Peteroids?

[fattywagonman]

I'm interested in some feedback.. yesterday I fired one up for the first time... I'm a veggie oil guy so I dumped some VO in the tank, primed the fuel system and gave er' a spin... man these Peteroids start easy... and on straight WVO... I was told that they vibrate a lot... But Mine ran really smoth as long as I kept the RPM's down to about 1200 and didn't let the governor go to full RPM (1500).. Anyhow I'm really pleased with these little engines... I plan on using them in some DC inverter / generators that I'm building...   

[hotater]

  I have several of them and two will crush concrete blocks with vibration, but they'll do a lot of work on little fuel.
I've now got them tied to a yard of concrete with re-bar and they're smooth as butter.

[fattywagonman]

Mine ran fine just sitting on the shop floor... do yours have counter weghts on the crank?

[SHIPCHIEF]

My 25/2 runs as smooth as you like too....as long as it's below rated RPM. That seems to be the problem doesn't it?
Mine is a 1000 rpm engine, and at 60 Hz it is vibrating acceptably, but after some load drops off and it speeds up to 62 Hz, it can break the 3/8" bolts between the foundation frame and the sub frame. When I shut her down she rolls to a stop ever so smoothly....
I plan to beef up those bolts to 1/2" or bigger, to really tie her down like Hotater says, and also maybe derate to 850 rpm where it's alot sweeter.
I'd suggest giving it a good heavy concrete base, I wish I had right from the start. When I move it to a 'Proper Engineroom' it will have something like the foundations you see in the Internal Fire Museum site.
Scott E

[fattywagonman]

Hi Scott,
I see your problem... Maybe an electronic governor on the rack... that would keep the revs right at 60 cycles...  In India they use 50 cycles so they have a lower RPM... I'm using mine for DC / 48 volt power...then going through batteries to an inverter..  no need for the higher RPM... no cycles to maintain...

[altopro]

It would be nice to have a Petteroids section on this forum. I like mini-Petters. They just look so cool!

[fattywagonman]

Hi Altopro,
I currently have 12 mini Petters.. Here's a photo of one coupled to a 48 volt PM alternator...

[edutchie]

YES! a Petteroid forum is needed.
We are in the middle of trying to get a 3 hp Ashwamegh mini-Petteriod running. Intend to run an alternator/ batteries/inverter setup
Got it from the folks at  utterpower.com/ Joel Koch a few months ago.
Lots of sand, they sent other crank pin bushings as the original ones were scored like you would gag over.

We tore it down to the last bolt and cleaned up.
Now we are waiting for aother cam shaft as the timing was irrepairably off, tried to tinker it out with shims under the injector pump and fiddling with clearances, even slipped the timing gear a notch, which helped a bit.
Hoping the new cam shaft will be machined by someone who didn't use some white powder instead of curry with his lunch.
Can always use the sand in the children's sandbox.... ...

[edutchie]

Fattywagonman,
Would you consider building a pm alternator for us?
What is the difference in efficiency versus an oem alternator?

[fattywagonman]

Hi Edu,
Sure I will sell you a PM.. the price  is $350 for a 48 volt...  PM's are more efficient since they don't need to rob  power from the output to create the field... 

[edutchie]

Just to get a few things straight; I bought the Mini-Petter from Joel Koch at PowerSolutions, not from Utterpower.com.
I was directed to Joel from Utterpower and was under the impression that the two are in this together.
Not so, apparently, since communication with George at Utterpower.
I bought the Listeroid CD from Utterpower earlier, and was not dissapointed, and recommend it for any new owner of Indian Listeroids.
The problem lies with the quality of the product and no person, both George and Joel have been helpful in our ongoing efforts to get our Mini-Petter going.
The post above was not meant to  hurt or embarrass anyone, just to share what has been our experience with the engine.
The free exchange of knowlege is the beauty of the information age!

[edutchie]

One more thing to note; This particular engine was built by Ashmawegh.
I think Power Solutions is currently buying their engines from another supplier.

[Doug]

Its disturbing as hell to see pictures like one of the bearing full of sand especialy on a Petter that spins faster with less bearing to begin with.

I spent today looking for pockets of Sand in my Powerline. Still clean as a whistle knock on wood.

Another thing that strikes me is the difference between parts. Some are Lister green inside, some glyptal and one in particular the fuel pump rocker and support plate is light green. All kinds of wierd numbers and marks on these parts but the this light green part is probably the finest casting with the best machining. I wish I knew who built the components and what was availble from them. In a perfect world I would ask for as many castings by " Light Green paint guy" as possible.....

Doug