Your last generator Maintenance Run

[RalphVa]

Ralph in Va
Before I created my system I researched all the gens out there and concluded that the Isuzu was in my opinion the best of the best.
90cummins

It's a real gem. The last (and really long) run on it last winter really put a load on it. Ran out of fuel at 69 hours (about 50 gallons; apparently the pickup doesn't suck that last 10 gallons). Also highest fuel consumption. Normally, it had been running about 0.3 or less gph. Ran 2 heat pumps and clothes drier and hot water heater (all electric), too. Only allows those on if there's room on the generator. It was apparently running near full for those 69 hours in the cold.

Thing starts up with absolutely no clatter. You'd think it was a gasoline engine but for the 12 second delay to run the glow plugs and to circulate fuel. No smoke.

Puzzles me about Central Maine Diesel. Sent email, called and got computerized message and sent fax. No response. Luckily, I got the 3 filters back 9+ years ago to get the WIX/NAPA equivalents.

 

[daugen]

it's a thing/gen of beauty.
that little diesel has probably powered millions of small cars and trucks in Asia.

is there a MTBF rating on any of this equipment? I'm sure in critical machinery that's more an issue, like refinery or power plant equipment.
I always thought a study of very high hour engines would be interesting. RustyIron, I hope that gives you a lifetime of reliability and satisfaction.
Very nice install.

from my personal experience dealing with a diesel that size for many years on my boat gen, it's not the engine that ever breaks, it's all the stuff on the outside of the engine, which
thankfully is fairly easy to get to. Make a really long life coolant water pump, that would sure help. On off solenoids that can take thousands of cycles.
Just nice to see things built heavy duty.

 

[Rustyiron]

So far so good, but it's only just under 1200 hours. Still a baby hopefully. I bought it @ just over 1000 hr.
I'm tickled, especially for $4500 for the machine and fuel tank.

 

[3930dave]

This past Sunday, calm summer day, a little on the hot side and the power goes "out". The utility has been doing a great job over the past few years tree trimming so it must be a car/pole/stupid driver situation.
Got another 4 hours on the generator (just for the freezers)
....and someone did take out a pole. This time I opened up the building all I could with the temperature. No issues.

A chest freezer should be good for a while..... but esp. these days, nobody wants to lose a freezer of food on a longer outage.....

Rgsd, D.

 

[3930dave]

So far so good, but it's only just under 1200 hours. Still a baby hopefully. I bought it @ just over 1000 hr.
I'm tickled, especially for $4500 for the machine and fuel tank.

Heckuva deal !

At today's crazy prices, the tank alone could be a good chunk of that amount ..... but if you're at all like me, that generator would be listed in your Will....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

It's a real gem. The last (and really long) run on it last winter really put a load on it. Ran out of fuel at 69 hours (about 50 gallons; apparently the pickup doesn't suck that last 10 gallons). Also highest fuel consumption. Normally, it had been running about 0.3 or less gph. Ran 2 heat pumps and clothes drier and hot water heater (all electric), too. Only allows those on if there's room on the generator. It was apparently running near full for those 69 hours in the cold.

Thing starts up with absolutely no clatter. You'd think it was a gasoline engine but for the 12 second delay to run the glow plugs and to circulate fuel. No smoke.

Puzzles me about Central Maine Diesel. Sent email, called and got computerized message and sent fax. No response. Luckily, I got the 3 filters back 9+ years ago to get the WIX/NA equivalents.

Quite the load Ralph - good exercise !

Your average Winter Lows don't look that bad, but your southern states have seen some unusual Winters of late..... modern heat pumps are pretty good, but I'd expect efficiency to still fall off down low....

I've been around modern Izuzu's in medium duty trucks here..... quiet and efficient..... pre-Covid, peripheral truck parts (brake parts) could be thin on the ground up here...... but now, what isn't ?

Thinking back to when we (briefly) had light duty Isuzu dealerships here...... the tag on print ads was something like "First Car-Builder of Japan", IIRC....

