Making my own 20 KW Genset

[grsthegreat]

I just use a few pieces of rubber stall mat under batteries. No cost option. These were pieces I cut to get mats to fit

 

[BrokenTrack]

I finally got a picture of this engine all painted up, and put back together. I got a few other things done on the unit, but it slowly is coming together. Of course Perkins, Ford and Case fans will all hate me. I could not find Perkins Blue, so I went with Ford Blue, and Case Red.

Like a bumbling fool, I could not get the threads to line up on the oil jumper going to the rocker arm, and bummed the threads up. Of course I did not find that out until I torqued down the rocker arm, and adjusted the vales, so I did that twice before I machined out the oil jumper line, and got the threads straightened out. That was a lesson in frustration.

Now it is down to punch-list time, and would be all together by now, but I am hampered by not having a driver's license (for medical reasons). That puts me at the mercy of my wife, going to town with her, and picking up what I can, when I am in a store that has what I need.

I thought about dry-firing this ole gal on starting fluid, but it has a CAV pump, and they can sustain damage without fuel as a lube for that particular injection pump. And this engine has been laid up dry for some 32 years. But that will be the hardest part of this whole build, fixing the fuel system. It was damaged when they took it off the reefer trailer, so I got to make everything new, and work.

 

[electrycmonk]

Paint choice? Let them whine, it's not their setup.
I like it. Efficient neat & organized. I am curious about that coiled wire/doing that stretched out some 4-5 ft? Loos like it's connected to the throttle control head assembly & over to the way? It likes like it's pulling double duty as a suspension wire for the control board wiring too?

That "dryer flexi ducting" hanging down? Purpose/plans for it on that punch list?

Don't I recall you referring to that battery charger/tender? It looks clamped to the control board??

Fascinating to see how you positioned stuff for your comfort of usage. I dig it. Hang in there, fruits of your labor are 'sooo close' to proper ripeness.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I am curious about that coiled wire/doing that stretched out some 4-5 ft? Loos like it's connected to the throttle control head assembly & over to the way? It likes like it's pulling double duty as a suspension wire for the control board wiring too?

No, that is just a screen door spring, severely stretched so that it takes the pressure off the electrical lines. I used a spring so that as the engine vibrates, the spring will just react with it. I still have some wiring organizing to do. I do not like how the battery cables are flopping about, nor a few other wires, so I will eventually get that cleaned up, and tidy-looking.

That "dryer flexi ducting" hanging down? Purpose/plans for it on that punch list?

That is my air intake from outside. You are right, it is on the punch list, and I need to buy some to make the connection. That is not a priority though because I will need it off for awhile. I imagine it is going to have to huff a lot of starting fluid as this engine has been laid up dry, and it is going to take a lot for the engine to fully pick up the fuel, and run. So I need access to the air intake. Equally, for safety sake, if this things picks up oil somewhere and takes off, I want to be able to snuff it out by chocking it from getting its air. I can stop it at the intake. But eventually I will need to bring complete the air intake hose from the air filter (outside) to the engine.

Don't I recall you referring to that battery charger/tender? It looks clamped to the control board?

Nice observation...it is and it is not clamped there. I just did that to have a place to hang them out of the way. This charger is not great, it works, but only if the batteries are isolated, so I do not bother to leave the battery clamps hooked up. I just clipped them there because the old fuse holders made for quick clamping.

A side note to the batteries: I had two new batteries so I used them. I might remove one later, I am not sure, but I have an idea that on the first cold start, until this engine starts to pick up the fuel, I am going to have to crank this engine over a lot. I figured the more battery juice, the better. And my bulldozer (John Deere 350D) had the same sized engine, and had (2) batteries, so it cannot hurt.

 

[D2Cat]

I'd use the batteries to get it started the first time, even if you have to recharge the batteries before she goes. Starting fluid, if you get an overdose in one cyl. you can end up with major troubles. Take you time getting it to fire off, and save your engine.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Despite a miserable Monday on many fronts, I was able to call Central Georgia Generator and get a control box on the way.

