25KW BALDOR DIESEL GENERATOR

[V65ozzie]

Had some issues recently with unexpected shutdowns. warning indicators showed a low oil pressure issue. I checked the oil pressure, and after restarting again monitored it. Along the way I discovered a fuel pump that was well below the requirements of the motor, swapped out with a known good one, and a visible difference at the return line(now I've got fuel returning to the tank, before there was nothing) The engine would idle down, almost like it was misfiring, at this point the oil pressure would drop and shutdown would happen, seemed pretty simple......... Fired it up with the new pump, and it ran for about a half hour, smooth and quiet. Then it shut down again. went out, low oi pressure warning again. Toggled the start switch to off, back to start, and nothing, even the glow plug light doesn't illuminate, the fuel pump doesn't start(both which should happen when you toggle the start switch) Pondered it for a few, and tried again, this time the glowplug light came on, the pump fired up and she started right up, ran for about 10 minutes and shut down again, now I've got nothing again. I've read through the troubleshooting guide, and the common thread for these issues seems to be the controller. If it's malfunctioning it can drop the signal for oil pressure, initiating shutdow, and if it has failed, you will not get a start, period. Has anyone had any experience with these? It's a Baldor TS25.

 

[Tazza]

Have you installed a pressure gauge to know just what the pressure was?
It could be the key switch not working every time with the starting?
I have a compressor that has a watch dog style controller to monitor the engine, there was an over-ride to make it so you can start it when there is no oil pressure.

 

[V65ozzie]

Have you installed a pressure gauge to know just what the pressure was?
It could be the key switch not working every time with the starting?
I have a compressor that has a watch dog style controller to monitor the engine, there was an over-ride to make it so you can start it when there is no oil pressure.

I'll update. Discovered that the fuel pump was not pumping enough fuel, replaced with a known good one. (Evidenced by the fact I noticed the motor slowing and almost "misfiring")Same issue. Oil pressure switch was leaking a little, replaced with a new one. Same issue. Followed the testing procedure for the ASM controller. Discovered an intermittent low voltage feed to the controller. Below 4 volts the controller drops the signals for OP and temp, forcing a shutdown. A little digging turned up a burned connector on the feed. A wiggle test showed this to be the culprit, bypassed the feed with a new 10ga feed, fired it up, and it ran for 2 1/2 hours yesterday. Fired it up this morning, ran for 45 min, and shut down. Low oil pressure. Refired and 5 min later it shut down, this time no warning lights, and no restart. Pulled the controller panel checked feed voltage, 13.5 volts. Tested controller according to the flow chart, No FS voltage, supposed to be 12, No crank voltage, supposed to be 12. Fuel pump not running, glow plugs not powered up. According to the manual, if I have voltage across 8 to 4(Manual start to ground) and any of the others do not have the prescribed voltage, the controller is suspect. So now I begin the search for the controller, which, as is usually the case, is not available. Currently have a call in to the original manufacturer, who say they may possibly have one in the UK, but will have to check with them when they are open.... The controller has a feature that ignores low oil pressure at startup on this model. I'm going to go check the start switch right now, thanks for that idea. It's a simple toggle, one way manual start, one way auto start. I did find a bad toggle for the panel lights the other day, and they have both been in there since new.

 

[V65ozzie]

I'll update. Discovered that the fuel pump was not pumping enough fuel, replaced with a known good one. (Evidenced by the fact I noticed the motor slowing and almost "misfiring")Same issue. Oil pressure switch was leaking a little, replaced with a new one. Same issue. Followed the testing procedure for the ASM controller. Discovered an intermittent low voltage feed to the controller. Below 4 volts the controller drops the signals for OP and temp, forcing a shutdown. A little digging turned up a burned connector on the feed. A wiggle test showed this to be the culprit, bypassed the feed with a new 10ga feed, fired it up, and it ran for 2 1/2 hours yesterday. Fired it up this morning, ran for 45 min, and shut down. Low oil pressure. Refired and 5 min later it shut down, this time no warning lights, and no restart. Pulled the controller panel checked feed voltage, 13.5 volts. Tested controller according to the flow chart, No FS voltage, supposed to be 12, No crank voltage, supposed to be 12. Fuel pump not running, glow plugs not powered up. According to the manual, if I have voltage across 8 to 4(Manual start to ground) and any of the others do not have the prescribed voltage, the controller is suspect. So now I begin the search for the controller, which, as is usually the case, is not available. Currently have a call in to the original manufacturer, who say they may possibly have one in the UK, but will have to check with them when they are open.... The controller has a feature that ignores low oil pressure at startup on this model. I'm going to go check the start switch right now, thanks for that idea. It's a simple toggle, one way manual start, one way auto start. I did find a bad toggle for the panel lights the other day, and they have both been in there since new.

2ND update: Tested the start switch, readings were a little dicky when I wiggled the switch, so I went ahead and replaced it with a new switch capable of handling 35amps, more than enough. I had ordered a replacement fuel pump, that came in, installed and re-plumbed due to a size difference, but that's now in. Been running 45 minutes now, and it will stay running for the rest of the day. Repeat tomorrow with the cold start.

 

[Tazza]

2ND update: Tested the start switch, readings were a little dicky when I wiggled the switch, so I went ahead and replaced it with a new switch capable of handling 35amps, more than enough. I had ordered a replacement fuel pump, that came in, installed and re-plumbed due to a size difference, but that's now in. Been running 45 minutes now, and it will stay running for the rest of the day. Repeat tomorrow with the cold start.

Hopefully that is the issue and it will keep running as it should.
I have an old compressor that has an engine watch dog setup as yours does, it appears to have failed, so when i use it i need to keep an eye on things, i don't want to by-pass it and have the engine or pump blow up on me.

 

[V65ozzie]

Hopefully that is the issue and it will keep running as it should.
I have an old compressor that has an engine watch dog setup as yours does, it appears to have failed, so when i use it i need to keep an eye on things, i don't want to by-pass it and have the engine or pump blow up on me.

Update: After much messing around I finally found what appeared to be a glitch in the electronic control module. During repeat testings it would pass, then pass, then pass. After a week or so of going around in circles the test procedure finally produced several fail results in a row. That particular module is no longer made, so we sourced a newer"direct replacement" unit. Of course, it wasn't a direct replacement, several emails and phone calls with the manufacturer got me the wiring schematic I needed to get the unit up and running. I lost the glow plug warmup feature though. This is being addressed by adding a manual warmup circuit. But, so far the machine has become reliable again. Almost 600 bucks for the module, ouch.

 

[Tazza]

Update: After much messing around I finally found what appeared to be a glitch in the electronic control module. During repeat testings it would pass, then pass, then pass. After a week or so of going around in circles the test procedure finally produced several fail results in a row. That particular module is no longer made, so we sourced a newer"direct replacement" unit. Of course, it wasn't a direct replacement, several emails and phone calls with the manufacturer got me the wiring schematic I needed to get the unit up and running. I lost the glow plug warmup feature though. This is being addressed by adding a manual warmup circuit. But, so far the machine has become reliable again. Almost 600 bucks for the module, ouch.

The control boards are never cheap... Glad it's working again though, no auto glow plugs is a minor issue, you can always wire up a push button to manually glow it.