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County staff seek replacement strategy for aging generators; supplier searching for scarce parts
Summary
County facilities staff said the county's small backup generator dates to 1985 (placed in service 1989) and is difficult to repair because water-pump parts are scarce; staff asked whether replacing both older generators with a larger unit would make sense if repairs fail.
Beaver County facilities staff reported difficulty sourcing parts for an aging backup generator and said the county may consider replacing multiple units rather than repairing them piecemeal.
During the June 4 work session, a facilities speaker said, “We're having a hard time with the small generator. It's a — it's a 1985 generator. It was put in service in 1989. Have a very hard time trying to find a water pump for that or a kit that can rebuild the water pump.”
The staff said they contacted Penn Power, which “informed me that they are a worldwide distributor of Cummins parts, so they're gonna search for us worldwide to see if someone might have any water pump sitting on their shelf.” The speaker said the company expects that search to take a few days.
The facilities speaker added a policy consideration: if the water pump cannot be found, replacing multiple older generators with a larger, single unit and a higher exhaust stack might be more sensible than repeated repairs. The speaker noted an adjacent larger generator from about 1992. No formal decision was recorded at the meeting; staff said they will await Penn Power's parts search results before recommending further steps.
