Diesel - Leese Setup

[veggie]

Just finished my small diesel driven Leese/Neville alternator project.
(Except for a bit of touch-up painting)
The alternator is a 160 amp, 12 volt model with internal regulator.
The engine is a 10HP (@3600 rpm) air cooled diesel.
The belt drive is sized to drive the alternator at 2200 rpm when the engine is running at 1500 rpm.

I only need 60 amps continuous for my battery bank so it made sense to slow the system down and make it quieter.
At those speeds the alternator makes 60 amps continuous and hardly breaks a sweat.

Thanks go out to squarebob for providing info on the rubber mounts and to Geno for providing the "Yanmar" manual for the engine.

veggie

[BruceM]

You sure do beautiful work, Veggie.  Please make a video/sound clip when you can. I've wondered how much "bark" the air cooled diesels have when slowed down. 1500 rpm is probably a good practical minimum speed for these, due to splash lube and other issues, right?

[mobile_bob]

nice use of T tracks, those are T tracks aren't they?

at that speed and output level it the alternator ought to last virtually forever.

nice work!

bob g

[veggie]

Thanks guys,

The frame is electrical "Strut".
Common brands are Unistrut and B-Line.
It makes mounting things a lot easier. They have a kinds of right-angle fittings and brackets.
A "Mechano Set" for big boys   

veggie

[mobile_bob]

thanks for the heads up, i knew i had seen those things somewhere
funny how you can work around some things for years and never give them consideration for other purposes

and i pride myself on being pretty good at repurposing  stuff.

geesh

yup, and erector set for big boys, that about sums it up.
looks like the perfect kit for prototyping stuff, maybe i will look into sourcing some of those pieces just to have
around.

bob g

[Tom Reed]

It will be interesting to see how the Unistrut holds up to the vibration and torque. Please keep us updated.

[EBI-WPO]

Weld the intersections together. The spring nuts will slip eventually. It's easy to do, and easy to back up from when/if needed, just hit the welds with a cut-off wheel. It does look nice though.

Terry

[veggie]

The system runs really smooth at 1800 rpm engine speed.
At 1200 rpm the system is very quiet and there is no evidence of hammering or excess knock.
I suspect 1800 will be the standard speed for this unit and 1200 rpm will be used for the occasional top-up charge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL8CkpuFRnk&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQJjS0jOg0M&feature=relmfu

veggie

[Geno]

Wow, that engine does sound good at low rpm. My similar 4 hp unit definitely hammers at lower rpm.

Thanks, Geno

[veggie]

A test was done to see if the alternator could be used to drive my inverter.
I connected the Alternator to the starting battery with #2 cables.
I then connected a 2000 watt mod-sign inverter to the battery.
The alternator drives the inverter with the battery in the circuit as a buffer (capacitor).
Because the battery charge is not drawn down, a standard automotive battery is used.
Seemed to work fine, although I have not tried any inductive "spiking" loads yet.
The Alternator put out approx. 78 amps @ 12vdc to make 845 watts at the Inverter plug with the engine spinning at 1600 rpm.

The engine had no trouble at that load.
In future I will try applying greater loads. If the engine labors, I can simply raise the engine speed.
Being a 180 amp (2100 watt) alternator, the system should be able to drive the full capacity of the 2KW Inverter.
(Although bigger cables will be needed)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR57Hh611r0

veggie

[BruceM]

Thanks very much for the videos and audio, Veggie. 1200 rpm is a more pleasant sound, though even 1800 sounds good compared to a typical Changfa. Great project!

[stuie]

like this thread nearly identical to my unit, all parts for free except the throttle control that im working on 10 horse china diesel with electric start but no fuel solenoid so i have to mod that as dont really want to put hands in there when its running, and a recon 555jho alt we get heaps of these sent back mostly with nothing wrong but just need a scrub up as they are so cheap they are throw away items. working on a picaxe system to control an auto throttle servo to monitor voltage and adjust servo pos -engine rpm so when batterys get full it will throttle back
Stu

[Tom Reed]

Welcome to the board Stuie, very nice job on the setup. You need to run it more to keep the rust off of the pulley's though. I like your underslung design on the vibration isolators too.

[veggie]

Hi Stuie,

WELCOME !

Please keep us posted as you develop your system.

veggie