Your last generator Maintenance Run

[dragoneggs]

Well... we had a 'go live' today. Lost power. Mid twenties and snow. Wife did all the work with the mechanical transfer, starting the gen, and throwing the few breakers on for minimal existence. 4 hours later she reversed the process. Not much supervision by me this time! :thumbsup:

Funny thing, my early morning flight out was canceled so I was here. Next time I think she can do it on her own! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[ultrarunner]

Comfort in knowing the homestead is self sufficient when business takes you away...

No substitute for hands on experience either...

 

[cqaigy2]

Good "practice run". :thumbsup:

 

[TheMan419]

Well... we had a 'go live' today. Lost power. Mid twenties and snow. Wife did all the work with the mechanical transfer, starting the gen, and throwing the few breakers on for minimal existence. 4 hours later she reversed the process. Not much supervision by me this time! :thumbsup:

Funny thing, my early morning flight out was canceled so I was here. Next time I think she can do it on her own! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Excellent! I need to get SWMBO up to speed on those things. I am not away on business lots, but when I am at work it is frequent that I could not leave to head home if the power went out.

Of course on those days it was -27 I would have made it home in no time flat to get the heat back on!

 

[3930dave]

All of our Hospital Generators are required to have remote monitoring in two places...

One is Engineering and the other goes to the Recovery Nurse Station... believe me if it goes audible anytime day or night the Nurses start making the calls.

Normal is 3 green indicators from 20... and one of the green indicators is coolant temp...

The color system works well in a Hospital... Green is Good, Amber requires Attention and Red with Audible requires Immediate Action...

In 27 years I have replaced a total of 4 block heater elements.

One of my good friends is a retired facility engineer... vast knowledge and quickly schooled me years ago when I was grumbling... he said we call it job security...

That's what I'd expect to have, for remote monitoring.

If there were no problems to solve, a lot of us tech types would go to bed hungry !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

It was probably far too complex to incorporate a system that monitors ambiant temperature and then makes a decision if the genny is warm enough. Some of the guys that I have met that worked on that machine, simply didn't have a clue. Pretty much normal for this day and age.

I'll defer to grs's informed comments, but I strongly suspect the today's Generac auto systems designed for Home use have a fair amount of telemetry available, at least as an optional package.

If I wasn't so lazy, I'd have knocked off my Home Telemetry system by now...... Raspberry Pi plus a few sensors...... that data, live on the interweb....... quite do-able.

For any serious commercial/industrial system I'd want coolant temperature, oil pressure, and if it's a turbo, EGT, as a minimum dataset for remote telemetry. Probably fuel level too, if it's tank supported instead of line (ie. Natgas) fed.

I see a parallel to your comment above, in the conversations I've had (and sites I've been on) with my HVAC contractor neighbour. Many of the trades guys are more nuts and bolts oriented, and literally run the other way when it comes to programming these systems. Sometimes, all the capabilities you need are there, it just needs somebody to commission and tune it properly - my neigbour does quite a tidy business, doing just that as a consultant to other HVAC companies.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Well... we had a 'go live' today. Lost power. Mid twenties and snow. Wife did all the work with the mechanical transfer, starting the gen, and throwing the few breakers on for minimal existence. 4 hours later she reversed the process. Not much supervision by me this time! :thumbsup:

Funny thing, my early morning flight out was canceled so I was here. Next time I think she can do it on her own! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Usually less stressful for the engineer-in-training if the system designer is around .

Seems this transition started when you sourced a new battery for your Honda..... nice progression to where you are now :thumbsup:

If I traveled for business like I used to, I'd definitely have a more automated system at home than I do now..... convenience and reliability mean a lot for both partners !

Work-wise, I'm often big on checklists..... might have been you de, but at least one TBN'er posts up a laminated Gen Xfer list at home..... never a bad idea.

After using my small gen for many years, I could have used a checklist the 2'nd time I started my bigger gen.... it runs way better with the fuel petcock ON !

Smoothly done de.......

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

Generac does offer some limited telemetry. the new units have wifi included, but alot of my customers dont have internet so thats useless. Whatever generator company comes up with a home gen unit that can be switched on and off by your phone is going to corner the market. thats as long as the generator can receive the signal itself and not require a home wifi system that may be down due to lack of power. The current generac mobil link system will tell you generator status, any errors, maint schedules, optional propane tank level monitoring, but it wont let you start or stop unit.

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

Cummins residential units connect to the internet for remote monitoring and control and will send email on faults or other events. Of course that requires the internet functional.

There is also a system that use cellular connection for sites without internet and for increased security but they aren’t cheap when compared to a resident unit worth a couple grand. Ironically, $1200 for a remote monitoring system is a hard sell even on a half million dollar generator.

PowerCommand Cloud - Portal

Any unit considered life safety is supposed to be monitored 24/7 on site or offsite and low coolant temperature has been included in the “common alarm” list for at least 20 years.

 

[3930dave]

Generac does offer some limited telemetry. the new units have wifi included, but alot of my customers dont have internet so thats useless. Whatever generator company comes up with a home gen unit that can be switched on and off by your phone is going to corner the market. thats as long as the generator can receive the signal itself and not require a home wifi system that may be down due to lack of power. The current generac mobil link system will tell you generator status, any errors, maint schedules, optional propane tank level monitoring, but it wont let you start or stop unit.

From a security standpoint, I put this type of remote data access in the throw-away category..... I mostly don't care who knows what the temperature is in my house.

Starting/stopping something critical like a generator remotely....... the technical issues are probably minor compared to getting a major corporation's Legal Department to sign off on something like that.....

Easy enough to keep your own router alive on generator power..... broader network is another story...... often provider system boxes only have enough battery to run for hours. USA cell plans are cheap enough.... with local cell overage, I'd be tempted to park a cell phone at home as a telemetry hotspot. Cell towers can go down too, but if things get that far, you likely have bigger issues to deal with than whether or not your freezer is thawing....

Rgds, D.