To get the most out of your diesel generator, it’s key that you are regularly servicing your generator to make sure it’s all running smoothly as we don’t want our generator to fail when we need it the most! That’s whether you’re currently using it as your primary power source or if it’s used as a backup power source in case of an emergency, a diesel generator is great for both.
Diesel generator maintenance can often be quite easily forgotten especially if you are focusing on other aspects of life and let’s be honest no-one it can seem like a chore. But if you are using your diesel generator as a backup power source then the last thing we want is for it to fail when the time comes due to not servicing and maintaining it correctly!
Diesel Generator maintenance is a straightforward process and shouldn’t take you a long time especially if you are following a fool-proof routine, often the best practice when it comes to servicing a diesel generator is following the instructions and guidelines set by your generator’s manufacturer.
There will come a time though when you will need to reach out to generator experts as there will be certain changes in the schedule that you will need to follow if you haven’t had years of experience dealing with generators and the right qualifications, you may miss out on some problems which could run your generator down.
A lot of diesel generators have maintained the same technology for decades so manufacturers will be able to sense when certain parts of your generator are likely to fail or need replacing.
In this article, we will be going over why it’s important to be servicing a diesel generator with everything you need to know from our experts here at Pleavin Power.
Inhouse Maintenance Or outsourcing
You may find that a large business that has a massive operation owns several generators that are located on its site.
If they rely on a primary power source that runs their electrical systems it’s more than likely they have a full-time onsite engineer that deals with generator servicing maintenance but many small companies only have one or two generators on hand for backup power sources and won’t need someone full-time who can keep track of the equipment.
The best option for businesses such as this is outsourcing their diesel generator maintenance to experts in generators, companies such as Pleavin Power, one of the UK’s leading generator companies, help provide businesses with regular or as-needed basis maintenance on generators.
Once you outsource your maintenance, you will have a chief who is responsible for several works such as thoroughly inspecting the generators they’ve been assigned to care for, maintaining the performance records, noting down any technical data they’ve found from the manufacturers have provided and then finally follow safety produces while doing maintenance tasks on the scheduled they’ve set for your generator.
The Basics Of Maintaining Your Diesel Generator
These are some basics you can follow when maintaining your diesel generator, these tasks are most common to the generators you’d find on the market today:
- Checking And Keep Up Fluid Levels Inside
- Taking Off Worn Parts And Making Any New Component Upgrades
- Examining Plus Testing Your Generators Battery While Cleaning The Connections And Terminals
- Perform The Loading Bank Test (Research Beforehand)
- Inspecting The Accuracy Of The Control Panel And All Other Indicators
- Switch Any Expendable Components e.g. Air & Fuel Filters
Remember that this list isn’t comprehensive and is just a basic guide to servicing your diesel generator, make sure if you are going to do maintenance on your generator please follow the complete maintenance process that’s been set by your manufacturer.
When you are following a process, it’s the best practice that you are logging every single thing you’ve done and going to do. This way you’ll be able to create a record of all the readings that you take and any observations that you may discover along the way.
Another important thing to be logging is the date of each maintenance check on your generator, this way you can start to build up a health track over time and you’ll know when it’s time to re-check your generator’s health & vitals.
Why Is It Important To Do Regular Maintenance
A big reason why regular servicing and maintenance are important for your diesel generator is to protect the investment that you’ve made. Nobody likes when they’ve not got their money’s worth out of a product, even more, when it’s for something as important as your business.
Although diesel generators are extremely reliable when it comes to power as they are known to be sturdy and durable over the years like anything they can fail if not taken care of, plenty of generators on the market will not show any signs of failure until it suddenly breaks down which could be annoying if it happens to you.
Regular maintenance can help solve any pesky problems underlying without your knowledge and it can also ensure that there’s proper functionality due to checking important aspects like:
- Fluid And Oil Levels
- The Control Panel
- The Exhaust System
- How Your Oil Filters Are Performing
And many more…
Not only is it important for the safety of your generator but getting it serviced is also important for your safety as well. A generator that hasn’t been serviced is more prone to producing carbon monoxide which when inhaled can be fatal to people.
By doing a maintenance process and check, you’ll be able to ensure the generator is positioned correctly in a way that it won’t produce any fatal fumes indoors for you to inhale.
So if you’ve been avoiding looking on getting your diesel generator serviced, you know now how important it is on increasing the lifespan of your generator so you can get the money’s worth out of it over time and be prepared in case there’s a power cut that your diesel generator is ready and go to go without any problems!
Jack is the owner of Pleavin Power which was founded in 2017. He has worked in the power industry for over a decade and has an extreme focus on providing a quality service to clients across the UK. This has led Pleavin Power to becoming the market leader in the Critical, Prime & Standby Power markets.
