Questions about Kohler generator

theduke said:

Was or is there gas in it??

Give it the sniff test.......if its pewtred smelling.......cut your planned offer in half

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Thanks - this is a LP/NG model. I suppose I should have included that. I did pull the dipstick - the oil looked brand new.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions and advice. The seller said they have the transfer switch and other "accessories."

I'm going to call a local dealer tomorrow to check on parts - even if it works today, it will likely need parts in the future. Kohler has all the owner/installation manuals online, to include wiring diagrams and parts diagrams/lists.

It has a heavy duty metal enclosure that is reportedly "rodent resistant" and that appears to be working - the inside was quite clean once I figured out how to get the top open.

It might be missing the polymer base that sits on the ground - I imagine a concrete pad might be a better solution. But it does need to be mounted on rubber isolators. Or, I could just leave it on the pallet for now.

Based on some online info, Kohler household standby generators are very reliable. I think I'm going to buy it - it is more than big enough for the retirement home we've purchased and will be moving into next year.

Once I get it, I'll try to start it by connecting to a propane tank. Once that works, I'll see if it the generator is working.

I bought a Generac in a similar situation. The owner bought it never installed it and it was still shrink wrapped on the pallet. I think I paid about 50-60% of new and it's been fine.

Checking on the electronic parts availability is a good idea as well as blowing out any dust and checking for rodents, bugs etc. The jets for propane and NG are different- before trying to run it on propane make sure the correct jets are installed. It may also have an hour meter which you can check but if it's on the pallet, I'd believe it's never been installed.

You can buy the composite bases. I would recommend them as they trap less moisture than concrete.

I did the install myself except for the gas hookup. The only reason I did was that electricians wanted more than I paid for the unit to install, even if I did the hard work. Fortunately I had access to not only volt meters but more importantly a frequency meter to set the speed. Our breaker panel really needs replacing and I'll let an electrician do that with one that's set up to work with a genset. Those weren't common when we got our generator and while it's worked well, I've never really liked our breaker panel as the PO bought on price and did some screwy things when wiring the house. I've changed some but never really liked the set up.

You will like having the genset. I think my wife would leave if ours goes down and doesn't get replaced. Reliability of the Dominion Battery and Candle system in our area isn't good. About 1/3rd of the full time residents have standby systems and the other 2/3rds wish they did.