I couldn`t tolerate any noises or vibrations OR SMELLS from a thumper or banger in the house.
Those are the three biggies as I saw them too, rca.
I 'think' I've got the vibration licked. I've got about 80hrs on it and it seems to work fine, but those hours were not at full load. Just got my transformer in today,
http://listerengine.com/smf/index.php?topic=1286.0 for explanation, and hopefully can do some full load testing tomorrow.
The noises that I've still got to deal with are the engines mechanical noise. Exhaust and intake are plumbed to the outdoors. I mixed some moly paste (assembly lube) in with the oil I use for the exposed valve train, and that helped. Still have some idler gear noise but, thanks to xyzer, help is on the way. No way to get rid of the diesel knock but I may try some kind of a wrap around the top end to quiet it a bit. I had origionally planed an elaborate sound enclosure but don't think that it will be necessary. As it stands at this point, I've owned louder washing machines.
Smells. I wouldn't have done this if I was burning a petroleum product. I know that sooner or later I would slobber something and that diesel smell really sticks around. Biodiesel (and wvo, svo, etc) is a whole different animal though. Very little odor as a liquid and better smelling when burnt. I tossed the stock breather assy and grafted on a check valve which vents into the intake. And, naturally there's a CO detector for safety. No smells that I can detect.
I don't know what a Jiang Dong is. (if I had to guess out of context....
) I'm guessing it's one of the 2200rpm horizontal Chinese jobs. I'd love to check one out sometime. Their counterbalanced aren't they? They put enclosures around noisy 3600 rpm air cooled gensets and quiet them right down. doesn't seem like it would be out of the question.
I'm certainly not recommending installing engines in basements to anyone but for me it was the best choice. I start it at room temp no matter what the outdoor temp is. It's adding welcome heat to my home in the winter which is when its needed to charge batteries due to reduced solar input. It's convienent to plumbing and electric hookups and comfortable to work on. And I kind of like having it so close by to make sure she doesn't get into any trouble.
Bill