Making my own 20 KW Genset

[BrokenTrack]

Congratulations Rob, you are much awesomer than the OP. What's up with all the negativity? Somebody peee in your wheaties this AM? Brokentrack is doing a nice job pulling together a generator on a shoestring. Let's get back to that, OK?:confused2:

Thank you for your kind words...

I have long realized that is just the internet. If a person mentions doing something, then 19 out of 20 people will come up with a reason why it will not work, when they have not done anything themselves that is new and different. I call it paralysis by analysis.

The other part of that is, some people only tell you the good, and leave off the bad, but I am honest to a fault, so keep reading because...my kids do not listen to me, my wife has too large of a shoe collection, and my barn-find engine had a mouse nest in the #4 cylinder and did not "miraculously start with a fresh battery and a can of either". It is all the stuff that people leave out that makes you roll your eyes.

The real reason for this project started awhile ago when we had an 18 hour outage and I realized how much heat my Kubota tractor was putting out. I hate waste, so I thought, why not use that wasted heat to go into my radiant floor heating system? That cogenerational part is what makes this project unique. I just have to get a 42 year old engine that has been sitting for 32 years to run first!

Along the way there has been some real surprises; digging out the busted glass on the hour meter showed it had 2607 hours on it. And in opening it up, the engine looks like it is in mint shape. With that kind of information, a person can move forward with confidence.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I really had some set-backs too. Having to pull the head, really set me back on getting this engine started. And then when I went to pull the oil pan, there was not enough clearance without pulling the engine off the frame. I had no way lift the engine where it was at, so that meant sliding it frame and all, some 30 feet into the main barn. I then used my log loader to pull the engine out of the frame.

And if you are picturing that...you are indeed right, there was not much room to move the log loader AND lift the engine INSIDE the barn. But then I made a engine stand for it, and then cleaned up the sludge of the sump, and wiped down the lower half of the engine. So now the entire engine is clean, and free of sludge.

Then I fabricated new rear engine mounts, and welded tabs all over the frame so I can bolt this thing down to the floor once it is running.

I also painted the engine, oil pan, head, valve cover, dip stick, and oil fill cover, and finally started putting it back together,

But it is in really good shape now. From top to bottom it has go it all new seals and gaskets, except the injection pump, and the timing gear cover. But those are easy to change down the road, if I must.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Congratulations Rob, you are much awesomer than the OP. What's up with all the negativity? Somebody peee in your wheaties this AM? Brokentrack is doing a nice job pulling together a generator on a shoestring. Let's get back to that, OK?:confused2:

With your post, I'd say it's YOUR Wheaties that got pizzed in... lol

SR

 

[D2Cat]

I understand excitement, apprehension, anticipation, joy, satisfaction and other emotions someone creating a one-of-a kind project goes through.

I bought a 1980 BobCat skid steer that had the same Perkins engine you're using. I replaced that engine with V2203 reefer unit. I had to build engine mount, adapter plate to connect/align the drive shaft to the hyd pump, and a hundred other challenges. If you don't enjoy that creative thinking process you just go buy something that does the job!

 

[electrycmonk]

Curious question about the Perkins stationary mounting. Have you devised/ come up with any "Vibration dampening" like old/worn/broken rubber mud flaps or sections of a tire tread for sitting the motor mounting assembly on or sometime like this?

 

[BrokenTrack]

Curious question about the Perkins stationary mounting. Have you devised/ come up with any "Vibration dampening" like old/worn/broken rubber mud flaps or sections of a tire tread for sitting the motor mounting assembly on or sometime like this?

Yes...and I actually did both, as it has some homemade rubber mounts, and some factory ones.

I needed a rear motor mount because of the way the reefer unit was set up. The front of the engine has (3) rubber mounted motor mounts, but the back motor mounts was actually on the chiller unit. In that way it was set up like a tractor. The engine bolts directly to the chiller housing, just like how the engine/clutch/transmission act as the "frame" of a tractor. In this orginal configuration, there was engine mounts on the front of the engine, and on back of the chiller. So when I pulled off the chiller, I had to make engine mounts for the rear of the engine.

BUT I had the rubber mounts off the chiller that were not being used, so I reused those factory ones. I just used those where a new fabricated crossmember and the frame connect.

Where the engine mounts to the crossmember, I put in some homemade rubber grommets so that the engine does not rub on the engine mount itself.

But then the whole frame sits on rubber on top of the concrete floor of the generator shed. I welded on a ton of tabs so that I can bolt this whole unit down to the floor, rubber located between the frame and the floor. So in all, it sits on (3) sets of rubber mounts to reduce vibration.

I was going to just buy a rubber stall mat at Tractor Supply for $46 (4 x 6) but then I was at Home Depot and they had these really thick rubber boot mats on sale for $12 down to $6. So I bought (2) of them, and that is what the engine genset sits on top of the concrete.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Just another thought here. You seem to be a handy kind of guy so you probably know enough to put the battery on the rubber mat and not the frame of the gen set.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Just another thought here. You seem to be a handy kind of guy so you probably know enough to put the battery on the rubber mat and not the frame of the gen set.

I have them sitting on rubber mats on the floor now, and thought about building battery boxes for them, but then I thought, it would just make them harder to change out, and really there is no need for a dedicated spot on a genset.

I got the materials to make them, I just could not really come up with a reason to do so, unless you can think of one???

I am going with (2) batteries, just so there is plenty of cranking amps, but I think one would be plenty.

 

[D2Cat]

One battery will be plenty. If you use two you just increase initial cost and upkeep cost. One bad battery can bring down the good one, so you really need to replace them in pairs or keep real close watch on them.

 

[electrycmonk]

My Grampa always kept the battery on a plank of wood in the garage, never on the cement floor. This is in Michigan & he was a chemist for Kellogg's.... Great memories with the stuff he taught us. He would always charge a battery on a wood plank as a safe(thermal & electric) insulation & isolator. To this day I still try to do it that way. I do use an old rubber mudflap too.

I'm curious again. If you have the spare wood laying around would you consider a simple floor cradle? 2x4's about 36" long? Then 2 or 3 2x4's about 8-10" long for the ends and middle to screw the long boards into a cradle? And if you wanted to leftover rubber across the long 2x4's for the batteries to sit on?

Easily slide it on the floor for moving/servicing genset and/or the batteries? (Starts to snicker) or you could go overboard and use a few castor's And truly make it "very movable"....like the other threads about movable dollies. Butidigress