generator alternators

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Who makes 1,000 KVA up to 2,500 KVA generators?

Who makes 1,000 KVA up to 2,500 KVA generators?

Generally, generator sizes are quoted in KW and KVA size is 125% larger. Caterpillar makes generators this large with big yellow engines which are sized 3,000 Horsepower and larger. They are made in West Lafayette Indiana and are available from your local Caterpillar representative. They are diesel driven and also natural gas and propane powered but not in the larger sizes as the horsepower output of the gas driven gensets is not as great with gas driven. Hopes this helps.
 
With gensets its another of those "you get what you pay for" situations.

Caterpillar above noted a bunch of makes that I (as an international contributor) have never heard of, but Caterpillar sets are the dogs whatsits and are available worldwide.

You can save a lot of money by buying Chinese, if money is important, but whereas a Cat will always start and as long as you feed it fuel it'll just keep on running, you don't get that kind of pedigree if you skimp on the money.

I know of one trio of gensets on backup duty that started on a power cut, and when the utility power came back they couldn't get back onto utility power through switchgear failure, so the Cats ran for a little over three weeks holding the building until they could do a full power off to replace the switchgear. This was for a bank, so they had to find a time slot where they could take their computers off-line for the shutdown, and things like end-of-month processing really get in the way of stuff like that... My memory is fading (it was a while back), but I'm fairly sure they were Cats.

In rock and roll, Caterpillar twinsets are very popular sources of highly reliable power at the 2500MW level.
 
Hello Buckley,

Actually i am a big fan of Caterpillar engines (hence my username) and still working with them,..but the OP's question was specifically related to alternators.

Caterpillar gets the alternators from these suppliers and couples them with their engines.

cheers.
 
Well, theres a level of detail I didn't know about! I didn't know you got a choice... I've specified a Cat generator for installation and hired several over the years, and in both cases I just ordered "Cat"...
 
alternators

alternators

Knowing that manufacturers like Detroit diesel (MTU), baldor, generac, Cummins, cat, etc, all make the ?generator sets? with different engine manufacturers (john deer, Detroit diesel, cat, etc) they are coupled with the associated required alternator (by another manufacturer) with the starting kva as required for the loads required, there could be different alternators (more copper) based on the load connected (motor, linear, non-linear etc.) my question really is how the alternator works, and how it is wired, (I believe generators are wired as a wye) grounded at the first over current device weather resistance or solidly grounded I just never really got into the ?alternator? and by searching manufacturers websites hoped to gain a deeper understanding of them and how they work.
 
Mike01 said:
.... my question really is how the alternator works, and how it is wired, (I believe generators are wired as a wye) grounded at the first over current device weather resistance or solidly grounded I just never really got into the ?alternator? and by searching manufacturers websites hoped to gain a deeper understanding of them and how they work.
Click to expand...

You really need a good AC/DC motor book!

Google and use "images", I will either use define or even diagram and then the term.

AC work is (mostly) done in the outer windings and in DC (with real work motor) is done with the Stator windings.

The outer windings of an alternator DC can be wound continual across the coils and any various combinations.

In any case I always think of the alternator as a step trannie...maybe that?s well wrong, but then I never got car disease either! :grin:
 
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