Your last generator Maintenance Run

[Rustyiron]

I just changed my oil yesterday in my little 20kw Cummins genny (actually an Onan diesel). It's my first oil change and I was surprised it took 6 .....quarts!

 

[3930dave]

Sounds like d is in the market for an upgrade !

That's what scares me on the small portable stuff.... many barely hold One quart/litre.....

Rgds, D.

 

[BravoXray]

something tells me this EMD would not pass California emissions.

Maybe not, but it sure would sound cool when you fired it up!

Back in the 70s, we put in pads for Miles Laboratories in Elkhart, IN so they could install three EMD gensets. They were all 16V645E3 2MW units, and they were impressive when they were running. They were skid mounted and weighed about 50,000# each.

 

[90cummins]

I didn’t expect these results!

After what seems like an eternity I’ve finally programed the Conext AGS (automatic generator start) so it’s operational.

Without exaggeration I have spent hundreds of hours looking for information to understand this poorly documented system.

Before I go any further I will explain my system as a refresher.

I built a building (power house) for my 2 generators. The generator currently operating and automated is a home built unit with a Yanmar L100 diesel belt driving a Niehoff N1603 450 amp 28 volt DC generator.

Power is delivered to my four L16 deep cycle batteries which are connected to my 4kw inverter.

The engine is set to run at 2700 rpm which is the sweet spot for this engine determined using the Yanmar spec sheet and fuel consumption chart, the generator is turning 1400 rpm.

Earlier this week I finally decided it was time put my generator into auto start mode and see if it would operate as planned. I started it manually first to warm it up because it does not have a cold start aid yet then I shut it down and placed it in auto mode and let it start/stop automatically for 4.5 hours powering the entire house.

The engine started when the battery voltage dropped to 24.4 volts and shut down when the voltage reached 28.1 volts.

The hot air wood furnace was operating with a ¼ hp motor driving a squirrel cage blower.

We went about our normal business with the deep well pump operating when needed, being on the battery backup we treated it as an outage to conserve power but the entire house was powered and we carried on normally.

For measuring fuel consumption I use a postal scale that measures grams weight.

1 gallon of diesel weights 3218 grams.

The test was 4hrs 36 minutes = 276 minutes duration.

The engine ran 122 minutes total.

Fuel consumed was 1280 grams which is 2.822 lbs which is less than 1/2 gallon.

Using the above figures the system will provide 11.5 hours of power maintaining heat, lights & entertainment per gallon of diesel.

This is more efficient & capable than my Honda EU2000 which can run 10 hours at low load but is not capable of powering my well pump.

Definitely proves a Hybrid inverter system using efficient diesels, DC generators & batteries works.

My system uses 4 L16 deep cycle batteries which are past their prime which resulted in several starts of the engine, the number of starts is unknown.
I believe a larger battery bank would result in fewer starts & I would suspect the efficiency could be better.

That's my latest update
90cummins

 

[grsthegreat]

Too cool….also too much work for my lazy butt to ever want to try doing. I applaud your abilities and will to complete a project like this.

 

[3930dave]

I didn’t expect these results!


Using the above figures the system will provide 11.5 hours of power maintaining heat, lights & entertainment per gallon of diesel.


That's my latest update
90cummins

Congratulations 90, you've put a ton of work into that system, great to see these results.

Efficiency is impressive, but I also really like that this type of hybrid marriage gets one away from the problem of constantly running a diesel to only support very light loads

Excellent news !

Rgds, D.

 

[Patrick Herd]

Snip
The engine started when the battery voltage dropped to 24.4 volts and shut down when the voltage reached 28.1 volts.
Snip
My system uses 4 L16 deep cycle batteries which are past their prime which resulted in several starts of the engine, the number of starts is unknown.
I believe a larger battery bank would result in fewer starts & I would suspect the efficiency could be better.

That's my latest update
90cummins

Nice data there, You can probably lengthen your cycle time significantly by increasing your cutoff voltage a bit.
I wouldn't be worried by making the shutoff voltage as high as 29 or even 30 volts, especially in colder weather.
Given that lead acid batteries don't charge that much until they reach higher terminal voltages, the amount of energy they absorb rapidly slows down as they charge up.

If you do push them higher, it's very unlikely to hurt them as you're not charging them to a high terminal voltage for any appreciable amount of time and your loads will start discharging them immediately.

