How heavy?

[AdeV]

OK, I'm currently in the land of the Changfa... but other than seeing lots of them in use, I've no actual specs on any...

Approx how much does a 12hp Changfa (or clone) weigh?

Under my race car transporter coach, I've currently got an old 4-cyl Ford 1.8 diesel engine attached to a 6kva alternator. I'm wondering if a Changfa-style engine would be significantly lighter than the old Ford lump. Probably easier to start too...

[mobile_bob]

iirc, and i might be wrong, but i don't think so...

the s-195 changfa electric start version is 220kg in the shipping crate with the spares

i think the engine comes out to a bit over 400lbs? 

if i can get to one of my spare engines i can check the crate and verify later this afternoon

bob g

[mobile_bob]

i was wrong!

150 kg in the crate, or about 330lbs for an s-195 electric start

bob g

[AdeV]

Interesting... I've found a local (to the city I'm living in, in China) supplier of engines, their 12hp claims to be 95kg. I've yet to ascertain whether that's dry weight with or without ancilleries.

I'm planning to try to build a compact and fairly lightweight 6-8kW generator (240vac single phase @ 50Hz), to replace the Ford-powered (also home-built) unit I've got now. Keeping the weight down is the first task, keeping the noise down is the 2nd task...  As long as I'm in China, planning and scheming is as far as I will get... but hopefully while I'm here I'll be able to negotiate a sensible priced engine delivered to the UK... even if I have to buy 10 of them...

My next problem is finding a decent spec alternator that isn't huge... Clarke do an excellent unit (see here: https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/6kva-3000rpm-alternator-1-phase/) which is about 1/3rd the size of an equivalent power ST head, and much lighter (I can easily carry the 6.5kva 3-phase version of that Clarke alternator around the workshop, whereas I can barely pick up my ST-5 head, and certainly couldn't carry it more than a few inches before my back gives up)

[mobile_bob]

the changfa i mentioned was 150kg in the crate... so

without the crate and spares kit maybe 40 lbs less? the crate is no more than adequate to ship these engines
and you can stack them on top of one another, so maybe take off 50lbs?

so maybe the engine sitting on the floor sans crating and the spares kit comes in at around 275lbs more or less.

then if you get one without electric start, you can shave off another 10-15lbs?

the water hopper is cast iron, so if you remove that and the fuel tank, shave maybe another 20lbs?

getting down to 230-240 lbs might be possible?

the block holds maybe a quart or two of coolant, the oil capacity is one gallon iirc

now there are variants, such as the 192 series that might be a bit lighter?  and also the 185 series
which is a cool engine in my opinion... i thought i had one of those but came up short somewhere along the line in moving.
or maybe in the split?  i don't know, not all that important i guess.

depending on what you plan to do for a drive system, and i suspect it looks like a belt drive for the clark alternator...
and depending on the amount of power you need?

you might even think about the 185 engine, most especially if you close the coolant system and use a tstat,pump/fan/radiator... i think the 185 could produce 10-11hp without any trouble,

the s195 can produce 15hp at sea level at 1800rpm with a controlled cooling system... the hp is limited in the original configuration (hopper cooling ) to 12hp.  so that is why  i think the 185 might be a good fit?

that is if it has electric start, if you need that?

the 185 might be trimmed to around 210lbs or so?

just thinking out loud

bob g

[AdeV]

Hi Bob,

At the moment, I'm just trying to get info out of the Chinese companies. Difficult! Even now it's obvious they're struggling with English... unfortunately, my wife's English isn't good enough yet for her to be a translator... working on that...

Thanks for the info. Yes, I'll be able to run without the fuel or coolant tanks - the planned application is a genset that lives under a motorhome, so it will be plumbed into the vehicle's cooling system. The vehicle already has an auxiliary fuel tank, so that will be hooked directly onto the fuel filter on the engine. I'll be keeping the electric start as the location will make it awkward to hand-crank. Plus, I want it semi-automatic; i.e. starts/stops on a single switch.

The engines I'm looking at are 12hp units, although the only one with a sensible part number (RBT195) suggests it's the equivalent of your Changfa... and that company are being a bit slow to speak to me. There's another company (the magnificently named Zhengzhou Shuily Machinery Company Ltd - and boy do they make a wide range of stuff! Link to their engine) who are much more interested in talking, but trying to get actual specs and quotes etc. out of them is also proving.... slow...

At some point I'm going to go see these guys, either that or I'll have a wander around looking for a supplier who's not on Alibaba. Of course, the tricky thing then is exporting the engine... at north of 100kg, no way will I get away with hiding it in my suitcase...!

[mobile_bob]

maybe its time to get a steamer trunk?



bob g