Eight Misunderstandings in Choosing Diesel Generator Sets

In addition to caring about the quality of diesel generator sets, customers also pay great attention to their prices. So, where can one find relatively inexpensive diesel generator sets? Generally speaking, high-quality diesel generators are not cheap, unless they are second-hand refurbished machines that are passed off as new, or the power is exaggerated by taking KVA as KW and sold to customers. To help everyone purchase generator sets with high cost performance, the following is a detailed analysis of eight common misunderstandings in the purchase of diesel generator sets by Guangxi Dingbo Power Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a professional diesel generator set manufacturer.

1. Focusing solely on price and delivery time without considering the brand and grade of diesel engines and generators, control system configuration, and after-sales service. Some even use non-power station dedicated engines, such as marine diesel engines and vehicle diesel engines, for generator sets. As a result, the quality of electricity (voltage and frequency) of the final product of the generator set cannot be guaranteed. Generally, extremely low-priced generator sets have problems. As the saying goes, "Only the buyer may make a mistake, not the seller."

2. Passing off second-hand refurbished machines as brand-new ones to customers. Some even match refurbished diesel engines with brand-new generators and control cabinets, making it difficult for ordinary non-professional users to distinguish whether it is a new or old machine.

3. Failing to clarify the relationship between the continuous (rated) power and standby power, and only stating one "power" value, selling the standby power as the continuous power to customers. In fact, standby power = 1.1 x continuous power. Moreover, the standby power can only be used for 1 hour during 12 consecutive hours of operation.

4. Only reporting the brand of the diesel engine or generator, without reporting the place of origin or the brand of the generator set.

For example, just mention Cummins of the United States, Volvo of Sweden, and Stamford of the United Kingdom. In fact, no single diesel generator set can be independently completed by one enterprise. Customers should comprehensively understand the manufacturing factories and brands of the diesel engine, generator, and control cabinet of the generator set to comprehensively evaluate the grade of the generator set.

5. Matching the power of the diesel engine and the generator to be the same in order to reduce costs.

In fact, the industry generally stipulates that the power of the diesel engine ≥ 10% of the power of the generator, because there are mechanical losses. Even worse, some misreport the horsepower of the diesel engine as kilowatts to users, and configure the generator set with a diesel engine whose power is less than that of the generator. This is commonly known as "using a small horse to pull a big cart", which will reduce the service life of the generator set, lead to frequent maintenance, and keep the usage cost high.

6. Confusing the relationship between KVA and KW. Some exaggerate the power by taking KVA as KW and sell it to customers. In fact, KVA is the apparent power and KW is the active power. The relationship between them is 1KVA = 0.8KW. Imported generator sets generally use KVA as the power unit, while domestic electrical equipment generally uses KW. Therefore, when calculating the power, KVA should be discounted by 20% and converted into KW.

7. Not discussing the situation of random accessories, such as whether it comes with a muffler, fuel tank, oil pipeline, what grade of battery it comes with, what capacity of battery, and how many batteries, etc.

In fact, these accessories are very important and must be clearly stated in the contract. Even more extreme, some do not even come with a water tank fan, forcing customers to build an open water tank by themselves.

8. Passing off generator sets without protection functions (commonly known as "four protections") as generator sets with complete protection functions to customers. Even more, some promote generator sets with incomplete instruments and no air switches to customers. In fact, the industry generally stipulates that generator sets above 10KW must be equipped with a complete set of instruments (commonly known as "five meters") and air switches; large generator sets and automatic generator sets must be equipped with self "four protection" functions.

Dingbo Power was founded in 1974 and is one of the earliest manufacturers of generators and diesel generator sets in China. If you want get more information, please feel free to send email to [email protected] we will pay highly attention on your question.