Generators Rated for Hot Climates?

[stevethegrease]

You mention whether the plenum is in place - excuse my ignorance - what is that?

It's the housing that goes between the fan and the radiator. It makes a huge difference to the cooling, instead of the fan stirring the air up and some of it passing through the rad - all the air is ducted through the rad. My old Bedford army lorry would hold a Haynes manual against the radiator on tickover from the rad air flow, never mind when it was revving.
( When the Army tested the Landrover 101's in desert conditions for 8000 miles, the support vehicle was a Bedford RL, with towing out stuck LR's etc , it never overheated)

Very nice of the manufacturers to help you out.

 

[Matrixx]

It almost sounds like a SDMO set up (all painted blue).
The doors should be shut, the worst one's to have open are the side ones the air will just go straight to the fan instead along the engine/alternator.
The radiator should have a plate on it which may tell you the rating.

The MTU engine is usually tightly controlled by the engine management system A-deck or D-deck or something similar, usually it wont let you start the engine unless everything is perfect. the fault should be seen on the PIM unit (if older version) and displayed as a code.

if its SDMO the controller will be a Telys (pice of sh**t), if not let me know which , I have programmed them all. the Telys had alternator protection built in which would monitor the heating of the alternator, mainly by reactive current (bad power factor), and would shutdown to protect the alternator, but most people did not have them set up properly and so would shutdown before they needed to.

another thing to check is the rad cooling fins, if they haven't taken the crankcase breather outside it will release an oil mist that coats the radiator, add to it dust / sand and it sets like concrete, if you try to pressure wash it off it will damage the radiator, the copper fins are quite delicate.

 

[RWD3M]

The doors should be shut, the worst one's to have open are the side ones the air will just go straight to the fan instead along the engine/alternator.

We used to have this very issue on aircraft GPU's. Only 60Kva, so small by comparison, but running them on high load in places like Nairobi (hot and high) in the middle of the summer used to cause all sorts of problems (constantly overheating and tripping out) until the local aircraft handlers finally listened and closed the doors!

To be fair, it is a little counter-intuitive

 

[Matrixx]

Altitude will have an effect as well, anything above 1500m will derate the engine and alternator.( Nairobi is over 1700m). I spent six months out there installing a power station back in the 90's. it wouldn't be my first choice as a holiday destination, not unless you like malaria, food poisoning, and being robbed. The Tusker was nice though (local beer).

 

[RWD3M]

Altitude will have an effect as well, anything above 1500m will derate the engine and alternator.( Nairobi is over 1700m). I spent six months out there installing a power station back in the 90's. it wouldn't be my first choice as a holiday destination, not unless you like malaria, food poisoning, and being robbed. The Tusker was nice though (local beer).

Oh I don't know! Did you ever go for a bite to eat at 'Carnivores'?

 

[Matrixx]

Yes we used to go quite often, Zebra was quite nice, and crocodile. we used to see who could go the longest before we put they flag up. it was a bit like a safari on a plate.

 

[RWD3M]

Yes we used to go quite often, Zebra was quite nice, and crocodile. we used to see who could go the longest before we put they flag up. it was a bit like a safari on a plate.

Been a long time since I was there last (late '90's) but I understand its still going!

I agree with you on the Zebra, also Antelope and, if memory serves, Giraffe?

Happy days!