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Author Topic: 1200 rpm Changfa 195  (Read 15522 times)

draganof

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1200 rpm Changfa 195
« on: February 23, 2007, 03:21:49 AM »
Well my experiment with running a 195 at 1200 rpm is over. This engine just wasn't meant to run at 1200 rpm. After 20 hours of running at 3.5 kw on diesel followed by 5 hours running on heated used engine oil the coking got so bad that the engine was starting to lose power. In the end the most usable kw without smoking heavily was only 1.5 kw This was cured by raising the rpm to 1800 and applying 6kw for 30 minutes. All the buildup is gone. Engine runs smoother at the higher rpm also. No smoke at all. Looks like I'll just keep this engine as a backup generator for the house and see if I can find one of those "true" slow speed diesels. Always did want a Lister from the beginning, just didn't want to spend that much money. Not sorry I bought the Changfa, one hell of a good engine. Just not a slow speed thumper. I'm thinking one of these might find its way into one of my Cubs!
Changfa 195 and ST10
8kw Yanmar/Kohler

JMW

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2007, 07:23:39 AM »
Can you tell us how you were cooling your engine during these tests? One of the problems of running engines slower than designed is that they run too cool - something very bad for used engine oil fuel.

draganof

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2007, 01:29:42 PM »
Still running with the hopper. Coolant is 50-50 antifreeze. Temperature runs at 200-215. Injector line temp 200-220. I haven't totally given up on this yet, just discouraged. I'll give it a few days and then be back at it. I think one of the problems was the muffler was causing to much back pressure. Will install a much larger one this weekend.
Changfa 195 and ST10
8kw Yanmar/Kohler

rcavictim

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2007, 09:37:06 PM »
After the engine was coked up did yuo continue to burn the same WMO fuel in the cleanup run or did you switch to clear diesel?  Is your engine DI or IDI (pre cup)?
-DIY 1.5L NA VW diesel genset - 9 kW 3-phase. Co-gen, dual  fuel
- 1966, Petter PJ-1, 5 kW air cooled diesel standby lighting plant
-DIY JD175A, minimum fuel research genset.
-Changfa 1115
-6 HP Launtop air cooled diesel
-Want Lister 6/1
-Large DIY VAWT nearing completion

draganof

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2007, 02:05:31 PM »
The 195 is a pre-cup engine. I had to flush the lines and filter and used new diesel for the cleanup run. I am installing a new larger no restriction muffler today and just may try the 1200 rpm run again. I haven't given up on the project totally. Just a little frustrated. I do have a new turbo sitting on the shelf and it may just find itself on the Changfa. Just not sure how a turbo would handle the slow speed pulses on one of these engines. Problem with adding a turbo is it's one more thing that can fail and the oil pump on the engine may not have enough volume to run a turbo and lube the engine. I am trying to keep everything simple and may ditch the duel inverter design and go with an ST head. The KISS principle is the logical way to power generation and in the end that is where I need this project to be. I will eventually get a Lister for off grid and the Changfa will make a nice backup generator for it. But that is a few years away so the Changfa is here to stay. I'll post more as time goes by.                                       
Changfa 195 and ST10
8kw Yanmar/Kohler

draganof

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2007, 02:06:56 PM »
The 195 is a pre-cup engine. I had to flush the lines and filter and used new diesel for the cleanup run. I am installing a new larger no restriction muffler today and just may try the 1200 rpm run again. I haven't given up on the project totally. Just a little frustrated. I do have a new turbo sitting on the shelf and it may just find itself on the Changfa. Just not sure how a turbo would handle the slow speed pulses on one of these engines. Problem with adding a turbo is it's one more thing that can fail and the oil pump on the engine may not have enough volume to run a turbo and lube the engine. I am trying to keep everything simple and may ditch the duel inverter design and go with an ST head. The KISS principle is the logical way to power generation.                         
Changfa 195 and ST10
8kw Yanmar/Kohler

rcavictim

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #6 on: February 24, 2007, 02:17:15 PM »
George`s website (utterpower.com) highlights a fellow in Quebec that put a turbo (from a VW 1.6 L 4 cyl diesel I think)  on a 6/1 Listeroid successfully.  That seems to imply that the pulse nature of the exhaust uis not as big a problem as one might think.

I have been experimenting with a smaller JD175 engine and have made a 100 watt nichrome injector heater.  I can get the injector up to 450F     This helps a lot  when trying to use extra thick oil as a fuel.  It has allowed me to use some new golden color oil that is almost as thick as liquid honey with no coking up problems but did not solve coking when using  used WTF filtered through a 10 u then 2 u filters.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2007, 02:21:06 PM by rcavictim »
-DIY 1.5L NA VW diesel genset - 9 kW 3-phase. Co-gen, dual  fuel
- 1966, Petter PJ-1, 5 kW air cooled diesel standby lighting plant
-DIY JD175A, minimum fuel research genset.
-Changfa 1115
-6 HP Launtop air cooled diesel
-Want Lister 6/1
-Large DIY VAWT nearing completion