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

I think Isuzu built cars looking like Model A's in the very beginning.
Japan's quality was always the best.
you want the best small motor out there? You bought a Honda GX.
Probably still is a seriously fine motor after all these years of refinement.

Sadly, you did not buy a Briggs & Stratton, though the older iron blocks were tough engines.

I wonder why the Germans never sold their engines here. Maybe because we bombed the heck out of those factories
a while back... Deutz did for tractors, those very cool air cooled diesels.

Toyota goes by different names, do they make a small engine line? I didn't think so.
I've owned a Nissan outboard and it was great. A Tohatsu also, fine small engine.

I think a NA Cummins B would make a very fine gen motor. In case Rusty's ever wears out.
In about three lifetimes.

 

[90cummins]

Last year when I was struggling to get the AGS to work I thought I smoked the first AGS module and that that was why it wouldn’t work so I bought a replacement.
Now that my system is working properly I though I would install the original to see if it was actually damaged and it worked fine
Sooo after I finish & pretty up the wiring on this system I can use the spare to operate the MEP-952 gen set.
O-Boy another installation to keep me up at night!!
Well it gives me something to do so I don’t go brain dead
90cummins

 

[3930dave]

I think Isuzu built cars looking like Model A's in the very beginning.
Japan's quality was always the best.
you want the best small motor out there? You bought a Honda GX.
Probably still is a seriously fine motor after all these years of refinement.

Sadly, you did not buy a Briggs & Stratton, though the older iron blocks were tough engines.

I wonder why the Germans never sold their engines here. Maybe because we bombed the heck out of those factories
a while back... Deutz did for tractors, those very cool air cooled diesels.

Toyota goes by different names, do they make a small engine line? I didn't think so.
I've owned a Nissan outboard and it was great. A Tohatsu also, fine small engine.

I think a NA Cummins B would make a very fine gen motor. In case Rusty's ever wears out.
In about three lifetimes.

Hondas in generators...... been making efficient small engines with really good muffler systems, for a very long time.... Today, there is more competition in the market, so it's a fun time to go shopping....

Newer Briggs (while often still loud) seem to stand up better than in the olden days.... I'm running a 6.5 Briggs in a Craftsman push mower, that is still going strong after about 15 years. But, I do change the oil in it, something many people don't bother to do in mowers, so that helps.... It probably has enough hours on it, that I should check/adjust the valves, but some other mechanical (vehicle) repairs always seem to take precedence.....

Small air-cooled domestic..... later in my life, I came across Wisconsin.... it's one I'd consider for industrial use, or multiple lifetimes of light residential use.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Last year when I was struggling to get the AGS to work I thought I smoked the first AGS module and that that was why it wouldn’t work so I bought a replacement.
Now that my system is working properly I though I would install the original to see if it was actually damaged and it worked fine
Sooo after I finish & pretty up the wiring on this system I can use the spare to operate the MEP-952 gen set.
O-Boy another installation to keep me up at night!!
Well it gives me something to do so I don’t go brain dead
90cummins

At least we are helping keep you from running wild in the streets......

Congratulations on the AGS(s)...... for identification purposes, call one Phoenix, and the other, Lazarus ?

Rgds, D.

 

[90cummins]

I have a couple questions regarding the setup of the controls for the my DC generator when in auto mode.
It is set to turn on at 24.5 volts & off at 28 volts which is subject to change.
The run time is also undecided perhaps 1 hour minimum to allow the engine to warm up fully.
The question I have is the stop float & stop absorb setting.
The alternator is temperature compensated for higher charge voltage when cold versus warm meaning the max voltage is approximately 28v when warm.
The Powerhouse is insulated & ventilation is adjustable to control the interior temperature especially in cold weather which is important with an air cooled diesel.
I’m not sure what the float or absorb settings will do.
Attached is a photo of the generator triggers and configuration.
Any input here?
Thanks 90cummins

 

[90cummins]

