Category: Facility & Capabilities

Information About our Facility and how we do things.

Nitrogen Tank Installation

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It is our goal to provide the best quality generator available. To achieve this, we sometimes have to look at our current machines and see if there are ways to improve.

THE PROJECT

Problem: Nitrogen generator creating down-time
Solution: Install liquid nitrogen tank

BACKSTORY

Our laser cutter uses a nitrogen generator to take air in from our factory and produce compressed nitrogen, creating clean and paintable edges.

Even though the laser was doing a great job, we were finding that we were having down time in the humid months for the nitrogen generator to cool down and take in enough nitrogen. It was up to our manufacturing engineers to find a solution.

INSTALLATION

After some research, we found that installing a liquid nitrogen tank would eliminate the down-time and keep us running consistently in our day-to-day operations. By switching to the liquid nitrogen, we found the laser improved its speed and produced an even cleaner cut. Something we didn’t think was possible!

The project went off without a hitch! The weather cooperated and they had it running in one day.

You can watch our video about how the laser works here.

Stay tuned for our next project!

See you soon!

– BIG DOG

It’s a Sign!

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At WINCO, we enjoy looking for ways to not only promote ourselves, but our community. When you come to visit us, take Highway 99 so you can see our newest addition, an LED sign.

Project: Watchfire LED Sign
Purpose: Brand awareness, as well as, promoting company highlights and community events.
Challenges: Winter, system interruption

Ground Breaking

Even though we started the project in the heart of a Minnesota winter, we were able to get the support beam in place and secured with concrete. A local electric company was able to get wiring ready as well.

Installation

It was an exciting day when the sign was delivered! Installation was very quick and the sign was ready for content right away. The next day, though, we found out we had the same IP address as another company and were displaying information about Maine. It was a one in a million chance, but the software company worked hard to get everything working correctly. A few hours later, we were up and running.

Content

It has been fun creating content to display. The sign is a way for us to post products, company information, and promote local events and fundraisers. Adding a bit of whimsy, we display what National day it is. Pictured was our National Pet Day display. We were able to display pictures of all of our furry family members.

We have another project in the works. Stay tuned!
– BIG DOG

Liquid-Cooled Test Bay

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WINCO prides itself for our quality generators. We want to ensure every generator that goes out our door, is ready when you need it. This is why we 100% load test every generator. Our test bays are constantly in use and our technicians ensure that generators pass inspection. Our technicians check for shutdowns, read gauges, test high voltages, and engine temps, to name a few.

Within the past few years, we have been working on providing larger power capabilities. Right now, we offer our largest generator at 600kW. Having such a large generator being built, our old test bay wasn’t large enough and we needed to find a way to test them. Therefore, we relocated our liquid-cooled test bay to a new area and installed upgrades to our new test bay to suit our growing capabilities.

THE OLD

The old liquid-cooled test bay was created inside an old paint bay. For many years, this was sufficient and we were able to conduct full load tests on units up to 90kW. But, the old test bay was not able to accommodate the larger, housed units. It was also lacking an adequate fuel system.

THE NEW

The new liquid-cooled test bay is larger, more organized, and able to test our 600kW. Our testers also have a separate area where the can apply loads and monitor readings without having to be close to the generator itself.

Check out the video for a little tour!

Stay tuned to see our other test bays, air-cooled and PTO!

– BIG DOG

The 70’s Called, They Want Their Load Bank Back

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The air-cooled test bay has been an important piece of equipment for many years. All of our portables and small air-cooled standby generators pass through for their 100% load tests. After many years and thousands of units, it was time to update.

THE OLD

The previous load banks have been with the company since the 70’s. They would tell us amperage, single phase readouts, and hertz.

As the Big-Dogs have gotten larger we needed more testing capacity and the load banks hung too low. This reduced efficiency since some units had to be tested in the liquid-cooled test bay.

FIRST THINGS FIRST – DEMOLITION

We removed everything that was no longer needed, the load banks, the old venting, and sound-proofing.

THE SEA OF RED

During construction, we had to move testing to our old liquid-cooled test bay. Normally the units would be on the conveyor rollers and pushed through the test bay. We had sea of HPS units waiting for their turn to be tested.

THE NEW

The new load bank has a home outside. Don’t worry, it will get used to the Minnesota winters.

The new system allows us to test single and three phase units. We have also added a second station to accommodate our second air-cooled assembly line we will be adding later this year.

Camlocks Installed
New Lighting
Refreshed Paint

We have more exciting changes and updates happening! Stay tuned!!

– Big Dog

A Simple Machine Helps Generators Move

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Until recently, moving a large liquid-cooled unit around the facility would take two or three people. Our manufacturing engineers were on the task to improve how we transport these huge generators. One of our testers, Matt, was happy to show off what has made his job a lot easier.

Before, the larger units would have large casters on the bottom of the frame. One person would steer, while another pushed. If it was a DR130 or larger, it could easily take three people to move it.

Introducing the Cart Caddy

Now, as you can see in the video, the Cart Caddy effortlessly pushes the DR130 out of the test bay. The Cart Caddy may be a small machine, but it can definitely pull, well in this case push, more than its weight.

This is just one of the many improvements we are making to our facility and processes to provide you with better generators more cost effectively. Stay tuned, we are always improving!

– BIG DOG