4008TAG2A engine’s exhaust manifold & turbocharger turning almost red

[nexuspower]

Perkins 4008TAG2A engine’s exhaust manifold & turbocharger turning almost red within 1 hour to 1.5 hours run the Genset after putted on only 500Amps load. Though Genset capacity is 1000Kva.

Can you please advice us, how we could solve the problem?

[wellandpower]

Red = Hot.
It will get hot and it will turn red. That is what Turbo chargers do!
You cannot solve it, it is normal opperation.

If you put more load on it, it will get red faster as it will get hotter.

[nexuspower]

Perhaps, I couldn't understand you the problem.
Yesterday I have visited the site again, now Genset engine exhaust manifold and turbocharger getting extreme hot (turning red color) within 10-15 minutes after putting only 400 to 500Amps load. I know, turbocharger will get hot , but it's abnormal.

[wellandpower]

Turbo chargers and manifolds often go red, it is 100% normal.

From the specification sheet for the 4008TAG2A Engine the tempurature of the exhaust gas will be around 400 degrees C at baseload. The exhaust at 400AMPS is going to be almost the same as this - there is not going to be hardly any difference. See below, these are the normal factors for metals.

Degrees C / Degrees F / Color
400 752 Red heat, visible in the dark
474 885 Red heat, visible in the twilight
525 975 Red heat, visible in the daylight
581 1077 Red heat, visible in the sunlight
700 1292 Dark red
800 1472 Dull cherry-red
900 1652 Cherry-red
1000 1832 Bright cherry-red
1100 2012 Orange-red


Your Turbo will be at 400 Degrees almost, so it will glow in the dark! There is nothing more to it.


The only thing that might make it worse is if you have extended your exhaust run more than about 2m and/or put any bends in it as the back presure will increase.


However, if you have not done this, then this is totally normal.

[merryengineer]

I agree with Welland Power.
Have you never used a generator before? Anything that gets hot glows and will turn redish even at 300 degrees.

Red-Hot Turbos are not a problem, they are part of a normal working system.

[nexuspower]

We have been servicing most 550 units diesel & gas generating set all over Bangladesh. I never seen the turbo get heat and becoming red color like this. Even my customer has been running this Genset since last 2 years, they never seen the turbo getting hot and becoming red color like this, they have another two units Perkins 2800 series Genset, both Genset run almost 10-12 hours a day with full load, but these units (Perkins 2800 series) turbo never becoming red.
Few months ago I have faced the same problem with a Cummins engine, then we have replace the unit injector and adjust the injector pressure,now the Genset has been running in good condition.

[merryengineer]

Its highly unlikely that the injector changes have altered the turbo glow significantly. It is much more likely another issue caused the problem and the general service work sorted it out.

The only real causes of turbo glow would be:

1) Blocked oil line to turbo
2) Over-speed
3) Exhaust back pressure too high.


Is it a new set? If so how have you installed the exhaust? What sized pipe have you used?

[nexuspower]

Oil line is OK. If oil line is block then turbo will be ceased straightway. There is no over speed, 1500 rpm, 50.4 hz, yes, exhaust back pressure could be a reason.
It is almost new set. There is no bend in exhaust pipe, pipe diameter is ok, but customer has extended the exhaust pipe almost 20 feet. Mr. Charlie said above that 2m is ok, more than that could be arise back pressure.

[wellandpower]

How old is this set? How many hours?
When did the turbo start getting hot.

Has it got a silencer? What size and type? What size pipe has the exhaust extension been run in?

[merryengineer]

What is the engine serial number?
We can check and make sure there is no known problem on the engine with this number that has been released.