Gas Engine Block Damaged

That should never happen. How long has this been going on? often does this happen? How many engines have been damaged? Your saying the engine block is being damaged from the piston hitting? Are the piston breaking when they hit the cylinder head? Or is the cylinder head or valves being damage? from the contact?

The valve timing is off. Not knowing if these engines have timing chains or belt, you may be running these engines beyond the recommended inspection/ maintenance intervals.

You need to RTFM and contact the factory representative ASAP!

Pistons do not hit cylinder heads.

The connecting rod/crankshaft stroke limits piston travel so that physical contact SHOULD be impossible.

The pistons may be hitting a valve which can certainly damage the head.

If the block is being damaged, it may be due to valve parts falling into the cylinder.

First, we need to establish what is hitting what and what is being damaged.

As dj95401 said, You need to RTFM and contact the factory representative ASAP!

Or a GOOD mechanic.

You don't have a lot of luck with power plant, have you ever considered a new career?

aneeslarik is typical of many from his area.

His first question in 2012, when he was still in college, set the pattern.

To put it in terms of an old saying, he doesn't want to know how to fish, he just wants some fish to eat.

He won't take your good advice and he doesn't want to take the time to solve the fundamental problem.

aneeslarik, get some technical help. You can't fix this with remote, blind help.

Let me ask you a question.

I just bought a top of the line stove/oven.

It was installed by a professional installer.

When the oven was turned on for the first time, melted plastic dripped onto the bottom of the oven and charred.

Does this occur in other ovens?

How would you answer my question?

The installer is responsible for setting the appliance in place and powering it properly. The Owner/user is responsible for unpacking the oven parts, shelves, broiler pan, and accessories. Obviously here the user just turned it on and expected to use it without setting up the parts and reading the manual, which was probably encased in the melted plastic.

You've obviously never worked as an installer for a reputable appliance company.

And you never checked inside the oven for packing materials before nuking them! I think I get your point as it relates to to the topic: The tech should not consider the job completed until he runs a test of the generator engine and all the fluids and such are correct, then the engine should not eat the valves.

So where is the procedure that the Technician works with, Mildred? ITFM if you ask me. If the manual is now surrounded by melted plastic and it cannot be read then our friend needs to get another one. So he STILL needs to ring the manufacturer PDQ.

Personal foul! Fifteen yards. Loss of down! Reset the clock to -15 seconds.

https://powergen.gepower.com/products/reciprocating-engines/jenbacher-type-6.html#spec

You need to get some training on the operation and maintenance of this equipment...of course stuff happens sometimes...I would be concerned with the quality of the fuel...

https://powergen.gepower.com/services/training.html

...and you need to get a pro on site to check this system out...

https://www.clarke-energy.com/gas-engines/type-6-gas-engines/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_Jenbacher

Bonus link....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRFt2l9XyWE

Yes, in an engine such as this, chunks of metal in the fuel are a definite no-no.

If I owned the equipment in question, and were the gentleman (OP) in question, I would forget RTFM, because reading the fabulous manual will get me nowhere. I would call up ringy dingy really quicky the OEM (ornery equipment maker), and ask them WTF over?

Then they will send this guy they hired six weeks ago, who has read the fabulous manual, and who will point out the precise nature of your problem: YHIUYA!

Wake up and smell the Arabica beans man! Engines that should be lasting for decades are failing within how many years in your facility? Does that rhyme with anything in your world, incompetance perhaps?

A piston hitting the head should be a very rare occurance, and should only happen if something is broken inside the engine. Are you sure what you are experiencing is not knock, or pre-ignition (which is still damaging)?

http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2101&context=rtd

Well, at least now you know where all the fuel went:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/104697/Fuel-Consumption

When you say "Gas" engine are you talking about gasoline? Or Natural Gas? Or Propane/Butane?

If only one engine is suffering damage from a piston or pistons engaging the cylinder head then there is something seriously wrong with the engine assembly such as having the wrong crankshaft or the wrong piston/pistons installed.

If this phenomenon is occurring to more than one engine, the odds are that the root-cause of the damage is not engine design or quality related and instead is due to:

1) Poor maintenance

2) Loose materials and/or sand being inducted into the engine intake.

3) Fuel detonation caused by too low of octane content and/or incorrect engine timing.

4) Or; The engine(s) may be suffering from sabotage.

Because you stated the cylinder walls/block is being damaged the most logical cause of damage is fuel detonation.

The visible evidence is difficult to distinguish from piston to head contact because once the cylinder suffers damage (explosion) the dislodged parts are crushed between the piston and cylinder head surface.

A thorough investigation and analysis by a certified, factory trained mechanic is you best option to identify the root-cause or root-causes.

Good luck and stay safe.

many years ago a buddy of mine( rocket scientist for Boeing was working on his late 60's Chevy van. he pulled the carb off. when he put it back on he couldn't locate one of the screws he had removed. he was pressed for time. he fired it up. I never realized just how many times a screw could jump through an intake valve and then back to the manifold and ultimately to another cylinder. he had a bad day

I hate when that happens!

Oh yeh! I had a similar incident when my buddy Bo and I were installing a new tunnel ram on his small block Chevy race day morning.

I saw Bo knock a hardened socket head intake bolt into the #6 intake opening and told him about it.

