Whole House Generator

Our 35KW (that's 35,000 watts) genset, Model GGFD, is controlled by two, 200 amp automatic transfer switches (ATS). Each ATS works with one of our two, 200 amp subpanels. The ATSs and subpanels are located in our mechanical room.

The genset has a block heater so that the engine can be maintained at an operating temperature. When there is a utility power outage, the ATS senses it and then waits for five seconds to see if it's just a power glitch or a true outage. If utility power is not restored within five seconds, the ATS sends a signal to the generator to start up. After the generator comes up to speed and stabilizes, about 25 seconds, the ATS transfers the subpanel's input from the utility to the generator. It's all automatic.

When the utility power comes back on, the ATS waits for five minutes to see if the utility power is going to hiccup or truly stay on. If it stays on for the full five minutes, the ATS transfers the subpanel power input from the generator to the utility lines. The ATS then throttles down the generator for a cool-down period of five more minutes at which time the ATS turns the generator off.

To make sure that the systems are ready when they are needed, the ATS exercises the generator every 28 days for 10 minutes. That interval is user settable.

I have had the occasion to contact the support technician, Joe, twice. His attitude has been nothing short of spectacular, regardless of the hour. He's on call 24/7 and he gave me his cell phone number. When I apologized for disturbing him one evening at about 10:30, he responded, "That's what we're here for." Amazing!!!

Is everything perfect? No way. I have a few beefs with the genset...

In spite of the equipment coming with all kinds of engineering drawings of the set, the enclosure, etc., there is no engineering drawing of the pad we had to pour. That's ridiculous! Regardless of how simple it is, there should be a drawing of the pad that is recommended for each generator. So they sent me a sketch.

Another thing that irks me is the way they have designed the skid that the genset sits on. To anchor the skid to the pad (not as a theft deterrent but as a safety measure especially in seismic zones), it's necessary to drill through 3" holes in the side of the skid at a crazy angle. That results in the anchor bolts being installed at an acute angle to the surface of the pad, rather than perpendicular to it. All they have to do is spot weld attach a piece of angle iron to the skid to enable anchoring the proper way. It's just silly.

Then, there's a human factors issue with the ATSs. One evening I looked in the mechanical room and saw that there were two flashing red lights on the control panel. I couldn't figure out what it was, but, believe me, two flashing red lights could not mean anything good. I called Joe immediately and he told me that the two flashing red lights mean that the generator exercise system is set and the exercise will occur at the scheduled time. Two flashing red lights? Are you kidding me? Engineers don't know diddly about human factors!