Importance And Benefits Of Load Test For Used Diesel Generators

Diesel Generators have emerged as an extremely important piece of equipment

for power issues and are mostly used as back-ups for emergency situations. It is available for both domestic as well as industrial applications, especially in the mission critical ones.

The following write-up focuses on the nitty-gritty of a load test for used diesel generators. Written in a lucid language and aimed at the non-technical buyers, it is an attempt to educate the general public.

Let us start with an everyday example. How do we measure the mass of a person who claims that his mass is 90 kilograms? We simply test the fact by asking the person on a weighing machine. If the reading matches his claim, then it is alright. But if not, we suppose that either the claim is dubious or the machine is faulty.

Same is the case of a used diesel generator. When you buy a used diesel generators for domestic or commercial applications, you don’t have the manufacturer’s assurance regarding its optimal power generation capacity, because you simply don’t know how the previous owner of the generator has maintained it. It may be that it has been operated under strenuous condition, leading to wear and tear or it has not been used that much.

Now, what are your options in such situations? Either you take the first-hand user’s word for it which is not a wise thing to do or else, you decide to test the generator’s performance by subjecting it under electrical load and see for yourself.

Why is a load test important?

Buying a used diesel generator is not an easy task, especially for the first timers. There are a lot of small things that must be considered before making a purchase decision. For example:

• The number of hours for which the generator has been used;
• The frequency of use, the maximum time for which it has been used at a stretch;
• The time it takes to yield its rated power, etc.

All these things are highly technical, although a few can be verified with a little effort.

However, there are certain issues related to the performance of a used diesel generator which must undergo rigorous checking, before you can consider buying a DG set. If you are going to buy a used diesel generator, it is highly likely that you will use it as a backup power source or during emergency situations when you may need more power than your grid can supply.

For such situations, it is crucial that you make sure the generator works under sudden demands and stressful conditions. More specifically, it is highly advised to conduct a load test to ensure that the generator is worth buying, because only a load test will reveal how much power the generator can actually yield at time of need and if all of its parts are working fine without any glitch, even if it is exposed to high loads.

Benefits of a load test

By now, it should be clear that a load test is a must for the Used Diesel Generators, at least from a buyer’s perspective. Most importantly, a load test certificate gives satisfaction and peace of mind to a customer and breeds trust between the reseller and the customer regarding the integrity and reliability of the former on the mind of the latter. Besides, technically speaking, there are several other benefits as well and some of them are summarized below to wrap up the things:

• It verifies the genset’s optimum capabilities opposed to just routinely starting it up.
• Problems discovered early can be significantly less expensive and prevents future major issues.
• It helps to avoid wet-stacking and cleans out carbon deposits.
• It verifies the engine cooling systems will perform while under load.
• It provides assurance that the used diesel generator should work properly when you need it most.