Saturday Breakdown: When a Genie Starts and Dies

The machine would start, run for a few seconds, and then shut back off.

Not exactly what you want when you're trying to get a building put up, and definitely not a breakdown you want on a Saturday.

They called Mondak Equipment and Hose.

We've Seen This Problem Before

When we got to the machine and started diagnosing it, the symptoms were familiar.

We've run into this problem numerous times on the Genie S-45 and across many of the Genie S-Series and Z-Series machines.

The engine starts normally, runs for a few seconds, and then the machine shuts down.

The culprit can be a time-delay relay.

The relay is designed to give the engine a few seconds, typically around 2-10 seconds, to build oil pressure after startup. If the system doesn't receive the required oil-pressure signal within that time, the relay shuts the machine down.

It's an important safety function when everything is working correctly.

The problem is that these relays can fail over time.

And when they do, it can make a perfectly healthy engine look like it has an oil-pressure or engine problem.

Then There's the Parts Problem

These are potted relays located inside the ground controls, designed to be protected from the environment.

But finding a replacement isn't as simple as ordering one from Genie.

Genie no longer supplies them.

The company that originally manufactured the relays is also no longer in business.

So you can correctly diagnose the machine and still have a major problem:

You can't get the part.

We've run into this enough times that we decided to do something about it.

We Had Them Made

Instead of accepting that these machines were going to be difficult to repair simply because a small relay was no longer available, we worked with a company to have the relays reproduced for us.

While we're waiting for the new batch to arrive, we were also able to develop a field time-delay relay solution that allowed us to get this customer's machine back up and running.

That's one of the advantages of having experience with these machines.

Sometimes the answer isn't sitting in a manufacturer's parts catalog.

Sometimes you have to understand what the component does, why it failed, and how to come up with a reliable solution when the original part is no longer available.

In this case, the customer needed their S-45 to keep erecting their shop.

We found a way to keep the job moving.

Genie 121846GT Time-Delay Relay

If you have a Genie S-Series or Z-Series machine that starts normally and then shuts down a few seconds later, the time-delay relay is something worth investigating, especially if the engine actually has good oil pressure.

The Genie part number is:

121846GT

And we've got plenty of them available.

If you need a Genie 121846GT time-delay relay, contact Mondak Equipment and Hose and we'll get one headed your way.

Supply chains are still strange in a lot of industries. Parts that used to be readily available can become obsolete, disappear from the market, or simply stop being manufactured.

At Mondak Equipment and Hose, we diagnose the problem.

We look for a way to solve it.

Because equipment doesn't care what day of the week it is.

And neither do we.