With over 350 Northern Lights dealers in over 40 different countries their diesel generator is quite popular today. Once you buy one of their products you’ll want to make sure that it continues serving your needs far into the future. There are a few different ways in which you can do this.

Perform Daily Maintenance

The best way of maintaining your Northern Lights diesel generator is by performing daily maintenance on it. Some of the things you should include on this checklist are:
• Check the oil level
• Check the coolant level at the pressure cap and at the overflow bottle too
• Take a look at the alternator and the water pump belt
• Make sure there aren’t any leaks under your diesel generator and when you find any, make sure you fix them right away so you can avoid an expensive problem later on

Going Above and Beyond for Your Northern Lights Product

Although your daily checklist is important, there are some other things you’ll want to do for your diesel generator. This includes:
• Always make sure the AC load breaker or switch is off when turning it on. Once you turn it on, allow it to warm up for a minute before connecting the load.
• When you’re ready to turn the generator off, always do so at the breaker or the switch. Allow it to cool down before turning it off.
• If you turn it on at the dock, turn off the shore’s power breaker first. This is important because if the shore power switch is old your generator could momentarily or permanently connect to it, which is catastrophic.
• Make sure you change the seawater pump each year.
• Since your Northern Lights generator uses a washable air filter it only needs replaced when it looks like it’s deteriorating.
• When you don’t use your generator a lot, change its oil and filter only in the spring and fall. Otherwise, follow their maintenance recommendations.
• Always maintain 40 – 50% of the recommended KW load. Anything lighter will plug the exhaust elbow with carbon which results in problems with how it performs (e.g. smoking, overheating, failing).
• Make sure you visually inspect the exhaust wet elbow annually for signs of distress including rusty spots, leaks, and cracks. If any are present, immediately replace the part so the seawater doesn’t cause the electrical parts to fail.
• For generators over 20 KW make sure you inspect the zincs every 90 days so you know when they need changed.
• Every two years you need to service the heat exchanger and replace its coolant. However, you should always keep an eye on them, especially if your temperature readings are higher than normal. When this happens, make sure you feel the hoses around the muffler. If they’re hot, you have an issue with seawater flow restriction. This could be a carbon plugged exhaust elbow, a plugged sea strainer, a slipping pump belt, a worn impeller, or a plugged heat exchanger.
• You should always have two spare fuel filters, a spare belt, a spare oil filter, some oil, and a spare coolant with you. When you change the fuel filter and find that you can’t start the generator don’t crank it for over 60 seconds. Doing so could accidentally fill your muffler and flood your engine with seawater. Instead, drain the muffler and repeat the entire process.

It’s important to have someone on your side who’s experienced in working on a Northern Lights diesel generator. For 20+ years we’ve provided specialized services for all sizes of highway vehicles, industrial generators, trailers and agriculture equipment – including the Northern Lights diesel generator. So, make sure you contact us at Mid Florida Diesel today.

Image Credit:  Northern Lights