Ashita 3 phase generator

[Simmo6830]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a very cheap old 400 amp 3 phase mig welder. I thought it would do just to get me started properly doing the work I would like to do. However I live in a very rural area and a 3 phase upgrade is completely out of the question due to cost ( I did plan for this when I bought the welder.) anyway I need a generator to run the old girl. 30kva should be sufficient. I have seen many of these ashita generators for sale but I'm apprehensive about there quality and longevity. Do they look worth a punt or should I up my budget and look for a known brand (Cummins, Perkins, etc)

All help is appreciated and apologies for the rant

Many thanks,
Simmo

 

[Bornfree]

I would buy an ex standby set, they have normally done very low hour's. Most generator companies will have several for sale and you can ask for the generator to be run at full load on a load bank.

 

[OJCar]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1343363230387678/

 

[frank horton]

If only it was a Gardner "D"........an all time dream.....
would find good use for a 3 phase x 4LK...........

 

[Barking Mat]

I have some strange perverse / attraction / interest in / to three phase diesel generators, don't really need one, but would love to own one.

Most of my machines are 3 phase.

 

[GRW]

I would buy an ex standby set, they have normally done very low hour's. Most generator companies will have several for sale and you can ask for the generator to be run at full load on a load bank.

Be careful with ex-standby stuff.
A lot of it is VERY old when pensioned off - & while yes low hours, that's no guarantee the machine is "like new" while a lot do not get serviced appropriately either.
A fave comment of mine was "if you sat on the sofa & did nothing for 10, 20, 30, 40 years..... do you think you'd feel as good and be as good as when you sat down?"
Pay special attention to the cooling system. A lot of standby sets don't get the coolant drained & changed anything like often enough (if at all), & the black start heaters accelerate the degradation of the corrosion inhibitors (so while the engine cannot freeze as its heated - it can rot internally, block stat housings and radiators, even corrode the liners).

Lots of older sets don't meet many of the current regulations for binding, noise, electrical & mechanical safety & compliance etc. Not so much of an issue if you're a private buyer - but using it for business use might bite you on the bum.

The ideal used gen is not too old, with not too many hours - but these in the UK are like rocking horse dung.
Broadly the used market is old ex-standby with low hours, or ex-fleet, ex-rental hire machines (so perhaps under 6yo but generally with starship operating hours). The latter can be a great buy if you want a standby set, but more of a gamble if its going to need to work 50 hours a week.

Note the used genset market has been limited stuff, so residuals very strong. This means that horrible old heaps I'd not touch fetch strong money, while good order stuff can be 60, 70, 80% of new! Given the low finance deals on new machines, often a business was better off buying new on the drip, spreading the cost and of course writing off the VAT, & being able offset the Interest as business expenses in their P&L accounts.

One thing is useful to know with new stuff. Rental stuff is classed as "portable" plant, so has to meet Euro5, meaning much more complexity & cost.
If buying for a static, one-site, permanent install.... you can get a more basic, cheaper machine, plus save on spec (like no socket array and protection breakers, wiring etc - as you can hardwire to your own building distribution).

Buying a (used) generator is a lot more of a minefield than buying a used vehicle.

"Caveat Emptor" & all that. Don't buy anything used you've not seen running and output checked as a bare minimum, and ideally (as has been said) witness it being run up to max on a Load Bank.

 

[GRW]

Just had a quick look at Ashita (as I'd not heard of them).
£9k for a 50kva isn't  that cheap while the engine model, alternator - just about all of it is chinese stuff I've never heard of.
The warranty is 1 year or 1000 hours (that'll be "whichever soonest"). A 1000 hour warranty on a 1500rpm industrial set is frankly rubbish & is a strong indication of the quality you can expect.
Personally I'd not be spending my money on one (or tbf on anything Hyundai branded either - Chinese copy Deutz & Cummins etc engines & copy Newage alternators - & "built to a price".

