Lister Engines > Listeroid Engines
Colder start 25F
John (Boston):
Hello Everyone,
Was pretty cold last night so I went out today to see if the 6/1 would light off. It took a few tries but I got her going. It's definitely easier to crank with the 10-30 diesel oil in there. I think the friction of the piston in the bore is lower with this oil.
Air temp was about 25F, head temp was about 17F at the time of this start. The ST5 started out making a resonating howling noise which I assume was one or both of the bearings. After a bit it lessened. I did not change out the Chinese bearings - no idea what they used for grease.
A bit into the run the Listeroid skipped a power stroke or two and then straightened out and ran fine for the rest of the run. I guess I caught the skip in the video so you can see what I mean. Not sure why it would have skipped so far into the run. By this time I'd think the combustion chamber should have been warm enough for reliable ignition. Worries me a little. I have anti-gel in the fuel so it shouldn't be a flow issue...
Well, hope I'm not boring you guys... Here's the link to this latest start. I'll probably do an other one when it's even colder. The object of the enterprise is to be able to start this thing down to zero F or colder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpm724Uhsxc
-John (Boston)
mike90045:
Are you adding any gasoline to the diesel for improved starting ? getting it going at 25f is pretty impressive, I think 0f is ambitious .
ajaffa1:
Hi John, not sure why your engine missed a couple of power strokes, but it quickly recovered and didn`t do it again so it`s probably nothing to worry about, just keep an eye on it and let us know if it starts to do it again.
The ST5 bearings are a much bigger worry. When I examined the Chinese bearings in mine, I found that they were open bearings, filled with yak fat and the manufacturer had not cleaned the casting sand out of the bearing housings. If you are not going to swap these out immediately, I recommend you order new sealed bearings and have them on site for when the old ones f*ck up.
Bob
John (Boston):
Mike,
Nope no gasoline in the diesel - just a little anti gel (same stuff I always ran in the trucks and what I use in the little Kubota - Diesel 911 pretreat). Much colder than this and I'll give it a little torch flame down the intake. That seemed to make it start easier. So far, this was the coldest I've ran it.
My Duece-and-a-Half had an intake manifold flame heater which I'm told works very well. I never got to try mine since there were parts missing on it. If I recall, the data plate on the dash says not to blast the flame gun unless the engine is cranking.
I have a changeover valve plug that was fitted with a glow plug but when I took out my CV plug I found it to be slightly shorter than the replacement. So the heads must not be the same. I did not install the new plug. Next summer I might play with the CV plugs again - when it's not so cold out. I think the glow plug will make it fire pretty quickly. In the Kubota they make a BIG difference.
Bob,
I did take the ST5 all apart to inspect and to paint with Glyptal. The bearings had side covers on them (so not wide open) and I did not open them up. They felt OK so I left them alone - probably a mistake. In warmer weather they're not too bad, but far from silent. Funny, I found no sand in mine.
My slip rings are not straight. They have a little runout. I was thinking about removing them and trying to get them lined up better. My fan (looks to be aluminum or potmetal) is also a bit crooked but I'm not worried about that.
The entire inside of the ST5 was bare clean iron - no paint at all. I must have gotten a "fresh" one off the boat because there was no rust at all, either. The first coat of Glyptal soaked in pretty well. I gave it all two coats. I ran it down into the field winding slots best I could - to try and bind all the windings together. I don't like the way they just press the field into the case - no wonder why they crack sometimes. I even made "special" brush handles out of wire so I could paint all the way through to the middle of the case.
-John (Boston)
ajaffa1:
Hi John, The slip rings on mine also run out in both planes, up and down and side to side. I put the whole armature in a lathe and skimmed them to stop the carbon brushes from bouncing up and down. I was thinking of trying to make up a more robust and accurate slip ring assembly similar to the one on my Brush generator head, probably turn it out of Tufnol with new brass rings, if I do I`ll post photos showing how to do it.
Glyptal is a great product but expensive and hard to get in Australia. I used polyurethane varnish on the inside of mine. Like you, I used two coats and concentrated on ensuring all the copper got a good coating to prevent anything from moving about. I think it should cope with any heat generated as most copper wire used in generators and transformers is insulated with polyurethane, if you`ve ever tried to solder it you`ll know that it doesn`t burn off easily.
Keep her spinning,
Bob
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