Our call-outs are not always predictable. We were taken by surprise by this job on a Sunday evening. This time it was at a logistics company whose building was still under construction and which generated its power with a standby generator. During the so-called start-up on the Sunday evening, this very generator caused problems and had to be replaced.
Emergency Call-out on a Sunday Evening
work diary
The generator is causing problems
Our call-outs are not always predictable. We were taken by surprise by this job on a Sunday evening.
This time it was at a logistics company whose building was still under construction and which generated its power with a standby generator. During the so-called start-up on the Sunday evening, this very generator caused problems and had to be replaced.
The main problem was that production was due to start at four o'clock on Monday morning, when the first goods had to be moved into and out of the warehouse. So we got the call asking whether we would be able to replace this generator. A new one was already on its way to the company but would have to be connected and commissioned.
So we set our evening plans aside and drove to the customer to support them. Of course, we started with fault-finding and were able to say with certainty that the existing standby generator could no longer be operated in that condition and that we would have to fall back on the new generator (as planned).
For this, all existing cables had to be disconnected, the operating fluids drained and the generator lifted off the existing drip tray – all without much lighting. Just a few torches and floodlights, plus our vehicle, provided the necessary illumination on the site.
The new generator was delivered and we were able to position it correctly. Unfortunately, the connection panel of the new generator, which came from a different manufacturer, had different dimensions from the old one, so it was not possible for us to terminate the cables.
Phone calls to electrical contractors we work with did not help either, as nobody had cable lugs and heat-shrink sleeves of this size to hand. We therefore had to set up a temporary solution using batteries and an emergency power supply so that operations could at least be started in emergency mode.
E-mails were written and phone calls made during the night so that we would have suitable cable lugs and heat-shrink sleeves available the next morning to connect the new standby generator to the existing cables.
The diesel lines from the auxiliary tank were also connected, and the appropriate earthing rods were driven in and tested. This meant the new standby generator could go live by Monday midday and production could be ramped up fully.
We thought ahead on the spot
To avoid such production outages in future, we suggested providing and connecting a second standby generator straight away so that redundancy is in place. The customer subsequently implemented this, so that outages of this kind are no longer possible in future.
Standby power systems are our business outside of emergencies too: Moving in standby generators at the data center shows how the machines get into position.
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Maintenance & Servicing
About the author
Tobias Schott
Managing director of Omega Mounting GmbH, Rodgau · more than 20 years of hands-on experience in installation and maintenance
A trained mechatronics technician, at home in maintenance, servicing and industrial installation since 2004 – first alongside his father, and since 2012 with Omega Mounting: from the overhead conveyor in Frankfurt to the crane system in a new-build hall. As appointed person for lifting operations, he plans and leads lifting operations in data centers and on industrial sites in the Rhine-Main region, is an instructor and examiner for cranes, aerial work platforms and telehandlers, and a safety officer. On assignments abroad he is known as the "German Troubleshooter" – the one you call when things get stuck on site. He did not learn what quality means from a manual, but from his father: Made in Germany as a standard for his own work, not as a label. That is why quality comes first at Omega Mounting – before speed and before price. The project diary shows the jobs his team has planned and carried out – without customer names, but with everything that can be learned from them.
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