After running basically 24/7 since December today was time for another oil change so I decided to do a bottom end bearing inspection.
Here is the bottom shell.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-37768-1331430625015.jpg)
Here is a close up of the bottom shell.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-19163-1331430680514.jpg)
Here is the top shell.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-44216-1331430765751.jpg)
Here is the crank journal.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-22990-1331430791116.jpg)
Everything looks pretty good for three and a half months of running.
"Pretty Good" is this months understatement.
Soooooooo who set what kind of engine up? What was done? How much of a load? Burning what?
Casey
Sweet. You must have done a first class job on cleanup, Fab, congrats. She's going to last a long time now.
Best Wishes,
Bruce
It's just a stock 8/1 from Gary, with the after market oil filter setup, and a real fuel filter setup, it runs a 24 volt alternator that keeps 2000 amp hours of batteries charged. About half the run time has been on veg oil, I changed the veg set up to a copper preheat coil on the exhaust pipe, I'll post a pic later today.
I remember your copper fuel line wrapped around the exhaust. A bit crimped at one spot?
No internal clean-up or push rod train adjustment?
How many kilo watts per day were you pulling out of the system? How many gallons of fuel?
Casey
No that was Veggies set up, mine used to run inside the top water line then through the fuel filter to the pump, that was a bad idea, these things use so little fuel the filter never warmed up, so I took a cue from veggie and went a different direction.
Here's my version.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-34680-1331488012227.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-38050-1331488047273.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-35135-1331488085575.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-36419-1331488123189.jpg)
I didn't do a complete tear down, just a lot of picking and scraping and pressure washing, then I put about four gallons of kerosene in it and ran it with my air starter, I did that about four times.
I had valve train adjustments, problems with very unstable idle, all the usual stuff, right now it's burning 3.3 gallons of veg in 24 hours, I really have no idea what it is putting out.
Oh yeah, I forgot, if you ever try to wind a coil out of soft copper tube DO NOT fill it with salt! It took five days of high pressure water and high pressure air to clear the compacted salt out of it, there are two layers on the coil.
Next time I'm gonna try water, water won't compress.
"Next time I'm gonna try water, water won't compress"..... Frozen?
I'd also suggest getting the copper up to red hot and a slow cool down just prior to the wrap. Salt? I'd be more tempted with washed but dry sand. Of course you've actually done it and I'm just setting on the couch thinking about it. Someday, yes! someday one of my projects will go as smooth as I dream.
Casey
Quote from: DanG on March 11, 2012, 01:24:53 PM
"Next time I'm gonna try water, water won't compress"..... Frozen?
Nope, liquid water will not compress, period, if you were to fill the tube solid full and fold the ends over and seal them it should work.
That is how depth charges kill subs, very seldom did they get a direct hit, but because water won't compress the explosion would push a column of water into the hull and buckle a seam.
Hey!! Give credit where it's due!!
The ugly bends with the crimp were mine ::) ::)
Well Bret,
As you know how to achieve a memorable bend what was your methodology? Has it failed yet?
Casey
Quote from: bschwartz on March 11, 2012, 04:28:30 PM
Hey!! Give credit where it's due!!
The ugly bends with the crimp were mine ::) ::)
Damn my memory! Sorry Bro, I hereby revise my accreditation to where it is due. :D
fabricator,
Looks like you got a good Listeroid there.
Very interested to see how it makes out running long term on WVO.
One thing caught my eye...
In the picture with the coil, the plastic tube is joined VERY close to the exhaust pipe.
Keep an eye on it when the engine is working hard (high exhaust temps).
Don't want vegetable oil pouring over a hot engine. :o
thanks for the update,
veggie
Yep, once I got it installed I noticed that right away, that is gonna get changed to copper with a flare fitting, it'll be copper to the cold side of the engine.
My fancy technique for wrapping the copper around the exhaust was to.......uh........ wrap the copper around the exhaust. No water/oil/salt/sand filling. I just wrapped it. The diameter did squish a bit, and i did manage to kink it in one spot from rushing. It was just done quickly as a test to prove function. It has been running like that for 1000+ hours, and over a year plus (i forget exactly when i did it).
I have a theory as to why it HASN'T failed yet..... I suspect that each time i get it really hot, it re tempers the copper.
OK, so maybe I don't really believe that, but it sounded good.
Remember, the copper wrap around the exhaust isn't my idea, but the kinky is all me ;D
Hey Bshwartz,
Was that the dead soft 1/4" refrigeration copper you used? That seems like the best bet for a cold wrap with no aids, but i was wondering if perhaps you used the standard 1/4 copper.
A bit of distortion/kink isn't going to affect the low flow for a 6/1 much, I expect.
Best Wishes,
Bruce
I used the cheapest 1/4" copper around. The kind sold for evaporative coolers (swamp coolers) water lines. Not as thick as the more expensive refrigeration line. Yes, the meager needs of the 6/1 don't even notice my pinched lines at all. One of these days, after I'm done testing, I'll redo it neater..... ::) ::)
I tried a six foot piece filled with water, crimped one end and soldered it shut, then flattened and folded the other end about four times, I clamped it on a piece of 1 1/4 pipe in my lathe and ran it slow, it did a beautiful job, it was slightly oval'd but turned out real nice.
