| C.C.M. |
| INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION |
17th July 2006 The General Manager Attn: Mr. xx / Mr. yy. Re: Warranty Claim on failed Ruggerini 10 KVA Generator
Further to your letter to ourselves dated 17th July 2006 which identifies the cause of failure of the aforementioned and in which you intend to discharge yourselves of obligation under warranty to ourselves, kindly note the following: Firstly, we reject any and all claims that alterations were performed to the governor settings by ourselves as alleged by you in your kind letter. Secondly, your report reaches some erroneous conclusions as to the nature of the failure. Exceeding the recommended 3000 RPM operating speed (as opposed to the 5000 RPM Safe Running Maximum speed) of this unit does NOT, as claimed by yourselves, cause damage to the valve retention system. A prolonged excess of the safe running maximum speed of 5000 RPM would cause damage and/or failure to rockers, rocker shafts, push-rods, camshaft and other componentry prior to the valve train, but, if what you allege is true, the unit exceeded only the recommended operating speed and NOT the maximum safe running speed. The type and nature of damage you describe in your report can ONLY be attributed to either failure of retaining coletts / valve spring / spring cup assy., allowing the valve to drop into the bore and impact the piston head, thus becoming trapped between cylinder-head and piston crown, or failure of the cylinder-head and port surrounding and supporting the valve-stem leading the valve and supporting structure to drop into the cylinder and causing even more extensive damage. As your report contains NO description of damage to the cylinder-head and port areas supporting the valve-stem, nor of any cracks or damage to indicators of imminent failure, we assume that the failure the result of the former colett failure and not the latter. Regardless, however, of whether the valve dropped into the bore as a result of failure of the retaining coletts and valve-spring assy. or of the cylinder-head itself, the fact remains that this kind of damage is NOT consistent with any (even prolonged) over-rev of the plant but generally attributable to part failure (coletts, springs / spring caps) caused by a manufacturing defect or incorrect assembly of the same. This is further highlighted by the almost immediate failure of the new plant as opposed to a failure resultant from wear or undue strain or stress on the valve train. Moreover, kindly note that the Ruggerini plant is rated to a safe running maximum of 5000 RPM for operation. In the configuration coupled to the Mossa alternator as supplied by yourselves, the governor as fitted can-not be tampered with to permit revolutions to reach or exceed this safe maximum at any time. So, the damage CAN-NOT be resultant from over-rev as alleged by yourselves, as the governor fitted can-not be tampered with in any way to induce the plant to exceed the safe-running maximum under load. Lastly, as mentioned in our preliminary narrative report, the machine was coupled to a grounflos submersible pump (which is well within the capacity of the unit) which it powered for several hours only prior to failure. If, as alleged by yourselves, the governor had indeed been tampered with to increase engine revolutions, the output of aforesaid unit would exceed the maximum tolerated supply to the pump (hertz) resulting in damage to and/or failure of the pump itself. The fact that the pump is still running (powered by a far less smaller generator) attests to the fact that the governor settings were not altered in any way. It is therefore evident that there is no sound basis for yourselves to reject your obligation to ourselves under the terms of warranty you purport to provide. We urge you therefore to replace or repair the unit under your own warranty programme within 30 days of the date of this letter. Failure to undertake the above to the complete satisfaction of ourselves shall result in your suspension from our accredited list of suppliers forthwith and termination of all and any extant and pending business and any business relationship between ourselves. Any further failure shall incur any and all redress as afforded us by the terms of supply as stated in your warranty and the laws of Kenya. Sincerely, Mr. xy c.c. Mr. Pino Bollini, CCM
Sololo Drought Releif Project Consultant |