I just finished transferring the control wiring to a larger board so I could tidy it up. First time I’ve built anything like this any suggestions?
90cummins

 

[Fallon]

I have a couple questions regarding the setup of the controls for the my DC generator when in auto mode.
It is set to turn on at 24.5 volts & off at 28 volts which is subject to change.
The run time is also undecided perhaps 1 hour minimum to allow the engine to warm up fully.
The question I have is the stop float & stop absorb setting.
The alternator is temperature compensated for higher charge voltage when cold versus warm meaning the max voltage is approximately 28v when warm.
The Powerhouse is insulated & ventilation is adjustable to control the interior temperature especially in cold weather which is important with an air cooled diesel.
I’m not sure what the float or absorb settings will do.
Attached is a photo of the generator triggers and configuration.
Any input here?
Thanks 90cummins

Battery Maintenance | Trojan Battery Company go down to table 2. Those are voltage thresholds for stages of charging.


Bulk or absorption is cramming most of the amps into the batteries.

Float is to maintain the battery at nearly full charge.

Equalize briefly overcharges the battery & causes it to off gas & mix up the electrolyte so it doesn't settle into different layers of different components.

Generally you want temp compensation measuring the batteries rather than the alternator. Tempature affects the chemistry for charging, not the performance of the alternator.

 

[90cummins]

After reading your response it makes sense to disable both the float & absorb settings because the inverter charger will go thru the bulk, absorb & float process when the utility power is restored.
This forum is a huge knowledge resource!
Thank you.
90cummins

 

[Patrick Herd]

Agree with Fallon, you want the generator to only do the bulk charging as the grid will take care of the finer battery management.
To go a bit further, I think a lot of those settings will have minimal effect anyway as I believe they're more for when the controller is talking to the schneider inverter and telling it what voltage to charge at.

In your situation, a start up and shut down voltage with a minimum run time is likely perfect. I can't remember whether you have temperature controlled ventilation fans yet or not? Maintaining the batteries at 18 to 20c whenever they're doing work or being absorption charged will help them live a long life.

 

[90cummins]

I agree with everything you are saying.
Haven’t gotten to the fans yet which only cool the generators.
The batteries are in a different room than the generators and is not heated.
I still need to work on getting the oil pressure switch and hour meter integrated into the system as a safety shutdown.
90cummins

 

[Patrick Herd]

I just finished transferring the control wiring to a larger board so I could tidy it up. First time I’ve built anything like this any suggestions?
90cummins

I quite like using finger trunking to keep the panels I build organised:

Above is a work in progress (one of the few non commercially sensitive photos I could find ) capping not yet installed on the trunking.

I agree with everything you are saying.
Haven’t gotten to the fans yet which only cool the generators.
The batteries are in a different room than the generators and is not heated.
I still need to work on getting the oil pressure switch and hour meter integrated into the system as a safety shutdown.
90cummins

Would it be possible to duct some waste heat from the generator to the batteries in winter? They will definitely perform a lot better if operating at a human comfortable temperature.

 

[90cummins]

Patrick you are out of my league!
Beautiful work!!
I’ll look at the finger trunking that would work nicely.
The batteries are located in my house garage & generators are in a separate building that’s about 1 foot from the house.
Conduit goes thru the walls for the heavy cables that connect batteries to generators. Currently an electric heater would be the only way to keep them warm.
90cummins

 

[grsthegreat]

You could try this

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[3930dave]

Good pics of Pro panels (kinda like going to the gym with guys who bench 400# eh 90 !).

90 - my lousy memory isn't cutting it re. the rest of your system - do you have PV panels or Wind or any other Alt NRG sources set up ?

The reason I ask.... diversion-type charge regulators - free heat available (once batteries are topped up, power is switched to a load of your choice). In Winter, you could drive open-air (well, shielded for fire safety at least...) resistance heaters from PV or ? sources, once batteries are topped up. The other way people use these is to drive pre-heaters for hot-water tanks, which you could do in the Summer, if you want Winter garage-heat....

Rgds, D.