Tips for Buying Used Generators

Generators are an important backup plan for any business to deal with sudden power outage and blackouts. They help the business to run smoothly and not face any sudden loss. Since it is mainly used as a backup plan, opting for used generators instead of new ones can make more sense for many business houses since it is more cost-effective and viable. However before you select one such generator, several consideration and tips should be kept in mind to select the right and appropriate unit.

Get your own requirements clear

It is very important that foremost you calculate your own power requirements. Whether you require it for business, house or RV will help you decide if you need a standby or a portable generator. Then it’s the engine size. This can best be specified by a certified experienced electrician who can exactly specify your wattage needs. Once you have the specifications in your hands your hunt would become lot easier. Now you can look into unit and check their various parameters as given below

Age, hours and usage

The first thing to check on any unit is the hours, age and history of the generator set. Since most generators have a car like odometer reading attached to them, it is fairly easy to find out the hours on any generator. Generators with less than 4000 hours on it should be preferred. Finding out how a generator was used previously will also prove advantageous. Any generator that was not used as a prime power source will have fewer hours on it as well as less wear and tear and thus will last longer for you. For units, where this information is not available, you would need to rely on the seller’s reputation and technical expertise or get your expert to inspect the unit. The sellers are often the person who has inspected, tuned, built, tested and fixed any errors with the unit before showcasing it for reselling.

Manufacturer history and reputation

The manufacturer’s brand value along with the model of the unit also plays a critical role. Its best not to go with brands with no reputation in the market since you simply cannot afford to go for a low quality or cut any corners to meet your power requirements. With known brands, you are assured of high quality equipment. The second thing to look for is the model. Try not to go for too old or almost getting obsolete models since they would pose a big problem whenever you require to go shopping for any spare parts. Getting them might just prove impossible and you may have to end up with purchasing another unit which is not viable.

Visual inspection

Finally, it’s best to get a visual inspection and all parts check up done by your own expert. There is nothing better than a test run to know for sure that it is the right unit. This will also help you in making sure that it works brilliantly for years to come without any fault creeping up.

Selecting A Generator Changeover Switchgear

Today power outages are becoming a frequent happening and the order of the day. Thus it is becoming extremely imperative for any family or a business house to plan for power blackouts before it causes a major inconvenience and even loss to your business. Generator Changeover Switchgear can prove to be a highly effective emergency backup system here which can seamlessly, safely and quickly be connected to any generator to supply electricity. It can also reverse the process once the grid power gets restored. However, before purchasing one, many factors should be look into and considered. Some of them are:-

Ampacity draw/usage 

Foremost the ampacity required to adequately supply power to the building needs to be determined before one selects the transfer switch. How many equipments must be powered, will help you determine the power requirements. The transfer switch ampacity and the subpanel must match for a seamless power supply without any interruptions.

Permanent vs. portable generator 

Any permanent generator requires an automatic transfer switch which can transfer the power from the utility grid to the generator in seconds. This minimized downtime is certainly attractive but it is also a costly affair when the overall cost of the unit, its parts, installation and maintenance cost is considered. In some areas, one may require few seismic permits as well as periodic testing.

Manual transfer switch is a more cost-effective alternative to connect any portable generator to the premises even though the power supply is not immediate and may take up to few minutes. However, its installation is much easier. A manual transfer also lends a much smaller footprint which makes them a highly attractive option facing space issues. A portable generator can be rented whenever required or if you have one, you can use them in multiple premises.

Safety requirements 

Typically, any new electrical equipment installation requires a ‘listing’ and approval of Underwriters Laboratories or similar recognized test lab which must be submitted to the local building inspectors. For standby systems or portable generator connection, UL 1008 must be complied and adhered to. Any non-adherence might invite penalties.

Environmental factors 

Any transfer switch would by default be exposed to various environmental factors like heat, rain, rodents etc. Typically a Type 3R enclosure protects the unit from outdoor climatic conditions. To protect the unit from small animals, insects and debris, the enclosure should have a removable cover over the cam opening which is normally located at the bottom of the enclosure. The manual transfer switch is typically always in use after installation. A pad-lockable door bars any unauthorized entry and its lockable handle cover prevents any possible tampering with disconnect handles.

Other factors which need consideration are the connection option and the interlock options. Proper evaluation can help you make the correct choice and make all the difference in the aftermath of any power disaster. Thus, before you select any product, you need to ensure that they are made of the highest quality and can withstand pressure put on it. It is best to read the reviews on the internet to help you make the right choice.

New Generators-Critical For Many Users

Whether one wants a standby power system for their data centres or for powering homes during a power outage or powering tools at job sites and for numerous other purposes, an investment in new generators is becoming essential and critical for many across the globe. A generator can easily meet the power requirements of home and business alike and ensures that any inconvenience or business loss is averted. These can easily power virtually everything at home or on the road and can protect your bottom line. However, there are some buildings and businesses for which these generators are more critical than others and they mandatorily need these power backup systems. Few of them are:-

Hospitals and Outpatient Surgery Clinics

It is critical for hospitals to maintain power. Absence of power can easily lead to widespread casualties and lives of patients, visitors and employees at risk. Today number of treatments for both outpatients and intensive care and life preserving treatments and even operations require gadgets running on electricity. Thus any hospital cannot even envision a minute without a power supply. A backup generator is vital for them to save the lives of their patients.

