Micro CoGen.

Thanks all for the suggestions and the video link!  With the unheated shop and temperatures around 12 degrees, I'm going to be doing a lot more exploring on the web than I will be tinkering with the engine.  I'll keep everyone posted, either in the Spring, or if I put in a heater for the shop!   

I'm getting to love my 1125 1.4 liter "Single Lung", but boy does she breath heavy!!!    I've experimented with different air cleaners on the intake and "heavy duty" mufflers on the exhaust, but she's determined to clank and puff as loud as ever...   Thoughts that have come to mind:  A concrete bunker (not practical), a large diameter 12' long black pipe exhaust line (wound with many turns of 1/4" copper tubing as a heat exchanger for my radiant floor), and...

Putting the air cleaner/intake manifold inside a 55 gallon drum lined with mineral fiber padding (and adequate vent holes for air intake) to baffle the intake noise.  Of course there is the constant clanging of the mechanical engine parts, so this whole contraption is going to be put in a shed about 50' from the house.  (There goes the radiant heat concept...)

Has anyone come up with ways to quiet the intake, exhaust, and mechanical noise of these units?  I'd love to put  a DIY/KISS heat exchanger on the exhaust (besides using the heat from the coolant lines), but the engine/gen head would have to be closer to the house to make use of the heat practical...

Thanks for the good news on the #2! 

I'll give it a test run in the engine's small tank before doing any major hookup to the large oil tank and filter.  I've read about some old but good oil filters that use rolls of toilet paper, and are said to do a much better job of getting the gunk out of dirty oil (either as a pre-filter or as an in-line filter between the engine oil pump and the high pressure distribution line to the rest of the engine.)

If anyone knows where to get the T.P. filters, drop me a line.  Otherwise I'll post my test run results on the #2 when I get some time to tinker...

Hey Guys,
I've got a 25Hp ChangFa clone that has successfully been broken in for 50 hours on regular diesel.  I've changed the oil (which came out without any sand or shavings).  I've got about 300 gallons of fuel oil in a typical oil tank, with filter (which used to be connected to a Weill McClain boiler).  I'd like to know if anyone has run these types of engines on #2, and what adjustments if any were made.  I was thinking about changing the filter to a finer grade, and perhaps running the oil through copper tubing coiled around the exhaust pipe to pre-heat it and thin it out a little...

What do you think?