Just a note of potential interest

I always think what someone will pay at auction is the real indicator of value of an item - regardless of red herrings such as the "asking" price of similar items or the seller's aspirations or illusions

So some chap here just sold four old CS in various states at "$1 reserve" actions.

These are the results:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1723681860&archive=1

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1723686310&archive=1

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1723684717&archive=1

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1723678391&archive=1

Cheers

Hi Guys

I know folks on here love to share their experience, and I'm interested in improving my thinking on inverters . . .

Firstly let me say I have been re-reading Starfire's excellent post and subsequent responses.  See link below:

http://listerengine.com/smf/index.php?topic=7460.msg84365#msg84365

I'm a big KISS fan.  I used to enjoy having cars with points ignitions and carburettors cos I could see how everything worked and diagnose a fault in 5 mins flat - but I have gotten over that particular Ludditery and these days have a couple of $1000 2.2-litre Toyota Camrys as they are the philosophical equivalent and may well outlast me

I'd like to own an inverter like the Camry - tough, simple, good, over-engineered and under-stressed . . .

The gentleman who has been advising me on solar stuff - and whose advice I have found to be good - suggests that the modern combination of inverter & charge controllers are the "way to go"

He is recommending this unit:

https://www.victronenergy.com/inverter-charger-mppt/easysolar

But I could just as easily buy whatever I can find that is a super-robust charge-controller and do things like managing charging/voltage myself, and maybe run two or three small inverters

Typically my households use bugger-all current as I tend not to have anything with an electric element apart from an electric blanket and a small toaster.  My norm/current setup is: solar hot water, woodstove, wetback, gas hob, low-output microwave, spring-fed water so no pumps etc etc - a familiar picture I am sure

I am attracted to the Outback inverters

I have a couple of 230V gen heads as works-in-progress and hope to be in a situation where one or other of the two CSs can be either putting 24VDC back into a battery bank and/or generating a few kWs AC if I need to run the small welder or the angle grinder

I'd be interested on thoughts on inverters and on modern complex/sophisticated equipment like the Victron units vs something heavy and simple with a big copper transformer and a steel frame and two big handles kind-of-setup

I have a couple of quiet, (one genuine Honda, one cheap Chinese) 2.4 kW generators with 15-litre tanks that can idle inaudibly all night if need be, plus a big 5kVA genset that can run the fast-acting 3.6kW 60-litre hot-water cylinder as a convenience if the sun isn't shining, the fire hasn't been going and herself wants a shower NOW . . . so no real need for a big-current inverter.  If I had just one unit (instead of a few small ones) it'd be a 1500/2000W job, I would say

I don't reckon I give a rat's about pure sine either.  Everything I own seems to run OK on a dirty square wave with a few corners clipped off and, in my luddite-ish way I figure cos the laptop runs off of a 19.5V (DC I assume) charger thingie, it probably doesn't care if the VAC going into it is a bit dirty?  Since I am blessed to not own a TV I don't care about that either

I might put a search on TradeMe (think ebay/gumtree) for small inverters and get an idea of what sells for what $$

Enough from me - this is turning into a Glort-length rant

I'd appreciate any thoughts

Cheers, Mike

Hey there experts & knowledgeable folks . . .

I have a couple of 6/1s, but also the bottom end of a 3.5/1 in the yard as well (I gave the barrel and heads to some bloke for his one)

The 3.5/1 piston is a bit lighter, I guess, so maybe the counter-weights on the wheels are different - does anyone have any experience around the interchangeability or otherwise of these, I wonder?

What started this train of thought is that the mains are probably the same bolt-hole pattern so the case could be a donor "spare", cleaner-upper for one of my 6/1s

Then I started wondering about the crank . . . am I right in thinking maybe there were two sizes journals of 3/1 big-ends and maybe (a later?) one is the same dimension as the 6/1?  Or maybe that's wishful thinking?  What excited me there is one of my 6/1s has buggered Gib keys with the heads snapped-off and is going to be challenging one day; but the 3/1 bottom end has good-looking keyways and gibs

Apart from all that, it seemed to me that if you took the 3/1 wheels off and put them on an axle in a pair of rollers and cut off the balance weights carefully until they were "neutral" balance-wise; you could just about run two flywheels on both sides of one of the 6/1s as an experiment in rotating-mass and anti-flickering and stuff like that?  (After all, the one with the buggered gib keys is never going to want to yield its flywheels so I could trim what little is left of the heads of the gibs back to nothing without being any worse off - and snug-up another pair of flywheels

Just an idle thought-train of a cold Saturday evening with the fire going and peace-and-quiet here to allow the brain to wander . . .

Cheers

https://www.trademe.co.nz/business-farming-industry/industrial/engines-motors/diesel/listing-1711242641.htm?rsqid=aadb64370c7e4288a986d150dc65dfd3

See two links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgLvYlPVXsI

and

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1703980492

I reckon they're a "thing" like a Lister SOM . . . check out the base and control box in the video

Reckon they might be an auto-start thingie too (maybe a motor/generator winding device?  Although the Briggs motor may have a starter motor?

Maybe 1500 RPM for 50Hz

I bet there are some folks out there who know what this is (or was) . . .

https://www.trademe.co.nz/business-farming-industry/industrial/generators-power-supply/other/listing-1685515408.htm?rsqid=4c94c69f19a54176b11305002d25f028

Found this little fellow on Trademe and paid $290 for it.  With a bit of luck someone wil give me $100 for the 16Hp Brigs and Stratton that was driving it

Looks to be a good mate for a CS 6/1

The dog-box and wiring and switches are all there, too, though not shown in pics _ un-wired them and took it off out of the way

I'd be interested in any thoughts or experience anyone has with these?  Thanks

https://www.trademe.co.nz/antiques-collectables/automotive-transport/other/auction-1632803642.htm?rsqid=b29d892898ca468ea745ad8a1d5aa9fe