automatic systems have a charger to keep the battery at full charge using line AC power when the generator is not being used. Presumably by now, days later it's had plenty of time to recharge. He also indicated that the battery charging indicator showed green, which usually means the charger believes the battery is fully charged. Whatever it is, I agree it sounds like something between the battery, starter solenoid, and starter. Yep, I'd star by cleaning the battery terminals and the cable end on the starter. A little rain a little corrosion, etc. |
#9
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
On Sep 7, 10:47*pm, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
wrote It might be a bad battery, but it's not an issue of it not running enough to recharge it. *These automatic systems have a charger to keep the battery at full charge using line AC power when the generator is not being used. Presumably by now, days later it's had plenty of time to recharge. *He also indicated that the battery charging indicator showed green, which usually means the charger believes the battery is fully charged. Whatever it is, I agree it sounds like something between the battery, starter solenoid, and starter. Yep, I'd star by cleaning the battery terminals and the cable end on the starter. *A little rain a little corrosion, etc. This is why I'm happy with my 4kw portable generator. Auto start switch over gensets are just overkill for a single residential situation. |
#10
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
On Sep 8, 8:03*am, jamesgangnc wrote:
On Sep 7, 10:47*pm, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote: wrote It might be a bad battery, but it's not an issue of it not running enough to recharge it. *These automatic systems have a charger to keep the battery at full charge using line AC power when the generator is not being used. Presumably by now, days later it's had plenty of time to recharge. *He also indicated that the battery charging indicator showed green, which usually means the charger believes the battery is fully charged. Whatever it is, I agree it sounds like something between the battery, starter solenoid, and starter. Yep, I'd star by cleaning the battery terminals and the cable end on the starter. *A little rain a little corrosion, etc. This is why I'm happy with my 4kw portable generator. *Auto start switch over gensets are just overkill for a single residential situation.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - That's what I think too. Especially given the cost. They make sense if you need it to be able to start up and run when nobody will be available in a reasonable amount of time to start it. But otherwise I think a $400 generator, plus an Interlockit panel kit and a conversion kit to make the generator run on natural gas makes a very compelling case. I could put that together for $1000. |
#11
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Effect Of Short Power Outages On Home Generator (Kohler RES12)
Way Back Jack posted for all of us...
The day that Irene came thru, I didn't lose grid power as such, but did have a series of outages that lasted 2-3 seconds apiece. Unfortunately, these were enough to kick on the generator, only to stop a few seconds later when the grid returned. And so it was on, off; on, off; on, off ..... So now the generator's broken. Battery won't even try to crank. All I get is a grinding sound. Battery charger still shows a green light, so I assume that a connection(s) has come loose or some sort of fuse blew. Any ideas? Also, can this type of thing be fixed by an electrician? I do have a service contract with the co. that installed the Kohler, and they really know their business, but they are severely swamped with repair tickets, which is understandable. Finally, can the automatic transfer switch be adjusted to keep the generator from kicking on until grid power has shut down for 10 seconds or so? Thanks,Jack I think the transfer switch should be adjusted to approximately this spec. and is what caused your problem so their installation and testing should cover any costs, especially with their "service contract". -- Tekkie |
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