He counted the remaining bolts in the plastic package and told me I was mistaken then proceeded with the install despite my objections.

As soon as he hit the starter the engine rotated once then locked up.

Needless to say the #6 piston had a nice little hole in it and we did not make the first heat of the races so he did not qualify that weekend.

And of course he said to me; "I hate it when you're right." then we laughed, popped a cold one and watched the races together.

I do miss those days and the good times.

Makes you kinda wonder, huh?

If it were my decision, I would get a factory service representative on site as soon as possible so that good, unbiased analysis can be performed on the equipment in question.

Is this happening to different engines or only to one engine?

It is all too common with internal combustion engines that the timing coordination between the crankshaft and camshaft becomes displaced due to human error and/or mechanical wear.

It is also very common with NG engines for the gas metering system to get out of calibration and result in too much or too little vapor entering the cylinder(s) which can cause cylinder damage.

When this happens severe engine damage is imminent.

What sort of engine temperatures are you experiencing prior to the damage occurring?

If you haven't done so it would be a good idea to monitor the engine critical operating parameters such as oil pressure, temperature, air-to-fuel ratio, and ignition timing.

A good portable engine analyzer is invaluable when identifying engine operating issues.

On the NG fuel metering system operation:

It could well be that the NG is not being vaporized properly therefore allowing liquid fuel to enter the cylinder(s) which will definitely do some severe damage.

Do you have a pre-heat system on the engines or fuel supply system?

If so I would definitely take an in-depth look at it.

It is a climate change terrorist sabotaging your plant. Look around and see if any of the maintenance staff resemble ALGORE.

Nope! But one is missing their diamond ear posts.

Only in GM and Chrysler ones! Or when the timing belt or chain is not functioning normally. Or when it is using fuel that causes preignition knocks. Or when the oil breaks down from lack of maintenance. Or when the engine is revved past red line. Or if the block overheats and warps. Or if you break or crack the block or piston. In short, YES!

How in the world did your country get nuclear weapons without melting the whole place?

we are pakistani and we are proud of ourselves we are asking questions it does not mean that we dont know any thing but we are examining you people so your knowledge is tested you have zero knowledge why are you added in this group you should have been a sweeper... ahahhahaahahha

Go feed the camels!

you really didn't need to say that

Now now!

You are asking total strangers, whom you do not know and have no knowledge of their qualifications, to do your job for you and you are telling someone else that they "have zero knowledge"?

I hope that you do not speak for all Pakistani.

You insult a stranger you do not know. Even if his comments are rude you want this forum to help you look good in the eyes of your seniors?

Sorry, I lost it.

Feeding the camels is good, but I think in Pakistan they have more donkeys than camels.

Do you know what the sex of the camel (picture) on a pack of Camel cigarettes is?

You should know, because there are 20 small camels inside.

If our Pakistani friend is offended, it is because we have insulted his sensibilities. We all have them. Since we are not in his shoes, we may not walk a mile in them.

I am sure that not all Pakistanis fall into any one category, any more than you and I do.

For all we know, the cooling being done on these engines is no longer taking place from the use of water that is not in specification with the OEM's recommendations. Ignoring such recommendations on modern equipment will totally result in loss of cooling efficiency, loss of oil film, parts galling and seizing up, fracture of overheated parts, explosions, what not, and other misdemeanors.

The OP should stop bothering us with sketchy information, however, and go back and look up the OEM's phone number in the RTFM book, and make a ringy dingy to them.

They will be able to point out immediately what the deficiencies were, assuming they actually log the operating data of these machines at this power plant.

to answer your question I'd point out a doubt. I'm not confident the piston ever did hit the head. based on your description I'm instantly thinking you tried to compress something that resists compressing. like engine oil or liquid fuel. attempting to compress liquid will grenade a cylinder every time.

when you mentioned it was just serviced red flags shot up

It doesn't sound like factory trained and approved people are putting hands on this equipment. are you throwing away dollars to save pennies?

There are a few ways the piston can contact the cylinder head.

1. Over revving the engine will stretch the connecting rods, but this is an extreme over rev.
2. The connecting rod bearings are worn or spun out of the con rod.
3. The pistons are overheating causing expansion of the piston head.
4. Poor manufacturing from the OEM.
5. Carbon build up on the piston crown (doubt this one due to the fuel type)
6. Cylinder heads/block that have been over machined at an overhaul, i.e. too deep in the cylinder
7. One other is the main bearings can be misfit but combustion pressure should keep the crank from floating up into interference zone.

It is not possible to see the other three engines from here.

That reminds of a cartoon I saw once, where this fellow's head was obviously in his posterior, and his supervisor walks over and says, "Your problem is obvious."

LOL

We have maintenance work being done on one of our black-start gas turbines here, that in recent years has been used as a peaking turbine. So we put a lot of hours on an older generation industrial frame turbine, with minimal air filtration, mounted at ground level in sand-blown West Texas, with poor water quality being fed to the intake evaporating cooler, and were all astonished to see PT blades (one entire row) where the ends of the blades appeared as if someone had ground them off exposing the hollow cores of the blades. Rest assured, this is not a normal appearance for PT blades.

Our problem is obvious. People often times think: "We have this old piece of equipment that was installed for short run hours, so now let's run it all the time, and expect it to come out clean in the next inspection." What a load of gibberish.