Stats: 1975 Lister SR2 on fixed governor, 1400 rpm. Engine power in excess of needs of head so set is under driven for reduced noise and fuel economy. Originally had hand throttle. Converted to fixed speed with governor parts ordered from England.
PS ST5 head. Field diodes converted to potted 50A Bridge rectifier with a heat sink. (from my junk box of course) Pulleys are heavy cast iron chinese 12 and 10 inch units from Princess Auto. Single B series V belt never slips or heats up even at 6 kw load.
Rubber isolation mounts, flex pipe to exhaust. Chevy 6.2 stainless steel diesel muffler. (all secondhand parts scrounged from the flea market) All fuel lines have rubber flex sections to reduce transmission of vibration. All wiring fine stranded and flexible. My diesel generator projects have had so many vibration related fatigue failures over the years that I now lock washer or isolate everything. Think mission critical if you want it to last.
Engine was originally a 4 inch bog pump in a cranberry field, bought cheap out of the local paper and recon'd. Gen head was a leftover from an earlier dead generator project. Head is mounted on a sled that slides on the frame rails for belt tension, inspired from pictures seen of others work at Lister engine forum.
Frame and tank modified from parts the engine seller threw in to the deal. Mostly built from scrounged stuff, this set cost about $1100 to build. Would I build it differently if I could do it over again? Maybe. But this is the stuff I had on hand, so this is what I built it with. We get a lot of power outs here and this unit really shines when I need it. Fuel consumption is very low for a generator of this ability, about 3 hours/gallon running standby for the house.
Tim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oHW_fnycTw
That link takes me to a page that requires I create a YouTube account in order to view the video. What gives????
Whoops! I uploaded way too large a file. This one should work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbJdzW5bb1Q
If you like sailing fast you may find my other videos of interest.
Tim,
That worked! Nice setup except for the exhaust. The way it is now I fear that when you get the diesel equivalent of a chimney fire and the outside of the muffler and pipe are cherry red hot you stand a chance of burning down your beautiful building.
Yes I agree it looks dodgy at first glance. But it has many wraps of (contraband) asbestos cloth around it before I stuffed it thru the hole, and has served +/- 100 hours in that configuration. The hole is 2 3/8 , and the pipe is a 2" OD. Aluminum siding. The pipe really doesn't get that hot. One day I will build a U boat style weather head fitting that provides both cooling air and exhaust function.....will post!
Tim
Having been the victim of an exhaust stack-caused fire I would also be cautious. I now put my exhaust through the wall inside a section of insulated chimney pipe - the Selkirk type stuff that is rated for up to 2100F. Even at that, the area around the pipe gets warm.
Like John, I also used a section of double walled stove pipe to line the hole for the exhaust pipe through the wall. (Not as fancy as the high temp stuff he used, though.) The hole bridges between steel barn siding and foil faced drywall on the interior, no wood within a few inches. The resin-free fiberglass insulation had the paper/tar backing removed in this area, too.
I then found some high temp silicone gasketing at Mcmaster.com, which I used to fill the gap between the exhaust pipe and double walled pipe. (It had an acrylic adhesive, about 3/8" thick by 1/2 wide in a small roll- just like hardware foam gasket but this is sealed cell orange silicone.)
With that in place, I smeared high temp silicone on the outside, to weather proof it. No leaks, no problems 1000 hrs.
Chimney fire! Yikes. Never heard of it in a diesel engine application before. Having seen one in a woodstove heated house before, that sounds scary. Thanks for the tip.
Tim
I also noticed when running at night with a heavy load you will get some sooty sparks.
Quote from: WGB on December 25, 2009, 06:33:29 PM
I also noticed when running at night with a heavy load you will get some sooty sparks.
I have a vertical stack out of the roof of my shop for the VW diesel plant exhaust. One day I saw a white incandescent 'star' that looked like a magnesium flare shoot out of the thing. It was in daylight. A day later these three wise men show up. Weird huh!? :D
Quote from: rcavictim on December 25, 2009, 06:49:58 PM
Quote from: WGB on December 25, 2009, 06:33:29 PM
I also noticed when running at night with a heavy load you will get some sooty sparks.
I have a vertical stack out of the roof of my shop for the VW diesel plant exhaust. One day I saw a white incandescent 'star' that looked like a magnesium flare shoot out of the thing. It was in daylight. A day later these three wise men show up. Weird huh!? :D
If you were in the US I would say it was the EPA lol
If they introduced themselves with well wishes for "Happy Crappy" in their first sentience, definitely NASA! ;)
Quote from: WGB on December 26, 2009, 07:49:17 AM
Quote from: rcavictim on December 25, 2009, 06:49:58 PM
Quote from: WGB on December 25, 2009, 06:33:29 PM
I also noticed when running at night with a heavy load you will get some sooty sparks.
I have a vertical stack out of the roof of my shop for the VW diesel plant exhaust. One day I saw a white incandescent 'star' that looked like a magnesium flare shoot out of the thing. It was in daylight. A day later these three wise men show up. Weird huh!? :D
If you were in the US I would say it was the EPA lol
Wise men?? certainly not from the EPA!! LOL!!
A Happy Crappy greeting might suggest the wise men were unemployed WallMart Greeters.