Micro CoGen.

Perhaps catalyze the natual gas to a liquid fuel?  Natural gas ---> syngas ---> methanol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_to_liquids

Might be a bit beyond a backyard experimeter though.

What can I expect longevity-wise?  Any tips or techniques?  Overall opinion?

Its a 3600 rpm "screamer" but from what I understand its a very _GOOD_ 3600 rpm screamer.  When I bought it I plugged in two 2000 watt electric heaters and the engine noise didnt change one iota.

Its supposed to be contractor grade and super reliable but I've never actually talked to anybody who's owned one.  I'd looked at their website before and it all looks pretty good, but a new one was out of my price range.

Gillette goes on and on at their website about the generator head being super reliable w/ ultra robust capacitors and diodes, extra higher grade insulation, etc etc etc.

I've heard that Lombardini diesels are very reliable as well, but again I dont know much about them.

I came across this one on the Seattle craigslist for $1000 (about a third the cost of a new one), it has 143 hours on it and and is clean as a whistle.  The guy who sold it was using it as a whole home backup, but he changed over to a natural gas standby genset (which I'll also do eventually).  He praised the genny to the sky - but then he would since he sold it.  
He also said that during last winters ice storm it was running for 6 days for 12 hours a day and he'd change out the oil every other day.

I removed and cleaned the fine mesh metal screen filter and it was clean, he said he'd never changed it.

BTW, this mambajama is oh-my-god LOUD, I'll be building a hush box to put it in.

Through my work I have access to a LOT (5-10 lbs every two months) of indicating silica gel beads.  The beads are fairly large, about 5mm across - they're out of cannisters we use to keep the vent air for the 400 gal hydraulic oil reservoirs dry.  Because of the design of the cannister when the silica gel is used up or contaminated with hydraulic oil fog badly enough they're thrown out. 

I've already figured out how to clean the beads of the hydraulic oil film (a quick bath in acetone) and I know I can regenerate them easy enough, but can I use it to dry out gasoline/diesel/WMO or will the fuels dissolve the silica gel beads and contaminate my fuel.

I also posted this on the listeroid forum

Oh well, I still think I'm going to get one and tinker with it.  The second bearing might be held in place with JB weld and strap iron when I get done with it but it's still worth a look.

Fun too.

Saw a lister(oid) for sale in craigslist for sale after a fire. 

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/for/2829774121.html

Quote from: hwew on January 23, 2012, 06:15:49 PM
I got an email from the engineer that I worked with a while back. The two bearing generator head has a completly differant rotor shaft than the one bearing generator head.

I stand corrected about the stub shaft that Stamford had available for the single bearing head. The stub shaft was made by an aftermarket company to convert these heads to a 2 bearing. But there were other special parts needed to make it work. The engineer does not know the company that made the special kit.

The Engineer emailed a colleague in Stamford and hope to hear back from him in the morning. Hopfully some good news will be coming.

Henry

Thanks for looking into this again, those gen heads would be a great resource.

Bruce:  Oy!  Thats a bit more complicated that I want to go, I ran the numbers for a 4000W combined inductor/capacitor filter and I came up with 19 Henrys for the inductor.  Is that right??! Thats a pretty big inductor.

I havent mucked about with component level electronics in a long time so I could easily be wrong.

Thanks hwew, I'll quit barking up that tree and just focus on fabbing an end bearing housing.  It doesnt need to be pretty, just work well enough to hold the side load of a pulley and belt.
I tried to call Cummings today and they're closed anyway.

Bruce, could you maybe expound on the specifics of your rectifier/filter?  Perhaps a circuit diagram?

A good parts list from Cummings Generator

https://www.cumminsgeneratortechnologies.com/www/en/support/aftermarket/PartsLists/BC_PartsList_01.pdf

40 D.E. ADAPTOR BRACKET SAE 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130-21602 . . . .1
41 D.E. SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130-21325 . . . .2
44 D.E. BEARING KIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . .45-0363 . . . .1
45 D.E. ENDBRACKET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130-20773 . . . .1
46 ADAPTOR KIT SAE 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45-0719 . . . .1
. . ADAPTOR KIT SAE 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45-0619 . . . .1
. . ADAPTOR KIT SAE 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45-0620 . . . .1
. . ADAPTOR KIT SAE 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . .45-0621 . . . .1

Quote from: hwew on January 21, 2012, 08:35:26 AM
I still have the contact number from a person at Stamford/Cummins when I inquired about these about 8 months back. I'll see what I can find out.

Henry

Thanks Henry, the number I found for their USA operations (Newage Ltd) is 1-800-367-2764, they're out of Fridley Minnesota.  I hadnt called yet to ask for parts 9, 10, 13 from page 36 of the BC162 manual (2 bearing section).  Those parts are the only ones that are different from their single bearing that I could tell.

From what I understand the Stamford Newage gen heads are premium quality heads.

Hmmm, I never considered FABBING a end bearing.  It shouldnt be all that terribly hard....  And if it doesnt work I'm only out $250

Quote from: BruceM on January 20, 2012, 11:53:14 AM
3 phase is a dream come true for DC charging, that's why auto alternators are 3 phase.  Otherwise you usually have to find a monster inductor (usually a transformer primary or secondary) to filter.
If you need to change the voltage, however, three phase can get expensive, since you need 3 transformers. What's your planned charging setup ?

I'm going to be feeding the rectified DC to a Midnight Solar 200 charge controller pushing electrons into a 48V battery bank.

I want 120V single phase in case something goes wrong during a long term emergency I can feed the load directly instead of going through an battery bank/inverter.  I suppose I could leave it 3 phase and then rewire it if I ever need single phase.  According to the maintenance manual I downloaded it'll raise the efficiency from 67% (1p) to 73% (3p).

I've been looking for the 3 parts to convert it to a 2 bearing gen head, but can't find them like Hwew said. 

A new surplus Stamford Newage 7.5KW, 2 pole 3600RPM.  He's got a lot of them.  My main concern is if it's a two bearing unit or not, I'm sure I can adapt a pulley attachment to it but I dont know how well it'll take a side load.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-5-KW-Stamford-Newage-Generator-End-New-Surplus-/230557910201?pt=BI_Generators&hash=item35ae5284b9

Thoughts?


Edit to the edit:

It's 3 phase - but according to the wire diagram they can be configured to double delta single phase (??).   As I want to rectify it to DC and feed a battery bank I'm unsure how well this'd work. 

That 5K is HUGE, I imagine it'd store a lot of kinetic energy as well.

Thanks for the tip!   I'll keep an eye out for Kato generators

Quote from: EBI-WPO on January 18, 2012, 06:24:07 PM
Simtech,
In need of full wattage at 120, my 3.5K is wired in parallel.

By the way, your name and location would suggest Altus and C17 sims?

I worked for Flightsafety twice. 1989-1994, and 2001-2004 (building 1st C17 sim)

Terry

Actually I'm at the McChord C17, why'd you move on?  Its a pretty good gig.