Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Most homes are single phase and many gens are 3 phase, this leads to unbalance loads and loss of 1/3 of rating. Some 12 wire heads can be rewired but efficiency is down compared to a dedicated 4 wire single phase.

I choose a 30kva Mecc-Alte dedicated single phase with digital voltage regulator, hooked to a 3cyl turbo Perkins no ECU diesel. This allows very low tech no controller operation using cutoff water and oil sensors.

Or you can go digital with Deep Sea 7320 MKII controller which will run a transfer switch via Utility monitoring, maintenance cycles and using resistor sensor on water, oil, fuel. Which will run auto tank refills from 55 gallon drums.

Next is sound case PDG builds nice Alum/Stainless powder coat cases with input and output baffles and sound deadening liner.

Using a dumb generac 200 amp trx switch

I like the way you think !

Do you do this for a living, or just have good taste in expensive hobbies ?

Rgds, D.

 

[RoyKing]

Frustration from having too many long outages, and not liking any of commercial solutions. First it was going to be 15kva, but for not much more you could get twice as much, learned a lot from having MEP-802A surplus genset. Also wanted as little Chinese as possible, wanted USA located parts, Mecc and Perkins have good reputation and both spent time with on the phone answering my question. This unit is very quiet and we did a couple small upgrades, we wrapped the exhaust to keep noise and heat down in cabinet, also cut the exhaust pipe at 45 angle and tip it to exhaust inside the baffle, PDG gave us that tip. So you can stand next to it and talk.

Also put current sensing coils on Gen output and a rpm sensor on the flywheel, battery charger.

We also discovered the Perkins alternator output wasn't high enough to support AGM batteries.

 

[3930dave]

Frustration from having too many long outages, and not liking any of commercial solutions. First it was going to be 15kva, but for not much more you could get twice as much, learned a lot from having MEP-802A surplus genset. Also wanted as little Chinese as possible, wanted USA located parts, Mecc and Perkins have good reputation and both spent time with on the phone answering my question. This unit is very quiet and we did a couple small upgrades, we wrapped the exhaust to keep noise and heat down in cabinet, also cut the exhaust pipe at 45 angle and tip it to exhaust inside the baffle, PDG gave us that tip. So you can stand next to it and talk.

Also put current sensing coils on Gen output and a rpm sensor on the flywheel, battery charger.

We also discovered the Perkins alternator output wasn't high enough to support AGM batteries.

Kind of like OverHaulin' , but with generators...... Well played Sir.

Takes effort, but the nice thing about rolling your own is you can prioritize and delete what you want. Getting only as much tech in place to do exactly what you want...... a great balance to strike......

Between the progress with engines, and enclosure design, it's really impressive how quiet many are today.

Rgds, D.

 

[RoyKing]

Last part of the project was tank breather drier. Knowing that tank would go through large temperature changes daily here in Florida as much as 30 degrees we copied the fancy check valve desiccant breathers. Used 4" clear PVC pipe to hold the desiccant visible, and 1/3 pound check valves. Cost about $65.00 and holds 2# of drier. Figured without check valves the desiccant wouldn't last long. It was fun and pain to build and hope it never has to do a multi week run

 

[Industrial Toys]

Can't you just keep tanks topped up? Seems easier then a desiccant.

 

[RoyKing]

Spare 55 gallon tanks keep full and out of the sun are fine for long term storage, but with unit running regular maintenance runs and no other use of diesel how do you keep it full. For extended run we just place extra drums nearby and move a transfer bung adapter from tank to tank.`To refill onboard. Your biggest problem in Fl is water from tank breathing. Hot moist air sucked in drops its water, so unless you have bottom drain water will collect. Couldn't find a slant bottom tank with drain in less than 100 gallon.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Interesting. I will be building a small 70 litre or so fuel tank. Is it worth sacraficing volume to make a sloped bottom? Kind of hard to position a small weld-in bung into a V.

The fact that water goes to the bottom of a tank is the only salvation in the Fuel/water war. I had a bulk tank a few years ago, where I had switched pumps and did not realize the suction tube went right to the bottom. What a disaster! It took me a while to figure out what was going on, after cleaning out several fuel systems and tanks.

 

[LouNY]

The last fuel tank that I built was several years ago,
i put a sump in it that was 4" in diameter and 3" deeper then the actual tank and put a bottom drain in it.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That might be easier then a sloped bottom. Just grab a piece of pipe. But I will still loose that tank height. Do you think the water will end up in the sump with no sloped bottom, to the sump?

 

[LouNY]

My tank was an aux for a pickup and I mounted it on legs to be able to use the full length of the bed,
I did get some water and crap out of the sump drain a couple of times.
It would not take much pitch to have it catch anything on a stationary tank.