Santa Barbara · Generator Installation and Service
Generator Repair
Diagnostics, emergency callouts and annual maintenance on residential, commercial and industrial units of any brand.
Generator Repair · Santa Barbara
What Generator Repair And Servicing Covers
Most generator failures are discovered at the worst possible moment, because a standby unit spends its life doing nothing and then is asked to work perfectly with no notice. We repair and service residential, commercial and industrial units of any brand across Santa Barbara County, including Generac, Kohler, Cummins, Champion, Onan and the older equipment that came with a building. The work splits into two halves. Emergency generator repair is the call that comes in when a unit will not start, starts and drops out, throws a controller fault, transfers and then fails to transfer back, or runs but produces nothing usable. Annual generator maintenance is the visit that stops most of those calls from happening: oil and filters, coolant, air and fuel filters, spark plugs on gas units, a battery test rather than a battery glance, valve clearance on the schedule, transfer switch exercise and a run under real load. The failures we actually see are overwhelmingly boring. Batteries, stale fuel, controller settings, block heaters and transfer switch contacts account for the large majority. All five are cheap to fix on a Tuesday in April and very expensive to discover in a storm, which is the entire argument for a service plan on a whole house generator or a commercial system.
Why Call Us For Service
We are a service company that also installs, rather than an installer with a service department bolted on, and the difference shows up in the van. Our technicians carry the diagnostic software and cables for the controllers actually used in this market, along with the filters, belts, batteries and fuel components that Central Coast units go through, so a first visit fixes the problem far more often than it produces a parts order. We also service what we did not sell, which matters when a building changes hands and nobody knows the history of the machine in the yard. Where a unit is genuinely at the end of its life we will say so and price the replacement honestly rather than selling repair after repair on a machine that has already told us what it intends to do. Service contract customers get priority during widespread outages, which is the only fair way to run a queue when the whole county calls on the same afternoon.
- Any brand serviced, including Generac, Kohler, Cummins, Champion and Onan, and units we did not install.
- Diagnostic tools and controller software in the van, so faults get read rather than guessed at.
- Common parts stocked: filters, batteries, belts, plugs, fuel components and transfer switch contacts.
- Emergency callout during outages, with rental units available if a repair cannot be completed the same day.
- Annual maintenance with a written report, so warranty and compliance records stay current.
- Straight answers on repair versus replace, with the replacement priced properly rather than as a scare number.
Signs It Is Time To Call
The symptoms that turn into a service call, and what they usually mean:
The unit will not start
The most common call and, nine times out of ten, the battery. Standby batteries live outdoors, get charged by a trickle circuit and die quietly at three to four years. After that the usual suspects are fuel supply, a failed starter and a controller in a locked-out state from an earlier fault nobody cleared.
It starts, then shuts down
A unit that fires and then stops after ten or twenty seconds is almost always telling you something specific through the controller: low oil pressure, high coolant temperature, overspeed or overcrank. Reading the fault code costs nothing and points straight at the problem, which is why guessing at this stage wastes money.
The weekly exercise has stopped happening
If you have not heard it run on its schedule, assume it will not run when you need it. A missed exercise cycle is the earliest warning any standby system gives you, and it is the one owners most often ignore because nothing appears to be wrong.
The transfer switch is not switching
The engine runs but the house or building stays dark, or the system carries the load and then will not hand it back to the utility. Transfer switch contacts, control wiring and the utility sensing circuit are all serviceable items, and they are frequently the actual fault when the generator itself is fine.
It is running rough, smoking or losing output
Black smoke and poor output on a diesel usually mean wet stacking from years of light running, and the fix starts with a load bank test. Surging, misfiring or voltage that wanders points at fuel, governor or regulator issues, none of which improve on their own.
The annual service is overdue
Manufacturer warranties assume documented maintenance, and so do insurers on commercial systems. Beyond the paperwork, a diesel with old oil, tired coolant and stale fuel is a machine that is going to fail. Annual generator maintenance is the cheapest line item in the whole ownership cost.
Tell us the brand, roughly the age and what it is doing, and we will tell you whether it is a same-day fix or something bigger. Call: (805) 572-7405
How A Service Call Works
Diagnose properly, quote before working, fix it once.
1. Triage on the phone
A few questions about the brand, the age, the fault display and what changed usually narrows it a long way before anybody drives anywhere, and it tells us which parts to load. If the property is without power right now, that moves the call up the queue.
2. On-site diagnosis
Controller faults read, battery load tested rather than eyeballed, fuel supply and pressure checked, oil and coolant condition assessed, transfer switch inspected and exercised. You get told what is wrong and what it costs before we start the repair, not afterwards.
3. Repair and test
Common parts come off the van. Anything ordered gets a real date rather than a vague one. Then the unit runs under load, transfers properly in both directions and holds, because a repair that has only been tested at no load has not been tested.
4. Report and schedule
A written record of what was found, what was done and what is going to need attention next. If the unit is on a maintenance plan it goes back on the schedule; if it is not, we will tell you honestly whether it needs one.