I had some questions and ended up getting a call from their tech guy, who just happened to be the OWNER! A super great guy, who said he started his company for people like me, and answered a TON of questions that I had. It was everything from not using Fluke Meters to get frequency off generators (Stray voltage makes them inaccurate) to setting up the generator for 62 hertz so if there is droop everything works fine. What a super-nice guy. I will not share this obviously, but the guy gave me his personal cell phone in case I had any more questions...now that is SERVICE!

I wanted a control box was I was concerned my last generator run was not producing enough frequency; my clocks were slow. I did some research on that, and I will be snookered, despite it being 2020, they still use computer chips that derive their time from the grid...counting the frequency. I figured when they went to digital, that problem would have gone away. But no, not all auto-updated clocks had changed, as I thought grid-based time would be a thing of the past with them...nope which just goes to show, if a company can get something for free, they will, even if it is just free time! (LOL)

 

[radios1]

Despite a miserable Monday on many fronts, I was able to call Central Georgia Generator and get a control box on the way.

I had some questions and ended up getting a call from their tech guy, who just happened to be the OWNER! A super great guy, who said he started his company for people like me, and answered a TON of questions that I had. It was everything from not using Fluke Meters to get frequency off generators (Stray voltage makes them inaccurate) to setting up the generator for 62 hertz so if there is droop everything works fine. What a super-nice guy. I will not share this obviously, but the guy gave me his personal cell phone in case I had any more questions...now that is SERVICE!

I wanted a control box was I was concerned my last generator run was not producing enough frequency; my clocks were slow. I did some research on that, and I will be snookered, despite it being 2020, they still use computer chips that derive their time from the grid...counting the frequency. I figured when they went to digital, that problem would have gone away. But no, not all auto-updated clocks had changed, as I thought grid-based time would be a thing of the past with them...nope which just goes to show, if a company can get something for free, they will, even if it is just free time! (LOL)

that's because the line frequency is monitored and very accurate, if they didn't use that, they'd have to use a quartz crystal, which will drift in frequency with temperature. they are not going to increase the cost by using a TCXO or OCXO circuit..

 

[BrokenTrack]

that's because the line frequency is monitored and very accurate, if they didn't use that, they'd have to use a quartz crystal, which will drift in frequency with temperature. they are not going to increase the cost by using a TCXO or OCXO circuit..

Yeah, that was an interesting read.

The guy invents a clock based upon frequency so that the quality of grid power improves, but then because he does, the grid power improves to the point where it improves how we tell time.

Kind of circular, which is ironic because we are talking about electricity here, and if it was circular, well it would not push power down the line very well. So it is circular on many fronts!

 

[BrokenTrack]

I need some boys...or at least that is what my wife said today, and about 10 times at that! But atlas I am only blessed with estrogen here. A wife, (4) daughters, a female dog, a female bunny, a female cat, a female duck, heck even the goldfish is female.

But today I managed to get the main power run from the house to the generator shed. The last time I did this, I went underground, and ended up through the cable with my bulldozer. Whoops... So this time I went overhead. But I needed Katie to hold a strain on the wires as I connected the bare neutral to the porcelain insulators. I also installed a telephone pole midway across to keep some of the tension off the lines during ice storms and heavy snowfalls. She was a trooper, getting on the ladder to hold some bolts with a wrench while I got in the attic of the barn and cinched the nuts tight. She was a trooper because my ladder was too short, so I had it in the bucket of the tractor. "Stronger than the Rock of Jabratar", I said, but she did not believe me, but climbed up the ladder anyway. She also climbed up on the barn roof and tugged the entrance cable wires taunt.

She's a Proverbs 31 girl for sure...

Then I finished wiring in my main subpanel, complete with a welder outlet, but also wired in my generator control box. Fighting #2 wire was fun in those boxes! I also got everything grounded to physical earth.

It does not seem like much, but it is a big part of the entire job done. And I know, "No pictures: Never Happened, So, here are the pictures!

 

[LouNY]

Good to see the help, no purdy high heels today for that job.:thumbsup: