Forum for air cooled diesel engines and clones

[Volp]

After inspection and ordering parts, new piston, rings cam and lifters I worked on the crankshaft polishing the rod journal and seal surfaces.
The cylinder bore cleaned up nicely showing very minor wear at the very top of the cylinder.
When the parts arrived we assembled the engine and fired it up and put it under load.
It ran much smoother and developed full power after we advanced the injection timing.
After five minutes we shut it down and pulled the oil filter screen for inspection, minor particles were found so we cleaned it, reinstalled it and continued the break-in.
After an hour or so of running and 2 oil changes during which the filter was found to be clean he took it home for his new backup system.
Mission Accomplished!!
90cummins

90cummins, I would love to have a friend like you in the neighbourhood!

Anders

 

[frazer1]

Hi,
I just wanted to follow up on my silent diesel Fuzhou Launtop generator. I started reporting at post 119 on 11-23-2012. At the last report, I had logged 1650 hours. My hour meter stopped working again and I have not replaced it yet. Currently I have accumulated over 2300 hours before the hour meter froze up. The yanclone diesel motor is a champ. I have been burning a mix of 30% waste oil (motor oil and trans fluid)/ 70% dino diesel fuel. Occassionally I just use diesel fuel. My purpose was to rid myself of the large stockpile of used oil in my shop that has collected over 10 years or so. I'm nearly finished burning it now. The latest replacement part that I needed was an electric starter motor. The old one never quit, it just got sluggish and wouldn't overcome the compression about half the time. I replaced it with a starter from ebay and it is very happy with a Walmart lawn and garden battery. I'll get a new hour meter to keep up with oil changes again soon. I lost electric service at my shop due to wiring code violations, so I was red-tagged. I've been using the generator wired through a proper service plug to the fuse box as I did several years before. Change oil, change filters, and fix it as needed. I'm sure i'm near the end of this thing's life, but the oil has no particles and it starts up easily every time. It smokes a little (blue/white) for the first 5 minutes, then the exhaust is clear. if there is a sudden load, like an air compressor kicking on, it will belch a little black puff, then clears up.

I hear that the EPA has regulated these engines out of legal importation due to particulate emissions. that's a real shame because there isn't a EPA qualifying replacement available at any price point. The real Yanmars are out too, as well as Lombardini, Hatz, etc. If you want a diesel generator you have to go with one of the big water cooled units with full emissions gear and urea tank. The EPA has taken all the lubricity out of diesel as well. that's why I'm adding oil to my fuel mix. Who knows how long my injection pump will last without the oil. I understand that red trans fluid is soo full of detergent that it will keep the fuel system sparkling clean. I hope that's the case. My injector nozzle has been serviced and checked every 500 hours and it's perfect as the day I got it.

I hope someone gets value from my experience with the Chinese Silent Diesel Generator. I have used it well and enjoyed the luxury of having my own power generator at hand. I wonder how long it will last? how long does a real Yanmar last? I'll get a new meter and we will find out.

 

[bf109v7]

Hi,
It smokes a little (blue/white) for the first 5 minutes, then the exhaust is clear. if there is a sudden load, like an air compressor kicking on, it will belch a little black puff, then clears up.

I hear that the EPA has regulated these engines out of legal importation due to particulate emissions.

This Regulations are real stupid. As you wrote, you can see when your enginge throws out particles, and you will avoid breathing them. On the new enginges the particles are so small, you cant see them, so you will not avoid them. Of course, threre are less, but they are so small, they dont stay in your lungs, they go thrugh the lung walls in your blood. So, no more lung cancer, its blood cancer now.
Alex

 

[90cummins]

