Thinking about taking the plunge and going the Generator route

[CANUCK2]

reefer generators

I would have preferred a Denyo, but the decision wasn't all mine. There is, however, a Dominican saying to cover this: "La mejor marca es NUEVA"

I'll will certainly report any failures on the Onan we have.

As far as Generac is concerned, they are one of the largest selling "standby" power units in the US--They claim to be #1-

The really good units, the ones from reffer containers are hard to find in good condition but they are here. CAT diesels/Wilsons are very good but very, very expensive, thanks to monopoly at the dealership..

HB

Hillbilly........we have often read with interest in the forum but not too experienced in posting or replying...so I hope I am getting it right. We are in Costamber, Puerto Plata....and all of our three generating plants have burned up....2 gas of 5 kv and one diesel of 5 kv all air cooled and not big enough for my house....so with all the power problems we are looking at buying a bigger more stable planta.......I have phoned all the companies in the yellow pages and all the other contacts that we could find....and most plantas are already sold....lots of companies have nothing........it seems that new plantas are about $7500 for 10k just as has been mentioned.....7800 for 11.5 cummins in capital....but no tank with it.....
I have talked with a fellow by the name of Felix Nuamann...he has a taller in santiago...and has rebuilt the genset on my now burned up yanmar 5k diesel planta that was air cooled....the genset work seemed good....he has installed quite a few larger generators in Costambar that seem to be good......he says he has a number of these reefer generators.....cummins motor and onan gen set.....15k with tank.....he will install in my place hooked to manual switch for 5700.00 us...one year guarantee........is this the same guy who has done work for some of you people?? If so what was your experience with him...a one year guarantee is awesome....but not if he doesn't come back...
of course the hope is that the new government pays its bills and the power comes back at least to the old terrible conditions that we would love to have again.

Our electric bill is over 15,000 pesos per month(propane stove and hot water) and that was with the power outagaes of the past...now it is less...

we worry that an inversor would not receive a good charge with power comming only 5-6 hours per day...is that a problem?...if you have an relatively big inversor, do you still need a genset to charge it in conditions like this...........anyone got insights into the future of the electrical conditions we might expect.??

My understanding was that these reefer gen sets are designed for continuous use...and that they are the best type....this seems to be confirmed by some of your comments.....anyone else with sucess with them.....what should you look for on a used one.....how can you tell if it is a good one or not without having a mechanic tear it down...any tips?

finally..........what about automatic transfer switchs.....I was quoted 40,000 pesos to have one installed with a planta....sound right?...I also heard that they are pretty finickie...and dont last...........we could get up a lot at night for 40000 pesos if we had to replace it every year....any ideas on this..

my email adress is stuccodoctor@hotmail.com ...if anyone wants to send a phone number for me to call..........sure appreciate all the great information that comes out of this forum.....and thanx to the old timers who share their learning from the school of hard knocks....Ken

 

[Hillbilly]

I know who he is and where he is, if it the one I think it is.

There ae a couple of people that deal in these reefer gensets. YOu are quite right to go up to 15 kw with a liquid cooled engine. Ambient temperature here is really hard on the smaller plantas, although my Denyo lasted over 15 years.

Currently we are look into importing some gensets but until we can test them under DR conditions, I can't take out a "Classified" in DR1 and start solving problems.

The ONan ins Santo Domingo sounds kinda expensive for that much power.

The guy in Santiago seems to be closer to what you should pay. Gimme a day and I will nose around a bit.

HB

 

[BushBaby]

Ken,
I haver just bought a recon from Johhny Flores here in Puerto Plata! It is the ThermoKing 15k with a Cummins engine with just 400 hours on the clock & I got it for just under what you were quoted by Santiago! ALSO with the 12 month warranty, but this guy is MUCH closer to go "Ba** Out" if he doesn't turn up for a call out. Oh Yes, it includes a 75 Gal tank for fuel!!!

His number is 261 6185 & he is located behind Frenos de Blas & across from Mountain View hotel. PM me if you want more specific info or directions! You can come see mine in operation first if you wish to. - Grahame.