Police Departments

It’s common knowledge that a power outage and blackout leads to more crimes, getting the police on their toes. However, if the outage happens in a police station or any of the police departments, the situation can easily turn catastrophic. Inspite of a police station not requiring a heavy or industrial scale power supply, they still require a single unit of industrial scale generator to fulfil their power demands in the scenario of a power cut.

Retail stores

Retails stores have a continual stream of customers moving in and out of the shop. A sudden power failure will not only bring the business to a standstill but also can invite devastating theft since most items remains on open display. Even the camera surveillance would stop working. Thus one has the option to either close down the shop or get a generator installed for smooth running of the business and getting the requisite profits out of it.

Data Centres

Data centres simply cannot hope to function without having some emergency power backup plan in place as their function is heavily dependent on uninterrupted power supply. A single minute of power outage may equate to vital loss of data and even wipe out of all data currently running through the system. Thus they necessarily have a generator installed for data loss prevention which can cause extreme financial loss as well as loss of reputation to both individuals and companies alike.

Laboratories

Often laboratories require uninterrupted power supply for a seamless work. Whether it is pharmaceutical or testing or animal and plant studies lab, a steady power supply is a must. Thus, getting a generator is an essential and not an optional choice for many. But, before jumping into buying the first one you come across, you should do a little research to find the best one for your usage.

A Guide To Using An Automatic Transfer Switch

A home can probably survive without electricity for a few hours even if it is inconvenient but for much business it could spell disaster. With the continual growing power outage and cuts, installing a generator as a power back up source is becoming an increasing trend. With it, the awareness has grown that merely installing the generator is not enough. The generator needs to be operated through a reliable automatic transfer switch which makes the supply of power a safe and reliable process. Since the transfer switches are available in both manual and automatic version, one must consider the options carefully before making a choice. Here we list down various advantages and possible flip side of the automatic switches for you to make an educated choice:-

Uninterrupted power supply

For those requiring constant electricity for running of critical services, the automatic switch is the best option as it facilitates uninterrupted power supply. Normally entities with safety issues or financial risks require uninterrupted power supplies like hospitals, police departments, jails and prisons, data centres, defence organizations etc. On the flip side, sometimes these switches respond to false signals leading to waste of electricity powers though it is in small amount.

More efficient switching to the generator power

While the automatic switches can supply uninterrupted power, they are also considered the most efficient way to switch over to generator feed from utility feed. Fir manual switches one has to go over to the switch in case of power outage and then turn it on to restore the power supply which may take up quite a bit of time with the minimum time being of a few minutes. With the automatic switch, this changeover just takes a couple of seconds and it is so seamless that the time lag often goes unnoticed. On the downside, the automatic switches are larger with more complex mechanism. They are thus a more costly affair. The prices also vary depending on style and the brand of the switch. Emergency power solutions provider may give you the best switches choice ideal for your needs.

Automatic switches are more preferred for less accessible generators

Sometimes due to space issues and other factors, the generators are placed on locations where they are difficult to access on a daily routine basis. They are located in upper areas which may require ladders or catwalks or even special keys to reach to them. Thus in case of a power outage, manual switch can never be an option here as getting to it can be both inconvenient as well as potentially dangerous. On the flip side, the automatic switches require a higher level of maintenance because of their more complex components especially with regards to their testing maintenance and their replacement parts. These rules can best be described by the emergency power solutions provider.

There are times when people have little idea about purchasing and using automatic switches. Thus, one needs to take the help of an expert to ensure that they are fitted the best and to learn how to use them without any difficulty.

Transfer Switches - What Are They And How To Find The Best One

With backup power sources and generators becoming a common gadget both for residential and business use, a greater awareness is spreading about the need and the advantages offered by transfer switches. Whenever an electric utility power supply outage occurs, it is simply not recommended to power the mandatory circuits directly for light, heat and refrigeration. Instead one should go for the more advantageous and safe option of accessing the generator through the double throws switch option. Thus its best to first understand what exactly is a switch and its various aspects.

Transfer switches are those switches through which the generator power is accessed in case of power outages and supplies to all circuits which need to run using that electrical power. These not only switch off the power utility line and open the generator line in the scenario of an outage but also reverse the process smoothly when the grid power gets restored. There are basically two types of switches- the manual changeover switch and the automatic switch.

Manual switches are mostly hardwired to the control panel and are best used for portable or standby generators. These need to be manually turned off and on whenever a power outage occurs or gets restored. This may not prove useful in all occasions but it certainly is a much cheaper and simpler option and requires much less maintenance. These are normally wired to the essential circuits that need to be powered up like lights or furnace blowers which cannot run on an extension cord.

Automatic switches automatically get the generator power flowing whenever they sense a drop in the line voltage and turn the generator power off and reconnect back to the utility line whenever they sense that the line power has been restored. These can be used in conjunction with portable generators as long as it has an electric starter. However, they are mostly used with large unit, in entities where an uninterrupted power supply is critical for smooth running of the business and units.

Regardless of the type, the size of the switch that you use would be in contingent with several factors and aspects of your business like the size of the utility service used by you, size of the generator installed and the number and types of the appliance that must be run on it. Normally, the switches sizes vary from 50 amps to 200 amps. The one that would best suit your purpose is best determined by the electrical and back power house supplier experts. If you have little idea about which one is the right size, it is best to ask the expert to avoid any problems later on.

No matter what type of switches is used, certain certifications and approval are required and they must be regularly maintained to avert any untoward incidences because of their malfunctioning. They should always be installed by an expert electrician and thoroughly inspected and checked from time to time. Any omission or carelessness here can cause severe loss both financially and otherwise.