Mac,
I haven't heard of this board or had this problem; indeed, I'm not
sure if I have even ever worked on a 14RES (at Positive Energy we
used to be Kohler dealers last decade, but I'll let someone else
deal with them now). So my answer is just one of perspective.
There's been talk here about preventing generator backfeed,
especially with AC-coupled systems. I suspect that the second tech
may have had to deal with this at some point in the recent past,
especially with AC-coupled GTWB systems, likely because someone
didn't know how to incorporate a gennie into a system properly (hmm,
maybe it was him) and now thinks that all installations with
inverters do this. I do think that he's wrong, and may be covering
himself, but may also simply be uninformed.
You might ask him to supply evidence, like a tech bulletin, to
support his claim. If there's a special board there'll be a Kohler
tech bulletin to support it. Explain this to the customer; push back
calmly. You could also go through Kohler, as you're certified techs.
That's my $.02001.
Allan
Allan Sindelar
al...@sindelarsolar.com
NABCEP Certified PV
Installation Professional
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician
Founder (Retired), Positive
Energy,
Inc.
505 780-2738 cell
On 8/25/2015 10:18 PM, Mac Lewis wrote:
Hello wrenches,
I've got an issue I'd like to put out there and see if
anyone has heard of this before I call BS on a generator tech.
We we're upgrading an off-grid site from series stacked
stacked Trace 4024 to parallel stacked Magnum 4448 PAE
inverters, changing battery bank, adding solar, auto gen
start, battery monitor etc. When we arrived, the generator, a
Kohler 14 RES was not functioning. It was blowing the crank
fuse when you'd try to start it. We left it alone because it
wasn't in our scope of work to get it going. The customer had
a hard time getting good service on that generator and spent
way too much money (25% more than MSRP on a new one) getting
this generator fixed. It was pulled out 3 times and worked on
by two different generator companies before it was fixed.
The owner now says that the second generator tech told him
that he had to "add a board that keeps the inverters from
back-feeding the generator". He also said that "new inverters
do this more than the old ones". Obviously, the owner thinks
that we should have known about this. I think its an outright
lie by the generator tech to cover his misdiagnosis, but I'd
like to hear from others if such a board exists. Anyone heard
of or had a problem with this generator?
We are Kohler certified technicians and this "board" is
news to us.
Thanks
--
Mac Lewis
"Yo solo sé
que no sé nada." -Sócrates
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