For Sale: Kohler 13.5 kw diesel gen, needs repair

[aronhk_md]

picked this up as a project, but don't know that I will have the time and energy to figure out what needs to be done. The unit has approximately 1700 hrs and is circa 1999. The Yanmar diesel runs perfectly if you keep the shutoff solenoid from turning it off.

The shutoff solenoid is apparently hooked to sensors on the generator side that will shut it down if something is wrong electrically. That's what apparently happened to the previous owner, and after a few hrs of marina labor at trying to diagnose what was wrong the owner decided to yank it and install a new one. I believe he has the money and just didn't want to waste time, though that doesn't mean there isn't something wrong here with the unit.

The only further piece of info I have is that THEY said it was in an overcharge state. No idea what rpm it was running when they tested that. The control box is there, but partly disassembled. Sound box is all there. I will try to get pictures as soon as possible, and I could potentially deliver within the DE, Baltimore, NJ, PA region, but check with me.

Its a 13.5 CCOZ, and I will try to get some pics up.

$1000

 

[Phil Fill]

I by passed the electrical stuff and ran a wire from the gen start switch to the solenoid, So when the start switch is flipped the solenoid open up. To shut down it’s the same by flipping the switch off. I also hot wired around the electrical control because if the gen set is hot/warm it will not start again and there been times I need to start the gen set to power the bow thruster before it cool down enough. Cost 20 bucks and a couple of hours of my time tracing things out.

 

[aronhk_md]

Phil...sending you a PM.

 

[aronhk_md]

Phil, thanks for the advice and suggestions. I like your way of thinking on making things work. I am going to investigate what is coming out on both legs of the generator and bypass the sensors to run. So the gen is no longer for sale.

 

[BruceK]

The solenoid on my Onan has 2 magnetic holds, one to pull in initially and momentarily only,another less powerful to "hold" it in while running. The latter could be malfunctioning with yours. We tried a few tricks and were about to do Phil`s work around when I decided to replace the solenoid like the manual says,once it plays up. That fixed it, saved me visiting the ER to manually pull the plunger across. Which tells me my problem was initial pull in, not the hold.
That is a likely culprit, if not, several safe operation interlocks exist to shut down due to faults, overriding that might lead to even more grief, unless it is malfunctioning.

 

[Phil Fill]

Enjoyed the chat with you. So the engine runes but its not producing AC. Most of the stuff in the box is for automatic shut down. As mention I view a gen set as two separate things, engine and generator. so you could just take the generator portion in to have looked at, and/or you could by a new generator and connect/couple it to the engine. Granger probable has one.

Years ago I installed a cruise gen on the 671, which we use when out and about. There is not control box the only thing that is important is having high enough RPM for the generator to produce 120 volts 60 hertz. The volt is not so fuzzy about the RPM but the hertz is, and if to low the generator will brown out. The generator seem to be pretty much straight forward.


Be sure to check both legs as I beileve gen sets can be set up for only 120 volts with higher amps or 240 volts. The Eagle is only 120 volts.

 

[RickB]

... several safe operation interlocks exist to shut down due to faults, overriding that might lead to even more grief ...

I'm glad someone chimed in with that. I find this thread astonishing otherwise.

Hopefully someone will buy the thing before it is destroyed.

 

[aronhk_md]

Didn't realize there were more responses here. What amazes me is the naysayers I find in online forums. People do realize that generators were in use for many years and had a pretty good safety track record, especially diesel, before these "safety" switch type devices were "engineered" into them?

In many cases they are to help prevent damage to the unit itself in case of a failure. Or to make things convenient, such as auto starting under certain circumstances. But, in many cases they also create as many issues as they prevent.

Such was my Toro zero turn mower, which would not run after many hours spent toying with it. Until I realized the carb itself had a little electric solenoid on it that shuts off gas flow unless its getting 12v. Cute little SOB. Once I wired it straight to a new 12v source the mower started right up. Imagine that! So I put a petcock into the line, to cut off fuel to the carb just in case it kept flowing even with the pump off. Guess what? It worked.

Good thing I didn't mention THAT in an online forum. That's GAS I was playing with, and who knows what I might have blown up!

I'm with Phil here. As long as it runs and puts out two 120v legs at 1800 rpm, I think its workable.