r175

[morse]

hello all
this is my first post on this forum
2 years ago i decided to have an English narrow boat built and try to live off grid
i moved the boat to Holland.
were i live in the middle of a nature reserve  most of the year
so far i have installed  400 watts of solar panels
the boat has a 1937 kromhout 3ls engine  45 hp @1500 rpm
attached to it is Leese Neville 270 amp 12 volt alternator
not very efficient.
At the moment i am trying to built a windturbine, a design by hugh piggott.
what got me interested in this forum is a utube video by veggie
i am very impressed by his changfa project
my question is if this if the same modifications  can be done to a r 175 or r 165 engine
space is very limited on my boat.
regards,
morse

[wiebe]

Hi morse .

Welkom here on this nice forum .
I think there is nothing diverend then the size of the engine.
there is a smaller changfa,s engine that has no balancing as .
Is it the one sold on markplaats ??

Greetings Wiebe.

[wrightkiller]

Welcome Morse:      first of all I must say that is one beautiful boat you have there, I have always liked long boats and thought maybe one day I to could live on one, but their is not much chance of that here in the states  unless it was on the mississippi river or such .....I look forward to your pictures and all
                                        Wrightkiller

[Henry W]

Welcome aboard Morse,

I agree with Wrightkiller. That is one fine looking boat. It would be perfect for the intercoastal waterway on the east coast in the U.S.A.. Feel free to make your self home here on Microcogen. We have a good bunch of guys here and if you have any questions just let us know. I am looking forward seeing more pictures.

Henry

[mobile_bob]

i think the 175 would do ok at lower rpm, with an additional flywheel weight, some changes to the timing, and a bit of work on the governor spring.

it ought to run down to about 1200, however i wouldn't look for more than a couple hp tops, maybe 1500 watts or so

bob g

[mbryner]

Welcome Morse.   That's a beautiful boat!

[vdubnut62]

Welcome Morse.
VERY nice boat!
Ron

[veggie]

Hi Morse,

Welcome to the forum.
Along the same line as what mobile_bob pointed out, these engines can run quite nicely at lower speeds.
One thing that helps is the internal counter-balance shafts (CBS's).
I would recommend going with the smallest model that has CBS's for a small generator project.
I'm not sure if the R175 has CBS's.
I do know that the R185, 8hp model has them. (8hp@2200 rpm)
That unit would give you approx. 4 hp at 1300 rpm ( a 2kw generator).
I have experimented with that model and found that it was not happy below 1200 rpm.
I suspect doing the flywheel and timing mod may help.
And don't forget the lighter governor spring.

If you do take on a slow speed Changfa project, be sure to pick our brains along the way.
Glad to help.

cheers
veggie