Upcoming project - A standby home generator

I bought a Cummins ONAN genset a couple of years ago. Previously I depended on a 5 kW Honda which would run everything but my AC. However the manual start and switch Honda didn't work so good when I was 1000 miles away in Missouri. It was spring and the power was off from 03:00 to 7:00 and the sump pump would have been running very frequently. The basement shop picked up about 1 1/2" of water during the outage. Fortunately my brother lives near by and came over and pumped it out and got some big fans and a dehumidifier running, so the drywall wasn't damaged.
Really nothing hurt but my piece of mind.
That fall after some research I bought a propane powered stand by genset. I was impressed with the Cummins ONAN's frequency and voltage responses, its low noise, and its construction. It uses a v twin engine, SS muffler, and every wire is numbered and can be traced with the accompanying wiring diagrams. Also the is service available.
I wouldn't bother with an automatic stand by unless I had an urgent need - like my sump pump.
Michael
 
xalky said:
The 40 hp motor would run a generator, but now you're going from something that is designed to run automatically to hillbilly engineering.
Marcel
Click to expand...

It doesn't sound "hillbilly" to a Ford Model A (1928-1931 automobiles) aficionado such as myself, but I know what you're saying.

Harvey
 
Pierre / All,

For years, I've been using a product called "Sta-bil" which is a gasoline stabilizer. It works great. Every spring, I fill the 5 gallon gas can for the lawnmower etc and add the recommended amount of Sta-bil and the gas stays fresh all season. In times prior, I'd only get a gallon at the start of the season because it would go bad (as you mentioned) in just 6-8 weeks and the mowers wouldn't start or run well if they did.

Also, there are similar problems with diesel fuel. If you store it for too long, it develops a form of algae. All the marinas around here sell an additive that keeps it under control. This is always used in the high end yachts that my friend works on. Some of those yachts have two, 500 gallon fuel tanks -and with two, Cat 3512 marinized engines they don't take chances with the fuel...


Ray


pdentrem said:
A manual transfer switch is not that much and should be used.

On the fuel issue, if using gasoline, make sure to find gasoline that has not been laced with alcohol. Premium tends to have no alcohol but you have to check. http://pure-gas.org/ The poison that the station operators/refiners are required to put in the fuel will seperate and there lies the problem. I run premium in my Honda EU3000is, the motorcycle and snowblower. The car requires premium so this in not a problem for me. Everything uses the same stuff.

What happens is the alcohol in the fuel will stratify in a short period of time, as short as 2 months has been reported, with the water that has been not picked up by the alcohol in the bottom, a layer of saturated alcohol/water that has seperated from the fuel next and not so good gasoline on top. That gasoline is no longer 87 as the alcohol is used to bring cheap low 80s octane gasoline up to 87. On carburated equipment this stuff will run poorly or not at all depending on the fuel feed pipe location in relation to the height of the tank. Another thing the gasoline is thin to begin with and the engine will run lean unless you can either rejet or some how increase fuel flow by about half the amount of alcohol added. 10% alcohol increase fuel by +5% to return to normal air/fuel mixture. This does not apply to injected engines as usually they have an O2 sensor to control the mixture. YMMV!
Pierre
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Ray C
Sta-bil does work. My dad uses it for his stuff. Two year old gas in SEALED container still works for him. Open container where water can get in over time? The boat people around here are not too happy with oxygenated fuels. Fuel is too expensive to waste or cause the lost of use and $$$$
Pierre
 
Harvey, I likewise live close to the coast in SW Louisiana. Do you have a tractor? I have a 25 KW PTO generator, that I power with a 50 hp Massey Ferguson tractor. Granted, it's not automatic like a standby generator, but it doesn't take me but about 10-15 minutes to hook up. One plus about this setup is that it attaches to the three point on the tractor, so I can take power wherever I can take the tractor.

During hurricane Rita I ran the tractor 24/7 for 18 days. Of course with 25KW, I'm powering the entire house plus my shop

Just a thought!
 
Marcaap,

I've always been curious about tractor PTOs... How do you set the frequency?


Ray


marcaap said:
Harvey, I likewise live close to the coast in SW Louisiana. Do you have a tractor? I have a 25 KW PTO generator, that I power with a 50 hp Massey Ferguson tractor. Granted, it's not automatic like a standby generator, but it doesn't take me but about 10-15 minutes to hook up. One plus about this setup is that it attaches to the three point on the tractor, so I can take power wherever I can take the tractor.

During hurricane Rita I ran the tractor 24/7 for 18 days. Of course with 25KW, I'm powering the entire house plus my shop

Just a thought!
Click to expand...
 
[h=1]This should cover the bases pretty well. 5 Megawatts and 300 gallons/hour. ...And a mere feather at 100,000 lbs.

I thought the 3512's were pretty bad at 55 gallons/hour.

Ray




C280-16 Genset[/h]


​

Click image for larger view
of the C280-16 Generator Set
 
Hi Ray

I knew someone will mention the Lister engines those are the most beautiful engines ever made too bad all the new ones come form India if I had a space for one I would definitely go with that !
as You said they spin at low RPM heat can be used to heat the room and very musical and not annoying noise they create, I'm jealous Ray about your collection I have been dying to buy one of those preferably original (English made), and yest they are continuous duty engines meant to run 24/7 365 days a year if you ever come across one (original) You let me know:))


Paul


Ray C said:
And finally, if you want to go retro, get a Lister engine like this. They only put out 6 horsepower (about 4kW) but, can do it and will run continuously for literally, decades. They run on anything from diesel, diesel-oil, bio-diesel... They have to be started with a hand crank -which can rip your arm off and/or kill you if you don't know what you're doing. They run very quietly and only at 600 RPM -very melodic and relaxing sound. Water cooled and you can scavenge the heat into your garage if so inclined.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-1-Lister-...505?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a80dd3f69

I had a collection of these from 6 up to 20 horsepower.

(oh, they weigh between 1/2 and 2 tons).

Ray
Click to expand...
 
marcaap said:
Harvey, I likewise live close to the coast in SW Louisiana. Do you have a tractor? I have a 25 KW PTO generator, that I power with a 50 hp Massey Ferguson tractor. Granted, it's not automatic like a standby generator, but it doesn't take me but about 10-15 minutes to hook up. One plus about this setup is that it attaches to the three point on the tractor, so I can take power wherever I can take the tractor.

During hurricane Rita I ran the tractor 24/7 for 18 days. Of course with 25KW, I'm powering the entire house plus my shop

Just a thought!
Click to expand...

Nope, I don't have a tractor.

Harvey
 
Ray
Unfortunately there is no specific speed control for the generator, you're relying solely on the tractor governor to maintain RPM, so there is a slight bit of frequency swing, but not enough to cause any issues.
 
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