Well, that's because you are a fabricator, and I'm just a tinkerer ;)
A fabricator is just a glorified tinkerer, we've just made a lot more mistakes. ;)
I changed my veg setup, I got a three way valve from McMaster Carr and also re formed the injector line so I could clamp it to the head,
the head temp runs about 206 and that is what the injector line temp is now at the line nut on the injector.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-37791-1332111378414.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/fabricator01/photobucket-10792-1332111292658.jpg)
I really like your design with the injection line thermally clamped to the cylinder, Fabricator. I've never seen that used before and it seems like a very easy to build and practical solution for keeping that line up to temperature.
It sure would be great if sometime you could take some pipe surface temperature readings along the exhaust coil, plus into/out of the IP. I wonder how many turns are really needed on the exhaust, and how much heat is lost at the IP.
The coil started out two layer coil, I took the outer layer off and eliminated about ten turns of the inner coil, a lot of heat is lost at the valve and IP, but the clamp to the head more than makes up for it.
The exit end of the coil is about 197-200 degrees, it cools down at the IP to about 100 degrees, I think you could get away with about 8-10 turns with the head clamp and be good to go.
you have to be careful though that bottom hole can only be about 1/4" deep or you'll go through the water jacket, don't ask me how I know that.................. ::)
Very nice execution!
I used 120VAC heat rope on both my high temp rated fuel supply hose leading to the IP (and after my electrically controlled 2-way fuel valve) and on my injection line leading to injector. The heat rope was held very tight against the hose and line by wrapping with high temp rated teflon tape which was all then covered with high temp rated insulation.
The SVO is heated to about 220 deg F at the IP and heated/maintained at exactly 350 deg F +/- 2 deg F just prior to entering the injector and monitored at this location with a temp sensor used by the heat rope temp controller. If the heat rope were to fail, the resulting dropping temp causes the controller to electrically command the fuel valve to switch from SVO to diesel. The heat rope uses about 100 watts of power and has yet to fail in about 7 years of operation.
Bob B.
Perhaps insulate the lines on either side of the cylinder head fuel heater. ??
Retain as much of that gained heat as possible.
veggie
BobB- 100 watts for 350F at the injector is very impressive, so is your auto switch over in case of power fail. Some very thoughtful systems engineering there, Bob!
At these temperatures do you have any problems at all with injector tip build up on SVO?
Best Wishes,
Bruce
QuoteIf the heat rope were to fail, the resulting dropping temp causes the controller to electrically command the fuel valve to switch from SVO to diesel. The heat rope uses about 100 watts of power and has yet to fail in about 7 years of operation.
Did you discuss this project and I just missed it?
"controller"?
"the juel valve to switch from SVO to Diesel"?
Casey
It looks great, but I don't like to see the copper used in the fuel system... Particularly on a thumper of an engine such as this. Copper work hardens, gets brittle and cracks. Would hate for you to walk in to your engine room after an unexplained shutdown to find the contents of your fuel system have found their way to the floor... For fuel on or around an engine, I would reccomend steel, stainless steel, braided stainless steel covered hose, or just plain hose...
Quote from: veggie on March 19, 2012, 09:12:21 PM
Perhaps insulate the lines on either side of the cylinder head fuel heater. ??
Retain as much of that gained heat as possible.
veggie
It's 215 degrees entering the injector, I don't see a problem there, a lot of vehicle veg systems consider 190-200 degrees optimum oil temperature.
Quote from: Ronmar on March 20, 2012, 01:10:44 PM
It looks great, but I don't like to see the copper used in the fuel system... Particularly on a thumper of an engine such as this. Copper work hardens, gets brittle and cracks. Would hate for you to walk in to your engine room after an unexplained shutdown to find the contents of your fuel system have found their way to the floor... For fuel on or around an engine, I would reccomend steel, stainless steel, braided stainless steel covered hose, or just plain hose...
Oh believe me I know copper, and I make bio, so a 15 gallon spill is like a drip compared to some of the bio disasters I've had, I always have about 10 55 gallon drums of sawdust on hand, in case of just such an emergency.
I'm watching it very closely, hopefully since it's all clamped to the engine and all vibrating together as a unit it might survive, it also runs 24/7 so it's always at a constant temperature.
Thanks Bruce. Yes, the fuel valve switches to diesel if the heat rope fails to provide at least 150 deg F (either because the heat rope just fails or the 120VAC fails), if the SVO tank gets low, or if the 12VDC power supply used by the controller fails. No, I have not experienced any significant carbon build up on injector tip or head. I think you know that I also run light propane fumigation when burning SVO. In fact, I think I can say that I get much less build up with this combination than when I ran straight diesel. However, I only ran straight diesel for the first several months while the engine was breaking in so this might not be ideal experiment.
Hi Casey, I discussed this project several years ago before this Microcogen site existed on George's Utterpower site and likely on the Lister Engine Forum too. You can see photos and read the system descriptions here:
http://listerenginegallery.com/main.php?g2_itemId=351
When I initially started preheating SVO, I only heated to 230 deg F. Given that the injector line is under high pressure, I didn't see any issue going to 350 deg F since SVO will not vaporize at this high pressure and this has been confirmed by not having any issues after several years. However, I am certain the 350 deg F SVO vaporizes very nicely after immediately departing the injector. :)
Bob B.