Category: News

BRENTON AND SHEILA FORD DEPART FOR SCOTLAND

Posted on by Guy Phoenix

Brenton and Sheila Ford resigned from Parts & Power in September to move to Sheila’s home country of Scotland.  Sheila had traveled to Scotland in July for her father’s funeral.  Due to the Covid border closure in the BVI, the process to return was taking a long time.  That, combined with family obligations, made her decide to remain in Scotland.  Brenton, and their dog Shaggy, packed up in late October to join Sheila in Scotland. Parts & Power wish Sheila and Brenton (and Shaggy) the best of success in their new endeavors in Scotland.  They will be missed.

Brenton is shown on right in the photo with Robin Hales of Parts & Power during a Poker Run in June of 2019.

 

Germain James is awarded Employee of the Quarter

Posted on by Guy Phoenix

Parts & Power is pleased to announce that Germain James has been awarded Employee of the Quarter for Q2 2020.  Germain, who is our lead Generator Technician, has been with Parts & Power since 2017.  He and his brother Ronald, who was awarded Employee of the Quarter in 2019, lost their entire house in Hurricane Irma. Not a wall was standing. Having lost everything, he made his way to Parts & Power the next morning.  When asked what he wanted to do, he said “there is work to be done”. He spent the next 6 months working up to 14 hours/day, 7 days/week.  He was a major force in the BVI Recovery following Irma.  After the recent lockdown of the BVI, there were elderly and indigent persons in the Community who ran out of food and water. Germain volunteered for several days to do Food Relief Deliveries to those in need.  Germain is renown for his outstanding Customer Service, and it is always delivered with a big smile on his face.  Germain’s integrity is what makes him such a wonderful person, and our Employee of the Quarter.

Germain James (left) is awarded a power tool for Employee of the Quarter by Service Manager Sayeed Mohammed.

Northern Lights Caribbean Dealers hold virtual meeting amid the Coronavirus lockdowns

Posted on by Adriene Riordan

NORTHERN LIGHTS CARIBBEAN DEALERS HOLD VIRTUAL MEETING AMID THE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNS

9 April 20, Road Town, Tortola

Most Caribbean Countries are on lockdown due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.  With few exceptions, all Caribbean Countries are restricting anyone, other than Essential Workers, from leaving their own yard.  Although most Caribbean Northern Lights Dealers are Essential Workers in their own counties, there is very little work to require anyone from going out.  With this in mind, Robin Hales and Gavin Dooley, from Parts & Power, organized an online training meeting with all the Caribbean Dealers.  It was a good opportunity for everyone to get together and discuss the Northern Lights Product, and the Northern Lights and CaribbeanNorthernLights.com websites.  Rob hosted the event, and Gavin was our trainer.

There were 26 people in attendance on the Zoom meeting with one or more participants from

Marine Power Services, Antigua; Dominica Marine Centre, Dominica; Palm Tree Marine, Grenada; Inboard Diesel Services, Martinique; Electec, St. Maarten; Caraibes Diesel, St. Martin; Marintek, St. Lucia; LP Marine, Trinidad; Marine Maintenance, Tortola; CRC, Virgin Gorda; Import Supply, St. Thomas and Parts & Power.

“It is important, in this time of isolation, for everyone to remain engaged,” Robin Hales said.  “I thought it was also an excellent time for us all to get together to talk about the Northern Lights Product.”  It is not very often when we can get the attention of our very busy Dealers.  So, I wanted to take advantage of the fact that most people were in isolation.  Besides, I have not had an opportunity to meet with some of our Dealers, especially with planned travel being postponed at this time” he said.  “Although face to face meetings are not possible, this was the next best thing.  This was so successful that we will hold a follow up meeting next week.”

Northern Lights and Parts & Power visit 58th annual ACYS

Posted on by Adriene Riordan

On 6, 7 & 8 December, participants from Northern Lights and Parts & Power participated in the 58th Annual Antigua Charter Yacht Show.  Northern Lights VP and General Manager, Kit Purdy, Don Schutte from the NL Florida Branch and Tom Gerker & Rob Hales from Parts & Power visited yachts at the Show to see how many participants had Northern Lights products on them.  Over 30% of the yachts had a Northern Lights, Lugger or Technicold Product on board.  The ACYS presents a unique opportunity to see a large number of Northern Lights customers in one location.  The purpose of the visit was to discover the level of customer satisfaction with the Products.

Most of the yachts with Northern Lights Equipment were happy with the Product and had nothing but positive feedback to give.  This year, the crew from NL and P&P ran into several boats that were having issues though.  One vessel had recently had their generator rewound and had a catastrophic failure on the new winding while docking in Antigua. Thanks to some fast action on the part of Kit, NL were able to get a new 90kW generator end air freighted to Antigua, where the local NL Dealer Marine Power Service installed it in time for the yacht to make their charter.

The team from NL and P&P were able to answer questions from Engineers and Captains about Operation, Maintenance, Service and where to get support wherever they are in the world.  Customers were able to give feedback on the Products and, in some cases, make recommendations on how to improve them in some way.  Such feedback is invaluable to Northern Lights and their Distribution Network for making Improvements in Products and Service.

