Jeff,
check out Gillette Generators.
Prime power warranty. and 'ok with inverter'
Jeremy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Yago" <jry...@netscape.com>
To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 8:53 AM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Kohler Generator Issues
Although we have specified and included Kohler RES models in all our
off-grid and battery based solar projects for over 15 years, we have seen
a real decline in the suitability of the Kohler line in the past few years
for use in solar/battery/generator applications. First they killed off
the 1800 RPM units under 15 kW. We had many older systems that would not
work when we replaced an aging 1800 RPM unit with their same kW size new
3600 RPM units, which made inverters go nuts with under-voltage and
over-current errors.
Then several years ago they got rid of the battery charging alternator or
whatever that re-charged the battery when the generator was running as a
way to reduce costs, so now the only way to keep the battery charged was
to plug in a full time float charger. This 24/7 electrical load is not a
good idea for smaller off-grid systems and requires another set of wires
out to the generator to supply this outlet. Finally, Kohler added a
diagnostic electronics panel that adds another 24/7 electrical load. We
"kill" this off during installation on any off-grid application as we
cannot justify this 24/7 standby load. There is a software switch to do
this, but its not easy to find in the instructions.
Funny thing was the other day I received a call from the main Kohler
factory about some marketing issues and I finally let loose with the above
rant. I really complained that so far they have done everything they
could NOT to serve this very large and growing off-grid market, and I
pointed out that most of their recent design "improvements" made their
generators LESS suitable for this market, not better. This guy was
absolutely dumb-struck, and it appears to me that they have made no effort
to understand this market. Their more recent efforts to void warranties
is just another reason to look for a different generator supplier.
Has anyone on this list had any contact from Kohler central office about
finding out what features this industry needs? The guy I talked with may
be just blowing smoke, but he promised to have a followup call in next few
weeks to learn more about what they can do. According to him, he thinks
they can add a software "switch" in the programming for little or no cost
like "on/grid - off/grid" that we could access during setup that would
adjust generator parameters and standby losses when used in an
inverter-battery application. In case he really does followup, are there
any other rants I could include from you guys that have been a problem for
you when using Kohler generators. I will assume we are limiting this to
their non-water cooled units under 15 kW.
While ranting on generators, the main reason we liked to use Kohler was
the easy 2-wire start/stop connections you can connect to the aux relay in
most inverters, while many other generator brands were not easy to remote
start from an inverter or required multi-step starting relays. Has this
changed, and are there now other brands of generators in the 8 to 15 kW
range that work well for backup of solar/battery charging applications and
the manufacturer does not have warranty issues when used in off-grid
applications?
Thanks,
Jeff Yago
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