Do you know the difference? Each is an essential part of generator maintenance. Knowing the difference is key. While weekly or monthly load tests are important in verifying whether or not your emergency power system will transfer properly during an outage, a Load Bank is critical to ensuring that the power supplied is sufficient for your building's requirements and if the generator is in proper health to maintain it for a period of time. Load Bank - What is it? A Load Bank is nothing more than a big heater. It allows a technician to artificially apply load to a generator independent from the building's electrical systems and without business disruption. How...

How to ensure reliable generator operation and protect your equipment Fuel is arguably the most critical component of your emergency power system, yet likely the least maintained, as evidenced by the fact that fuel related issues are the number one reason for 95% of generator fail-to-start faults. Proper fuel maintenance is critical to ensuring your generator will perform its best when you need it the most. Do you know what's in your fuel storage tank? Mark Stellmach, President of New Jersey based Fuel Management Services recently addressed this issue by highlighting these basic points regarding today's diesel fuel that every facility manager should know: Why it's important to pay attention to stored fuel,...

An Easy Check That Could Save Your Generator. Just this morning we received a call from a customer whose generator was in alarm. It was discovered that the block heater had failed leaving the engine cold. Had there been a real power outage this generator likely would have failed to start. Fortunately, the problem was resolved quickly before it became a real emergency situation. Why this is important. Block heaters are the life blood for your generator's engine during the cold weather months and they should not be taken for granted. Unlike your car which will typically start on the coldest of days, diesel engines rely on compression to start. Cold diesel...

Peace-of-Mind Solutions Through Remote Generator Monitoring There is probably not a single component in your facility that makes members of your team more nervous than the generator. Yet, it is one of the most important. All anyone really cares about is that it works when it is supposed to. P3GenAware remote monitoring is designed to ease generator anxiety by carrying the burden and making it more manageable for you and your team. P3GenAware is a pro-active approach to generator monitoring by providing Administrators and Managers visibility into the health of their emergency power systems, especially during crisis situations. Real-time generator information sent directly to your smartphone, tablet, or PC. Alerts you and...

Here Comes the Cold! Winter weather is here! Whether we like it or not. Issues related to generator performance can occur as the season's change and the temperatures begin to fall. Here is a short list of common problems that in the past have required a call-out to our service team. 3 Easy Cold Weather Tips Diesel Fuel Cold temps can render your diesel generator inoperable. When temperatures drop the paraffin waxes inherent in diesel fuel begin to precipitate out of the fuel to create a semi-solid state or gel. For #2 diesel fuel used in stand-by generators this process can occur at temperatures near 17 degrees Fahrenheit. Gelled fuel can no...

Recently our local volunteers of the Phillipsburg Emergency Squad approached us to repair a failed PTO generator on one of their response vehicles. This generator is important as it allows them to power the emergency lighting and AC equipment that is needed while on-site. But what is a PTO generator? A Power Takeoff Driven Generator, or PTO, is a system by which the generator uses power from an external source to produce electricity. This is not an uncommon feature - think of a farm tractor that uses the engine’s power to run accessories from behind such as mowing decks and hay balers. In the case of the Emergency Squad, the diesel engine...