 

[LittleBill21]

also note if your not doing a equalize charge on lead acid, you are slowly killing them to sulfation.

I would be interested to know how the honda would rank, if given an ac charger to charge the battery bank and perform the same test.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

With the price of gas compared to diesel, the Honda would still be cheaper to run. At least where I live.

SR

 

[Patrick Herd]

also note if your not doing a equalize charge on lead acid, you are slowly killing them to sulfation.

I would be interested to know how the honda would rank, if given an ac charger to charge the battery bank and perform the same test.

What's the model number of your inverter again 90? I have two ideas

 

[90cummins]

The inverter is from Schneider Electric Xantrex XW4024
24 volt input 120/240 volt output pure sine 4000 watt.
It has a Gen assist feature where it will assist a small ac generator if the programmed load is exceeded.
Very useful for those with small generators.
90cummins

 

[Patrick Herd]

The inverter is from Schneider Electric Xantrex XW4024
24 volt input 120/240 volt output pure sine 4000 watt.
It has a Gen assist feature where it will assist a small ac generator if the programmed load is exceeded.
Very useful for those with small generators.
90cummins

I'd be interested to see a comparison using the honda inverter generator feeding the AC input to the inverter.
Also your inverter supports AC coupled solar soooo in an emergency it should be possible to get your solar city panels to feed the system AC Coupling Application Note | Schneider Electric USA

 

[90cummins]

I’ve considered buying the solar charge unit from Schneider electric but cost is a but high.
With the efficiency of my system & the fuel I have available I can’t justify the cost.
My nephew works for the power company & they have very large 1.2 volt wet cell batteries that they replace periodically. If I can get my hands on 28 volts worth of those I’d have a system with some real capacity.
I could then run the generators at max capacity (which is most efficient) and better for diesels.
If I hold get to one or two starts a day or less that would be huge.
I have two 28 v gens that I believe I could run at the same time to push up to 8kw’s of power into the batteries.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
90cummins

 

[5030]

Ours just ran about 3 minutes ago. The light on the side of the shop went from red to green.

 

[90cummins]

What’s red to green mean??

 

[5030]

My 35KW diesel powered genset sits next to the shop and I have a light array wired to it so I can tell when it's exercising or has assumed the power as it's too far from the house to actually hear it run. Plumbed into my 500 gallon bulk diesel farm tank.

Runs everything including the shop. Single phase and 3 phase 220.

Probably should have bought a 40KW actually.

 

[Patrick Herd]

I’ve considered buying the solar charge unit from Schneider electric but cost is a but high.
With the efficiency of my system & the fuel I have available I can’t justify the cost.
My nephew works for the power company & they have very large 1.2 volt wet cell batteries that they replace periodically. If I can get my hands on 28 volts worth of those I’d have a system with some real capacity.
I could then run the generators at max capacity (which is most efficient) and better for diesels.
If I hold get to one or two starts a day or less that would be huge.
I have two 28 v gens that I believe I could run at the same time to push up to 8kw’s of power into the batteries.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
90cummins

So the inverter can provide a "grid" for the solar city AC system to synchronise to, no charge controller needed.
The other one I was thinking is that you could feed the input of the inverter using your small honda with an autotransformer to give you 120/240.



Incoming cyclone generator preparation report: Two smoke shoe box didn't want to run, crud in the fuel filter bowl and carb plus mason wasp nest in the air intake. Running ok again after cleaning. Used a heatgun as a test load.

Wind is just starting to freshen here, we have strong wind and heavy rain warnings. Nothing like what's going on up north: Attached image shows outages for one of the networks north of Auckland city.

 

[90cummins]

Patrick said
So the inverter can provide a "grid" for the solar city AC system to synchronise to, no charge controller needed.
The other one I was thinking is that you could feed the input of the inverter using your small honda with an autotransformer to give you 120/240.

My little Honda is 120v 1.5kw.
You’re out of my league Patrick i don’t understand (autotransformer)

 

[90cummins]

I have 3 phase 120/208 in my shop which is separate from my house.

 

[Patrick Herd]

My little Honda is 120v 1.5kw.
You’re out of my league Patrick i don’t understand (autotransformer)

Something like this:

The autotransformer is configured as a step up transformer to take 120V in and output 120-0-120V, would connect to the generator AC input terminals on the inverter.

These are good autotransformer application notes for inverter and generator systems: 2. Introduction