Yanmar Engines Help Eniquest Power the Australian Defence Force

Presented by Power Equipment

Power Equipment is helping to deliver one of the most important defence upgrades for Australia in—providing Yanmar engines to local Queensland-based company Eniquest, who are building all new generators for the Australian Defence Force.

Eniquest are delivering small-to-medium power generators for the ADF, renewing all of Australia’s defence field power system capability over the next four years. That means Australia’s Army, Navy and Air Force will be using Yanmar-powered equipment in the future!

Along with smaller (1.8 and 4.5kW) generator systems, Eniquest will also deliver medium-sized generation capability with 8, 16 and 30kVA, 3-phase generators with 700 litre fuel cells.

The contract forms part of the Australian government’s Deployable Force Infrastructure project, LAND 8160, and was announced in March this year. Among other goals, the project will help the ADF to rapidly and independently support a range of operations, including humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, peacekeeping and other defence deployments.

Managing Director of Eniquest, Don Pulver, is certainly no beginner in the generator game. He has built his company around looking for niche businesses that need the best (and often most robust) equipment.

“We are a design, development and manufacturing business and we build a premium, purpose-built product for the client,” Don explained. “You could also say we are very patriotic – we buy Australian and use Australian suppliers wherever we can,” he says proudly.

Virtually all componentry in the generators built by Eniquest is fabricated in Australia, including electronic circuit boards and DC alternators.

“In fact, we’re the only company in Australia who build commercial DC alternators,” Don says.

With electrical engineering qualifications and a significant history of using Yanmar engines in generators, you could say Don Pulver is somewhat of an authority on the brand. “I go back a long way in the generator game and we used Yanmar engines in a similar business back in the early 1990’s,” Don said.
“We did endurance tests on multiple engine brands back then, including the Yanmars. The Yanmars always out-lasted the others – often by a long margin.”

Don proudly inspecting his next generators ready to be shipped. Source: Supplied.

Don says that longevity has not changed with the Yanmar diesels and he is still surprised at the endurance that is proven by the brand time and time again.

“We regularly refurbish generator-driven floodlight sets for a client running them at least 10 hours a day, 365 days a year and the machines come back to us with up to 30,000 hours on them. The Yanmar TNV engines often need very little done to them – maybe a shaft seal or a welch plug replaced, but rarely anything major.”

Eniquest supplies power generation and backup power systems to multiple government, mining and critical infrastructure companies, even supplying an auxiliary power generator with air conditioning systems for the Australian Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle, now currently used by the Australian Army.

Eniquest will utilise the Yanmar TNV series engines, with in-house designed engine mounting systems in their LAND 8160 generator contract with the ADF, with all designs passing rigorous laboratory testing that simulates 15,000 hours of field use.

Yanmar’s TNV series engines cover a huge range of industrial and generator engine needs. There are a host of improvements that have seen these two, three and four cylinder engines, (across 12 variants – 13hp to 84hp), punch way above their weight.

They are not only a quieter engine (thanks to stiffer engine blocks and design elements to reduce radiant noise), but are also some of the cleanest diesel engines in the world thanks to fuel delivery systems that match the demands of the engine. In fact, the higher horsepower TNV’s with ECU fuel system and electronic governor exhaust virtually no visible smoke, even on startup!

Don referring to the Eniquest specifications. Source: Supplied.

It is not only strong engines and tough generator fabrication that have given Eniquest the edge in supplying to clients like the ADF however.

“We have also developed a proven generator control system that basically allows multiple generators (of varying capacities) to be run in parallel, delivering higher output to larger base camps or other needs where necessary,” explained Don.

A smart company, delivering a very smart and purpose-built product that is no doubt a reflection of Don Pulver’s enthusiasm for his expertise. “When it comes down to it, I like the fact that we can make electricity, power that people need and rely on for what they do,” Don says.

We like the way you make electricity too Don—and Power Equipment is proud to be partnered with this nationally important project to deliver that need.