If you have an FG Wilson generator you have come to know about its quality and performance. One of the keys to FG Wilson's reputation for being a quality generator is that the components that are used in the manufacturing are made to perform in the extreme situations and conditions that many of the FG Wilson customers have around the world.
As FG Wilson has become know in the market there have been many manufacturer's of parts offering aftermarket "replacement" parts. These parts are always presented as made to fit FG Wilson generators and are generally offered by generator technicians in the market and offered as a lower cost alternative to using Genunine FG Wilson parts.
The truth is that they do physically fit onto the FG Wilson generator with out having to modify the original configuration and they do cost less.
As in most things it is what is not said to owners of the FG Wilson generator that needs to be considered.
FG Wilson engineers when designing and manufacturing the generators have made certain assumptions regarding the conditions of operation in order to get performance, reliability and life that customers expect from an FG Wilson generator.
One example is that most of the FG Wilson line of generators come with a 500 hour service interval.
This was doubled from the 250 hour service interval some years back. One of the key reasons that FG Wilson is able to offer this because the filters it uses have a longer life and keep the oil in the condition necessary to guarantee the performance of the engine.
While this does add cost to the FG Wilson generator it saves our customers money. The most expensive part of the service is not the filter it is the labour and oil that are around 80% of the cost. The non genunine parts are cheaper for a reason and are not made to operate in the 500 hour service interval that FG Wilson advertises.
In the best case scenario the cost of servicing your FG Wilson will end up higher than using a genunine FG Wilson oil filter because to protect the generator you will have to perform the service more often. In the worst case you could have a catastrophic engine failure.
Most of the cheaper "replacement" oil filters do not come with a bypass valve built into it that protects the engine in case the filter gets clogged. Once the filter gets clogged the engine will not be lubricated and the engine is at risk of ceasing causing thousands of dollars in damage.
Another example of "replacement" parts made to fit is in the electronic components. Over the past few years companies have been offering automatic voltage regulators or replacement AVRs. These AVRs look very similar to the geninune FG Wilson AVR and come with the exact connections and dimensions. Most of the time owners of the FG Wilson generators may not even know that a "replacement" AVR has been fitted onto their FG Wilson generator as the AVR goes inside the generator and is not visible from the outside.
It is important to take into consideration that an FG Wilson generator comes tested by FG Wilson and under certain standards and certifications with a geuniune AVR fitted to it. The AVR is central to the excitation system of your FG Wilson generator and directly impacts its performance and reliability.
While there may be "replacement" AVRs out there that have a similar performance really there is no way of knowing what the impact on your FG Wilson will be.
Once a "replacement" AVR is fitted the FG Wilson generator no longer conforms the standards and certifications it was built with as the manufacturer of the "replacement" AVR would have to perform all the testing and certifications in order to confirm this and I dont know any that do.
Another point to consider is these AVRs are "reverse" engineered and do not take into consideration the requirements and performance required by FG Wilson but instead focus on cost. If they cut corners in the manufacturing process and components the end result will be impact on performance.