Maintenance Plans, Common Repairs And Fuel
What we do beyond turning up when something has already broken:
Annual generator maintenance
Oil and oil filter, air and fuel filters, coolant test and top-up, spark plugs on gas units, belts and hoses, battery load test, valve clearance on schedule, controller settings verified, transfer switch exercised and the unit run under load. On residential units this is once a year. On heavily used or commercial equipment it is two to four visits.
Generator oil change intervals
Typically annually or every 100 to 200 running hours, whichever comes first, with the first change much earlier after commissioning to clear break-in debris. Standby units rarely reach the hour figure, which is exactly why the calendar interval matters: oil degrades sitting in a cold engine just as it does in a working one.
Emergency generator repair
Same-day response where we can and priority for contract customers. During a widespread outage we run the queue on need and on service agreements, and where a repair cannot be completed that day we will put a rental unit on site to keep the property running. Rental details are on the generator rental page.
Diesel generator repair and fuel management
Diesel degrades with time, water and microbial growth, and a tank that has sat for two years is a fuel filter problem waiting to happen. We test, polish and where necessary replace stored fuel, treat tanks, and change filters on a schedule that reflects how the fuel is actually stored rather than a generic figure.
Transfer switch service
Contacts, coils, control boards and utility sensing circuits all age, and a transfer switch that has never been exercised under load is a genuine single point of failure. Every service visit exercises it, and on commercial systems that is documented for the inspector.
Load bank testing
For commercial and industrial generators, an annual test at rated output using a resistive load bank proves capacity, burns off wet stacking on diesels and produces the certificate insurers ask for. We bring the load bank rather than subcontracting it.
Repair or replace
A twenty-year-old air-cooled unit needing a controller and a stator is usually not worth the parts. A well-built liquid-cooled machine of the same age often is. We give you both numbers, including what a new install would actually cost, and let you decide with the real figures in front of you.
What Generator Repair And Servicing Costs
A standard annual maintenance visit on a residential standby unit runs roughly $300 to $600 including oil, filters and a battery test. Commercial contracts are priced per visit against the size and number of units. Repairs are quoted after diagnosis. What moves the number:
- Residential or commercial. A 22kW air-cooled home unit is a shorter visit with cheaper consumables than a 200kW liquid-cooled commercial set.
- Visit frequency. Annual is standard for homes. Commercial emergency systems generally need quarterly attention plus an annual load test to stay compliant.
- What the service includes. Oil and filters are the baseline. Coolant service, valve clearance, battery replacement and load bank testing are periodic items on a longer cycle.
- Parts and availability. Common filters, batteries and belts are on the van. Controllers, regulators and alternator components are ordered, and lead times vary a lot by brand.
- Emergency or scheduled. A booked visit costs less than a callout during a countywide outage. Contract customers get priority at the standard rate rather than an emergency premium.
- Fuel work. Fuel polishing, tank cleaning and replacing degraded diesel are separate items and only apply to sites with meaningful storage.
A maintenance plan costs less over three years than one emergency callout plus the food in a failed walk-in, which is the arithmetic most of our contract customers ran before signing. We service units we did not install, and if you are weighing a repair against a new machine, the whole house generator and commercial generator pages carry current installed pricing. Everything we do around the county is listed on the Santa Barbara generator services page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should a generator be serviced?
Once a year for a residential standby unit, or every 100 to 200 running hours if it gets there sooner, with a first service shortly after commissioning to clear break-in debris. Commercial emergency systems are exercised monthly and given a documented annual test, with a full service two to four times a year depending on use. Missing the annual service is the standard route to a denied warranty claim.
My generator will not start. What is it likely to be?
The battery, most of the time. Standby batteries live outdoors on a trickle charge and quietly reach the end of their life at three to four years, usually without warning. After that the common causes are fuel supply, a controller sitting in a locked-out state from a previous fault, a failed starter or a block heater that stopped working two winters ago. The controller fault code narrows it in minutes.
Do you repair generators you did not install?
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do. Buildings change hands, contractors move on and warranties expire. We service Generac, Kohler, Cummins, Champion, Onan and older equipment, and the first visit on an unfamiliar unit includes a full condition assessment so you know what you actually own rather than what the previous owner said you owned.
How often does a generator need an oil change?
Annually or every 100 to 200 hours of running, whichever arrives first, using the oil grade the manufacturer specifies for the ambient conditions. Most standby units never come close to the hour figure, so the calendar governs. Oil sitting in a cold engine still degrades and still collects moisture, which is why the interval is not negotiable just because the hour meter is low.
What is wet stacking and does it matter?
It is unburned fuel and soot building up in the exhaust of a diesel that spends its life running lightly loaded, which is exactly how standby sets live. It fouls injectors, glazes cylinders and eventually costs real output. The fix is an annual load bank test that runs the engine at proper load long enough to burn it off, which is why that test is on every commercial service schedule we run.
Is it worth repairing an old generator or should I replace it?
It depends on the machine. A twenty-year-old air-cooled residential unit needing a controller and alternator work is usually not worth the parts, since the repair approaches the cost of a new install with a fresh warranty. A well-built liquid-cooled commercial or industrial set of the same age is often very much worth rebuilding. We give you both numbers honestly and let you make the call.
Need power that stays on?
Tell us the property and what has to keep running, and we will come back the same day with a free estimate and a flat installed price.
Or call us now: (805) 572-7405