Participants from NL and P&P have been attending the ACYS for more than 20 years.  Many questions have been answered, problems solved and ideas for Product Improvement have been taken back to the Seattle Headquarters for implementation over the years. It has been an outstanding venue for listening to the Voice of the Customer.

NEW NORTHERN LIGHTS DEALER IN VIRGIN GORDA, BVI

Posted on by Guy Phoenix

NEW NORTHERN LIGHTS DEALER IN VIRGIN GORDA, BVI


On Feb 6th 2019, Parts & Power salesman, Tony Tuckett, met with the Caribbean’s most recent Northern Lights Dealer, CRC Engines and Fabrication of the Valley, Virgin Gorda.  Pictured are Tony and Geoff Cooke.  Behind the sign is company founder, Chris Cooke.  CRC was founded in 1993 on Virgin Gorda.  The company provides Marine and Industrial Engine & Generator service, as well as fabrication.  They are a major sub-contractor for the Boat Yard at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour.

CRC are dealers for Yanmar, Yamaha, Algae X Fuel Conditioner.  With their expansion to Northern Lights, they now represent the preferred choice of most charter crews, and many bareboat fleets in the Caribbean.

For more information, please contact Chris Cooke at 284-495-5262, 284-547-8333 or Chris Cooke (chris@crcenginesbvi.com).

US EPA Tier III Compliance for Marine Generators

Posted on by Guy Phoenix

Questions about US EPA Tier III Compliance for Marine Generators?
Northern Lights Has Answers.

Understanding EPA Tier requirements can be a challenge for even the most experienced boaters. To clarify the issues around Tier III generator requirements, the experts at Northern Lights have prepared the following FAQ’s. Download the PDF from this link: Sales Bulletin – Questions about US EPA Tier III Compliance for Marine Generators?

Dan Durbin Retires from Parts & Power after 23 years of service

Posted on by Guy Phoenix

Dan Durbin retires from Parts & Power on 1 July 2017 after 23 years of service to Parts & Power customers in the Caribbean, and around the world.  Dan joined Parts & Power in 1994 as Service Manager.  He became Director of Technical Services, then spent the last few years working as lead Sales Engineer.

Dan’s career started as a Generator Instructor at the Army Engineer School and served as a Generator Technician in Vietnam and Germany.  After being honorably discharged from the Army, Dan held many technical posts including that of Technical Service Manager at Cummins NW and International Service Manager for Alaska Diesel Electric, manufacturers of Northern Lights generators. Dan was instrumental in the development of the Northern Lights generator design and focused the product on Reliability, Simplicity and Durability.  It was the philosophy that has made the Northern Lights Product so successful, especially in mega yachts, and charter vessels, where down time for a generator is an unacceptable situation.

Dan was also instrumental in developing Parts & Power as the premier engine & generator distributor in the Caribbean. His wide range of experience and technical experience helped Parts & Power expand from Marine Engines and Generators to Land based Generators, Automatic Transfer Switches, Electrical Distribution Products, Power Quality products, JCB excavation equipment and Marine Air Conditioning and Refrigeration.

Dan’s skills as a Technical Instructor are well known and appreciated by many in the Technical Fields.  Dan taught classes on Diesel Engines, Power Generation, ATS, Electrical Distribution, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, and JCB machine Operation and Maintenance.  He taught for many organizations including H Lavity Stoutt Community College, Northern Lights in Seattle, South Florida, Europe and the Caribbean, and JCB, in addition to regular training for Parts & Power.

Dan was active in several local community service organizations, and never denied any customer, or competitor, technical advice whenever asked.

Dan will be sorely missed by the many lives he touched in the Caribbean and South Florida, but none so much as his family at Parts & Power.

Although Dan will be relocating to South Florida to be near his family, he will remain on retainer with Parts & Power for future projects and training.

Ensure the Reliable Operation of your Generator Set with Proper Coolant and Cooling System Maintenance

Posted on by jdowling

Certain types of coolant may adversely affect the functionality of Northern Lights generator sets. The Northern Lights Service Department offers the following troubleshooting tips:

  • Straight water with additive is not recommended on Northern Lights generator sets as they may cause damage to the engine.
  • Some brands of Hybrid or OAT type coolants have been reported to cause the OEM thermostat to stick, leading to overheating. In addition, some extended life coolants have been found to cause leaks in the generator set’s pump seal. In such conditions, flush the coolant system thoroughly and refill with an approved Northern Lights coolant.
  • All engines with wet liners require a supplemental coolant additive (SCA) to prevent liner erosion and pitting in the circulating water pump impeller. Northern Lights recommends heavy duty diesel rated coolants, which include an SCA. If a heavy duty diesel rated coolant is not available, add an SCA to prevent the symptoms noted above.
  • It is the responsibility of the customer to understand that the use of incompatible coolant may cause damage, so please help educate them.

For use in Northern Lights generator sets, the following coolant types are approved:

  • Conventional Propylene Glycol based coolants.
  • Conventional Ethylene Glycol based coolants.

Please refer to your operators’ manual for your specific unit’s coolant requirements and specifications.
Should you encounter of the above conditions, or have additional questions about Northern Lights coolant recommendations, contact your Factory Service Representative.

Download this information in PDF form