Micro CoGen.

I am considering using my Listeroid 6/1 to charge a small 12v battery bank (8 L16 batteries for a total of 1600ah at 12v),  I am thinking about using a Leece Neville 200amp truck type alternator and a Balmar multi stage controller, however I have no idea which model alternators can use a Balmar controller ? What RPM ? Can I run it off the flywheel or do I need a pulley setup to achieve proper RPM?

Quote from: scrapman on June 20, 2013, 08:37:17 PM
Starting large engines is a problem seen this over come in early 70s next door to where i worked ,the machine shop also rebuilt large diesel generators and their power back up was a single cylinder ,10ins piston diamentor ,30ins stroke ,6 ton flywheel and 50 kva alternator on compressed air start systems ,air tank at 600 psi gave 3 full  turns and always started .
Apprentices job to pump up tank from engine and then shutdown and power workers on strike they were using each day and he forgot to pump tank up so no start, the grandfather who built shed also for seen this problem and door was in line with drive way around back and alternator drive pulley of 20 belts only 10 used, 1/2 ins wire rope wrapped around unused part of pulley over the end of rope 12 times out the door and on to 40hp volkswagen combi van low gear full throttle and three people on flywheel to get started and away it went main problem was avoiding the rocks off driveway being thrown throw door way.
Peter

That must have been fun to watch, I can only imagine what a circus that would look like, 3 guys trying to turn the flywheel with flying rocks coming at them from the bus ....

Quote from: millman56 on June 18, 2013, 01:03:13 AM
The inertia of a generator or large flywheels make all the difference, a hand start 15 HP MAG (Swiss) single cylinder diesel which was virtually impossible to start alone,   was recently built into a  welding set,  it now starts easily by hand.

Some years ago I owned a Jenbacherwerke (Austrian) 78 CFM compressor with very large flywheels,  this had a single cylinder, 20 + hp diesel engine laid out horizontally,  on the same crank throw and crank case was a single cylinder compressor pump arranged at 90 deg vertically to the engine cyl.   
This was electric start but could be hand started relatively easily by a younger and fitter me.

Petter PH2 engines are believe it or not, easier to hand start without using the decompressor at all.

Anyone who has made a starting handle for a larger diesel engine and got it wrong will know that your actual body position in relation to the compression stroke is critical.

Mark.

I found out the hard way, being on the wrong side of the compression stroke, when it bounced it pulled something in my wrist, not going to make that mistake twice, its been more than a week and it still hurts to remind me...

Quote from: artificer on June 17, 2013, 06:34:33 PM
Concerning the hand crank:  did you activate the de-compression lever before trying to crank the engine?  Typical starting method for crank starting is to depress the lever, crank the engine to get some speed going, release the lever, and power through  the compression stroke.

At 30hp, I can see it being a problem to start even with the use of the de-compression lever.

Where are you located?  How much was the engine?

Michael

Yes I did use the decompression lever, the flywheel on this has little inertia and even spinning it as fast as i could it would simply bounce back on the compression stroke.

I am located in Michigan, up near Deford in the thumb.

I have $1200 in the engine, still debating on whether to keep it and build it into a generator or sell it and just buy a 4cyl lister petter genset.....

My first post here at Microcogen, below is the first smoke from my new Changlian 30hp ZS1130. This is a very large engine, the hand crank that comes with it must be an ornament for hanging on the wall because there is no way you could start the engine with it.

Added oil, fuel, battery and cables, did a little bleeding and it started right up on the first compression stroke. Just posting this for others that might be interested in this particular brand or a 30hp monster, I had a difficult time finding any information on it before it arrived.