Civilization, yes...............

gmctd · **Posted:** Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:19 pm

Ahhhh........the entrapments of.........errr......trappings........ that's trappings of civilization - power, lights, microwave, telephones, a soldering iron - how granted we take them - how dearly they are missed - yep, ac power back today at noon, two weeks after Ike - never realized, everything I do takes electricity and light - sun goes down, technical life is over - sure glad for L.E.D. lighting, runs 40hrs on 3 AAA penlite cells, even longer on AA, way longer on D cells - the time of the incandescent bulb is over, imo - drop an incandescent and you're dead in the dark - drop an L.E.D. multiple times with no resultant D.E.D.'s (dark emitting diodes) - life is ac powered......................

fastRob · **Posted:** Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:18 pm

Up here a generator is essential.
We keep a supply to keep it running a week.
After that the scramble is on I guess.
If we went diesel we could go a month.
Diesel generator.....maybe.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:43 pm

fastRob wrote:

Up here a generator is essential.
We keep a supply to keep it running a week.
After that the scramble is on I guess.
If we went diesel we could go a month.
Diesel generator.....maybe.

You just need to attach this to the KJ:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=45416

gmctd · **Posted:** Sat Sep 27, 2008 1:25 am

Went and looked at one, but they advert them at surge rating, 10kw\1725rpm 7200 continuous - they sell one thru the catalog that is a 10kw gen, 1250 surge, 399bucks - that'd go real good on my 3cyl Kubota Diesel engine, next time they sale it for 299bucks

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:11 am

7200 is plenty IMO

geordi · **Posted:** Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:58 am

How would you connect it up to the engine? Where can pulleys be sourced?

Reason I'm asking, I'm looking into creating my own scalable generator system. The idea of sourcing a powerhead and engine separately are kinda the point, but I don't know how to reliably link them. I like the idea of diesel for it however, b/c at the same static RPM for the genset... The fuel input could be altered based on load. I'm thinking a diesel that naturally idles at 900 / 1000 rpm, with a pulley to change that to the 1700 or whatever the generator likes.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:53 pm

geordi wrote:

How would you connect it up to the engine? Where can pulleys be sourced?

Reason I'm asking, I'm looking into creating my own scalable generator system. The idea of sourcing a powerhead and engine separately are kinda the point, but I don't know how to reliably link them. I like the idea of diesel for it however, b/c at the same static RPM for the genset... The fuel input could be altered based on load. I'm thinking a diesel that naturally idles at 900 / 1000 rpm, with a pulley to change that to the 1700 or whatever the generator likes.

You can find V belt pullies all day long for it getting the right serpintine belt and pulley would take some research, but I believe you could do it. At the very worst you have to custom machine a pulley.

I was wanting to find an old nissan LD28 and hook up a couple of those bad boys to it.

gmctd · **Posted:** Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:58 pm

I prefer the space-saving side-by-side configuration, so cogged belt and two pulleys suitable for 30hp cd service - or, rubber-isolated coupling directly to the provided-for area on the flywheel - or the nose of the engine, which is spline-shafted for PTO service - 1725rpm is right in the Diesel's max torque max efficiency band - run there all year at max fuel economy - and, that copper-wired Chinese generator is like a swiss watch, nothing like that clunky aluminum-wired stuff you've seen on a Briggs or Onan (got several of those non-running, 2000-3500watts)

fastRob · **Posted:** Sun Sep 28, 2008 12:51 am

I know this talk is blasphemous but needs to be spewed:
The Lincoln welder with 20hp Kohler has serviced us in the worst conditions at less than a gallon per hour of gas.
The beloved wife had every piece of electric using equipment on: electric water heater(since retired), refer, freezer, washer, dryer, all lights, dish washer and vacuum.
The Lincoln muffler was glowing red. I tried to be calm and explain that burning out the generator in sub zero weather was not a good idea.
Admittedly I lost it when they ran the generator without removing the cover.
There are times when a diesel does not want to start. This rig has Always started.
The gas unit was over $1000 cheaper than the diesel, that buys a lot of gas-o-line. I paid around $2k but they are available used at some real bargains.
And I still have a darn good welder. Noisy, but good.

gmctd · **Posted:** Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:28 am

That's one reason I have put off doing the deed, knowing just as soon as I spring for the gen they'll release a combo 10kw welder\generator for a couple hunnerd bucks more

Really, the only difference in the 3600rpm units and the 1800rpm units is engine wear and noise levels - the 3600rpm units are actually more efficient, except for engine wear, but the noise is disturbing, even to my dog - he doesn't even like to be in the back yard when the genset is running, but maybe he hears 3600rpm hi-freq stuff we cannot, particularly from the generator

geordi · **Posted:** Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:12 pm

gmctd wrote:

I prefer the space-saving side-by-side configuration, so cogged belt and two pulleys suitable for 30hp cd service - or, rubber-isolated coupling directly to the provided-for area on the flywheel - or the nose of the engine, which is spline-shafted for PTO service - 1725rpm is right in the Diesel's max torque max efficiency band - run there all year at max fuel economy - and, that copper-wired Chinese generator is like a swiss watch, nothing like that clunky aluminum-wired stuff you've seen on a Briggs or Onan (got several of those non-running, 2000-3500watts)

I know what you mean about the problematic Generac / Onan stuff, to say nothing about the replacement costs. I've got one of those that cost me 3 grand, and the powerhead only lasted 1000 hours before the head overheated and melted the brush housing. A simple enough repair... Except that Generac / Guardian / GeneracPower / Whoever they sold it to next decided to not sell simple parts anymore. You can ONLY buy the entire unit, IF you are lucky enough to find someone that still has them.

