Getting the call when it all goes wrong

When a glass manufacturing plant on Merseyside had their main power source a 700KVA FG Wilson generator break down recently, they called Bellwood Rewinds Limited’s generator division for help. The main stator on the alternator had blown up and they were left with an expensive hire generator in its place costing them £2K per week. They tried many companies but settled on Bellwood Rewinds due to the very competitive price but mainly the 3 week turnaround guarantee.

The generator arrived and underwent an initial inspection, it was in a bit of an uncared for state.

Our engineers got to work straight away and carefully detailed the list of problems the generator had, these included:

  • Alternator main stator and exciter stator blown
  • Both front and rear crank shaft oil seals failed on engine
  • Radiator and intercoolers totally blocked with oil due to above
  • Fuel lift pump weakening

Once the customer had inspected the damage they gave us the green light to proceed, still on the 3 week turnaround time, we got to work.

Our process

Firstly the roof came off the canopy and the alternator and radiator/ intercooler unit were removed:

We then dismantled the alternator to find the damage that we have previously noted during static testing, the main stator had blasted to earth:

The radiator core and intercooler were totally blocked with oil due to the failed crank shaft seals:

The alternator underwent a full main stator and exciter stator rewind, the remainder of the alternator was fully overhauled.

The radiator/ intercooler unit was dismantled into its 4 separate components and they were each cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaning bath for 48 hours to release the oil debris. Once they were clean they were all pressure tested and then reassembled:

The crank shaft seals were both replaced:

Then the unit was reassembled, refitting the alternator and radiator. Once all refitted the engine was fully serviced and with a new lift pump fitted was back to perfect working order. We carried out a load test over 4 hours to determine the set up was correct and the customer was advised he could collect the unit, all this work carried out in 2 weeks and 4 days.