How to Correctly Use Perkins Generator Set in Winter

To operate emergency standby Perkins generator set smoothly in winter, some things need to be noted. For example, a low temperature start method, a choice of lubricating oil, a need for a water jacket heater, and the like. Please refer to the following information for details.

The low fuel temperature in winter makes the viscosity of diesel oil increase and the fluidity deteriorates, which causes the diesel to be difficult to spray, resulting in poor atomization and even deterioration of combustion, which makes the diesel engine's power and economic performance decline. Therefore, light diesel oil with low freezing point and good ignition performance should be selected in winter. It is generally required that the freezing point of diesel engine should be lower than the local current season temperature 7 - 10°C.

Use an open flame to start the machine  where the temperature is too low, but do not remove the air filter. After the cotton yarn is ignited on the diesel oil, the igniter is placed in the intake pipe to perform the combustion-supporting start. In this way, during the starting process, the external dusty air will be directly sucked into the cylinder without filtering, causing abnormal wear of pistons, cylinders, etc., and the emergency standby Perkins generator set will be rough and damage the machine.

If the water is discharged too early or does not discharge cooling water, the generator will run at idle speed before stopping. When the temperature of the cooling water drops below 60°C, the water is not hot, turn off and discharge water. If the cooling water is released too early, the body will suddenly shrink and crack when it is attacked by cold air at a high temperature. When releasing water, the remaining water in the body should be drained to prevent it from swelling and causing the body to burst. It is recommended that the generator set user use antifreeze in any season. Because the antifreeze not only acts as a cooling, but also protects the diesel engine.

Selection of lubricating oil. The oil with low freezing point should be used in winter. When starting, the temperature of the oil can be increased by using the external water bath heating method. It is not recommended to use an open flame to avoid deterioration or even burning of lubricating oil in the oil pan, which will cause lubrication performance to reduce or loss, and aggravate the wear of the machine.

To start the generator set in winter, a water jacket heater should be assembled to the generator to keep the machine "body temperature" and easy to operate. Some operators to start Perkins generator, often use no water start (start first, then add cooling water) abnormal start method. This practice will cause serious damage to the machine and should be prohibited. The correct preheating method is: firstly cover the heat preservation hood on the water tank, open the drain valve, continuously inject 60-70°C clean soft water into the water tank, and touch the water flowing out of the drain valve, if you feel the water is hot, close the drain valve, and then start again.

Low temperature load precautions. After the emergency backup Perkins generator set started to fire, some operators could not wait to put into the load operation. Diesel engine that is on fire for a short time, because of the low temperature of the body, the viscosity of the oil is large, and the oil is not easily rushed into the moving friction surface, causing serious wear and tear on the machine. In addition, the plunger spring, the valve spring and the injector spring are also easy to break due to "cold brittleness". Therefore, after the diesel generator starts to catch fire in winter, it should be idling at low and medium speed for a few minutes, and the temperature of the cooling water reaches 60°C, and then put into load operation.

How often should the new Perkins generator change the oil?

In general, the new engine is 50 hours after the first work and 50 hours after the repair or overhaul. Generally, the oil replacement cycle is carried out simultaneously with the oil filter (filter element). The general oil change cycle is 250 hours or one month. With Class 2 oil, the oil can be extended for a period of 400 hours to be replaced, but the oil filter (filter element) must be replaced.

There are two ways to determine the replacement of oil:

1. Use two glass tubes with a diameter of 0.5 cm and a length of 20 cm to load 19 cm of new engine oil and used engine oil. After sealing, the two tubes were inverted at the same time, and the time of bubble rise was recorded. If the difference between the two is more than 20%, it means that the viscosity of used oil drops too much and should be replaced.

2. Compare the new oil and the used oil to a white filter paper. If there are more black spots in the used oil droplet, it means that the oil has not deteriorated and should not be replaced. If the oil is dark brown, it is deteriorated and should be replaced.

The replacement of Perkins diesel generator oil can ensure the stable use of the generator set, which also effectively extends the service life of Perkins generator set to a certain extent. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the oil replacement time accurately in the process of using diesel genset.