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Lister Based Generators / First time Lister owner
« on: May 04, 2015, 12:25:11 AM »
Hi All
I recently got a Lister ST1. The build code is 1928ST1A31-31. I'm hoping to turn this into a genset. I believe it was made in 81 and runs at 1800 RPM. It is worn out and in need of a rebuild. But before sink a bunch or dough in this engine I wanted to ask opinions. Will this make a good continuous duty generator engine? We live off grid have for 7 years now. I'm tired of buying / repairing gennys all the time. Looking for something as close to bullet proof as I can find. How many years of 24/7 service could I expect from this engine between rebuilds? We've been running a Honda EU2000 for the last 16-18 months. It does very well and burns very little fuel say 3 gallons in 24 hours with regular loads. Once we get to warm weather the AC will run that up to 4 - 4.5 gallons in 24 hours. When drawing heavier loads like washing clothes we switch to a larger genny. Yes we have a lot of generators. lol Some solar power too, but our battery bank has pretty much had it. I would like to end up with multiple redundant systems of good quality. I would also like to add a greenhouse with some winter lighting so a larger fuel efficient generator is needed.
It was dropped as it was removed and did some damage I got enough fixed to fire it up. Had to put oil in the intake to gain enough compression to start. It would only run seconds before slowing down and stopping. It started with heavy black smoke from the engine oil poured in the intake. That cleared up after 10-15 seconds and burned clear for maybe 20 seconds then started producing a dark grey almost black smoke and slowed down till it quit after another 20 seconds or so. The valve cover and and intake/exhaust adapter were damaged in the fall. When I took the adapter off to repair I found the intake runner had a good bit of trash. The gasket was improperly installed and had been sucking trash through an opening about .030 wide and the length of the intake opening. So I would guess it's going to need a major overhaul.
What engine and generator head would you pick for continuous duty?
I have many more questions but if the answers to these don't add up to what I need then there's no point in asking those.
Thanks for allowing me to join and any help information you are willing to share.
Larry
I recently got a Lister ST1. The build code is 1928ST1A31-31. I'm hoping to turn this into a genset. I believe it was made in 81 and runs at 1800 RPM. It is worn out and in need of a rebuild. But before sink a bunch or dough in this engine I wanted to ask opinions. Will this make a good continuous duty generator engine? We live off grid have for 7 years now. I'm tired of buying / repairing gennys all the time. Looking for something as close to bullet proof as I can find. How many years of 24/7 service could I expect from this engine between rebuilds? We've been running a Honda EU2000 for the last 16-18 months. It does very well and burns very little fuel say 3 gallons in 24 hours with regular loads. Once we get to warm weather the AC will run that up to 4 - 4.5 gallons in 24 hours. When drawing heavier loads like washing clothes we switch to a larger genny. Yes we have a lot of generators. lol Some solar power too, but our battery bank has pretty much had it. I would like to end up with multiple redundant systems of good quality. I would also like to add a greenhouse with some winter lighting so a larger fuel efficient generator is needed.
It was dropped as it was removed and did some damage I got enough fixed to fire it up. Had to put oil in the intake to gain enough compression to start. It would only run seconds before slowing down and stopping. It started with heavy black smoke from the engine oil poured in the intake. That cleared up after 10-15 seconds and burned clear for maybe 20 seconds then started producing a dark grey almost black smoke and slowed down till it quit after another 20 seconds or so. The valve cover and and intake/exhaust adapter were damaged in the fall. When I took the adapter off to repair I found the intake runner had a good bit of trash. The gasket was improperly installed and had been sucking trash through an opening about .030 wide and the length of the intake opening. So I would guess it's going to need a major overhaul.
What engine and generator head would you pick for continuous duty?
I have many more questions but if the answers to these don't add up to what I need then there's no point in asking those.
Thanks for allowing me to join and any help information you are willing to share.
Larry