Good question.

I'll need to lake a look at the pdf's I downloaded for the unit, but if I remember correctly, that is the default interval. Don't know if that can be adjusted.

I tend to agree with you... seems to me that 30 minutes/month is how we exercise the big emergency generators at our site.

Jimmy- Maybe you're right, but if this is a known issue, and it kinda sounds like it is, I would be much happier if they were up front about it.
I wasn't on the phone with Kohler for even 5 minutes before the kit ship was in process. As soon as I mentioned battery and RESA20, the rep knew where it was going and was offering to send the diode kit at no charge.
So the fact that I was quoted a diode kit from the dealer based on just a description over the phone makes the cynic in me think that they know it too.

The kohler at the house I manage (nat. gas) starts and runs once a week. That's better than once a month as it keeps everything coated in oil better (top end of motor) and humidity burned/kept out of the motor.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
The kohler at the house I manage (nat. gas) starts and runs once a week. That's better than once a month as it keeps everything coated in oil better (top end of motor) and humidity burned/kept out of the motor.

The weekly test only splashes oil, it does nothing for humidity. In fact it's actually adding water to the oil. I always recommended to my customers that they actually run the generator for 30-45 minutes 3-4 times a year. This will actually exercise the engine. The 10-15 minute exercise does not get engine hot enough to burn off any condensation nor does it place any load on generator.

Think of it like this. You've got a classic car you keep in your garage. You start it a couple of times a month to make sure it works, but never drive it anywhere. Is that doing anything for the car? Nope, you need to actually drive it.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
The kohler at the house I manage (nat. gas) starts and runs once a week. That's better than once a month as it keeps everything coated in oil better (top end of motor) and humidity burned/kept out of the motor.

The weekly test only splashes oil, it does nothing for humidity. In fact it's actually adding water to the oil. I always recommended to my customers that they actually run the generator for 30-45 minutes 3-4 times a year. This will actually exercise the engine. The 10-15 minute exercise does not get engine hot enough to burn off any condensation nor does it place any load on generator.

Think of it like this. You've got a classic car you keep in your garage. You start it a couple of times a month to make sure it works, but never drive it anywhere. Is that doing anything for the car? Nope, you need to actually drive it.

The one at the house I manage runs and loads the generator for 15 minutes,it does get to operating temperature, it is a kohler but a very large one (8,000 sq ft house). It does it every Tuesday. It does get to temperature (with a load on it). I feel running it once a week to circulate everything is better than once a month, at least everything is coated with oil and exercised. We pull an oil sample when the oil is changed annually and there are no signs of any high humidity in the oil (no high iron etc. in the oil sample).

Your advice is also sound, it is good to run them with a load for a longer period of time several times a year as well. I actually prefer running any generator with a load for an hour monthly as they tend to carbon up, running without a load.

All of the ones on yachts that I run every two weeks (manually have to start and manually transfer power) 8k-30kw (right now) get to operating temperature (coolant_) without a load in about 5 minutes or less, then I run them with a load for an additional 25-40 minutes. Onan recommends running them unloaded for 2-3 minutes before loading them in the owners manual. Of course households with auto starts normally just do 30-60 seconds.