Micro CoGen.

Say Bob,

I'm no electronics genius, but don't I need an AC ammeter?  Or, can one use a DC ammeter by using a diode? Or is that necessary.  (The only ammeter I've got is on a little Lister Petter off of an old light tower.) I'm going to be generating AC with Utterpower's PMG.

I have wondered if sheet lead (like roofers use for flashing chimneys) would be good protection if over digital electronics.  Anyone know?

We have a friend who works in a missle base in Wyoming.  He is not in on the top secret stuff, but networks the supporting computers.  He just said that some years ago we had FOUR separate lines into Wyoming for communications...TV, telephone, internet, and I can't remember.  Anyway, he says it is now down to ONE major line for everything.  So, while we have concern for our private power generation, if the poop hits the fan, it sure sounds like our national communications are in a bit of difficulty as well.

Thanks for the help on the panel meters.  I talked to the Yanmar tech that Yanmar referred me to.  No one seems to know just what this PGA engine is.  It was apparently made for a specific application, but they don't know what.  He did say that he didn't think the side load from a serpentine belt running a generator would be a problem.  So, am in the process of trying to find a serpentine belt pulley that I can bolt on the flywheel. 

One of my friends thinks I may get too much variance in the cycles, giving induction motors grief.  He says that when their power is down and he runs his, he watches his Hertz meter and adjusts his RPM accordingly.  Any input on this?  Thanks!

On a related note to this thread, one of my friends was recently on a domestic flight.  Remember the Lee handloaders?  He had one (metal) component from that set in his pocket.  When they made inquiry as to what it was, he told them. (Perhaps that was his mistake.  Maybe he should have said it was a muffler bearing.) It created a scene.  He was pulled aside, heavily questioned, and treated--in his words--as a criminal. He was embarassed, humiliated, and angry. One thing is certain, you can't count on TSA to have a whole lot of common sense. 

I think a good perspective on this was given to me by another friend.  He was in military intelligence, codebreaking and computers for his entire career, and had retired.  I said to him, "Bill, (not his real name), I wish you could tell me what you know."  He said these chilling words: "I cannot tell you anything really, but I can tell you this--I have probably read as many or more classified documents and communications as any man, and I will tell you this: never trust your government."  And then, he was silent.

Thanks for the input, and it has been good to read the various points.      I don't have $8K to spend on a genset, but want to run my boiler and genset on the same fuel and have a reliable genset.  Here in rural Maine a lot of us have two tanks of fuel oil (1000 gal. total) and the #2 fuel oil stores well for long periods and runs fine in diesel engines.  Certainly the genset for $8K is going to be a lot fancier than what we will do, but I do think the $2500 is pretty close to what will do it, as junk yard parts are simply fun to make work imo.  The shocker is the price for a good ammeter!  Now that might run me over the budget! For us it is a rather fun project to get a radiator, fan, hosing, stub shaft, pulleys, pillowblock, etc., and weld up a frame and see what we can do.  We'll see.

But I do have a question: one of my friends is a power plant engineer for big power plants.  He's worked on a lot of small stuff, too.  He says that by using a serpentine belt and pulleys, the side load on the Yanmar will be no big deal.  A simply pulley mounted to the flywheel is adequate, in his opinion--but the stub shaft/pillow block is of course better.  Also, tomorrow I will hear from a Yanmar tech who may have the answer to the RPM question and which RPM series the engine is in.

BTW, the small Yanmar marine engines have a reputation around here for smoking horribly and some of the local boatbuilders (Downeast Maine) stopped using them due to this.  I do hope this Yanmar will perform better, being their industrial engine series.     

BTW, when I contacted Yanmar about getting a stub shaft they put me in touch with a dealer.  I may try them again regarding getting other info.  THanks.

Thank you for the input, that is a help. I also found that genset at the same site and about choked on the price...$8K, but "you save$995!"  I think I can build this one for about $2500. 

So I will plan on running about 2600-2700 and see if it is a good speed.  It seems every engine has a sweet spot that it just wants to run at--and I will start with this.  We are on pretty reliable power from the grid now...so I don't imagine having to use it a whole lot.  BUT, about ten years ago we had a big ice storm and we had a lot of people without power for three weeks and more.  New ENgland can get another hurricane, too. 

By the way, the other problem here is that most people are on wells, but without electricity have no means of getting the water out of it.  (We put in a simple pump: PVC pipe inside another, footvalve at bottom, etc.  Not fancy, but it works. It is secured inside the well casing, under the cap.) 

THanks for the help, and if anyone has a reasonbly priced source for stub shafts, that would be great!         

Great site, I read some positive things on the little Yanmars from Surplus Center, and ordered one. (Really wanted a 'roid, though.)  Going to be getting one of George B's 3KW PMG's (when he is restocked) and want to run the engine as slow as I can because for the most part I only need about 7-8 HP. Got the engine and am confused.

Surplus Center says it is a "PGA" model, but these do not exist in the manual.  I can't find them listed in the service manuals online, either.

They adverstise it as 13.4 HP at 3600 RPM's.  But the engine speed specs in the manual don't list any of them with this exact HP at this RPM.  They list the VH (3200-3600 RPM), VM (2000-3000 RPM), CH (3000-3600) and CL (1500 or 1800 RPM). 

I contacted tech support at Surplus Center and they said they had no other information.  On the engine plate itself there is nothing about "PGA", only "Engine Model 2TNV70-P" and "ENGINE FAMILY 7YDXLO.57V2N."  The only RPM listing has to do with fuel rate: "16.9 mm (cubed)/STROKE @ 7.5 KW/2400 RPM. 

Does anyone know what RPM range this engine really has?  Also, I need to get a stub shaft to mount a pulley and am hoping to find someone more reasonable in price than the $260 that I've found.  For the side load of a pulley, is a pillow block or flange bearing better?  THanks!!  Burt