At Sorilux we have been offering a commitment to our customers for 40 years and we are a leading company in the distribution and sale of generator sets, spare parts and repair. we continuously work to offer the client what is necessary for their projects and, in addition, we show them how each product we sell works.

Today we bring you the first steps to take to a generator before its first start-up. On this occasion, the generator set chosen for the demonstration is 30KVAs with a Yanmar engine.

What most common maintenance items does it has?

On one side, the lower part has the diesel filler cap, the engine oil filter, the diesel pre-filter decanter and the main diesel filter. In that same area, but at the top, is the air filter. And on one side, we have access to fill the engine oil.

Before starting the engine, we have to make sure that it has oil, in this case, in the Yanmar engine, the handle is under the air filter. This should be removed and see that the oil level is between the minimum and maximum marks. We should also check the level of antifreeze in the machine. In this case, being a soundproof unit, in the upper area, it has a cover that gives us access to the radiator cover. The only thing we would have to do is remove the radiator cap and visually check that it has coolant.

Once verified, it is covered again and we would already have the antifreeze check done.

• On the opposite side of the machine is the battery. This is disconnected from the factory and all you have to do is put the negative terminal in the battery position, on its terminal, and with a wrench, we proceed to tighten the battery terminal. Once everything is tensioned, it will be ready for operation.
• As for the electrical panel or generator, it is accessed through a cover at one of the ends. There is a safety cover that protects the elements of the electrical panel and, behind that cover, is where we find the differential relay for its protection and a magneto-thermal switch. In the lower part of the circuit breaker itself, you have the neutral output and the 3 phases. Here you should connect the line that supplies power to your installation. Once you have assembled the line, you must always put the protective cover. 

Once the checks mentioned in the previous paragraphs have been made, we can proceed to start up the Genset

How is the generator set started?

To turn on the control unit, all you have to do is put the switch in position 1 and the control unit is already activated. Later, we press the “Start” button and we can start the machine. Before starting the machine for safety, it is recommended that the power switch is in the open position. Once we verify that it is in the open position, we start the machine by pressing the "Start" button.

Once it is turned on, it begins to heat up and after a preset time, the machine will start.

What values ​​does the switchboard give us when the group is running?

Now, we are going to talk about the values ​​that the switchboard gives us when the genset is running.

1. On the first screen, it indicates the frequency of the generator, the three-phase voltages between phases and the load per phase in amps.
2. In another screen, it shows us again the frequency of the alternator, and the voltages, but in this case, in the neutral phase and the current per phase.
3. On the next screen, it indicates the generator frequency, the fuel level as a percentage, the alternator voltages and the currents per phase. And just below it indicates the operating hours of the machine.
4. On the next screen, it indicates the speed of rotation of the diesel engine, the hours of operation of the engine, the fuel level in percentage, the battery charging alternator, the voltage it is outputting for charging and the battery voltage.
5. On another screen, it indicates the presence of the remote start and the confirmation of the group contactor.
6. Finally, in the last one, it would indicate the cosine of phi, kilowatts, kVA and reactive kilovolt amperes when we have a load applied to the load.

We hope this tutorial has been useful. You can view it on our YouTube channel: "How to start a generator correctly - Start Up"