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Topics - Tom

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Listeroid Engines / Water injection works!

« on: January 04, 2016, 07:31:32 PM »

Was having a bit of hard starting (with easy cranking) due to low compression. Confirmed a leaking intake and it's only been about 300 hours since the hardened seats were installed. Rotating the intake valve a bit via turning the spring retainer seemed to restore most of the compression, also right after a run compression was fine. So it seemed that carbon deposits on the intake valve were the issue.

I have a cutting fluid dispenser bottle that came with a drill press that is about a 1 liter bottle with a valve on the bottom of the bottle and a flexible nozzle. The bottle was filled with water and suspended from the ceiling near the intake. After starting the 'roid and warming it up a bit the nozzle was positioned over the intake and a slow drip started. It took about 2 hours to drain the bottle and a nice plume of steam was coming out the exhaust the whole time.

A couple of days later, when it was time for the next run the 'roid started on the first compression stroke as normal. And there was no air leakage heard through the intake. Problem fixed!

To dig a little deeper, I've been running the valve lash on this engine at .010 for years. It's now running the recommended .032. I think the tighter setting was allowing compression by products back into the intake port before the intake closed all the way, which lead to the carbon deposits. We'll see.

Listeroid Engines / I've joined the 2k hour club

« on: December 21, 2014, 11:13:30 PM »

With all the rain we've been getting the Listeroid has been seeing a LOT of run time lately. Yesterday it logged 2008 hours. It took a lot of work, but it now is rock steady reliable and almost always starts on the first compression stroke. A lot of parts in the engine have been changed in the last 9 years, some due to bad mfg tolerances and some due to crappy alternate fuels.

The hydronic system is working well and frequently the back bedroom of the house (usually the coolest room in the house) has frequently been up to 75f. Our primary heat source is wood, however when we get a lot of run time like this we don't burn nearly as much wood.

Everything else / Wow it's been 10 years

« on: April 10, 2014, 05:59:00 PM »

The 'roid was purchased in Feb 2004. It powered the construction of our home in '06-'07 and now charges batteries when the sun don't shine. Would I do it again, heck yes! May we all tip our favorite frosty beverage and toast to another 10 years of service.

Everything else / I need some air

« on: April 26, 2013, 11:43:59 PM »

On of this summers projects is to add a compressor to the 6/1 so it can be used to make compressed air for sandblasting and painting projects. The plan is for air or generator, and not both at the same time. Creating as much CFM as possible, given the available HP, will mean I need a good match between the compressor. There is a 12" double B groove pulley on the engine crank shaft that came with it.

I've been exploring 2 routes to accomplish this goal, one is to buy a HF compressor http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/compressor-pumps/145-psi-5-hp-twin-cylinder-air-compressor-pump-67698.html and run the "V" belts on the flywheel. This compressor is for a 5hp electric motor, so I don't know how well a Listeroid 6/1 will power it. Another way to go seems to be to get a used air brake compressor from a diesel truck. An advantage to the truck unit is that the pressure regulator is already there.

And this leads to another question, with the HF compressor, how would the compressor be disconnected when the pressure set point is reached?

Tom

Listeroid Engines / Fuel filter upgrade

« on: September 19, 2012, 08:09:24 PM »

For along time I've wanted a better fuel filter than the stock unit that came with the Listeroid. However it had to be a nice neat job with a minimum of hose and connections. I also kind of like the stock chrome fuel line. Here's the results.

Listeroid Engines / Injector pump manual

« on: June 14, 2012, 05:40:06 PM »

Does anyone know where I can download a manual for a 6/1 injector pump. My origional pump started leaking out the bottom, so I'm now running my spare. I've got the rebuild parts, but don't want to have it spring apart and then try to figure how to get the parts back together.

Listeroid Engines / Tiny bubbles revisited

« on: February 14, 2011, 05:08:37 AM »

Well after years of small bubbles appearing in the coolant reservoir, I finally discovered the problem. The engine was getting harder and harder to start and more and more blow-by out the CC vent. So today I took the head off. The top of the piston were and combustion chamber were rusty and 2 well defined eroded "streaks" were present the length of the cylinder wall. On close inspection small 2 slightly rusty radial cracks were present in both of the streaks about 2.25" from the top of the cylinder. The best I can figure the sleeve was defective since new, since it always made the bubbles. The exhaust valve and seat were also badly pitted and, so the seat was coarse lapped with the old valve then fine lapped with a new valve since the stem on the old valve was pretty worn too.

The engine currently has around 1150 hours on it, there was barely a noticeable ridge on the old cylinder and the top ring had worn about .007". The replacement parts were all top notch, the new rings end gapped between .014 and .016". When fitting the new liner the protrusion was .029", so I pulled it apart and found that one o ring had a chunk cut out of it. The shoulder on that the sleeve has a sharp edge, so on the second try the o rings were placed on the sleeve while 1/2 way inserted. The sleeve protruded .005" without that chunk of o ring underneath it.

Tomorrow she'll be reassembled to ready her for the rainy week ahead. Haven't needed to run the generator since the 12th due to all the nice warm sunny weather.

Listeroid Engines / Black smoke and loss of power

« on: January 13, 2010, 04:38:33 AM »

The engine now has about 850 hours on it and last weekend it was chugging hard and puffing lots of black smoke. Also it would spin up slow when starting and not handle much of a load on the generator. It was starting on the first compression stroke though.

