Emergency shutdowns...

[Rom]

I was having a look around the net and on our various forums and have read many people talking about safety shutdowns on the Listeroids, but I have never seen a photo of how people did it. Anyone interested in posting a photo or a lil blurb on how their system works?

Many Thanks
Rom

[potter]

Hi Rom I'm 5 miles SE of you and I can tell you on the VA not so much of a concern, but 2 days after hooking up my CS 8/1 I had a hose crack so glad my shutdown worked. I am using the original SOM solenoid with snap sensors.

[Rom]

Small world Potter!

Yea the concern is actually for the Power Anand 16/2. It doesnt have any safety system at all, but at this time I am always nearby when its running.
Those VAs are fantastic units. Perfect for down here where its warm enough to allow them to warm up to a good temp. For the amount of power I need, the 16/2 is the only engine that was built by RA Lister that would come close. I thought about the larger singles and such, but at least the 16/2 and lower models have manuals from RA!

Should hook up sometime and have a chat.

Rom

[potter]

My first find was a VA but after 3 months of trying I had to give up.The oil pump tappet just would not move plus all of the shrouding was rusted away.I next found a CS 8/1 in about the same shape but soon found another so with the two got one going with pump and injector from Centralmainediesel.
I am now looking for parts to try a downdraft gassifer .

[Rom]

Sounds like a nice stash of bits there. I have seen 4 RA Listers in my travels around here, the 2 VAs on Man-O-War that we have now, and 2 down by Cherokee.

So what kind of solenoid should be used. What holding power is required to hold that spring in the correct position? I had a look through a couple boxes of junk and none of the solenoids I have have the stroke or strength for that operation.

Rom

[potter]

If you are thinking of pulling against the governor spring I think you will have a hard time finding anything to work. In the original start-o-matic the governor linkage had a slotted upright bar with a lighter spring for the solenoid to pull against to shut the fuel rack down, and at the same time engage the decompressor. It would perhaps be easier for you to rig up a mechanical linkage to the deconpressors for a solenoid or perhaps a drop ball type of arrangement to shut off the air breather.
   
  Potter

[Rom]

Thanks Jens!

I had started to design a linkage to operate the decompression levers, which i was hoping I could avoid! I didnt want to have any extra stuff that would change how the engine was operated.

RE Potter, I do have access to a StartoMatic VA that we have removed the SoM equipment from. Very elegant piece of kit, and I hope one day to aquire it and restore it for a future project. I will have to make a replica of the governor linkage for the SoM gear.

I shall look into a solenoid for the release of the governor spring, and try it out as an experiment before making the bits for the decompressor levers.

Many Thanks
Rom

[BruceM]

My system uses air cylinders for a valve opener and rack closer.  With pneumatics, it's easy to get massive force.  Alas, that's not practical for a generator only setup.

For just emergency shut down, I did experiment with a simple system that worked;  if the governor spring is held by a fine brass wire, it can be blown like a fuse by applying 12V to the wire.  This will shut down the throttle reliably, just as Jens solenoid approach.  

Bruce