Perkins’ 4000 Series finds favour in prime power applications
More than 30% of units produced over two decades being used for prime power
Caterpillar-owned Perkins recently showed off its 4000 Series engine to customers in the region at the Middle East Electricity exhibition in Dubai.
The off-highway engine heavyweight said at the event that it has to date built more than 50,000 of the 4000 Series engines, which have been put to use in various applications by some of the world’s biggest businesses.
According to Simon Gray, product marketing manager at Perkins, the steady evolution of the engine has taken place over a number of years thanks to significant investment from Perkins. This has meant that the engine, often regarded as a standby source, is increasingly being utilised for prime applications by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and end users. Perkins estimates that up to 30% of all 4000 Series engines are used in prime power installations, Gray added.
The range includes diesel and gas engines, from six to 16 cylinders, with high power-to-weight ratios and compact designs. The engines are easy to transport, install and maintain.
“For more than 20 years, Perkins has made major investments in the design and manufacture of the 4000 Series. Constant power is critical to people’s lives and livelihoods. And whether it’s for powering hospitals, telecoms, data centres or manufacturing plants, the 4000 Series provides dependable power 24/7, 365 days a year,” Gray said.
“The 4000 Series platform was seen very much as a standby only engine in the market. But Perkins has made major investments in the design and manufacture of the 4000 Series. The current platform is so far removed from the original that it’s virtually unrecognisable. We launched the 4008 at the end of 2015 and, alongside the revamp of the 4006, 4012 and 4016, this completes the overall product line-up.”
Perkins is so confident about the reliability of the 4000 Series that it has extended warranty schemes on the product of one year of unlimited hours and two years or 6,000 hours for prime power users, he added. A third warranty for standby power users is of three years or 1,500 hours, with a maximum of 500 hours per year.
“We have a programme of continuous improvement in place focused on the design of components such as seals, gaskets, injectors and valves, to continually increase the performance, reliability and durability of our engines,” Gray said.
“Today the 4000 Series is all about quality and reliability. Not just for standby, but for prime. Where quality and reliability are paramount, you can depend on the Perkins 4000 Series to keep the power on… permanently.”
