GM 90 cogen project

[squarebob]

Here are the pics of the starter in its final rendition. I also got the exhaust system piped in today. I will be tinkering with exhaust heat exchange down the road. I have a plate heat exchanger for the water cooling system on order so that will be the next section of the project to get some attention.
Bob

[veggie]

Looking real good Bob!
When you get a chance, look into changing the fuel lines.
The surgical rubber type material they use on the GM90's is questionable.

BTW, I went to NAPA looking for a starter like yours. They have them. Rebuilds only.
"Regular" rebuilt price is $127.00
"Premium" rebuilt price is $365.00 

Did you have to make a spacer bushing to mount the rubber wheel or did you get lucky with the bore size?

veggie

[squarebob]

Veggie, here is the link for the starter at 39.99   1962 Ford F100 292 V8

http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Detail.aspx?A=RSE2449627_0158739165&An=599001+101962+50028+2028016

They show a "premium rebuild for  44.99

The starter is a reman but has a 3 yr warranty. If the bushings or whatever go bad I will just take it in for another one.

As far as the drive wheel goes, this is what I ordered:

Bushing
6391K445      SAE 841 BRONZE SLEEVE BEARING, FOR 5/8" SHAFT DIAMETER, 1" OD, 2" LENGT

Drive roller
2474K41      NEOPRENE DRIVE ROLLER, 80A DUROMETER, 2" DIA, 1.94" WIDTH, 1" ID BORE

You can get a 1" wide drive roller with a 5/8" bore ( shaft size of the starter ) but I wanted the wider one.

What is the deal with the little lines from the filter and injector, back to the tank? What purpose do they serve? What should I replace then with. If I change out the filter setup, the new one won't have that line on it, so what do I do with the injector line.

Bob

[veggie]

They show a "premium rebuild for  44.99

What is the deal with the little lines from the filter and injector, back to the tank? What purpose do they serve? What should I replace then with. If I change out the filter setup, the new one won't have that line on it, so what do I do with the injector line.

Bob

1] It seems NAPA Canada has a VERY different price list. If I buy from NAPA USA the freight on that 30 lb. starter would be awful.

2] The fuel tubes are for:
   a) Air vent for the filter (makes purging easier)
   b) Fuel return line from the injector to the tank.

Perhaps others can advise how important the injector return line is.

The fuel filter vent can be done away with,  but it's advisable to add an air bleed plug somewhere in your fuel fittings to help bleed the system.

veggie

[veggie]

Here's an example of an air bleed plug with an elevation slightly higher than the filter.

veggie

[squarebob]

OK, I like that setup. What did you do with the line from the injector?

Bob

[veggie]

OK, I like that setup. What did you do with the line from the injector?

Bob

It still runs back to the vent on the fuel tank.

[squarebob]

I finally got some work done on the 6/1. I hooked up the 30 plate Heat X and the expansion tank. Then I wired up a little distribution panel. I also took a drive (145 miles one way) to visit Tom and Chris over at Central Georgia Generator. I picked up a new ST 7.5 gen head for the system. These guys are top shelf folks. They also have plenty of inventory and spare parts to draw from.

Bob

[Henry W]

Tom and Chris are good people to work with. I am glad you were able to see what he has. Tom built a his buisness with a solid reputation of taking care of his customers.

Henry

[veggie]

squarebob,

I'm assuming there's a pump on the engine side of the heat-X loop.
Where does the other (heated) loop go ?
Do you have a storage tank or hydronic heating system ?

veggie

[squarebob]

Veggie, per Ronmar's suggestion, I am just using thermosiphon on the engine side and it works great. Right now on the "domestic" side of the heat X I have a pump and a bucket of water!! The plan is to someday have a 40gal tank for domestic hot water and a radiator in the loop. That way I can heat water and / or heat the shop. I may also end up with a loop feeding some 55 gal drums in the greenhouse for overnight radiant heat in the winter.

Bob

[squarebob]

I got my gen pulley from Mike Montieth today. Hooked everything up and was able to finally put a load on the engine and do the break in. Thermo siphon worked well with 5/8" lines to the heatex. My problem was with the governor. As I ramped up a load, the gov would start swinging pretty bad. I could steady the arm with my hand and everything would calm down and run steady. Dropping load was not a problem. I had previously cleaned and aligned the linkage and have it working without any binding or play. The spring is also "reversed" per the utterpower suggestion. I think I might need a different spring. Any thoughts? Weaker or Stronger spring? Maybe it will behave after a few hours of run in?

Bob

[Crofter]

Is there slack in the sliding yoke piece that is pinned to the end of the fuel rack? There is the fix using a very light spring to keep the slack all in one direction. It helped me with the hunting problem. Either slack or binding will cause the governor to hunt up and down.

[veggie]

Hi Bob,

Mine did the same thing.
In my case, it was just because the new engine needed to run for 1/2 hour with a bit  of load.
I suggest 1kw for your engine. The governor linkage settled down after 10-15 minutes.
Your spring is probably ok. However, note which engine nut holds the spring on my engine.
Your mod seems to have shortened the 'stroke' somewhat. Could that be it ?

veggie

[squarebob]

I spent about 3 hours today working on the governor. I ended up shortening the vertical rod from the gov bellcrank to the rack bellcrank by 1 1/2 turns. I also added a small spring to the rack per Crofter's suggestion. After a lot of fine tuning, No load is set at 60.5 Hz. With 2 space heaters, a pedestal fan and a hand grinder as my "full load" I was at 58.5 Hz. No hunting or overrun to speak of. I am a happy camper. Tenacity is a great tool. All the info from the forum helps a bunch too!!

Thanks

Bob