draganof

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2007, 08:37:13 PM »
Houston we have a problem. Well I decided to install a new low restriction muffler today in place of the one I was using. it's 3" inlet and outlet. Nice and quiet and minimum back pressure. Started the engine and set the speed at 1200 rpm and put 3kw load on it. ran that way for about an hour until I heard the speed drop off. Sounded just like it was running out of fuel. Took off the load and shut it down. looked in the tank and almost dry. Filled it back up with off road diesel and bleed the system. Attempted to start the engine and it didn't sound so good. Sounded like it was running out of fuel. Shut it down and checked the oil. Hmmm, seems like I have to much oil. Not a lot mind you but more than it had. Did another start and managed to get it up to speed. This engine is sick. Sounds like I have an exhaust leak somewhere around the head to block mating surface and the engine has no power! Throttle response is almost nothing. Looks like I'll be tearing it down tomorrow and find out what happened. I'll let it sit overnight and see if the oil level continues to rise and /or the coolant level falls and ends up in the sump. I'll take an oil sample into our lab at work and find out if it's fuel dilution or coolant. Doesn't really matter which one the engine is effectively dead for now. Even if it turns out to be just a head gasket I'll take it down totally and check everything out. Until this happened it was a fun adventure, now it's not fun anymore. I'll post again after I find the problem.
Changfa 195 and ST10
8kw Yanmar/Kohler

rcavictim

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2007, 01:23:03 AM »
Drag,

Have you removed the precup that goes into  the head before the injector?  Sounbds like you might have coked that up really good and plugged the four holes. Once it is removed you will see the top ofthe piston f it is anything like my 175.   If you have pressure leak through the head gasket then obviously the head has to come off but that is not a hard job.  Good luck with it.  I don`t think you have hurt your engine.
-DIY 1.5L NA VW diesel genset - 9 kW 3-phase. Co-gen, dual  fuel
- 1966, Petter PJ-1, 5 kW air cooled diesel standby lighting plant
-DIY JD175A, minimum fuel research genset.
-Changfa 1115
-6 HP Launtop air cooled diesel
-Want Lister 6/1
-Large DIY VAWT nearing completion

draganof

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2007, 02:45:35 AM »
What a day this has been. After my last post I couldn't stand it and had to find out what happened. First the oil level. Seems like the dipstick has two different positions. One is if you just push it in normally and a deeper one if you push harder. I don't think I have an oil problem. Next is what sounded like a blown head gasket. Nope, I installed a new muffler and new exhaust adapter and broke the gasket installing it and it blew out a chunk. Fuel starvation! Found out the fuel flow from the tank is enough to bleed the air out but not enough to run the engine. Found the small shutoff valve on the tank had a chunk of rust blocking about 75% of the hole. The inside of the tank is full of rust on the bottom of one end. looks like it had water sitting in it at one time. I'm surprised it ran as good as it has. Anyway, hooked up a temp fuel tank, installed a new exhaust gasket and verified the oil level. Started the engine and she purrs like a kitten on steroids! 1800rpm 3.5 kw no problem, then another 3.5 kw for a total of 7 kw, no problem. 1200 rpm 3.5 kw, no problem. I'm happy once again. Now where did I put that sign that says kick me? 
Changfa 195 and ST10
8kw Yanmar/Kohler

rcavictim

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #10 on: February 26, 2007, 02:52:36 AM »
Thats great news!
-DIY 1.5L NA VW diesel genset - 9 kW 3-phase. Co-gen, dual  fuel
- 1966, Petter PJ-1, 5 kW air cooled diesel standby lighting plant
-DIY JD175A, minimum fuel research genset.
-Changfa 1115
-6 HP Launtop air cooled diesel
-Want Lister 6/1
-Large DIY VAWT nearing completion

draganof

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #11 on: February 27, 2007, 01:49:16 AM »
Installed 2ea.  25 gallon Pryco day tanks today. One for diesel and the other for waste motor oil. Each tank has a 2 micron Cat fuel filter. I'm looking for a couple of Racor filters to install also. Hope to have the hopper adapter plate installed in a few days along with a 10 gallon surge tank and two Cat 988 hydraulic oil coolers as radiators. The coolant will be circulated by a Grundfos pump. The coolers are aluminum and 24" x 18" x 2" thick. I used one of these as a temp radiator on a 4.7L Jeep. Two should be more than enough for a 195. I'm going to put a 195 degree thermostat in the plate adapter. My 10' x 12' generator building is getting crowded and I haven't even installed the battery bank yet.   
Changfa 195 and ST10
8kw Yanmar/Kohler

rcavictim

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #12 on: February 27, 2007, 02:38:12 AM »
Drag,

Anything you can do, like installing a partition wall between the sources of heat (engines) and the battery bank will help with prolonging the service life of your valuable batteries.  Research of battery articles on the subject will show that even moderate temperature increases like ten degrees above room temperature will take a significant toll in terms of reduced lifetime.  They like to be kept cool.
-DIY 1.5L NA VW diesel genset - 9 kW 3-phase. Co-gen, dual  fuel
- 1966, Petter PJ-1, 5 kW air cooled diesel standby lighting plant
-DIY JD175A, minimum fuel research genset.
-Changfa 1115
-6 HP Launtop air cooled diesel
-Want Lister 6/1
-Large DIY VAWT nearing completion

mobile_bob

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2007, 03:01:27 AM »
Dragonof:

before you buy batteries let me know, i can hook you up with a supplier of rolls/surrette with damn good priceing down in Kent.

if you need any help or info on batteries, charging regimes etc... let me know i have a ton of info

bob g
otherpower.com, microcogen.info, practicalmachinist.com
(useful forums), utterpower.com for all sorts of diy info

Doug

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Re: 1200 rpm Changfa 195
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2007, 03:51:27 AM »
This whole Turbo thing is making me think again....

Since this was kind of an option I left the door open for when I started making my intake manifold and looked at alternative crank case venting...

So I have a turbo from a small 3 cylinder Kubota 410 loader ( realy tiny thing like 1.2 litreor something ). How much oil would something like this require? Gus was special ordered with a gear type oil pump just incase.....

It even has a tiny banjo fitting on top and return on bottom so it would be a snap to adapt. Also want slow Gus to around 1200-1300 rpm but try and drive a 7 or 8 kva head.

Now that I have hyjacked a thread sorry in advance....

Doug