Your last generator Maintenance Run

[Rustyiron]

My wife has started the generator and thrown the transfer switch by herself.
I'm both leery of "automatic" and cheap when it comes to street/generator switching.
There's no strange diagnosis if there's trouble in the middle of a stormy night with basically nothing to go wrong with at least the switch part of it.

 

[TMGT]

Not sure anyone here said anything about a cheap transfer, just affordable. Might end up being a used one or new if there is a better manufacturered switch out there that I can adapt to my gen. The big manufacturers are priced from about 2.5-3k for a 400a switch, no matter what it'll have to be rated/certified for service entrance use.

The reason I like automatic transfer switches is more for the shutdown when power is restored rather then the auto starting.

Either way they still have a simple manual override so not worried about diagnosing in an emergency.



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[TMGT]

Not a fun storm, anytime/where......

If you are going to roll your own diesel, if it doesn't have an appropriate control system already, somebody (my lousy memory) in FL posted in this thread about an aftermarket controller that looked to be well designed/built/documented at what seemed to me at the time, a reasonable price for a quality product.

He had used it on a milsurp unit he installed at home. Lousy memory again..... _____-King is stuck in my head for the controller name, but don't quote me, that may just be randomly connected in my memory to Sea-King choppers.....

Rgds, D.

I'll be using a 15kw gen head from my dads old Generac standby that lunched the engine. I have all the controls from it but not sure if I want to try to adapt that or start from scratch.
I have a good running Kubota D1105, plan is to belt drive it and run the engine around 2500rpm which should give me the 22 or so HP needed for the 15kw. I know belt drive isn't ideal but would rather run the engine a little slower.

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[5030]

...This morning at 7AM sharp.

 

[3930dave]

My wife has started the generator and thrown the transfer switch by herself.
I'm both leery of "automatic" and cheap when it comes to street/generator switching.
There's no strange diagnosis if there's trouble in the middle of a stormy night with basically nothing to go wrong with at least the switch part of it.

On one hand, I'm that guy that doesn't trust anything... even an anvil

OTOH, having to deal with the cost-optimizations that sometimes hit automotive electrical/tronic systems.... yeah, Simple has it's attractions.

All it takes, is competent engineering, manufacturing, and installation/servicing, for the foundation of a complex system to be solid.... but, sometimes one or more of those factors is weak....

I've always been hands-on, but in a past (work) life, auto-transfer would have had high value to me, going stretches of 4+ days away at a time for work.

Regards, D.

 

[3930dave]

I'll be using a 15kw gen head from my dads old Generac standby that lunched the engine. I have all the controls from it but not sure if I want to try to adapt that or start from scratch.
I have a good running Kubota D1105, plan is to belt drive it and run the engine around 2500rpm which should give me the 22 or so HP needed for the 15kw. I know belt drive isn't ideal but would rather run the engine a little slower.

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If the original Generac controls are still intact, that might be the simplest route. If you have one or two questions, post-up here.... if grs gets a little better at "retiring" , he may have a little more time to put up his feet and do some recreational surfing here.... though he contributed plenty often, considering he was working flat-out before.

I just thought to mention that full-custom milsurp install, that was posted up here some time back, as a plan B or C Control. When a product comes along in the aftermarket that does a job well, and is reasonable priced, that's something that keeps an old hardware geek like myself hanging out on TBN .

Hopefully you have better luck coming up with RoundTuIts on this project, than I usually do ; post-up when you do.

(P.S - I've come to appreciate the crude but potentially valuable aspect of belts..... as a Mechanical Fuse. You may need multiple rows, but they should do the job fine).

Rgds, D.

 

[LittleBill21]

If the original Generac controls are still intact, that might be the simplest route. If you have one or two questions, post-up here.... if grs gets a little better at "retiring" , he may have a little more time to put up his feet and do some recreational surfing here.... though he contributed plenty often, considering he was working flat-out before.

I just thought to mention that full-custom milsurp install, that was posted up here some time back, as a plan B or C Control. When a product comes along in the aftermarket that does a job well, and is reasonable priced, that's something that keeps an old hardware geek like myself hanging out on TBN .

Hopefully you have better luck coming up with RoundTuIts on this project, than I usually do ; post-up when you do.

(P.S - I've come to appreciate the crude but potentially valuable aspect of belts..... as a Mechanical Fuse. You may need multiple rows, but they should do the job fine).

Rgds, D.

i could be wrong, but the only aftermarket start controller i am aware of , is not universal, and was designed specifically for the MEP units, and is sold by an individual over at steel soldier.

 

[TMGT]

i could be wrong, but the only aftermarket start controller i am aware of , is not universal, and was designed specifically for the MEP units, and is sold by an individual over at steel soldier.

I'm sure a setup could be made from scratch, however I would have a lot of hrs in research and testing to get it right, so probably not worth it.

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[3930dave]

...This morning at 7AM sharp.

Rgds, D.

 

[LouNY]

If I was going to belt drive a generator head I would use the toothed belting setups.
https://timkenbelts.com/products/panther-xt-belt/