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Topics - captfred

Pages: [1] 2
1
Waste Vegetable Oil / How long can you store wvo?
« on: September 27, 2008, 10:31:38 AM »
So how long can you store this stuff?

Got lots of oil readily available from multiple sources.
Got a ready supply of surplus 130 gal propane tanks I can pick up for 20 bucks ea., less in quantity. (55 gal drums are more expensive - go figure).
Got a surplus underground quansat hut (munitions bunker) to store it all in.

So, does anyone know how long you can store wvo without it going off (stinky, slimy or whatever that makes it unusable)?

Cheers, Fred


2
Generators / Hertz is hurtin'
« on: September 14, 2008, 12:58:02 PM »
Fired up the beast today and things weren't so hot - 655 rpm on the engine but the st output was out of whack - 119 volts and 45 to 55 hertz

What would cause the wild, low hertz?

Any info, as always, is greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Fred

3
Listeroid Engines / 12/2 rebuild questions
« on: August 23, 2008, 04:45:01 AM »
Helping to rebuilding a friends 12/2  (new crank, bearings, pistons/rings/liners, camshaft etc), But have run into a binding problem - crank is difficult to turn with one con rod torqued down (haven't got to the second one.)

Followed the book and torqued down the rod nuts to 55 ft/pounds then backed off one and checked with a feeler gauge - only .004" - recommend .004" - .006" - so does this one require a shim or is it good and just torque down"

I'm also in a quandary about how to properly set the end play in the crank so the roller bearings are adjusted properly (we adjusted the number of gaskets at each end and then tightened down the set screw for the center roller bearing).

Got something mucked up - any assistance would be greatly appreciated



On a side note, there were no timing marks on any of the new parts (cam, idler or crank), ended up drilling our own timing marks.



Cheers, Fred

4
General Discussion / price of steel
« on: August 20, 2008, 11:23:58 AM »
Great day today, pumped (poured) 34 yards of concrete for the roof of our upstairs addition (no one hurt, no blow-outs and hit the right amount of concrete).  Anyway, while lookin' at all that steel i bought being buried in concrete started thinkin' about how much the price of steel has gone up since we built the first floor in 2000.  back then we paid something like $275.00 per ton for rebar - when we started the walls and columns in july it was $900.00 per ton and when we bought the steel for the roof a coupla weeks ago it was $1400.00 per ton.  I thought the price of gas and diesel was bad, hell they don't hold a candle to steel. 

Just some random ramblings about the cost of things.

Cheers, Fred




5
General Discussion / real time energy monitor
« on: July 19, 2008, 03:08:12 AM »
While on the mainland I picked up a TED energy detective Monitor with the software - (no financial interest, etc).  Pretty interesting unit - real time monitor of kW usage, voltage, daily, monthly usage etc. Also can be setup to display usage in dollars/cents per hour - very interesting showing my visiting daughter how much it costs per hour to run the A/C in her bedroom. 

The software ain't too hot but certainly usable and provides historical data, graphing and export.

Here's a link  www.theenergydetective.com/

Cheers, Fred

6
General Discussion / wrecking yard seattle area recomendations?
« on: June 25, 2008, 03:40:47 PM »
On my annual pilgrimage to the pacific northwest and need to find a powersteering pump for a friends centrifuge setup back home.  Does anyone have any suggestions for wreckers I can check in the seattle area (say Olympia to Mt Vernon maybe). 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Fred

7
Listeroid Engines / engine fell over during shipment
« on: June 25, 2008, 07:47:58 AM »
Subject pretty much says it all, our latest order just arrived and one engine was laying on it's side - don't know what the damage is, or who is responsible, the freight forwarder or the delivery boom truck.   

Anyway, lets say we're screwed - no insurance - what are the issues of an engine that has been dropped on it's side - I'm thinkin' the  flywheels and crank would be suspect but other components would be salvagable.

Thoughts, as always are always appreciated

Cheers, Fred

8
Listeroid Engines / How much "slobber" is too much "slobber"?
« on: June 20, 2008, 01:46:50 AM »
Have always had what I believed to be a reasonable amount of roid slobber - wipe it down once and a while - no worries.  However lately, with longer, daily running, I'm seeing more slobber - particularly around the camshaft end cover.

