Woo hoo!

[lowspeedlife]

HUMM, 12 inches, if i remember correctly Jens had problems starting his 20/2 with a 14 inch ring gear attached to his gen head, but i think he was using a smaller pulley maybe 8 inches or so. His problem may have been more getting the 20/2 thru both compression firing  events, with a smaller ring & larger pulley on a single cyinder engine you maynot have he same problems. I've been looking for a suitable ring gear to attach to my 20/2. the closest i can find is for a Hino truck engine. It's 486 mm or 19.13 inches, 1/2 inch short on both sides as the flywheel is 20.00 inches, so i'm still looking.


Scott R.

[AdeV]

Must admit, I'm wondering if the RPMs will be high enough on my setup too; I didn't do an actual RPM test, but it's going to be a similar ratio (2:1) to yours, so I may also have issues.  The battery I was testing with yesterday was nearly flat + the wires were too small to allow full current, so it should spin a lot faster than I had it going yesterday.

[slowspeed]

Ade
Good day
If yu add one one more battery, 24 volt
It might spin the starter a bit faster
I have a 6 volt starter and use 12 volt to start
Will talk later

[vdubnut62]

Ade
Good day
If yu add one one more battery, 24 volt
It might spin the starter a bit faster
I have a 6 volt starter and use 12 volt to start
Will talk later

I'm not too sure about a 12 volt starter on 24 volts, the windings may be a little small. But an old 6 volt starter will stand being run by 12 volts for a very long time. As far as I can tell, virtually no decrease in starter life.
give you something to think about anyway.
Ron

[AdeV]

I did an RPM test earlier; having doubled up the cable size; if the Chinese RPM meter is accurate then the motor is turning the alternator at around 280rpm. This is belted to the engine with a pulley ratio of approximately 2.4 to 1, so the engine should turn over at just under 120rpm.... which is probably not fast enough in the middle of winter...

As you say, adding a second battery in series might be the key here... albeit at the expense of the longevity of the starter...

[slowspeed]

I would use junk yard starters
$18.00 each
Almost like a Bic lighter (disposable(

[Crofter]

Ah, OK, so in fact the Ford starter must be a PM unit, as it reverses depending on the polarity. However, the solenoid still throws out whichever way it's connected...

Yes the solenoid plunger will force the drive gear out on either polarity but if the direction of rotation is opposite design, the one way spragge clutch in the starter drive will slip. Different drives that look identical are not sometimes,......... ask me how I know that piece of mechanical trivia!

Still; we shall see what happens. The solenoid was being a bit leery about letting go the wheel when power was removed, but some grease on the cogs seems to have cured that. I have a good feeling about this setup now  

If your drive is reluctant to come out of engagement you could possibly have the gear mesh too tight. I had to play with that issue. I think you should have adequate cranking speed but faster would be better for extreme cold.  My ring gear turns at roughly crankshaft speed and only a madman could ever crank that fast. I think I have started it down to -30 F without glowplug but it smiles nicer with the plug heat on.

[AdeV]

Frank,

The current "on bench" setup seems to work (forwards, at least; I've not tried it backwards). As it's wired the correct way (negative ground), I can assume I think that the starter is good to go.

Gear mesh is currently anything but a constant, as the starter is bolted into a piece of wood which is screwed to the bench.... the alternator is just sitting there on a couple of wooden skids.... I can move it all around quite freely... I smeared some grease around the ring gear (which hadn't been used in goodness knows how many years), and that's completely cured the slow gear release - the solenoid drops back the instant I remove power now.


Unfortunately, my tame welder is busy on paying work... which means it's going to be about a week before the bracket is ready for the alternator.... so I will concentrate on the fuel tank for now.

[AdeV]

SHE LIVES!!!!!!!

Unexpectedly, the welding chap had a spare hour this morning, so he finished off the base for the alternator. Therefore, this evening, I fitted it   It needed a touch of fettling to get the bottom bolts through & into the base; and I still need to do the outboard side. But I figured for the moment, 2 bolts would do.

Next, the genny was bolted to the frame, the belts fitted, and a bit of rough & ready aligning and tensioning. Fun, but I got there in the end. Then wired the genny into some plugs, re-assembled the exhaust (the pepper pot was going to blow hot smoke & sparks in my face whenever I looked at the genny....



