PacB Group // If You Depend on Your Generator, Quality Spares Are Important

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If You Depend on Your Generator, Quality Spares Are Important

The need for access to an additional source of power has become more widespread in the wake of rolling blackouts. These have seen a growing number of domestic consumers joining the ranks of those in industries that have long been reliant on the ability to produce their own electricity. When serving as a backup option for the domestic user, however, the consequence of a machine failure is unlikely to be a disaster. Hence, residents, who happen to own a small generator, seldom stock spares. By contrast, where an entire industrial plant and its employees must depend on a continuous supply of power that is uninterrupted by breakdowns or planned outages, in order to continue operating, the ability to replace a worn component at short notice is likely to be crucial.

For most companies, it is common practice to keep a stock of selected spare parts. The items stocked will generally be restricted to those that tend to be most prone to the wear and tear that could eventually result in failure. In addition, they are also likely to be limited to those that are known to be within the ability of someone on the staff to replace. For some companies, the most practical solution is simply to maintain a backup generator. This could make stocking spares less important, while it could also eliminate the risk of prolonged and costly downtime in the event that a major overhaul of a machine should become necessary.

Prevention is, of course, an option that is invariably preferable to being forced to find a cure, and from a financial point of view, it will frequently prove to be the more economical option also. Any reputable supplier should definitely be in a position to offer you the option of a preventative maintenance contract with guaranteed service levels. Furthermore, as a valued client, you should also be able to rely on that supplier to hold an adequate stock of all the spares necessary to keep your generator operational, whatever its particular make and model may be.

It is an option that, if you should choose to adopt it, could limit your need to carry more than just a few of the more basic spare parts. In some cases, a supplier may even choose to maintain a more comprehensive selection of parts on your premises, its purpose being to facilitate the task of their visiting service engineers when performing preventative maintenance or called to repair a malfunctioning unit. Assuming that you decide on the option to stock just the bare minimum of those basic items that are most likely to be required as spares to keep your generator up and running, which particular items should you be sure to include in that selection?

The total list of parts for these machines is extensive, but only a relatively small number of these are likely to be required when maintaining recommended operating conditions. If you have an employee with experience of servicing the particular make and model of your genset, as well as the necessary tools to perform some simple repairs, then the manufacturer of your genset will often produce service and maintenance kits for its various products that should be available from your supplier. The focus will normally be on the engine rather than the electrical components. So, for a typical diesel generator, a basic spares kit might simply consist of replacement oil, fuel, and air filters. These three items should be quite sufficient to ensure that your machine will continue to run efficiently.

For anything beyond simple servicing, however, there is no doubt that the best option is to keep a backup unit on hand, and employ an accredited specialist to deal with issues that might involve major downtime. To keep such incidents to a minimum, and avoid holding too many generator spares, a preventative maintenance contract could save a lot of hassles.