Is this nothing to worry about - just keep wiping up - or should this issue be addressed?

Thoughts, as always, greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Fred

9
Listeroid Engines / Exhaust Temps out of whack - Any Ideas?
« on: June 09, 2008, 10:12:14 AM »
Fired up the beast today and noticed a bit of smoke from #2 cyl exhaust and very faint "smoke" from the exhaust fitting. During the engine break-in I adjusted the injector pump linkage and balanced the exhaust temps to - I285 deg F.  Today #2 was 350 F and #1 275 F.

Any Ideas on where I need to start?

Cheers, Fred

10
General Discussion / Our grid is collapsing - hows yours?
« on: June 04, 2008, 11:56:36 AM »
Had 3 power outages yesterday - 2 today with the last one lasting over four hours.

The local utility just raised the rates to over 40 cents per KW - 37cents  plus another 3 cents additional fuel surcharge.

Diesel is almost 6 bucks a gal (US gal.) - people with generators (mostly chinese screamin' banchees in a box) are beginning to scream bloody murder at the cost of running their genny's during these frequent outages.

Lots of people have been cut off from the utility cuz they can't even the pay the  price for power to run a fridge and some lights, let alone a TV.

The local situation is totally due to mismanagement - deferred maintenance and repairs etc. I wonder whats goin' on in other places?

Bad news - outrageous prices for unreliable power - Good news - the roid is runnin' just fine, thank you, and thats all of you, very much!  ;)

Hope everyone's local "grid" is in better shape  than ours.   ;D

Cheers, Fred

11
Bio-diesel Fuel / old methanol - any good?
« on: May 22, 2008, 11:18:39 AM »
Several years ago a guy on island obtained a 55gal (44gal or 205litre) drum of methanol - he's asking 200bucks for the drum.  Does anyone know how to test if it's any good?  Have plenty wvo and would like to try making biodiesel but don't want to buy a drum of haz-mat needing disposal.

Any suggestions are, as always, greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Fred

12
Listeroid Engines / auto/emergency shutdown
« on: May 11, 2008, 01:07:09 PM »
Yes, I did a search of this on the forum and have, as always, come up blank - mind you my poor forum search results are most likely due to me.  Anyway....

OK here's what I got....

Murphy safety switch gauge with a Murphy 1 1/2in solenoid
Milwaukee 2 1/2in butterfly valve

What I want to do is be able to auto shutdown in the event of overheat (thinking about linking the solenoid by cable to the injector pump control rod or maybe the butterfly valve fit in the air intake). Also need some sort of relay to disconnect the power output from the st head in the event of auto shutdown.

I also want to have a manual (or automatic) air cutoff in the event of runaway (think "screamin' jimmy, and I hate jimmy's that scream. or any other engine that runs away for that matter).

Any Ideas, criticisms, critiques or conclusions are, as always, greatly appreciated.


PS our power rates just pushed thru 37 cents per KW for the first 500, oh and the power just went out agian (for the third time today - no joke)

Cheers, Fred


13
Waste Vegetable Oil / Mcgyan Reaction
« on: April 05, 2008, 10:27:50 AM »
While looking for info on distilling methanol (still can't get a supply here on island) found a link to the Mcgyan reactor process.

http://www.biodieselnow.com/blogs/methods/archive/2008/03/11/the-mcgyan-process.aspx

Anyone heard anything about this?  Processing without Methanol would be great.

Cheers, Fred

14
Waste Vegetable Oil / Electrostatic glycerol separation
« on: March 21, 2008, 12:53:50 AM »
Check this video out on wvo glycerol separation with high voltage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEEW3V-j6zs

Anyone tried this?  Salt-cracking was a waste of time, wonder if this would be worth the effort?

Cheers, Fred

15
Other Fuels / alcohol
« on: February 04, 2008, 01:50:34 AM »
Beginning to put together the components for a couple Charles 803 stills to produce E85 fuel.

Anyone distilling alcohol for fuel?  Any thoughts, success or failures?

Cheers, Fred




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