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Small diesel generator...

SilverbackMP said:
My parents have a dead Onan (propane) sitting in their yard that lasted 4-5 years. It could probably be revived, but after two main circuit boards and a Cummins tech scratching his ass on a connected laptop for three days trying to figure out generators (no clue), they abandoned it.
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I wish you live near me in charlotte nc, id love to look over a propane onan genny
 
Supervstech said:
I wish you live near me in charlotte nc, id love to look over a propane onan genny
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If I lived in Charlotte NC, I could have tracked down that jackass that held my money for six months for those six Sunny Boys. Lol. Actually, one side of my family was from there prior to the mid 1800s (they were there since the 1600s). Terrills/Terrells.

I was seriously considered moving to western NC, western Virginia, or Eastern TN (Floyd, NC through Galax VA area. Love it) before I decided to return home. Same scenery as West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky....but I find the people more friendly and less standoffish. There's some sort of line where the culture (and accent) changes which I find incredibly fascinating.
 
Hedges said:
Diesel and propane generators predate laptops.
An old rebuilt one could be better. Until the last of the mechanics die off?

What is used in refrigerated sea going containers?
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Used to be those Detroit 2-71 that ran at 1200 or 800 RPM for rail car refeers.
The regulators are all discrete components.

I have one of those but it has 3 phase 6 pole head.
Buying an SAE 2 or 5 head is just about as much as a generator anymore.

Plus you have to change the governor because you can’t change the spring beyond 1200 RPM.

They had some pneumatic systems that would run them at 1200 until temp was reached then they would idle down to 800 or 600.
Never shut off.
One I have is from 1955.
 
Thanks for all the responses.

After much reading/comparing/ponder I will be getting a small gasoline generator and figure out the gasoline storage.
The small diesel offerings are few. Warranties when not near a service center have little value. I would have to pay for shipping for any warranty repairs and both directions would almost(or could) purchase another gasoline powered generator. The lowest cost diesel I found, I could purchase 6 of the gasoline generators I will be purchasing.
 
Most end up this way.
Just watch fuel consumption on the bigger gas ones. Some will empty a 10 gallon tank in 7 hrs. The cost really adds up.

Which one are you considering?
 
Mark- said:
Thanks for all the responses.

After much reading/comparing/ponder I will be getting a small gasoline generator and figure out the gasoline storage.
The small diesel offerings are few. Warranties when not near a service center have little value. I would have to pay for shipping for any warranty repairs and both directions would almost(or could) purchase another gasoline powered generator. The lowest cost diesel I found, I could purchase 6 of the gasoline generators I will be purchasing.
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What will the generator do?

Fixed load at high output for recharging lipo or something else?
 
I can’t wait to get my system installed and my chargers in, and test my generators, but I just discovered something disconcerting: given the fuel price, fuel consumption, and output power, my power production when using the generators will cost me almost $2 per kilowatt hour! 🤓
 
wpns said:
I can’t wait to get my system installed and my chargers in, and test my generators, but I just discovered something disconcerting: given the fuel price, fuel consumption, and output power, my power production when using the generators will cost me almost $2 per kilowatt hour! 🤓
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What's your fuel price per gallon?

What make/model of gen and what charger?
 
Mark- said:
Or the WGen5300sc.
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Perhaps. I ordered a 4600 watt champion inverter to replace the Yamaha (about $1000.00) then cancelled the order once it arrived the store because I realized that I was violating my own rule:

Used Honda or Yamaha is better than new stuff that isn't Honda or Yamaha. I instead went and spent $1000.00 for a 2 year old EM5000SX

These are capable of 37 amps @ 120 volts. I need to figure out how to tie all 3 120V outlets together to get that.

Its more complex on the AVR models as they regulate at least 1 of standard duplex outlets separately whereas the older models had all outlets tied to a single bus with breakers.

20240218_092458.jpg
 
Hedges said:
The diesel generators on DC Solar trailers were 7kW or 11kW. More than most need for charging.
How well would it work if governor was turned down to 1800 RPM, delivering 30 Hz and maybe half voltage?
Feed that through Chargeverter, which is a wide voltage range switch mode power supply - does it work outside normal frequency range? (Chargeverter derates at reduced voltage, might need two.)
That would run quieter, probably give considerably more hours life (whether or not more kWh life.)


Of course there are Lister diesel generators. Apparently Chinese knock-offs, too. "Liseroid"

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Those have been made in India since the India threw England out of there country. Late 1970's ?? The original Lister C/S Masde in Dursley, England from the 30's to the mid 80's was imported to India.. India then began cloning those engines. There are some quality issues for sure with the clones. But they can be made to run a long time and be fuel misers.. I have a 12/2 clone 12 horsepower @650 rpm 2 cylinder.. Just some useless tidbits for you there Hedges..
 
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Checkthisout said:
What's your fuel price per gallon?

What make/model of gen and what charger?
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On my island gasoline is $10/gal, it’s $7.50-ish on the main island but then you have to transport it yourself. 🤷‍♂️ Honda eu3000 gets 7 hours runtime on 3.4 gallons of fuel at 2500W or 2880VA. Chargeverter GC, plus or minus all the usual inefficiencies. Shouldn’t have to use generators often, but better to have the option.
 
Keith71 said:
Those have been made in India since the India threw England out of there country. Late 1970's ?? The original Lister C/S Masde in Dursley, England from the 30's to the mid 80's was imported to India.. India then began cloning those engines. There are some quality issues for sure with the clones. But they can be made to run a long time and be fuel misers.. I have a 12/2 clone 12 horsepower @650 rpm 2 cylinder.. Just some probably useless info for you there Hedges..
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Where did you get yours?

I really wanted get a JP4 but hard to find.
 
You can get generator heads off Ebay, Amazon or wherever. How about finding a little Kubota 2 cylinder and doing some fabrication work?
 
RCinFLA said:
Many of the small Chinese diesel generators run their engine at 3600 rpm's.

High compression diesel engines don't last very long running at 3600 rpms.
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You can just gear it up. We have had a 9hp Yanmar diesel in service since 1991 on a Dayton 8KW generator. Dual belt drive so the motor can run at 1,800rpm instead of 3,600. I'm not sure how many thousand hours it currently has on it.
 
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