"Perkins" Generators on FB Marketplace?

[Jelly_Sheffield]

Have seen a few new and very low hours Gensets listed on FB Marketplace, similar to the below in appearance:

Does anyone have experience of these machines?


The prices are very attractive, the form factor is perfect for my requirements, and the rated power is about what I need...

But the appearance seems a bit off, so I suspect they're an import machine with dodgy branding applied, and severely doubt that they actually have a perkins power-pack at the price point.

That's not a show stopper for me... So long as they actually deliver the rated power, and don't have some sort of dangerous manufacturing defect (being that 440V electricity isn't a plaything, and previous experience teaches that chinese manufacturers will make something to any price point an importer wants, including cheapened to the point of having potentially lethal flaws).

I am a bit time poor at the moment so don't really want to engage with a seller and drag myself over to view one (possibly with a welder on the trailer to test it) to have my time wasted...

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

Having done a bit more digging, these appear to be rebadged examples of the air-cooled diesel generators produced by Henan Banrong Machinery Co. in Zhengzhou.

The manufacturer appears to be an established manufacturer of Generators, Slurry Pumps, Oilfield Drill-String Equipment and various equipment for Mining, as well as some small Plant Equipment...

Notably, the original manufacturer does not appear to offer a 26kVA unit in this form factor, but are selling very similar units (which appear to have a more modern AVR) in 8-15 kVA via Ali-Express.

My interest is piqued, but I feel like I would have more faith in buying one direct from China than via the people on FB Marketplace.

 

[Farside]

There's usually a slew of 'Honda' gensets on FB Mktplce which have Chonda engines and woefully sized alternators on them, labelled as 5kW, so it's not a new scam.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

The irony with these air cooled diesel units, is that whilst they're far from a premium product, if described correctly they would probably still be worth the money they want for them.

But deliberately deceptive behaviour, that's a hard nope.

 

[pressbrake1]

Perkins don’t make single cylinder poop!

 

[dieselsamurai]

Perkins don’t make single cylinder poop!

Exactly ! Surely Perkins would be a bit miffed that there name is on these things ? just a quick search on FB shows about 20 different sellers pretty local to me. I would not touch with a bargepole

 

[dobbslc]

I was looking for a back up generator and saw all these new generators with free delivery etc! Yes after they've had your bank details first...
Scams mostly I think.

 

[Wozzaaah]

They most definitely aren’t Perkins. They’re generic Chinese ones usually being sold alongside those “German” tool chests by caravan-dwellers.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Exactly ! Surely Perkins would be a bit miffed that their name is on these things ? just a quick search on FB shows about 20 different sellers pretty local to me. I would not touch with a bargepole

They won’t be local, have a look at their selling profile and you’ll usually see them for sale all over the country by the same person.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

They won’t be local, have a look at their selling profile and you’ll usually see them for sale all over the country by the same person.

So I contacted one out of curiosity and said I would be interested in purchasing but would collect from their site, and the purchase would be subject to it passing a commissioning test on a load bank before loading...

They didn't like it at all.

 

[Matrixx]

Perkins dont make an air cooled engine, they can't even get the kVA right. there were a lot of Perkins copy's which looked almost the same until you tried to fit an oil filter etc.

 

[wyn]

The orange tin looks about big enough for 6Kva.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

The orange tin looks about big enough for 6Kva.

From what I could gather on the web, and asking a friend who speaks Mandarin to do some googling in Chinese, the actual manufacturer makes 3, 5, 6 & 8 kVA units in that frame, and 10, 12& 15 kVA in a visually very similar frame which is longer to accommodate a 2-cyl and larger alternator.

They also make 20 through 1000 kVA liquid cooled units which appear to be well regarded in China, with 4 and 6 cyl engines.



According to my mate, they're quoting $2.5k + $350 shipping delivered to Port of Thames for a 37.5kVA unit with a 3 year warranty, which is attractive.

Generators exceeding 7.5kW but less than 75kW (commodity code 8501618099), are zero rated for customs duty, so only VAT would be payable, plus maybe 300 in clearance charges, which would bring it to a total of around £3K.

Considering that you see dealers selling comparably sized used sets for +5k with +10000 hours on, it seems like a reasonable deal if you're willing to take the risk.

Hmmm...

 

[Matrixx]

The trouble is they are not made to any European standards. They make up their own ratings. As with the recent PPE scandal CE has a different meaning China.

If you compare a 1250 kVA Newage (Cummins Generator Technologies) alternator the chinese version is over a ton lighter (less copper) somewhere around 4T UK made.

 

[chrismac]

I have seen them, I did a search for the sellers location which often did not tie in with the item location, if its too good to be true then it generally is, I would keep clear.

 

[tom2207]

the closest that will get to being a 26kva is if you park beside someone with a real gen set ,,,

Id rather a rattly old 2.6 petrol off an ex hire fleet ,,, seen too many of these in bits in the past to have any interest in ever owning one. Just Chinesium garbage.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

The trouble is they are not made to any European standards. They make up their own ratings. As with the recent PPE scandal CE has a different meaning China.

If you compare a 1250 kVA Newage (Cummins Generator Technologies) alternator the chinese version is over a ton lighter (less copper) somewhere around 4T UK made.

I have mixed feelings about this, I've worked on plenty of projects where all we could source in-country was Chinese generators, and they've been adequate.

In a UK context, it would probably do what I need from it perfectly well too...

But UKCA marking is the rub, as importer I would be the duty holder and would be required to complete the technical file and conformity assessment... Or it's something I can never use commercially and never sell on if I no longer need it (at least without a potentially massive liability), which is a big limitation.

 

[HughF]

These are the generic 5kVa with a 186 clone diesel genset that have been around for almost 20yrs now.

They’re actually not bad machines. The best option is the Hyundai one, about £1500 usually.

 

[Justme]

That aint no 26kVa unit.

More like 6kVa peak & 4kVa cont.

Powered via a clone of the Yanmar L100 engine.

 

[Justme]

The best option is the Hyundai one, about £1500 usually.

If the £1500 units are anything like the £5k Hyundai units dont bother.

Had loads of trouble with mine. Seller useless, Hyundai service center just as bad.

In the 6Kva range I would look at the Pramac P6000s.
Not cheap but has a gen L100 engine & good for 2-4000 hours before you get issues.
Most issue are easy / cheap to fix.