Your last generator Maintenance Run

[MAX-24-Dean]

I would not want to do the generator maintenance on these 24 engines burning crude oil, you can count the exhaust stacks. More polution than any other ship in the world?

They were a cheaper solution than the Compressed Liquid Natural Gas generator ships they were competing with.

Edit: My understanding is that it was supposed to run on Natural Gas when specifications went out. But got oil engines instead.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

They SHOULD be nuke powered!

SR

 

[Patrick Herd]

I would not want to do the generator maintenance on these 24 engines burning crude oil, you can count the exhaust stacks. More polution than any other ship in the world?
Snip

Probably less bad than the incinerator ships of old MT Vulcanus - Wikipedia
From what I understand most of those power plant ships are dual fuel motors, capable of burning gaseous or liquid fuels.
Edit: Had a bit of a read of the MAN brochure and the dual fuel motors refer to using pilot fuel. So pretty trivial to burn methane or propane in the power ships.

 

[daugen]

that's what we all need, a home gen burning bunker fuel.
I'm sure the neighbors won't mind...

I've never seen or smelled bunker fuel but I'm guessing it's a little thicker than diesel?
or just "cruder"? less refined I know, has to be cheaper to make or these huge consumers wouldn't use it.

let's see, two 1000 gallon propane tanks and a 3000 gallon broken down fuel oil truck full of bunker fuel.
I'm sure the neighbors won't mind...
particularly when you are still running and everyone else is out of power.

I wonder how solar power has been impacted by all the Canadian wildfire smoke?
finally clearing up here.
when it's dark out, you'd better have something to make power or store a lot of it.

it's time for me to fire mine up again. Check the oil, still looks like new, use small leaf blower to clean gen off
carefully. I have a vinyl cover for it but that just makes a home for critters. Am always careful when pulling it off.
Won't test load, I do that enough times, but as long as engine runs and gets hot enough for a little while, I've done
my duty. And it has to start by 1003.
so far it has.

 

[LouNY]

Many years ago I did some maintenance on a steam boiler that used #6 oil as fuel. It required preheating for the oil to be pumpable. Steam coils in the storage tank (10,000 gallon) and jacketed oils from the tank to the boiler, the hot condensate from the steam coils in the tank returned in the jacket. Then steam was injected along with the oil to the burner nozzle it actually burnt good once it got running at load and temperature. You had to get the small auxiliary boiler going good and making dry steam (super heated) before attempting to light off the big unit

 

[3930dave]

At the other end of the scale..... heard about one of these from Noraly....

What is Karadeniz Powership?

Powers an African country, amongst others.

Rgds, D.

Travel..... Perspective Gained....... (in this case, by a third party..... )

In that recent vid, Noraly was in an African country, powered (at least near the coast), by one of these Turkish ships.

Interesting on-the-ground comparison with something I'm reading @ the moment, Epstein's Fossil Future. (A good book so far, but you have to have the patience/like to read enough to get through a Philosophy Major's bolt by bolt construction of a monster steel-man argument).

Gambia (I might have the country wrong, if so, it is a neighbouring one) is being funded by the World Bank for large hydroelectric projects (which, on the ground, most of the locals figure the money is just going to disappear) to get the country off the Power Ship.

Real World, Today example ^ of why Oil and Hydroelectric are so hard to replace.....

No power to run it.... but I'm thinking of Will Roger's quote about 'Learnin, and Electric Fences...... some people today might gain some edumucating by spending time in a 40+C country, w. no electric-grid.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

They SHOULD be nuke powered!

SR

Repeating myself, likely....

.... but when Stewart Brand has come around to advocating nuclear..... It Is Time.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

I wonder how solar power has been impacted by all the Canadian wildfire smoke?
finally clearing up here.
when it's dark out, you'd better have something to make power or store a lot of it.

it's time for me to fire mine up again. Check the oil, still looks like new, use small leaf blower to clean gen off
carefully. I have a vinyl cover for it but that just makes a home for critters. Am always careful when pulling it off.
Won't test load, I do that enough times, but as long as engine runs and gets hot enough for a little while, I've done
my duty. And it has to start by 1003.
so far it has.

I like solar in certain applications (mountain-top radio repeaters, or other isolated locations), but those systems have to be well designed/funded and do have limitations.....

The more we Train in Peace......

Rgds, D.

 

[bdhsfz6]

that's what we all need, a home gen burning bunker fuel.
I'm sure the neighbors won't mind...

I've never seen or smelled bunker fuel but I'm guessing it's a little thicker than diesel?
or just "cruder"? less refined I know, has to be cheaper to make or these huge consumers wouldn't use it.

