The one question a standby generator has to answer — will it start and take the load when the UPS bridge runs out? Read from AUTO-mode state, start-battery health, fuel level, and the last real test (did it start within its start-seconds window and actually take load). A generator left in MANUAL after service, a dead start battery, or a test that never really loaded the set are the silent faults discovered during the outage — this metric surfaces them beforehand.
Whether a standby generator will start and carry the load when called — the readiness conjunction behind the set, not whether it ran last week. It combines control mode (AUTO vs MANUAL), start-battery health, fuel availability, and the result of the last real test (did it start within its start-seconds window and actually take load) into one readiness view, so the classic silent failures — a set left in MANUAL after service, a flat start battery, a test that idled but never loaded — are visible before the outage they would otherwise ruin.
Control mode — the set must be in AUTO to start on a utility failure; a set in MANUAL or OFF (often left there after service) is not-ready regardless of its mechanical condition.
Start-battery health — start-battery voltage / state; a dead or weak start battery is the most common reason a healthy generator does not crank.
Fuel availability — usable fuel level against the set's requirement; no fuel is no run.
Last real test — the most recent test's result — did it start within its start-seconds window and did it take load (not just idle). A no-load exercise that never proved the set under load does not count as a passing readiness test.
Readiness is the conjunction — AUTO AND start battery AND fuel AND a passed recent load test; any one missing drops the set out of ready. Read-only — Keedian surfaces the gap; returning the set to AUTO, charging the battery, refuelling, and servicing stay with the customer / vendor.
| Range | Classification | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| In AUTO, start battery healthy, fuel adequate, last load test passed within cadence | Ready — will start and load | The set is positioned to start on a primary-source failure and carry the load for its fuel-limited run-time. |
| One readiness input degraded — battery weak, fuel low, or the last test overdue | Degraded — start uncertain | The set may still start, but a readiness input is thinning; scope the battery, fuel, or test with the vendor before it is needed. |
| In MANUAL / OFF, start battery failed, no fuel, or a failed / no-load last test | Not ready — start at risk | The set will likely not start or not take load when called; refer to the vendor out of cycle. |
Reference bands only. The test cadence, what counts as a passing load test, the start-seconds window, and the fuel policy differ by set and site. Confirm them per generator before reporting readiness, so a set on a valid quarterly load-test cadence is not flagged like one that has never been proven under load.
The target is every standby set ready — in AUTO, start battery healthy, fuel adequate, and a passed load test within the agreed cadence. Because readiness is a conjunction, a set is not-ready if any single input fails; there is no partial-credit band for a set in MANUAL or one that has never taken load in a test.
The table below shows how moving Generator Start Readiness impacts each customer value driver the product is designed to improve — the metric page explains the mechanism; the product pages express the magnitude.
| Value driver | Impact strength | How Generator Start Readiness moves this lever |
|---|---|---|
| Operational continuity | Direct, primary | The generator is the long leg of the ride-through — once the UPS bridge runs out, an unstarted set means the outage is now the customer's outage. Surfacing a MANUAL mode, a dead start battery, or a no-load test turns the single most common continuity failure into a scoped vendor action done ahead of need. Per-building magnitude is expected (pending validation) — offices have no named Keedian reference deployment yet. |
| Asset lifespan | Indirect | A start battery repeatedly weak, or a set that struggles to start on test, is a fault developing in the open — surfacing it lets the vendor service the starting system or the set on a plan rather than after a failed start, and avoids the wear of repeated hard-start attempts. |
The table below summarizes the alarms that fire directly from Generator Start Readiness. Each row links to the full operational detail (trigger, preconditions, action plan, human role, escalation, prevention) in the SOPs catalog.
| Alarm | Description | Severity | Tier | AI executes? | Value drivers | SOP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generator not in AUTO | A standby set is found in MANUAL or OFF — it will not start on a utility failure regardless of its mechanical condition. The classic silent fault left after service. Read-only: Keedian surfaces the mode and refers the return to AUTO to the customer / electrical / power vendor; the set is not commanded. | Urgent | Essential | Hybrid | Operational continuity | Open SOP → |
More alarms in development (single-metric): a load-test-due reminder tied to the agreed cadence and a start-battery-decline projection. Composite alarms that combine generator readiness with backup autonomy and continuity posture — to flag the sets both least ready and most likely to be called on — will appear in a future release.
The action plan for each alarm lives on its own SOP page in the SOPs catalog — with the diagnostic steps, human role, value drivers, escalation, and prevention specific to that alarm. The list below maps each alarm to its SOP.
Start readiness is read from the controller or dry contacts; Keedian does not return the set to AUTO, charge the start battery, refuel, or service the generator. When a readiness input fails, Keedian reports which set, which input, and since when, and hands it to the electrical / power vendor — or the customer for a MANUAL-mode return — with a recommended action. A set left in MANUAL after service is the highest-yield catch; surface it immediately.
The load-test cadence, what counts as a passing test (started in window AND took load), the start-seconds window, and the fuel policy differ per set and site. Confirm them at onboarding so a set on a valid quarterly load-test cadence is not flagged like one never proven under load, and a no-load weekly exercise is not mistaken for a passing readiness test.
Per-alarm escalation criteria live in the Escalation block of each SOP in the SOPs catalog. The patterns below are metric-level — read from the portfolio view, not from any single alarm firing.