Your last generator Maintenance Run

[WinterDeere]

While some days I crave that level of boredom (largely due to Satan and his Disciples, aka The WorkPlace...) I really don't want to go there either !

That vid came out of some RF info I was chasing...... IMO, in an era where cell-towers are what they are (during emergencies), it's good to see some tech effort going into fallback plans. Insurance, that hopefully doesn't get tested for real....

Rgds, D.

I've spent most of the last 20 years designing equipment for the electromagnetic compliance (EMC) industry, and have watched the military / EMP-hardening side of the business grow enormously since about 2008. Our big customers on that side of the business were Sandia National Labs, White Sands Missile Range, QinetiQ, Redstone Arsenal, and Dahlgren. These were all public open-bid jobs, so no secrets spilled, there.

All have been doing various high-energy RF (eg. HERF) testing, and even some simulated nuclear blast EMP pulse testing over the last 10-15 years, although I haven't seen that trickling down much into commercial or consumer electronics.

More interestingly, we've been seeing more work on offensive RF-based weaponry, whereas most past work was defensive. See any use for a transmitter so powerful that can blind or even permanently burn-out an opponent's satellite receivers? That's the present frontier of offensive weaponry, as far as I can see.

 

[JCoastie]

New generator arrived today, Westinghouse iGen11000DFc Inverter Generator, it has a small oil filter screen. The manual makes no mention of this screen at all. I found it poking around. Generator was obviously function checked at the factory, and the filter is dirty. The debris is on the inside of the filter, so I can't just wipe it off.

What is the best practice for cleaning these?

Wait until after a run and it isn't needed for a while, drain the oil, pull the filter and wash it in hot soapy water, fully dry, install and then refill with oil?

I haven't even started this yet, this is how it came. Definitely was new in box.

Also, it lists the spark plug as: F7RTC which I believe is a Torque resistor type plug.
The manual then goes on to state:

ALWAYS use the Westinghouse OEM or compatible non-resistor-type spark plug. Use of resistor-type spark plug can result in rough idling, misfire, or may prevent the engine from starting.

I think that might be a typo and you are supposed to use a resistor plug? Resistor plugs tend to correct everything listed in motors that require them.

 

[JCoastie]

All have been doing various high-energy RF (eg. HERF) testing, and even some simulated nuclear blast EMP pulse testing over the last 10-15 years, although I haven't seen that trickling down much into commercial or consumer electronics.

I ran a Long Range Navigation station in upstate NY in the late 2000's We put out just under a megawatt LF/MF signal. Once a year we'd get a call from Mercedes Benz, they'd come to test their latest and greatest sports cars at the station to see if/how they were affected by RFI. Different from an EMP, but still pretty cool.

 

[Williy]

Carb sleaner should work just fine to clean a screen

willy

 

[WinterDeere]

I think that might be a typo and you are supposed to use a resistor plug? Resistor plugs tend to correct everything listed in motors that require them.

They said the same thing, twice, and two different ways. I don’t think it’s a typo.

 

[WinterDeere]

I ran a Long Range Navigation station in upstate NY in the late 2000's We put out just under a megawatt LF/MF signal. Once a year we'd get a call from Mercedes Benz, they'd come to test their latest and greatest sports cars at the station to see if/how they were affected by RFI. Different from an EMP, but still pretty cool.

Interesting. The standards for automotive EMC are very well-defined and closely regulated, and there’s no MW-level LF/MF tests in there, so they must have been doing something unique. Also, I suspect their primary EMC compliance testing all happens in Stuttgart, so the guys contacting your office must have been looking at something different than the standard tests.

I suspect your site was pulsed? Maybe TWT? What was the operating frequency range(s)? We were doing very broadband (15-20 octaves) CW power, so even 50 kW amplifiers could fill a semi truck, front to back.

 

[JCoastie]

@WinterDeere pulsed 100khz

Loran-C - Signal Characteristics

 

[LittleBill21]

Due to a series of severe thunder storms, I'm on hour 9 of my latest "maintenance run". The crew showed up at hour 4, removed a tree from the line, and restored power briefly. As soon as they left, another tree took the line down again and we've been out for another 5 hours so far.

As of this morning, the local power company still had over 50,000 customers without power in my part of the state. It could be quite a wait.

That sucks we live about 35 minutes from you, got the warning last night, got everything into the garages, no blip here. we got lucky just some heavy rain.

 

[3930dave]

New generator arrived today, Westinghouse iGen11000DFc Inverter Generator, it has a small oil filter screen. The manual makes no mention of this screen at all. I found it poking around. Generator was obviously function checked at the factory, and the filter is dirty. The debris is on the inside of the filter, so I can't just wipe it off.

What is the best practice for cleaning these?

Wait until after a run and it isn't needed for a while, drain the oil, pull the filter and wash it in hot soapy water, fully dry, install and then refill with oil?

I haven't even started this yet, this is how it came. Definitely was new in box.

View attachment 877539

View attachment 877540

Also, it lists the spark plug as: F7RTC which I believe is a Torque resistor type plug.
The manual then goes on to state:


I think that might be a typo and you are supposed to use a resistor plug? Resistor plugs tend to correct everything listed in motors that require them.

Interesting - haven't seen one of those screens before.... maybe I'm just behind on this tech !

I'm allergic to adding water near oii..... I vote with Willy re. carb cleaner - some sprays are super powerful, so I'd either back right off with the can, or come up with a liquid solution...... IDK how fragile those screens are.

Haven't looked up your gen yet.... guessing from the "i" - perhaps it's Injected ? If so, the resistor plug may be to avoid interfering with the computer.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

I've spent most of the last 20 years designing equipment for the electromagnetic compliance (EMC) industry, and have watched the military / EMP-hardening side of the business grow enormously since about 2008. Our big customers on that side of the business were Sandia National Labs, White Sands Missile Range, QinetiQ, Redstone Arsenal, and Dahlgren. These were all public open-bid jobs, so no secrets spilled, there.

All have been doing various high-energy RF (eg. HERF) testing, and even some simulated nuclear blast EMP pulse testing over the last 10-15 years, although I haven't seen that trickling down much into commercial or consumer electronics.

More interestingly, we've been seeing more work on offensive RF-based weaponry, whereas most past work was defensive. See any use for a transmitter so powerful that can blind or even permanently burn-out an opponent's satellite receivers? That's the present frontier of offensive weaponry, as far as I can see.

Interesting EM territory we've gotten into

IIRC, an early satellite killer was just a shotgun... obviously on another orbital platform.... Time moves On !

Looking for something else online recently, I stumbled across a public call for prototypes from our DND..... I suspect everybody is working on drone-defense enhancements today.....

Rgds, D.