So since decarboning is scheduled every 1000 hours and I've been running all kinds of alt fuels it seemed it was due. There wasn't much carbon under the head or on the piston crown. But I scraped it any way. Removed the valves and found a bit of pitting on the faces so I lapped them. There was a bit of carbon on the injector tip so I cleaned it and tested the spray which looked good. Then put it all back together and..... it runs fine! The only problem may have been the carbon on the injector, but I'm really not sure.

Generators / Just scored a transformer from work. Need help with wiring.

« on: December 15, 2009, 10:21:38 PM »

I just acquired a used 2kva Sola HS12F2AS transformer from work. It is a bit more complicated than the diagram Steve posted (welcome back Steve). There is a wiring diagram for this transformer here: http://www.solahd.com/products/transformers/automation/Pdfs/AutomationXfrmrs.pdf on page 205 diagram 20. Could anyone tell me how and/or if I can wire this as a balancing transformer. I plan to use it between the ST5 and a pair of outback inverters wired out of phase from each other to give 120-0-120 to the house circuit.

Lister Based Generators / Update on the 'Roid

« on: October 19, 2009, 03:11:36 AM »

As we approach "generator season" in our off grid life style, I though I'd share a bit of how the preps for the new season are going. I've finished most of the hardi plank siding of the generator shack and have spent some time experimenting with the drum of used hydraulic oil. The engine now has 760 hours on it.

But before that lets visit some old issues the first being a very stiff rack. It seems that the WVO I'd run during construction of our home had polymerized on both the inside and outside of the engine. I'd tried acetone to clean it out with no luck. The situation was so bad that the engine would over shoot on RPM's on startup. It looks like that problem was fixed today with a bit of marvel mystery oil and some carb cleaner. The MM Oil cut right through the deposits on the fuel cans so I tried it, last week, on the rack and it helped, but only a bit. Today I doused the rack alternately with carb cleaner and the MM Oil while moving it back and forth and suddenly it penetrated and the rack started moving real easy. Yay!

Last winter I mixed the diesel with 10 to 20% WMO with good results. On starting this year there was a lot of slobber and white smoke. So I added some acetone and MM Oil to the tank and after running it through things cleaned up real nice! Yay number 2! Now that it was running clean it was time to try some of the 55 gal of used hydraulic oil I was given from work. I don't know exactly what kind it is, but it looks to be a clear reddish brown. It was transferred out of the tank and through a 10 micron string wound house filter with no detected residue. I mixed some in a clear 1 liter pop bottle with 50% diesel to see if anything settled and it looked good so in the tank it went. Since there was already some fuel in the tank I'd guess the mix was about 25% hydraulic oil. Ran it a few yours and the exhaust was nice and clean. A test start today went flawless. I will continue to up the percentage of WHO and see how it goes.

Later.

Other Fuels / Used cutting oil as fuel?

« on: July 15, 2009, 01:54:21 AM »

At work today I was asked if I could use a barrel of once used cutting oil to fuel the generator. It is described as some what thick, like 90wt gear oil, with a clear honey color. I'm going to try and find out exactly what it is, but in general does anyone have a comment?

Lister Based Generators / Listeroid to heat and run a hot tub?

« on: February 02, 2009, 02:29:54 AM »

A long time buddy of mine was over today and was oggling the 'roid. So any way he wants one bad and is trying to figure out what to do with it and we came up with the idea to heat and run a hot tub. Use the generator to run the jets and pump and heat the water in the water jacket of the engine. Add a little scented biodiesel and who knows, it could be the start of a new fad.

Listeroid Engines / Spark Arresters

« on: January 02, 2009, 08:37:39 PM »

Now that the 'roid is breathing through an underground exhaust system my thoughts are moving to how to prevent sparks from igniting all the leaves on the hillside. I had a small super trap that was being used as a temp muffler after the pepper can vibrated to pieces during home construction. I have seen glowing sparks ejected from the pepper can muffler.

The super trap work well while mounted close to the engine, however when I tried it mounted to the end of the exhaust pipe it quickly plugged with soot. That was quite an interesting sight. Things sounded "different" and when I went to check there was a loud hissing noise and a steady stream of black exhaust shooting out the last open spot in the super trap.

So I am looking for something to place on the end of the pipe that will stop sparks and not plug up with soot. Any suggestions?

Lister Based Generators / The new engine room ... with pics

« on: November 26, 2008, 06:45:41 PM »

Well I've got the the Listeroid properly mounted to its brand new block of concrete in the new engine shed.

The exhaust goes down into an LP tank muffler buried in the floor.

And then out the side of the hill.

And the oft discussed block of concrete. I chose to sandwich a bit of wood in there for a bit of cushion.

It had a 3.5 hour run yesterday charging batteries and joy of joys no cracks in the concrete, which is a significant achievement since now that it is firmly attached to the ground it shakes the ground, shed and house. I guess I'll have to add balancing to the list of things I need to do. $:-\$

Listeroid Engines / Stiff rack

« on: October 30, 2008, 03:18:06 AM »

I've noticed that the operation of the governor seemed sluggish on start up. I separated the linkage at the rack to see where the binding was. It is in the rack. It has not been run much lately and I've been running a diluted mix of wvo/diesel. Anyone have an idea if this is a sign of impending failure or just use it with some fresh diesel and see if it loosens up?