How To Winterize Your Commercial Diesel Generator

Winters can be harsh and often result in extended power outages, a situation you don’t want to be stuck with, especially if you don’t have a power back up.

This can have a drastic impact on your operations and you might have to incur heavy losses. The best way to ensure that such a situation doesn’t present itself in front of you is to have an alternate source of power like a diesel engine generator.

These are powerful, efficient, and effective tools to ensure that your power outage problems remain at bay and you can continue your operations without any glitches.

However, this can only be achieved, if the diesel fuel generator is winter-ready. Only then, it will continue performing even during this harsh season.

And winterizing it is the best way to do it. Whether it is a portable generator or a standby generator, winterizing is essential to ensure that the harsh winters don’t affect its performance and your source of alternate power continues to perform well.

Here’s how to winterize your commercial diesel generator:

Perform a Thorough Inspection

Issues related to the wear and tear of the engine are often overlooked. But they can also cause a substantial decrease in the efficiency of a diesel generator, especially during the winters. So, perform a thorough inspection of your machine.

Look for any obvious signs of wear and tear or any other indications that might require repair or replacement. If there are any loose wires, cracked hoses, leaks, or other similar signs of deterioration, then you should get them checked and repaired immediately for worry-less winters.

Clean or Replace the Oil Filter

Oil filter is an essential component of a marine diesel engine generator as they keep any debris, minute particles, or other impurities from entering the engine.

However, if the secondary fuel filters are not absolutely clean or very old, these particles can enter the engine, reducing its performance to a large extent. In extreme cases, it can also destroy internal parts or other components of the engine, resulting in heavy repair costs.

Change the Oil Regularly

The diesel engine oil is one of the most important elements for the smooth performance of the generator, as it lubricates all the parts of the engine that work together to generate power. This is even more important during winters as your generator works doubly hard to generate power due to the weather and requires more oil for better performance.

With time, the oil loses its effectiveness. Hence, it becomes extremely essential to change the oil in time, so that it does not cause harm to the engine. It is, therefore, best to change the oil with fresh oil, before the onset of winter so that you can make complete use of your diesel generator.

Take Care of The Diesel Fuel System

Before you store your diesel marine generator for winters, make sure you fill up the fuel tank and keep a fuel system stabilizer handy.

This stabilizer goes right into the fuel tank and helps in preserving fuel quality and reducing fuel evaporation until the generator is ready to be used. But when you install a fuel stabilizer, make sure you run the engine for 5-10 minutes so that it has enough time to reach the entire system.

Test it Before Storing It

Testing is one of the easiest ways to ensure that your system is working the way it is supposed to be. Run your generator for half an hour and monitor the performance closely. Check if all the parts are performing well, check for leakages, loose joints, etc.

If there are any signs of damage, you will have time to get it repaired before you finally store the system for use in winter.

Take Expert Opinion

When you are preparing to store your diesel engine generator for the winter, it is the best time to get it checked and repaired before it’s too late.

It is not always possible to detect and find out minor issues that the generator or the exhaust and cooling systems might have, and it is important to get them fixed because these minor issues can quickly turn into something big and result in an entire system failure.

The best way to deal with this is to take an expert opinion.

Get it checked by a professional who can point out any issues about the generator and you will have the time to get it repaired. This also works well for you in the long run.

Getting timely services done is a good practice for any machine and diesel engine generators are no exception. Right from ensuring a long life for your marine diesel engines to ensuring improved efficiency during the cold weather, an expert will be able to help you achieve it all with ease.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR USED GENERATOR INVENTORY

Maintain the Cooling System Well

Coolant circulates across all parts of the engine and cooling system to absorb heat and keep it from overheating. Overheating can be a serious issue, especially for a freshwater cooling system, during winters as the engine needs to work extra hard to generate power.

This is why it is important to replace the coolant before storing the generator for winters. Just like engine oil, even the coolant in the raw water cooling system deteriorates with time. Hence, it is important to periodically check the quality of the cooling water, and replace the same as and when required.

If all this seems overwhelming, trust us, we understand! It is for this very reason that we at Swift Equipment have a large team of competent service technicians for diesel generators, who are trained to help winterize your generator in no time.

So, if you find this task overwhelming, or simply don’t have the time for it, feel free to get in touch with us, and we will have it taken care of for you! Simple, isn’t it?

Frequently Asked Questions About Winterizing Diesel Engine Generator

Is it mandatory to winterize commercial diesel engine generators?

Generators are essential tools for alternate power needs and they become an important part of any commercial setup for the operations to continue unhampered as power outages are more likely to happen during winters. So, to make sure that your commercial diesel engine generator doesn’t stop working when required, it is best to winterize it.

What are the essentials of winterizing a diesel engine generator?

Some basic steps that you can take while winterizing your diesel engine generator are checking for any visible damage and leaks. Replace engine oil, coolant, and filters. Perform a thorough inspection and run the engine to see if there are any visible signs of damage. As for a professional’s opinion on its performance and get it serviced before storing it for winters.

Are there any safety tips to follow while winterizing the generator?

Using power generators safely is important. It is essential to allow proper ventilation to the generators. Secondly, carbon monoxide is a hazardous gas the generators might produce, so get a carbon monoxide alarm installed. And finally, keep the generator away from wet areas as that can cause life-threatening electrical shocks.