Bunker C or #6 fuel oil:

It has to be preheated to keep it from gelling in pipes.

 

[3930dave]

Bunker C or #6 fuel oil:

View attachment 805403

It has to be preheated to keep it from gelling in pipes.

Thanks for the pic....... I knew the term, but had never seen the product..... It's a bit thicker than what Jed Clampett shot out of the ground, back in the Golden Age of TV.....

Reminds me of an olde CAT ad....... a reference to "energy laden fuel"...... truth there, even in today's Davos Witch Trials environment....

Rgds, D.

 

[Williy]

Not really sure so long ago but the diesel engines of MR CHOO CHOO
use #4 diesel and have 2 ea 4000 gallon tanks one on each side. And
the pistons are so big you can climb in the cylinders they are so big!
Our diesel Yanmar generator I tested two months ago just turned the
key fired right up! I believe that a guy on youtube that works on small
engines said not to use the stablizer for the fuel.

willy

 

[5030]

Sunday at 2pm. Right on time as usual.

 

[3930dave]

Not really sure so long ago but the diesel engines of MR CHOO CHOO
use #4 diesel and have 2 ea 4000 gallon tanks one on each side. And
the pistons are so big you can climb in the cylinders they are so big!
Our diesel Yanmar generator I tested two months ago just turned the
key fired right up! I believe that a guy on youtube that works on small
engines said not to use the stablizer for the fuel.

willy

I've had good luck using Stanadyne in diesel here..... but there are many variables..... geography/climate, storage, volume used, bio-diesel content.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Sunday at 2pm. Right on time as usual.

Rgds, D.

 

[5030]

My diesel standby is directly plumbed to my 500 gallon bulk diesel tank which always has Power Kleen biocide in it. Never had issues with it. Goes in my diesel tractors as well. Truck gets on road diesel with biocide as well.

 

[Williy]

He was talking about small gas engines

willy

 

[daugen]

ah, I can finally talk about something on topic...
Westinghouse gen hit two year mark, and like all other small low annual hour engines I have/had, I go two
years on the oil change. Now if I ran this gen four or five days in an outage, I'd give it a thank you oil change then anyhow...
I probably average 20 hours a year max on this gen. With full synthetic not like oil is going to break down.
would be nice premium touch if they added an oil pump and oil filter, you could go longer intervals without worrying.

 

[WinterDeere]

Just stumbled onto this thread, and will admit I did not go back and read the 612 pages between the first and the last, but the whole subject surprised me. I do quite the opposite, in that I prep the genny for long-term storage after each use, not knowing whether my next need for it will be in 2 weeks or 2 years. Then it's stored, much like it would be on a shelf in the factory or big box store, I never do "maintenance runs" between usage.

Basic Honda-powered 8 kW gasoline job, here's my routine:

1. Always mix fuel stabilizer with all fuel going into the tank.
2. In as much as it's impossible to know when an outage will be ending, endeavor to leave the tank less than half full, so that fresh fuel can always be added at next use.
3. Always shut down at the end of an outage by closing fuel shutoff valve, and letting line run dry.
4. Always drain carb bowl of fuel at end of an outage, mine has a nice little bleeder screw for this purpose.
5. Always change oil after an outage, and before putting it back into storage. Doesn't matter if usage was only 4 hours, I want it stored with uncontaminated oil in the crank case, as it might be a year or three before next use.
6. Watch hour meter, and keep up with all other maintenance items (spark plug, air filter, etc.) at specified intervals.

Following this routine, it has never failed to perform when needed.

 

[3930dave]

My diesel standby is directly plumbed to my 500 gallon bulk diesel tank which always has Power Kleen biocide in it. Never had issues with it. Goes in my diesel tractors as well. Truck gets on road diesel with biocide as well.

Your turnover rate is probably pretty good.... so that is helpful right there .

I've a can of International branded biocide on the shelf.... used it when I first got my 3930 - top of the tank didn't look right, then once or twice since. Fuel supply quality can always be an issue, but I suspect that as the bio-dzl content gets driven higher, most of us will become regular biocide users.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

would be nice premium touch if they added an oil pump and oil filter, you could go longer intervals without worrying.

As you know (former big-marine owner), everything gets built to a Price.....

It does surprise me sometimes, how long small engines hang in there, with zero maintenance.... I suspect that some of the factory validation testing is done around that issue, given how many owners neglect small (and larger) engines....

Many/most people who hang out here are maintenance-aware, so this crowd knows the value of what you practice...... but iike Eat Properly, Get Exercise, Get Enough Sleep..... reminders don't hurt any of us

Rgds, D.