(That said so much of big brand stuff like Caterpillar's smaller sets is Chinese built and the quality does not meet the badge expectation. I went over a new Cat 40kva set at my previous job.... & was immensely underwhelmed).

If its significantly cheaper than a branded, known component / build machine - then its too good to be true pretty much.

 

[Simmo6830]

Just had a quick look at Ashita (as I'd not heard of them).
£9k for a 50kva isn't  that cheap while the engine model, alternator - just about all of it is chinese stuff I've never heard of.
The warranty is 1 year or 1000 hours (that'll be "whichever soonest"). A 1000 hour warranty on a 1500rpm industrial set is frankly rubbish & is a strong indication of the quality you can expect.
Personally I'd not be spending my money on one (or tbf on anything Hyundai branded either - Chinese copy Deutz & Cummins etc engines & copy Newage alternators - & "built to a price".

(That said so much of big brand stuff like Caterpillar's smaller sets is Chinese built and the quality does not meet the badge expectation. I went over a new Cat 40kva set at my previous job.... & was immensely underwhelmed).

If its significantly cheaper than a branded, known component / build machine - then its too good to be true pretty much.

That's what I was thinking probably better of buying a good used set if one can be found and if not have a look at new.
Thank you very much for your help
Simmo

 

[Barking Mat]

I'd personally be looking for a Perkins 6.354 running a decent 3 phase alternator.

That's what I'd want, then you could power plasma and welders on any site, God I've killed some extension cables.

 

[GRW]

That's what I was thinking probably better of buying a good used set if one can be found and if not have a look at new.
Thank you very much for your help
Simmo

Good luck
IME the new stuff.... the JCB G40QS is not a bad machine (there's a G27QS too but that might be a bit marginal). Kohler branded engine (Lomdardini absorbed by Kohler) that seems to stand up well, good Meccalte alternator & a Deep Sea controller, reasonably good build quality in this day & age.
Also Pramac used to do a nice 40kva with either a Yanmar or Perkins lump (I'd go for the Yanmar - good engine).
I'd be happy to consider either of those if I was in the market

 

[Bornfree]

Be careful with ex-standby stuff.
A lot of it is VERY old when pensioned off - & while yes low hours, that's no guarantee the machine is "like new" while a lot do not get serviced appropriately either.
A fave comment of mine was "if you sat on the sofa & did nothing for 10, 20, 30, 40 years..... do you think you'd feel as good and be as good as when you sat down?"
Pay special attention to the cooling system. A lot of standby sets don't get the coolant drained & changed anything like often enough (if at all), & the black start heaters accelerate the degradation of the corrosion inhibitors (so while the engine cannot freeze as its heated - it can rot internally, block stat housings and radiators, even corrode the liners).

Lots of older sets don't meet many of the current regulations for binding, noise, electrical & mechanical safety & compliance etc. Not so much of an issue if you're a private buyer - but using it for business use might bite you on the bum.

The ideal used gen is not too old, with not too many hours - but these in the UK are like rocking horse dung.
Broadly the used market is old ex-standby with low hours, or ex-fleet, ex-rental hire machines (so perhaps under 6yo but generally with starship operating hours). The latter can be a great buy if you want a standby set, but more of a gamble if its going to need to work 50 hours a week.

Note the used genset market has been limited stuff, so residuals very strong. This means that horrible old heaps I'd not touch fetch strong money, while good order stuff can be 60, 70, 80% of new! Given the low finance deals on new machines, often a business was better off buying new on the drip, spreading the cost and of course writing off the VAT, & being able offset the Interest as business expenses in their P&L accounts.

One thing is useful to know with new stuff. Rental stuff is classed as "portable" plant, so has to meet Euro5, meaning much more complexity & cost.
If buying for a static, one-site, permanent install.... you can get a more basic, cheaper machine, plus save on spec (like no socket array and protection breakers, wiring etc - as you can hardwire to your own building distribution).

Buying a (used) generator is a lot more of a minefield than buying a used vehicle.

