By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- One of Potsdam’s newer hydroelectric generators taken offline a month ago due to a loud whine has been realigned and appears to be operating normally.

“Unit #2 of the West Hydro has been started up after planned maintenance work that was completed this morning,” said Village Administrator Everett Basford.

That unit was shut down and prepared for inspection in the last week of August.

The other generator there is still running and producing power, Basford said.

“So far, the results are encouraging. It is running quieter than Unit #1. The vibrations are minimal,” Basford said.

Unit #1 is also out of alignment, according to a diagnostic service engineer from The Schulz Group of Braintree, Mass., but not as much as its neighbor was.

The engineer has been working with village employees first on the realignment of Unit #2 and now of Unit #1.

“We expect a good outcome with Unit #1’s alignment process,” Basford said. “The guys have really stepped up to the challenge.”

“We still have the issue of excessive ‘gear lash,’ which is the measurement between gear teeth,” which the Schulz engineer has measured, Basford said.

They will be speaking with the gear manufacturer, Nuttall Gear of Niagara Falls, to see if the lash can be brought into conformance with their specifications.