Generator Blog

If you are planning on cleaning boats, yachts, and vessels down at the marina you are going to need the right equipment. Not long ago, I was talking with an auto detailer and he and his partner wanted to expand their business, perhaps washing aircraft or boats. There are not any medium or large airports nearby, well at least any with corporate jets, but there was a marina in his city. He is currently cleaning and detailing cars at various corporations and at wealthy residences.

So, he’s decided to have a go at the boat detailing business, but his current equipment in his mobile auto detailing van or on his auto detailing trailer is somewhat inefficient. It’s too noisy, and somewhat unreliable. He asked me what I thought, and we had an online dialogue about this, going back several times, with various questions. Okay so, below is my advice to him, and it might be worthy of consideration for you as well.

We ought to discuss the choice of pressure washers. If you are going to run a dry dock detailing company then your choices of pressure washing systems would be different than if you are going to go mobile or put your unit on a cart that you can move onto the dock and work straight from there. If you are going to work from the dock side, I recommend going with a cold-water unit, unless you are going to do industrial work or clean fishing vessels.

The reason being is that you really don’t need a full on steam cleaner (hot water pressure washer) with all the bells and whistles to clean fiberglass hulls, with quality gel coats and paint jobs. For dock cleaning it makes sense to have a reliable pressure washer regardless of whether you use ultra-clean water (de-ionized or reverse osmosis) or not. I always recommend a Honda motor and a CAT or General Pump, and I’d say 2500 PSI is a good amount pressure to propel your cleaning efficiency.

You are also going to need a portable generator, but be sure to get one with low noise; no one wants a noisy generator disrupting the serenity out at the Marina. Again, I recommend a Honda generator at least 20-amps and ultra-quite. Yes, they are expensive, but the last thing you want to do is get yourself thrown out of the marina, or upset a potential new customer that could easily be worth $1,000s of dollars a year in business. See that point?

Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it. If you have any counter points, comments, concerns, or questions, as always shoot me an email.

Companies rent emergency generators for numerous reasons, with resolving emergency power outages, supplying power during a planned project that will compromise commercial power, and meeting a temporary rise in energy demand being the most common. Most providers of back up generators supply them on a singular or a group basis, with the latter being common for regional power outages and outages in large facilities. In addition to renting generator equipment, providers of emergency generator rentals rent other electrical equipment as well, such as LoadBanks, electrical distribution units, fuel tanks, and various power accessories.

1. LoadBank Equipment

LoadBanks are typically used to test power sources to ensure their proper function under the real life conditions that LoadBanks simulate by creating a power load and applying it to a power source. LoadBanks come in four types: electronic, whose power can be programmed toward specific circuits, and are ideal for testing circuit breakers, fuse boxes, and automatic transfer switches; resistive, which remove equal amounts of energy from an operating system, and are ideal for testing generators; capacitive, which create an increased power factor, and are ideal for testing systems that experience horizontal loads; and inductive, which simulate the energy used by numerous building elements at once, and are ideal for testing voltage regulators and generators.

LoadBanks for Switch Gear Maintenance

A LoadBank can also be used to help maintain switch gear, providing a current to the gear that simulates a commercial supply line current that indicates an impending outage. An electronic LoadBank or a resistive LoadBank could be used for this test.

2. Electrical Distribution Units

Distribution units serve as power distribution hubs within an electrical network. Common examples of rented distribution equipment are: transformers that feature rugged, all weather construction and are available in low voltage and high voltage design; portable, all weather electrical panels that facilitate loads as low as 100 amps and loads as high as 2,000 amps; and condensed switchboards that facilitate loads as high as 3,000 amps.

3. Fuel Tanks

If you need generators for longer than 48 hours, you may need to rent additional Diesel fuel tanks to power them. The tanks come in single wall and double design, with the latter being optimal for construction sites. Some power solutions providers offer contract options to refuel rental tanks as often as necessary.

4. Power Accessories

When renting major power equipment, it’s also common to rent the accessories that facilitate its use, such as cable ramps, load share panels, cable bins, cable T’s and quad box strings. Although power accessories are easy to come by, renting them in conjunction with the equipment that you need them for ends up saving money.