"Caveat Emptor" & all that. Don't buy anything used you've not seen running and output checked as a bare minimum, and ideally (as has been said) witness it being run up to max on a Load Bank.

All our standby sets are run weekly off load and monthly on load for 1 hour and serviced 6 monthly. When you rely on them for bird welfare you don't skimp on maintenance.

 

[GRW]

All our standby sets are run weekly off load and monthly on load for 1 hour and serviced 6 monthly. When you rely on them for bird welfare you don't skimp on maintenance.

That's the right way to go . If more were as diligent they'd be much better off (& save money in the long run).
As I said - not changing the coolant is the big killer.
An annual coolant change is time & money well spent on s/by sets with engine heaters.

 

[GRW]

I'd personally be looking for a Perkins 6.354 running a decent 3 phase alternator.

That's what I'd want, then you could power plasma and welders on any site, God I've killed some extension cables.

Fantastic old engine! The 4.236 & the 1004 / 1006 "Phaser" variants are damn good as well.
(Not quite as confident about the 1100 series that replaced the 1000 series units)

 

[Bornfree]

Fantastic old engine! The 4.236 & the 1004 / 1006 "Phaser" variants are damn good as well.
(Not quite as confident about the 1100 series that replaced the 1000 series units)

Haven't got any 1100s on generators but got several in tractors. Good engine's mechanically but the electronics let them down.

 

[GRW]

View attachment 452425

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Best part of 50 years old. Markon alternator from the looks, & different colour suggests its been rewound at some point.
A bit too old for most people as a workhorse (it'll like a drink too)

 

[Mikes]

Just got rid of a FG Wilson 40 kVA set . This was bought from an auction a good number of years ago to power a workshop that didn't have a mains connection. It was previously used (along with several others) to provide power to hospital buildings whilst major mains cabling was replaced and as such had done quite a few hours when bought. Was an excellent set and only disposed of as the alternator failed and was beyond economic repair. Perkins 4 cylinder was still in good order. Unfortunately, F G Wilson is now part of the Caterpillar group.
The set has been replaced with a 9.9 kVA one which has a 3 cylinder water cooled Lister Petter engine. No acoustic enclosure so is horribly loud but only used for a short while whilst the workshop is cleared.
Therefore, if you are planning to use the set for a reasonable amount of time, get the best acoustic performance that you can.

 

[Pete.]

I have some strange perverse / attraction / interest in / to three phase diesel generators, don't really need one, but would love to own one.

D'ya like dags?

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Mates got a 30kva ashita as a backup. It’s a generic Chinese built machine, I wouldn’t want to depend on one as they’re computer controlled and you can guarantee it’ll be that bit that fails and can’t be replaced. Go for a Cummins, bombproof (usually 4 or 6bt) and you can get bits

 

[GRW]

Mates got a 30kva ashita as a backup. It’s a generic Chinese built machine, I wouldn’t want to depend on one as they’re computer controlled and you can guarantee it’ll be that bit that fails and can’t be replaced. Go for a Cummins, bombproof (usually 4 or 6bt) and you can get bits

Seen quite a few 6BT on water Co standby duty. Tough, simple old tanks.
Downside is you need a lot of room for one for the power, plus the chances of finding a serviceable acoustic canopied one are slim to none I suspect.

4BT - I don't recall coming across more than 1 or 2 in over 25-years.

Used to see lots of bombproof Lister-Petter HR3 (25kva) & a few HR4 (40kva) years ago - but they are getting rarer (exported??)

 

[Bornfree]

Seen quite a few 6BT on water Co standby duty. Tough, simple old tanks.
Downside is you need a lot of room for one for the power, plus the chances of finding a serviceable acoustic canopied one are slim to none I suspect.

4BT - I don't recall coming across more than 1 or 2 in over 25-years.

Used to see lots of bombproof Lister-Petter HR3 (25kva) & a few HR4 (40kva) years ago - but they are getting rarer (exported??)

I did a water pump on a 4bt last week but that was running a 50kva so quite a bit larger than the OP wanted.