JoeStillman
Senior Member
- Location
- West Chester, PA
A contractor offered a 22 kW generator on one of my design projects. A cut sheet was forwarded showing the right kW and voltage and we did not take exception to it. Nothing on the generator cut sheet revealed that the generator was not suitable for legally required emergency lighting, which is what our Single Line showed it feeding.
The generator gets installed but it won't pass inspection. It seems that it has a built-in programmable time-delay-on-start. The minimum setting is 10 seconds. Zero time delay is not a programming option. The manufacturer informs me that this cannot be disabled, although they can't tell me any reason why. They offered to refer me to one of their commercial and industrial distributors who would help us buy another of their fine generators that would be able to pass inspection.
Why would anyone sell a generator that is intentionally crippled like this? Is their some technical reason I am not aware of that makes it necessary to wait longer than the code-minimum time period? I suspect that my client is getting hosed because the manufacturer segregates its distributors by arbitrarily making a product that won't meet code. Can someone help me keep an open mind here? I feel the sensation of smoke entering the improper orifice.
Thanks.
The generator gets installed but it won't pass inspection. It seems that it has a built-in programmable time-delay-on-start. The minimum setting is 10 seconds. Zero time delay is not a programming option. The manufacturer informs me that this cannot be disabled, although they can't tell me any reason why. They offered to refer me to one of their commercial and industrial distributors who would help us buy another of their fine generators that would be able to pass inspection.
Why would anyone sell a generator that is intentionally crippled like this? Is their some technical reason I am not aware of that makes it necessary to wait longer than the code-minimum time period? I suspect that my client is getting hosed because the manufacturer segregates its distributors by arbitrarily making a product that won't meet code. Can someone help me keep an open mind here? I feel the sensation of smoke entering the improper orifice.
Thanks.