Daily and weekly: the five-minute routine
Daily on prime-duty sets (weekly on standby sets): check oil and coolant levels, look for fuel, oil or coolant leaks under and around the set, check the fuel level in the day tank and drain water from the fuel filter and tank bottom, and confirm the controller shows no alarms and the battery charger is on. In dust-heavy sites, inspect the air filter restriction indicator.
Weekly on every standby set: run the generator for 10–15 minutes, ideally under load through the ATS test function. A set that only ever idles builds carbon and never proves it can take the load; a weekly loaded run is the single best predictor of a successful start when the grid drops.
Every 250–500 hours or 6–12 months: the service
Change engine oil and oil filter, replace fuel filters and drain the water separator, inspect or replace the air filter (more often in Saudi dust), check belt tension and condition, inspect hoses and clamps, clean the radiator fins and check the coolant concentration and inhibitor. Follow the interval in the OEM manual — 250 hours is common on smaller Perkins and Kubota engines, 500 hours on larger Cummins and Baudouin platforms — and never exceed 12 months even on low-hour standby sets, because oil degrades with time as well as use.
Record hours, oil pressure, coolant temperature and battery voltage at each service. A trend that drifts — a slowly rising temperature, a slowly falling cranking voltage — is a fault announcing itself months before it stops the set.
Annually: load test, batteries, coolant and safety
Once a year, run a full load test with a load bank or the building load for one to two hours, checking that voltage, frequency and temperatures stay within limits; a set that has run only lightly all year needs this to burn off carbon and prove its rating. Load-test the starting batteries and replace them every 2–3 years regardless — most no-starts in Saudi summers are dead batteries in a hot enclosure, not engine faults.
Replace coolant every 2–3 years or per the OEM interval, inspect the exhaust system, silencer and flexible bellows, test the emergency stop, the fuel shut-off and every alarm on the controller, and check the enclosure louvres, door seals and the fuel tank for corrosion.
Heat, dust and the two things people forget
Saudi conditions shorten every interval: 50 °C ambient stresses cooling and batteries, and dust loads air filters and radiators. Keep the radiator fins clean, keep the enclosure ventilation clear, and keep the set in the shade where you can. And keep fuel fresh — diesel that sits for a year grows algae and water; treat it with a biocide or rotate it through the day tank.
The two forgotten items are the ATS and the spare parts: exercise the transfer switch with the weekly test, and keep a first-service kit on site — filters, belts, a fan belt and coolant — so a service or a fault does not wait for a delivery. We supply service kits and can schedule the maintenance for sets we deliver.