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$9200 for a 20KVA Kohler rebuild
I have been quoted $9200 to pull a 20KVA Kohler/Yanmar genset from my Prevost H3-45, then rebuild the generator, then re-install the genset into the coach.
This breaks down to 2 tech’s 24 hours/tech for a labor total of $8000, then another $1200 of parts.
So 48 hours of labor to pull the unit, rebuild the generator, then re-install.
Labor rate is $163.00/hour.
Does this seem like a 48 hour job?
Craig Ingalls
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22 Replies
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What’s the breakdown of rebuild. We need the work order sheet.
BTW…some of us have seen gen sets with with 10K thru 20K hours and running just fine. I can’t remember reading about any re-builds / overhaul.
AL
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I’d highly recommend Martin Diesel in Defiance, Ohio. They were the builder of our generator for Marathon. At about 5000 hours we had a leaking main oil seal, requiring removal. They were great and very reasonable.
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Craig,
You need to run as fast as you can from whoever is telling you that. Who is it?
That gen should not be close to a rebuild until 30,000 hours. You need to describe what it is doing.
Later
bv
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Hello,
You can not always say a generator should last 10K 20K or 30K hours. A generator only lasts as long as it is maintained. The death of a generator is how it is treated.
The worst thing that can happen is starting a generator with a full load. Always make sure no AC or heavy use things in coach are on at the time. Stovetop, Microwave…
Power everything down, start generator after a 15 second or so warmup period. Let generator get to speed. 2 minutes of so of running, then add loads one at a time.
Thanks
1998 Featherlight XL
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Our point is not the why but the shop he is at and we are using examples of common wear.
Since this blogs inception I can remember 1 twenty plus year old coach having to rebuild a generator and it supposedly had 150 hours on it.
How many times would you have to start a gen with a load on it to hurt it. More so unloaded generators building soot and late oil changes is a huge determining factor in generator life.
He has a 2011 build on a 08 chassis, who knows what age of generator Outlaw put in there but he needs to expand on what they are telling him before anyone can help him.
Later
bv
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Good point Mr. Calif.
If this turns out to be another soot build up in generator and exhaust we have coached many owners on that fix.
AL
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Are they rebuilding the diesel engine, generator head or both?
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Hello,
Please read your manuals regarding any generator…they will state the importance of never starting a generator with a load on it.
My 1998 Featherlight Powertech 17.5 K only had 5500 hours on it and I had to replace the head when I purchased. I did try sending it in for rebuild, but they would not guarantee the issues would be fixed.
It just takes once starting with a full load to cause damage.
Thanks
David Thomas
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I am not saying starting a generator with a load on it is good but most Kohlers with Yanmar engines have a breaker in the control panel so if started with over amperage the breaker will trip.
If you have to much load on start up it also has a safety to were it will not put out AC until reduced.
That’s out of a Kohler manual.
If I was purchasing a used coach I would want to see records of service for my generator which is as important as PDI on the bus.
To often there are issues and a hour meter was changed out to try and sell a bus.
Later
bv
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I have to wonder how Auto Gen Start works with ensuring proper startup of appliances.
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What’s prompting the need for a rebuild?
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$1630 per hour is over the top rate.
I just finished an onsite generator service at $1460/hr and had quotes as little as $1350/hr. It took 12.75 hours to replace hoses, freeze plugs, water pump, flush everything and I was even helping.
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“It just takes once starting with a full load to cause damage. “
I read through this thread last week and this line stayed in my mind and bounced off the walls a few days. I do not have the mechanical know-how to question the statement above nor do I desire to refute it. I do have an honest question.
It is my understanding that most buses have inverter circuits and the ACs and other big power consumers are generally not on those circuits. IF the shore power kicks off for some reason, the big power draws also kick off and you are alerted to the power situation by that.
On my Vantare, everything runs through the inverters. When the shore power kicks off, everything keeps running by design and the generator comes on in a few minutes. We have had this happen 3-4 times in 13 1/2 years. We had no clue the shore power was off until the generator started.
Would Vantare/Featherlite and a few other converters design and build their systems this way even if it will cause damage to the generator?
This is their design and there is no way to work around it. I would love for my ACs to go off with the power. When I am parked inside the barn, I turn off the auto start on the generator, but if the shore power kicks while I am gone, the ACs will go right on running until the batteries get to a certain point. I can only hope they shut down before the batteries are ruined.
Davy
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Thanks to everyone who weighed in on this thread. I’m learning a lot. Here are a couple of photo’s of the damage to the genset. I don’t know generator operating principles very well, though I’m watching a lot of YouTube on the topic these days! I know that he used the word “excitation”. You can see the 2 damaged leads in the photos. I think that these are the stator field excitation leads, though don’t quote me on that. Looking at the pics, it’s not clear to me if this is thermal damage or mechanical damage. Did I overload the genset, or is this a wire chafe? Can you thermally damage the exciter field leads by overloading a generator on startup?
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Craig
I sent your pictures to a friend who knows and he said he’s never seen burn’t windings on a Kohler but has on a older Powertech.
What were you running or doing when it failed?
Later
bv
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