Micro CoGen.

We have a profane (propane) powered generator on the farm. It has a four cylinder Ford that screams 3600 RPM. I had to fire the thing up a few days ago and it was running just fine. About 1 hour later I found it sputtering at about 1/2 speed. If I grabed the mechanical governor that was slammed wide open and held it partly closed the engine would seem to run OK. As soon as I let go the governor would open wide open and the engine would sputter and lose speed.

So I called someone that works on gensets full time and told him to come fix the generator. He started the unit up and the said you might want to check the gas tank. WELL DUH, I should have thought of that. In my defense, I am not that smart, and most of the engines that I run, stop dead when out of fuel. And how could a 500 gallon tank ever be  empty?  To answer my own question, a freak wind storm and 6 days without power last year.

We have been trying to decide what 3 phase gen set to get to run a pivot irrigation system. My brother dragged this home today. It was used about one year in a off grid situation. The unit is a little big for the irrigation system, but with a set of pallet forks I can see this gen set moving about the neighborhood when the power goes down for 5 or 6 days like it did this summer.





   

I am looking for a belt drive generator head to run on an 8 hp listeroid. Is the Northern Tool brand any good? I would like to find something that does not run 3600 rpm. We had a 5 or 6 day power outage and the high speed generators just seemed to be a bad idea for long term use. A ST head would be OK, but I am not looking for a wiring project with the need to rebuild half of the unit just to get operational.     

A big fast moving storm blew through a number of states in the east. The generators on the farm have been running for over 12 hours. One 55 kw diesel tractor powered, one 45 kw diesel engine powered, one 40 kw propane engine powered, and one 15kw gasoline engine powered. All I need now is a coal fired generator and I will have most of the fuel sources covered.

Misery loves company, anyone else running? And it should hit close to 100 F today. Where is the sweating emoticon when you need it?     

I am looking for a low cost way to measure hot water flow in a two inch pipe. Hot water meters are big $$$.  I am tempted to buy a cold water meter to see how it holds up to 140 to 150 F water. Any clever and cheap ideas would be appreciated.

How is this for making 3 phase 460 out diesel fuel in just a few easy steps. The irrigation system needs 3 phase 460 volt power to run the tower wheel drive motors. The tractor is powering a single phase generator, that is powering a 10 hp motor, that is powering a 3 phase generator, that is powering the drive motors on the irrigation towers. Later we will use grid single phase power to run the motor to generate 3 phase power.



 

My little daughters informed me that they need a light with a pull string, and a clock, in the new horse shed. The clock will not be a problem. What would be the best small plug and play 12 volt solar system to run a few lights. I would like to get a cheap 12 volt battery and just hook up a cheap system that had a controller if needed. This also could be a trial run for a much bigger project. 

I was told it was time to power wash the bugs and bird crap off of the porch. So I had to drag the electric power washer with diesel fired heater from the shop to the house and crank up the screaming generator to power the power washer. Off grid if only for a short time......

Thought I would post a few photos of canola in bloom. I never get tired of look at the yellow fields. We will use the crop to produce biodiesel for our own farm.

With the name of this forum section, Pumps,Pex and thermal storage, I just had to post some photos of the first alternative energy project we did on the farm. There was no dipping the toe to test the water. This was a head first plunge into the deep end of the proverbial alternative energy pool.

I have 1200 ft. of 3.75 ID black poly pipe that I am thinking of using as an air tube or heat exchanger. Is there enough surface to cool air for direct air cooling, or water for a simple water/air exchanger? Or would this be enough pipe for a ground source heat pump? I have the pipe, and the equipment to dig a big ditch. The pipe was removed from a traveling irrigation system and it needs a new home. I am thinking of putting it back to work.

Our house is around 2500 sq ft and is well insulated, although not super insulated.

mbryner, have you used your air tube system?

Being new to the forum, how many are completely off grid? Are you off grid by choice, or did location make the choice for you? 

Hello,
I have enjoyed reading info posted on this forum. Renewable energy of all kinds is very interesting to me. On our family farm we use some home grown energy to help control the cost of energy.  We are producing biodiesel from oilseed crops and direct burning grain for heat.

I am planing to build a small diesel generator of some kind as a useful hobby. I want to be able to burn home grown biodiesel. We already have a number of larger backup generators for the farm. I believe energy costs will continue to climb, and at some point it will make sense to think about going off grid. Not there yet, but dreaming never hurts. Anyway, I hope to hang around and learn more.