Generac vs. Kohler

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mkgrady

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I have wired lots of Generac generators and no Kohlers. I have a customer that picked out a 20KW Kohler and a 200 amp ATS and wants to know if I will wire it. My response was to not buy anything until I do a site visit to see what they really need. Not sure why they picked Kohler but I will try to steer them to a Generac because I am very familiar with how they get wired.

My question is what wiring differences will I find between the Generac and the Kohler? General gets wired with the power output circuit and six control wires all in the same conduit back to the ATS. I use THHN/THWN for all the wires. No separate battery charge circuit, no block heater circuit. Are the Kohlers the same or different?
 
electricguy61 said:
Download a copy of the installation manual well before you start and study it carefully. Also, the owner will need to pay a generator startup company to maintain warranty.

The Kohler is a far superior product, IHO.
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I also noticed that the Kohler seems to provide control for load shedding but they do not offer a relay. I suspect they just provide dry contacts in the ATS and we supply our own relays. That works fine for the AC where we would just interrupt the signal to the AC condenser but loads like an oven will need a big relay. Generac offers the relays in a nice enclosure. Looks like I would have to build something to control heavy loads with Kohler.
 
electricguy61 said:
Also, the owner will need to pay a generator startup company to maintain warranty. Is this true of most generator manufacturers?

The Kohler is a far superior product, IHO. I have heard this as well, but have no first hand experience.
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I am looking at buying one of the $80 HF generators for camping use. I have heard nothing but good things about it from people that actually have them.
 
electricguy61 said:
I just installed a Kohler and we ordered the Kohler load shedding relays from the distributer. They’re simply relays in a NEMA 3R box, rated 50 amps (double pole)

https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Kohler-GM92001/p76781.html
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Ok Thanks I found them from your post. Similar to the Generac relays.
 
electricguy61 said:
Download a copy of the installation manual well before you start and study it carefully. Also, the owner will need to pay a generator startup company to maintain warranty.

The Kohler is a far superior product, IHO.
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I downloaded an 80 page manual and a few other documents but I could not find wiring instructions or diagrams.
 
hbiss said:
I have heard it said that they don't call them Junkerac for nothing.

-Hal
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The complaints I have heard about the Generacs seem to be as much about the installers as the generators themselves. OTOH, I think there are more of them around here so there are likely more complaints.
 
I’ve heard that Koehler is better, but I just talked to a guy a couple days ago to look at his and found he had a tied up motor.
 
mopowr steve said:
I’ve heard that Koehler is better, but I just talked to a guy a couple days ago to look at his and found he had a tied up motor.
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What does tied up motor mean? If it means seized up - did it run out of oil for some reason and low oil switch failed? Or they maybe didn't change oil when they were supposed to?
 
Kohlar is now owned by Cummins. Very good support in Alaska.Off grid people around here prefer a Gen Set Called Northern Light Generaters, assembled by Company out of Seattle called Alaska Marine Deisel. Motors are liquid cooled, Japanese and are renowned for long life(20,000+ hrs),and ease of starting down to -20F with out heat. Generac is consider inferior to both Kohlar and Northern Lights.
 
What is the differences that some consider to be inferior?

Generac seems to market more to the consumer (or at least through the big box stores) then others, but that alone shouldn't necessarily make them inferior. Do they have poorly designed engine or alternator? Less robust enclosures? They have both liquid cooled and air cooled units, but air cooled isn't necessarily all that bad, keeps the cost down on smaller units.

Without some evidence this isn't really any different then preferring a Ford over a Chevy or a Square D over a Cutler Hammer.
 
If you read reviews on these products you'll think that they're all junk. I was researching one for my house and decided on a portable instead.
 
infinity said:
If you read reviews on these products you'll think that they're all junk. I was researching one for my house and decided on a portable instead.
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I can agree to some extent, especially that none I have seen have that robust cabinet you would have seen many years ago - but that is no different then you used to see heavier metal panels on car bodies as well. Though the overall weight is not the same issue as with a car it does still lessen the cost some. Engines are also lighter and more efficient, but maybe can't take as much abuse or overloading as the older ones either.
 
infinity said:
If you read reviews on these products you'll think that they're all junk. I was researching one for my house and decided on a portable instead.
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One has to take reviews with a grain of salt. For one thing, people are far more likely to write a bad review than a good one. Just human nature.

But really, most of the people writing the reviews are not technically competent to understand much about generators anyway so why would their comments matter any as far as the technical issues go. As far as their impressions of the installers and dealers of them, that is just normal business kind of thing and I take that more seriously.

Although I also find it ironic that you can see reviews for the same dealer that make it look like he is the devil incarnate and others that make him look angelic. Just hard to make sense of reviews sometimes.

Personally, I think for a backup generator that will likely run more in test mode than actually being used in a power down situation, I think the reality is that most of the name brand gensets are quite adequate.

Every time I have a power outage I think about getting a generator. A few years back I was getting them 3 or 4 times a year, often for extended periods of time. That went away after the buried the power lines that used to run down the middle of my street, so the urgency has left me.

I still from time to time think it might be a good idea but I just can't see spending the money on something that will get such limited use.

However, I am considering getting a small generator for camping and maybe I will just install a pass through plug from out back into the house so I can use it if needed. I think I could keep the furnace, refrigerator, and hot water heater going if the power was out. Maybe not all three at the same time but I have plenty of extension cords and the hot water heater is only needed for a half hour or so before I shower, and the furnace only needs to run a few hours a day to keep the house warm "enough". The frig only runs a few hours a day anyway.

I have been looking at either the $80 HF generator or a small sine wave inverter unit. The HF inverter version is 2kW and often sells for $400-450 and has a lot of supporters. The honda version is almost twice the price. But both are quite heavy by comparison with the smaller HF generator making it less desirable for camping purposes.
 
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