Yanmar L100 Project
My most recent Yanmar project.
I bought this engine on CraigsList with a knock. It is a Yanmar L100 that I completely rebuilt with a new OEM crankshaft, piston & rod.
I have it driving a new Niehoff N1603-2 28v 450 amp alternator and built it as another way to support my off grid battery pack.
The frame is made with 1/4" steel and I bent the angles on my 40 ton press.
Bolts were used for assembly because they allow me to easily change/modify the design.
The engine is turning at 2750 rpm which is the sweet spot for minimum fuel consumption and the alternator is turning shy of 1500 which is near max efficiency.
During testing I found that it would run 5+ hours with a 1kw steady state load and could easily handle a much higher surge load when connected to my 24v 370ah battery pack that powers my 4kw inverter.
Running the engine at maximum speed 3600 I can pull 200+ amps of DC current.
The crankshaft is tapered for generator use but I used a bushed bore pulley so I could belt drive the generator.
Overall I'm very pleased with the performance and will be adding a low oil pressure shutdown.
I would like to add an external governor that would adjust the engine speed according to the load.
This summer I plan on building an insulated & power ventilated enclosure to shelter and control noise.
Attached are a couple photos and a video.
Hope you enjoy
90cummins

Yanmar 1hp Diesel DC backup Generator - YouTube

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

Nice job. It's been tempting to go off the grid for electric where I am as the price of natural gas has reached a new low of $1.73/MMBTU (~1000 cu. ft. gas) this month. I have a generator that runs on natural gas and can generate power for less than 1/2 the price I can buy it from the power company (electric runs around $0.16/kW*hr). Ideally I would have a setup similar to yours with a generator that would auto-start to charge the batteries as needed to reduce run-time on the generator, keep it in the better efficiency range near maximum output, minimize noise duration, maintenance, etc. Reliability, initial cost, and the time to put it together are keeping me from doing it. Plus it would limit the maximum power I could draw at any given time which is really only a problem for my garage tools (air compressor, welder, etc. when other things are running) My electric bill runs about $50-60 month so I'd have to see what the payback time would be but I'm guessing it would be in the 2-3 year range.

Ultimately, home fuel cells should be replacing residential grid power. Fuel cells can convert natural gas to electricity at a current efficiency of about 48% (compare to the system I describe above that is around 15-20% overall) and utilize the waste heat for living space heating or to heat water for overall efficiencies of greater than 80%. Of course their initial purchase price is still prohibitive but I suspect if enough units could be sold it would become quite affordable and seem to be the sensible thing to do. I don't believe the power companies would be advocating such options though.

 

[90cummins]

Thanks;
My post was a bit misleading I'm not (off grid) I'm off grid capable with limitations.
The purpose of my setup is to have an economical backup system in place that would provide uninterruptable power if the utility goes down for an extended period.
My intention is to have several hours of basic electrical power using batteries.
When more power is needed I would start 1 of my generators to recharge batteries and provide additional power for normal operation.

90cummins

 

[David Mc]

Probably a bit late for this, but if anyone is looking for a one-stop source of info for 186f diesels and their clones, this page is worth a look 186F Diesel

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:

 

[90cummins]

Yesterday I was asked to look at a (Leading brand name) Chinese generator with the 10hp 186f diesel.
The owner was using it on a job for 3 weeks with no issues when it suddenly started making noises & skipping.
It had 220 hours on it and while he was looking I pulled the oil filter (screen) and found it to be full of metal. I told him that I've seen this before and that the small camshaft bearing most likely failed.
The fact that it didn't shut down due to low oil pressure indicates the oil pressure sender may be defective.
He has been impressed with the electrical capacity and miserly fuel consumption so he really wants it repaired.
I will update you as I begin the teardown process.
90cummins

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

220 hours is pretty disappointing. I just installed a China "R2V870" diesel engine in a Hustler FasTrak 52" zero turn mower. It's about 18 hp and seems to run pretty good so far. Really shakes the mower at low rpm though. Wasn't too bad of a job and it didn't really take as much modification of the mower as I was expecting. The mower had 277 hours and had a Honda GX620 (?) engine that apparently broke both rods ultimately. The previous owner said it started squealing, then died and wouldn't start. Oil level was good. Still turns over but the pistons don't go up and down looking in the spark plug holes despite the crankshaft turning. I hope I can get at least the 1000 hours that is covered under the "warranty" on the diesel.

I also considered myself lucky to find a batch of cheap Lister-Petter AC1 engines. They sure are heavy but I suspect they will be pretty reliable. I only ran one so far but it started right away and ran fine after what I suspect was an extended idle period. I plan on installing one on a log splitter to test. The thought of not having to deal with a gummed up carburetor gives me the incentive to make the conversions.