My 12/2 Gen.

[Tugger]

I thought i would post a few pictures...

This base is temporary, the hollow section in the center will be filled with concrete and rebar..
The engine and gen. metal frame will be removed as one piece and set into a concrete base when the generator room is built...
This engine will only be run for emergency power until then..
I figure the wood around the base will burn hot enough to crumble the concrete making removal easier..
Also it gives us yet another test mount system to evaluate...wood and concrete..

I am installing a 1500w preheater to help with starting in the canadian cold...
The grey box on the upper water manifold is a 1 1/4" thermostatic bypass valve for boiler systems, it came with a 160 degree thermostat that i replaced with a 195 degree one from napa..
Anyone know how much wieght the manifold can support?

Any questions and comments welcome..

Cheers

[t19]

Nice

So where did you find the Boiler bypass, that looks like a sweet addition I could add to mine

[Tugger]

I purchase the bypass at my local plumbing/heating wholesalers ...Westburne/Ruddy.

ESBC THERMIC VALVE TV
They come in 1", 1 1/4",& 1 1/2" NPT
and from 113 F to 160 F temps.
wieght 5 lbs

http://www.esbe.se/nav5174/?prodid=1585

[binnie]

Tugger,
I am not to sure about the efficiency for what you want to do. The electricity goes out from the grid...Oups! We are in the dark...it's cold out there.  What are you going to plug this into to pre warm the water jacket before starting the machine?
Have you thought of battery operated glow plugs to warm up the head for a quick start? You have the ports for them. binnie
PS: I could see this on the fuel line of a wvo set up...and might work just fine. Love your machine...what does the imprint in the sump door read? Had difficulty figuring it out....looks like a Jkson...but not sure.

[Tugger]

I have built an effiecient shop...infloor radiant heat, with a propane boiler...the shop has everything to sustain the family in an emergency situation..except bedrooms...
I hooked into town water and sewer this year...no pumps to run..
The shop runs fine on my little 2000W gas gen...which is well maintainen..i will use this to heat the 12/2.
I also store half a dozen deep cycle batteries from fishing buddies to keep maintained throughout the winter....this and my 3000w inverter gives me extra backup...
The 12/2 gen is needed at the moment to back up the electric heaters in the house as there is no other heat source...and charge the batteries to power the shop...
I will be building a new house in the near future, designed to work on a 6/1 with co-gen and use the 12/2 as back-up and heavy loads..
Eventually i will be dissconnected from the grid...it all takes time..

[binnie]

AMAZING...I am impressed. Do you have wood heat for when you are there & elect...only for minimal back up when you are not? The way you explane it you really do not have a "cold" problem for start up of the 12/2. You certainly have a multiple of sources for power and good back up with the 12/2....Nicely thought out. binnie

[Tugger]

The house that was on the property where i built my shop ONLY has electric heat...nuttin else...if the power goes out...it gets cold.
The house is in such a state that it will be cheaper to build a new one, and make it more efficient..

[binnie]

Tugger
Big project for where you are. I remember seeing picts of  you on the roof in the winter snow....(with a shovel in hand)....I hope your new design will have an efficent wood stove in the pict. with a coil over the wood oven to preheat your hot water system in the winter, and run through the lister coolant tank to heat  for the summer months...just a thought. binnie. (one of my future projects)

[Doug]

I've been spinning the idea of building some sort of heat exchanger using a T-LUD type gassifier to preheat a cold Lister/Petter by thermo siphon.

A big enough T-LUD should be able to warm a Lister to a resonable starting temperature and have sufficient burn time to do it in about 30 minuts.

A logical extension of this would be a proper down draft gassifier system that can provide suplimental fuel for the engine as well thermal. To my thinking this would have prevented a lot of missery durring the ICE storm of 96 and this has been a key feature I plan to try and build into my system some day. Even I only mannage a 50% fuel oil substitution wood is easier to come by than fuel and I have option to burn even objectional fuel like WMO and still burn clean with Producer gas providing many of the benifits of Propane.

Doug