 

[Escott]

Ken,
I haver just bought a recon from Johhny Flores here in Puerto Plata! It is the ThermoKing 15k with a Cummins engine with just 400 hours on the clock & I got it for just under what you were quoted by Santiago! ALSO with the 12 month warranty, but this guy is MUCH closer to go "Ba** Out" if he doesn't turn up for a call out. Oh Yes, it includes a 75 Gal tank for fuel!!!

His number is 261 6185 & he is located behind Frenos de Blas & across from Mountain View hotel. PM me if you want more specific info or directions! You can come see mine in operation first if you wish to. - Grahame.

I have one question. Do you really believe that you bought a generator with 15 days of full time use on it?

Scott

 

[Gringo]

Sounds Fishy to me to!

I have one question. Do you really believe that you bought a generator with 15 days of full time use on it?

Scott

Sounds like the same guy who used to go around all the used Car lots back home and fix the clocks on the Cars for the Dealers.....

 

[BushBaby]

I have one question. Do you really believe that you bought a generator with 15 days of full time use on it?

Scott

Sorry, edited because I misread the original post. YES, I DO believe what I have is a generator that has just 400 hours of use on it. I took along a deisel engineer who gave it the TWICE over & came up with the confirmation that I needed. I'll mention your concerns to Johnny when I see him tomorrow (he's coming to give it a check over after a week on site here - part of his after sales service) & he can take on board your comments as to his honesty!!

I promise to come cry on your shoulder if I have made a mistake ...... or get it sorted in my own way!! - Grahame.

 

[Escott]

Sorry, edited because I misread the original post. YES, I DO believe what I have is a generator that has just 400 hours of use on it. I took along a deisel engineer who gave it the TWICE over & came up with the confirmation that I needed. I'll mention your concerns to Johnny when I see him tomorrow (he's coming to give it a check over after a week on site here - part of his after sales service) & he can take on board your comments as to his honesty!! Diesel engineer? You crack me up!

I promise to come cry on your shoulder if I have made a mistake ...... or get it sorted in my own way!! - Grahame.

No problem here. I am sure someone sold you a generator with 16 days use on it and then rebuilt! I am absolutely sure every Dominican is completely honest and I don't think there ever was a gringo taken to school by any one of them!!

Sorry but this question begs to be asked. Do you want to buy a bridge? You can build toll booths and collect tolls on it for the rest of your life and then leave it to your heirs. It is located in Brooklyn, NY. You will just love the architecture also!

LMAO
Edited to add:

You really think there is a need to rebuild a Generator with 16 days use? Man you crack me up.

 

[Criss Colon]

Six Years Experience With A 20 kw Detroit Diesel Generator!

When I bought my house 6 years ago,it had a little cement houseout front,with the generator inside."Great" I though,it can't hurt to have a gererator for "emergencies"! About a month later,the hurrican hit,and we moved in the next day,even though we had planned lots of renovations before the move!
I can't count the number of times over the last 6 years I have thanked God for that generator.And now,it is our main power source,and charges my invertor batteries at the same time.
About 6 months ago,I had my electrician and my diesel mechanic put a manual control switch in my bathroom.Before that,a trip to the "house" was needed to turn the planta on and off.I didn't want an automatic tranfer swith,because I use my inverter most of the time,and only use the planta for the airconditioning,and water pump,and well pump.With the present situation I am very happy.I have a little red light in my bedroom that goes on when there is "Street Power",I go into the bathroom,and turn off the planta,and throw the switch to "Street".When the street power goes off,I can only tell because the "Air" goes off,the invertor runs everything else,and has it's built in transfer switch.If I want "Air" while the street power is of,I start the planta.Works great for me,and the planta only runs when "I" turn it on!
As to "sharing" the use of a gererator with friends and neighbor,I would heavily advise against it! I have heard too many bad stories about sharing!
Now about that shower head mounted hot water heater.I have one in my "Bachelor Pad". It costs about 1000 pesos,only heats when the water runs,or not at all with the flip of a switch.Only complaint,the water,even on the "low" switch,is too hot!
CC

