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Is Your Generator Ready for Winter?

Proper maintenance procedures can help to reduce and/or prevent generator startup failures and will help to ensure your generator will start when needed. Coolant levels, battery cell levels and specific gravity should be checked. Keep snow away from the air vents and from accumulating against the generator. All scheduled maintenance should be completed prior to winter.

For diesel generators, it’s most important to keep the fuel clean, the coolant heaters/block heaters running, oil heaters maintained and making sure the batteries are still holding a full charge. Run the generator monthly to ensure it is functioning.

Jacket Water Heaters

During cold weather, block heaters are working hard to keep the engine warm and is the most common time for failures. This leads to generator alarms for low coolant temp and/or over crank if the engine fails to start within the defined parameters.

Battery Considerations

Lead-acid batteries reach peak efficiency at 90° F (32° C) as ambient temperature drops, ampere output and recharging efficiency decline, dropping to 40 percent of rated output at 0° F (-18° C).

Contact your Gregory Poole Power Systems service representative to make sure your generator is ready for the season!

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