(04-07-2021, 06:07 PM)LynnInDenver Wrote: Also, they apparently will need to revisit their generator testing procedure in an effort to ensure that such a failure WILL happen during the test and not when people are off doing other things.
It was a "Catastrophic" failure.
Typically, these backup generators use huge diesel engines - like the ones you find on larger construction equipment - because they need power measured in masses of kilowatts to keep things going.
Let me show you what it looks like when a high-spec diesel engine fails "catastrophically". I've set the link to start where things get "interesting" (That being where the engine shows the first signs that not all is well.)
https://youtu.be/lVALwRO3LvY?t=144
Granted, these generators probably weren't cranking THAT hard. But they can still be pretty wild. And all it would take is something that a normal load test would never in a million years indicate - such as a growing micro-fracture in a connecting rod. The only way you catch these things is if you do a tear-down for some other reason, and then happen to discover the crack.