Why hasn't Honda developed a decent 5-7 kw genset for the RV market yet?

As for the engine speed / noise / fuel use concerns... I tend to believe that a gas version has to maintain the same fuel consumption almost all the time at the higher speed b/c of the stoichiometric requirements. My gas generator in my RV seems to burn 1 gallon per hour whether I'm hitting it with BOTH 13,500 BTU air conditioners, or if it's almost unloaded. The noise level almost never changes too.

I will say that I don't know for sure on the diesels, but my own experience with diesel cars says that the idle fuel consumption (or low-load) drops WAY down compared to the loaded usage. Lean ratios will do that.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:16 pm

In June I picked up one of these with only 4 hours on it for $450 :shock:

The guy made his own bio and it wouldn't start after that. After cleaning the entire fuel system it runs like a top. Up here in Ohio we got the tail end of IKE with 75 MPH winds and 3 miles from downtown Columbus were without power for 3 days. I powered both neibhor's refrigerators along with ours. One mde me chocolet chip cookies :lol:

I forgot the link.
http://www.cnties.com/auctiondetails.php?id=129749

ChesterCRD · **Posted:** Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:50 pm

Living in central FL I've done a bit of research on generators. I ended up going with a 5548 Trace Inverter, 230 amp hour 48V deep cycle bank, T 240 autotransformer, and a 5500 Titan diesel generator (air cooled 3600 RPM). With this setup I can run my house without AC with only running a generator for four hours out of every 24.

For those interested a heavy duty generator solutions at affordable prices, check out Utterpower (http://www.utterpower.com). The listeroid and Changfa engines with heavy ST gen heads make for a pretty attractive solution if you need long run times. They also provide a direct drive system that allows more efficient power transfer than belt driven setups.

tulsa · **Posted:** Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:44 pm

I would like to have a Listeroid or an Indian knock off, but a 3cyl Kuboto would also be great.

Lewis

danoid · **Posted:** Wed Oct 01, 2008 3:29 pm

geordi wrote:

Why hasn't Honda developed a decent 5-7 kw genset for the RV market yet?

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/modeldetail.aspx?page=modeldetail&section=P2GG&modelname=EU6500ISA&modelid=EU6500ISA

It's out there. But one of my personal goals in life is to never have to purchase a Honda product. I don't care how good they are.

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Wed Oct 01, 2008 3:46 pm

Agreed. My years at Toyota still have Honda engrained as an arch enemy.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Wed Oct 01, 2008 9:38 pm

..pipe in some Natural gas to supplement the Diesel. All you need to add is an electronic governor to control the speed. Don't like the belts make your own speed doubler with a timing chain in a box.

KeighJeigh · **Posted:** Sat Oct 04, 2008 1:02 am

This is the time of year I stock up on fuel and make sure the generator is in operating condition. With our rural location, tall trees and suspended power lines we get a lot of power outages - including 8 hours on Tuesday for no known reason.

One would think I would have invested in a decent generator by now but noooo, I am still using my 12 year old 5KW jobsite generator I bought when building my house. I paid $400 for it. The manual clearly states it is "for occasional use only". Clunky, rattling Briggs engine & el cheapo generac. It is loud, it requires starting fluid to get it going, the pull mechanism doesn't always work right and is like pull starting a train. 2 years ago the plastic cooling fan disintegrated with a horrible bang and scored some of the windings. But the d@mn thing won't die!! The worst it saw was a 2 week stretch with no power after a huge storm in 2006. I had to drive 75 miles to get gas as most of the local stations had no power or were out of gas. I ran it the whole time non-stop, fully loaded. I swear it ran better on the last day.

I would like a bit more power since it can't drive our deep well pump so I keep hoping it will die - but afraid it will do so during a particularly nasty storm when new generators are expensive or - as in 2006 - not available anywhere in the state. I have seriously thought about building my own and have noted you can buy small diesel engines for

Of course, if you want a real generator, no need to screw around: Here's a company that sells top end refurbished Detroit diesel sets for $4,500. 20KW @ 1200 RPM, 1 GPH full load, rated for 40,000 hours.

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gmctd · **Posted:** Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:07 am

Harborfreightdotcom also sells those as refurbished, listed at over 2200lbs - you could have your very own captive Detroit Diesel

MNKK · **Posted:** Sat Oct 04, 2008 9:18 am

danoid wrote:

But one of my personal goals in life is to never have to purchase a Honda product.

Really? Don't take this wrong. I am, and always have been a great supporter of the american auto market, but quite a bit of Honda parts are american now. I learned that when my wife and I had a bet. She said that most of my car was forign. I agreed. but in return, most of hers was american. lol. I win.

Civilization, yes...............

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