oil for a 12KW diesel generator

[1040 WreckerMan]

Donald, I wasn't referring to pre-heating the engine. The coolant, engine and oil temperatures need to come up to operating temperatures. The washing down of the cylinder I was referring to is basically what Wrench said. The excessive amount of fuel washes the oil off the cylinder walls and the piston/rings and leads in best cases to high oil consumption, or in worst cases causes liner/ring/piston failures. After stating the genset, run it to at least half load, preferably more (around 80%) and leave it there long enough to warm everything up and cook the oil clean of fuel and moisture. I also wouldn't wait long before applying a load, we run our big gens for about 3 minuets before putting a 80-100% load on them. Each gen is started once a week and the transfer switches engaged and we actually operate the buildings as if the power were out for about an hour.

I would not recommend using either to start the engine except as a last resort. Either creates extremely high cylinder pressures and can, if used improperly, bend rods, pop head gaskets, break pistons and other nasty things you don't want to have happen. If you must use either, use it very sparingly.

Another thing to consider is putting the coolant heater on a timer. The trucks I don't drive much are left plugged in year round. In the winter the heaters run for 2 hours every 12 hours which is enough to bring the systems up to temp (or a close as the heaters will get them). Even in very cold weather this is usually enough to let any of them start easily.

Since the weather has been getting colder, have you tried to start the genset with no preheat? And, as it was mentioned you would use some type of winter fuel additive, and maybe a biocide if you aren't going to change the fuel yearly.

 

[Slick]

Donald

I think a suitable plan is to combine what you have available with information provided here to permit you to use your diesel generator a few times each winter on those cold days and not use the preheat continuous.

You have an electrical heating system that will heat the cold (likely not necessary above 30-35 degrees F) diesel gernerator engine up within say 3 hours or less. You also have a smaller gas powered generator which should start on cold days with proper oil visicosity and fuel stabilization to avoid carb issues from stale fuel. Use the gas generator to provide the first three hours of electricity and preheat to the diesel generator. Change the diesel engine lube oil to 5W-40 synthetic diesel oil to permit good lube in cold and warm conditions. Add a intake air heater or use a hand held heat gun or hair dryer to provide easier/quicker starting for the diesel during extreem cold starts after the current heater has done its job. This should provide the ability to use the diesel during the winter without using constant standby preheat system. Continue to use the Battery Tender for the starting batteries to assure the batteries are always at 100 percent charge to keep cranking RPM high as necessary for diesel starting. This also increases the battery life on seldom used batteries from internal discharge. Enjoy the fuel consumption of the diesel.

I have a smaller (4KW) single cylinder diesel generator that has both electric starter and recoil pull starter(not easy to start this way when warm). I used the pull starter with compression release lever engaged to see the change in force necessary to turn over a 30 degree F cold engine with 15W-40 oil in it. This was enough to make me switch to 5W-40 oil for the winter months due to concern for initial engine lube at cold start.

Best regards

Wayne

 

[TeeDub]

Donald,

I'd suggest picking up a bottle of the new, Amsoil "Cold Flow Improver" and adding some to the genset diesel fuel. This product contains a very effective, jet fuel de-icer and will reduce the cloud point of #2 diesel fuel by about 20F-25F, which should solve your problem.

If you really wanted to be AR about it, you could also add a small amount of pure Amsoil cetane boost, which will help the fuel ignite more easily on the compression stroke in cold weather. A 16 oz bottle treats about 50 gallons of fuel to achieve the maximum effect, so you can calculate the # you need, based on the size of your fuel tank.

TD

 

[unDummy]

I think that the move to synthetic should be enough. Skip the 15w40 and just grab the 5w40 or 0w40 synthetic HDEO's. NY is close to Esso XD3 0w40 country.

Any of the name brand diesel fuel antigel/cetane/cleaning/lubing additives should be good enough and always used.

You need to test the method that you choose. The fuel additive plus synthetic oil should help considerably. But, if the engine refuses to start when cold, then you'll have to preheat it using power from the petrol genset or your electric company=timer.

The timer method is an excellent choice. Have a timer run for 1/2-1 hour a couple times a day during the coldest weather(dec-march). You probably won't need it for the rest of the year.

Run the generator regularly.

Another choice is to use a $olar panel. It'll keep the battery fully charged and any solar surplus can be used to power a small heater.

You should also research the heater. You might be able to use a smaller one(for less power draw) or other method(oil heater) to keep the motor warm, or to keep the shed warm.

 

[widman]

You can always do what the locals do here. They build a small fire under the oil pan, and then move some of the coals under the diesel tank.

I'm not recommending this, but it is normal procedure here.

 

[Rickey]

This may not relate directly to your situation... so for what it's worth: At my place of employment we have a 700 kw genset powered with a V12 cummins. We once tried to start it with a failed block heater. This failure was unknown to us prior to the start up and the outside temp was in the lower 20's. An ice storm was approaching and we needed to test the generator for piece of mind. This particular Cummins does not use glowplugs. When the engine fires the governor immediately brings this engine to 1800 rpm. When the engine finally fired it would not reach governored speed, this was accompanied by lots of banging and knocking noises from the engine. I believe that several cylinders were not firing at all while still receiveing a full throttle dose of fuel. The engine actually sounded as if a rod would come through the block at any second. We killed the engine immediatley and a diesel mechanic was summoned in panic mode. The diesel mechanic set the governor for slow idle, refired the engine, let it idle untill it had cleared it's throat of the excess fuel, and warmed up a bit. Then full governed speed was restored after which the engine was ran 10 minutes every hour to maintain readiness through the foul weather. The block heater was eventually replaced and all is well with this genset. We are running a 15w40 HDEO in this engine and I don't believe a 5w40 would have made a difference for this particular problem. Good luck.
Rickey

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

5w40 would not have helped your problem, Rickey, because the engine was able to spine fast enough to fire despite the thick oil. The problem in your case was due to the cold coolant and lack of intake air heaters of some nature, the air was not reaching a high enough temperature to fully ignite the fuel. This sounds like it was compounded by the fact that the governor was not load sensing but rather simply just speed sensing. If it had a better governor on it, the engine would fire and run at low idle until the gen loaded it, this would allow combustion temps to come up and the engine to run normally. Newer electronic engines are better in cold weather.

 

[BMWR1150GS]

Quote:

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This looks more or less like the system that was in my dad's Kenworth.

http://www.quickstart-ether.com/aboutether.php

It says it contains mineral oil as an upper cylinder lubricant, probably a good idea.

When starting the Peterbuilt we just used a can from the store, not sure if it contained a lubricant.

Certainly a fair amount can be found on ether on the various diesel boards.

I was told that ether can cause "dangerous explosions" in engines with glow plugs, don't know how true that is.

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Use caution when cold starting with ether. Diesel engine manufacturers warn against its use, particularily with turbocharged engines. Due to the long intake track, the ether can collect in the turbo and explode when the diesel engine fires causing damage to the intake and possible fire.

Ether is VERY explosive at most any temperature…….use extreme caution!