A look down the exhaust pipe - all 8ft of it:



Unseen in that photo, the aluminium piece is acting as a "spacer" to make the exhaust longer; but also it screws nicely into the elbow, and I turned a bit away from the inside of the other end so the rest of the exhaust is a nice slide fit. Eventually, I'll cut some slots in that end, wrap a jubilee clip around it, and it should clamp onto the rest of the exhaust system. Saves faffing around with more threads...

Here's a closer view of the side of the genny; the starter will live here. The starter bracket was going to be welded onto the adjuster frame, so it's always in the same place relative to the alternator, but it occurs to me that that simply won't work.... so instead, I'll have it on a secondary plate with holes in the exact same place as the genny holes; so it'll bolt up with the genny onto the adjuster frame....




And finally, a pic of it running; not that you'd know, the flash has effectively stopped any motion. Typical:



The heater in the foreground is drawing around 2kw (is RATED at 2kw, I'm not entirely sure how much it's drawing in reality....). Also running on the power is the coolant pump.

YAY!

PS: I made a video, but it's going to take a little while to edit & upload.... hopefully I'll have it sorted tomorrow.

[Tom Reed]

Looks good! It will be interesting to hear if there is any flicker with just the heavy flywheels. Also the brush cover on the ST should be rotated to have the vent holes facing down to keep falling debris out.

[AdeV]

Thanks for the info on the plate Tom - it came to me like that & I just assumed that's how it was supposed to be.... your way sounds much more sensible.

I tried to look for flicker today, but couldn't detect any. However, I was using one of those compact flourescent tubes, so maybe that was disguising any flicker that might be present. I've got one old incandescent bulb knocking around somewhere, I'll give it a try over the weekend.

Meanwhile, here is a short video I took yesterday:

[AdeV]

Update:

Today, I patched another section into the exhaust, so now I can at least send the bulk of the fumes out of the building. I also plumbed in a slightly larger fuel tank - only about a gallon, but a lot bigger than the silly little brake fluid pot I'd been using.

As a result, she just had a 1 hour run, producing an estimated 2.1kWh in that time (as electricity). I think my exhaust pipe would double as an excellent - if rather dangerous - towel rail. There is a LOT of heat to be had here.

The small pumped coolant loop needed water in the main tank to keep it to a reasonable level. I've chucked an old thermometer in the top, and although it's not quite in contact with the water in the top of the tank, it was reading over 37^oC - I can't remember what domestic h/w runs at, IIRC it's about 50?

In that time, I used an estimated 1.5-2 inches of fuel. Once I've worked out what volume that is, I'll be able to get some idea of what my expected consumption will be.

Next up, a quick trip down the plumbing centre to grab some fittings, so I can run with more water in the main tank...

[slowspeed]

If you want a Lister fuel tank you can have the one I just got
All you have to do is drive to Hawick, Borders, U K
and get it
If you could pick up a Lister Engine 16hp with Generator FR2
It may work out good for both of us

JK (justkidden)
Jeff

[AdeV]

LOL - I hear you Jeff.... hoping to have some news on that soon...

Moving swiftly on, after a successful trip to a well known DIY conglomerate, (Berks & Queers, if you're in the UK) I returned bearing the 22mm compression fitting which would allow me to fill the tank to the top, & hence have the thermometer actually read the water temperature, rather than the air-over-water temp...



The above was an attempt to capture it all "in motion"; but since the flywheel's the only bit you'd see moving (the pushrods/tappets being obscured), and because it's a bit dark down there..... STILL no sign of motion. Humph. Still, check out the "genuine" Lister fuel tank (painted British Racing Green )



The new (and still very temporary) exhaust setup. Most of it goes all the way out of the pipe, a little escapes from some of the dodgier joints. The rags ³/₄ of the way along capture quite a lot of crap. I have to take it apart each night, as there's no cap, nor does any part of it slope downhill. So a good rainstorm could do untold damage... and it's forever raining around here.



Just 1 degree short of The Meaning of Life! 

In fact, I shut the engine down at 42^oC, but left the pump running for a few mins. The start temperature was 29^oC, 42 was achieved after 45 mins running (mostly with a 2kW load again), the final temperature was ~43.5^oC.


Tom - having tracked down an incandescent bulb, I can confirm that there IS visible flicker, even with the heavy flywheels. I didn't notice it using those newfangled compact florescent bulbs; I will check again at a later date (bulb's too hot to change it now).

[lowspeedlife]

Nice work there Ade, keep up the good work!!!

(Berks & Queers, if you're in the UK)

I'm not going to touch that comment with a ten inch "pole"

  Scott R.