Whole house generator

alg · Nov 2, 2012

Have a question about whole house generators. My portable gen requires the oil be changed every 20 hrs. PIA.Is it the same for the whole house ones. Im looking at a 14 KW Koler running on propane.

Al

David G · Nov 2, 2012

Propane should require oil change much less often because there are less contaminants. I run synthetic in mine and change it once a year.

Hogleg · Nov 2, 2012

After watching the TV last night and the long lines of folks trying to buy gas for their genny's, I think your approach to a propane genny with a good sized permanent tank is the right approach...

John

JDseller · Nov 2, 2012

I have not seen a small engine that requires oil changes at 20 hours. Most are at 50 or 100 hours of use. Are you sure the oil change at 20 hours was not just the first one???

As for whole house generators. Mine says 150 hours when ran on propane. It is a Cummins/onan setup. One 2 years old. It has preformed perfectly.

oliver power · Nov 2, 2012

My whole house generator is a 17KW Generac. Manual says; Change oil & filter after first 8 hours of operation. And every 200 hours thereafter, or 2 years, which ever occurs first. Change sooner when operating under heavy load, or in a dusty or dirty enviroment. Or high ambient temperatures. There ya go. Straight from the manual.

El Toro · Nov 2, 2012

I have a 14kw Kohler and it recommends every 100 hours or once a year for oil changes. Sure came in handy when Sandy hit. Hal

Spook · Nov 2, 2012

We have a Generac 15kw unit, it has worked well for 10 years or so. Propane fuel.

ohiojim · Nov 2, 2012

sounds like a pain,...i think i'd go more like once a year unless it gets a lot of use

alg · Nov 2, 2012

Hal,
how much propane does in use on average.?

Billy NY · Nov 2, 2012

Thats the one thing I like about this solar back up with battery bank I had installed, no engine to deal with, no fuel to worry about. Over time I imagine the batteries will be the costliest to replace, maintenance is not much and when the power goes off now, I don't even realize it. Things get real bad, no sun, extended outage, I can hook my Miller trailblazer as AC2 to bulk charge the batteries which will then last days for critical items, just keep your electrical loads to necessary items, properly sized battery bank sure does provide ample power.

LJD · Nov 2, 2012

My solar battery bank is 48 volt so I had to search around for a 48 volt battery charger. Not very common. I got one from Iota. Three years and several outages but never had to use it yet. Longest outage so far was four days and my batteries and small amount of winter NY sun did OK.

Billy NY · Nov 2, 2012

I recall you making a recommendation to get one of those.

The installer agreed that you can charge from the DC side, but its more complicated for whatever reason, but given the generator on the Miller NT251, the Schneider inverter has an AC2 option on its panel, so if the grid is off, no sun, thats one way to charge, and I can provide 240 off this generator, so bulk or trickle can be done same as grid, which does not take long, and will reset you for a good while. Its an ideal set up that gives you ample time to react to things which is just great. I have yet to add this additional equipment, I'm also going to install more solar panels, likely do those both at the same time.

Ray · Nov 2, 2012

I have an 18000 kohler propane unit that's two years old with 59 hours mostly from the self test mode.The oil looks like new,don't see any reason to change it.

John730D · Nov 2, 2012

20 Hrs? Sounds like first change. Put in a good fully synthetic and run it 100 Hrs. I don't have any trouble with mine, and it is an OHV B&S.

El Toro · Nov 2, 2012

I have NG it will run on both. In 24 hours of use it used 8 units of gas. We were also using the furnace during that time, but it will shutoff when it reaches the set temp. Sure was nice during the power outage. Hal

showcrop · Nov 2, 2012

Could be wrong but I thought that the smaller ones had no filter so they required more frequent changes. Larger motors more likely to have filters so change interval is a lot longer. Just be sure to get one with a filter.

Geo-TH,In · Nov 2, 2012

My 20 hp Kohler commando recommends an oil change every 100 hrs. At 75 hours it starts using oil and looks bad. Change oil and filter every 75 hrs. I have over 1200 hours on it.

However, when I was a kid, we had an irrigation pump that used propane. Dad took the engine apart thinking it time for an overhaul. He put it back together. No wear, no sludge, no need for an overhaul. I think your oil using propane will last more than 100 hours.

Keep in mind a kohler has an oil filter. Mine has hydraulic lifters and is better built. The cheap gennies don't have a filter.

El Toro · Nov 2, 2012

In 24 hours it used 8 units of gas and the furnace was on. Here's a link to where I purchased our Kohler generator. There's no shipping or sales tax outside AZ. That'a saving of about $625.00. Hire a electrician that has a lot of experience wiring transfer switches. I had them to get permits. You need
to decide which circuits you want the generator to support. Here's a list I made up. You may need to add others. There's only 16 breaker spaces on the transfer switch. One of those is used for charging the battery using 120vac. Hal

Untitled URL Link

jm. · Nov 2, 2012

I have a 20 KW genrac, Change at 10 hrs then ever 200 hrs. Unit runs on LPG and we love it.
Kicks on when power drops and uses very little fuel.

El Toro · Nov 2, 2012

Here's what your Kohler transfer switch will look when you have it installed. My Kohler generator came with synthetic motor oil installed and has the oil filter. Hal

Billy Shafer · Nov 2, 2012

When I was doing the service work on standby units. oil was changed once a year. Some were done at 200-300 hours.

El Toro · Nov 3, 2012

Here's the circuit list I used on my generator. Make sure all your circuits are connected to the transfer switch and are working. They forgot the
kitchen lights on mine. I've already called the electrician. Hal

Whole house generator

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