Many critical facilities have emergency diesel generators that are used for back-up power. These generators need to be ready to supply power when the normal source of power is no longer available. To ensure that they are able to do the job as intended, we test them periodically. While some uses are mandated by law as to how often and how they are tested, many locations do not fall under these tight restrictions and, more often than not, other factors such as cost or air-pollution limitations dictate these parameters.
When it comes to testing your site’s emergency diesel generators, do you periodically run them loaded or unloaded, or both? What is the “best” method in your opinion, and why?
Please share your experiences and best practices with everyone in the comments section below!
(Editor’s Note: Comments will be moderated and posted as quickly as possible.)
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We run them unloaded unfortunately, most data centers I have worked in run them loaded during the beginning of the week and in the morning when there is a full crew aboard so we can respond to any failures that might arise. Running them loaded also allows us to test the switch that can and has failed before. If you look at most switches manufactures recommendations they they too recommend them loaded as well. It just makes sense to test them this way