 

[Escott]

Correct me if I am wrong, but perhaps what bushbaby meant to say is that he bought a reconditioned genset with only 400 hrs on it since it was reconditioned.
I had a 60KW genset rebuilt by TechniCaribe after 14000 hrs of use, and they put a new hour meter on it when they finished, along with returning the original. So now I can say this genset "only" has a couple of thousand hrs. on it.
I take very good care of generators, in fact, it is one of the things I have been accused of being anal retentative about. I can say that when I got the 60KW back from Technicaribe, it looked just like the day I bought it new.
It was not just given a coat of paint over the whole thing, but was very carefully masked off, with everything that should not have been painted having been removed beforehand.

I cannot speak for Bushbaby so I can't answer your question. I just found it humorous about what he said he bought.

The last thing I would buy after a used generator in this country is a used generator that has been rebuilt and has 400 hours on it. Doesn't make for a warm and fuzzy feeling in my stomach.

Why did you have to have yours rebuilt at 14000 hours and what parts needed rebuilding?

I was trained on deisel engines and did it for about 6 years for the government. I am only familiar with the engine aspect of it. Was that what needed rebuilding on yours? Seems like a baby to be needing a rebuild. I have seen them still running with more 4x the hours.


Scott

 

[BushBaby]

Well Thank Goodness I have been out most of the day playing golf with the Great Curmudgeon in Santiago!! His company, as usual, was sane & pleasant!

No Of Course I don't know what I have bought in that Genset - it MUST be a load of crap because those who have not seen it, know nothing of whom I bought it from & have six years of experience viewing generators from 25 miles away heve told me so!! I am a "Silly Billy" to have believed what a deisel generator engineer told me when he checked it over for me & all the references I checked beforehand are lieing toerags even though I have known them for 6 or more years!!

Sorry, don't need to buy the Brooklyn Bridge - it was included in the sale price of the Genset!! Thanks for the offer & advice though & I will come for your professional opinion when I have to buy my NEXT generator in 6 months time!! - Grahame.

 

[Hillbilly]

Some of you guys should be ashamed of yourselves

Whoever it was that started the New York Jew comments should be banned for a few months!. As far as I can remember, this is the first time this board has ever used epithets in this manner. I don't like it and I wish you would refrain from this in the future.

Escott: I know you like to mess with people. That's cool. I have bought a lot of bridges in my day. IF BushBaby is happy with his new toy, let him enjoy it. I am deathly sure that if he is unhappy with its service he will blast the bejesus out of whoever it was that did the deed. And I don't like being between two friends. I am nobody's sycophant, so I dislike seeing this on these pages. By the way, (hee-hee) it's "diesel" ... "i" before "e" except after "c" or when sounded like "a" as in "neighbor" and "weigh"...I go through that every time I write that phucking word!!

Now back to the OP's point.

1) Do go larger--15-20 KW
2) Do NOT loan, lease or share anything with anyone not your nuclear family.
3) You can buy good used gensets if you are knowledgeable, or have good mechanics on hand. Look at reefer sets, since they were built to run long hours. (FYI Long life is intimately tied into cooling: Larger radiators and fans and larger air ducts and larger oil capacity and filter systems.)
4) Technicaribe gives good service-both me 'n JD Jones say so.
5) Diesels, under proper maintenence, can last nearly forever. WORD!
6) Lots of new stuff coming into the country so take your time.

HB

 

[gmiller261]

did a seach on "Technicaribe"

but did not find anymore info.

How do I get a hold of the company? I need a 'planta' rebuilt.

How much did it cost you and what size is your genset?

Thanks in advance for the information.

Gary

 

[Hillbilly]

Here is the Info you need on Technicaribe

Maximo Gomez #67
Tel 809 565 8024 & 565 3151
tecnicaribe@codetel.net.do
Fax 567 1876

Hope this helps you.

HB