Ice Storm report

[cschuerm]

As most of you may know, Oklahoma has suffered a catastrophic ice storm with wide-spread power outtages and major damage.  My trailer-mounted 20/2 with a 30kw ST head has been thumping away from 5:30am to midnight for the last six days with great success.  This is the first time this rig has had continuous heavy operation and I just couldn't be happier at the results.  I have my entire house powered up as well as two neighbors houses.  The completely stock ST head is providing very acceptable power with no complaints of flicker or excess electrical noise.  My UPS's are even mostly happy with the power as long as I have some other loads connected.  Running TV, furnace,  computer, lights, etc at three houses with no problems at all.  Much to my amazement, the lister has even started easily when cold-soaked to 25 degrees F!  She's been burning about .6 gal/hr at this load.
I'm absolutely sold on the whole rig.  I do need to improve my cooling system as it's been running around 210F coolant temp, but that hasn't caused any problems so far.  I've lost less than a gallon of water  through the week.
Hopefully we'll have power back before tooooo many more days so I can shut down and do a full inspection, but for now, the rig had done a wonderful job of keeping our toes warm and our beer cold.
Listeroids ROCK!
Chris - in icy Sand Springs, OK

[Thomas]

Glad your set up is doning well for you. Hope thay get things up and running befor long. What part of the state are you in? I lived in the South East corner of the state for about five years and still have a lot of kin folk there. All the best to uou and every one. Tom T

[rcavictim]

While 999 people out of every 1000 are totally asleep and oblivious to any ideas of what can happen and how to help themselves the elite few with actual practical skills and who follow the Boy Scout`s motto Be Prepared prevail!  Good for you.  I guess now you aren`t gonna get any flak from your close neighbors about your generator! 

I am proud to hang out here where most of us are in that 1 in 1000 status category.  Smarter than the average bear.   

I`ve seen the disaster you are in on the news and feel sorry for the victims.  I hope the widespread misery can be minimized and that some will learn from this powerful lesson.

[Doug]

First I hear about an ice storm....

Just the same stay warm, be safe and keep your guard up.
A lot can happen between now and when the emergency ends.

Very good of you to share a little power for warmth with the neighbors. Everythng that goes around comes around. A random act of kindness is one of those things that always comes back.

[dieseldave]

    What brand of Listeroid is your 20/2.  .6 us gal/hr sounds like good fuel economy! What was your average load?

[t19]

Yes saw the stories on the news last night, we have another 40cm coming this weekend... never seen so much snow on the ground this early!!!

Glad to hear your Listeroid is working out for you, I have a 10/1 and it will be used this weekend and I am most happy with it.

Nice of you to help your neighbours

[jimdunne]

As most of you may know, Oklahoma has suffered a catastrophic ice storm with wide-spread power outtages and major damage.  My trailer-mounted 20/2 with a 30kw ST head has been thumping away from 5:30am to midnight for the last six days with great success.  This is the first time this rig has had continuous heavy operation and I just couldn't be happier at the results.  I have my entire house powered up as well as two neighbors houses.  The completely stock ST head is providing very acceptable power with no complaints of flicker or excess electrical noise.  My UPS's are even mostly happy with the power as long as I have some other loads connected.  Running TV, furnace,  computer, lights, etc at three houses with no problems at all.  Much to my amazement, the lister has even started easily when cold-soaked to 25 degrees F!  She's been burning about .6 gal/hr at this load.
I'm absolutely sold on the whole rig.  I do need to improve my cooling system as it's been running around 210F coolant temp, but that hasn't caused any problems so far.  I've lost less than a gallon of water  through the week.
Hopefully we'll have power back before tooooo many more days so I can shut down and do a full inspection, but for now, the rig had done a wonderful job of keeping our toes warm and our beer cold.
Listeroids ROCK!
Chris - in icy Sand Springs, OK

Chris,
This is the kind of story that really warms my heart; no excuses, no blame, just do it.

When the sh** hits the fan, the neighbors start really appreciating what you have done. The wives and kids can stay warm and be well-fed, the men can go about their work with a minimum of hassle, and you can feel the inner glow that only comes about when something like this happens.

Get an offset idler shaft/bushing in that twin as soon as practicable. It will make a difference in longevity.

And if the temp is 210°, well, that is where diesel engines run best. We used to be told differently by Allis-Chalmers, but our logging cats ran longer on fuel, and seemed to pull better, when we ran them just under boiling.

[gpkull]

cshuerm  your portable penny pincher wil be hard to beat. glad to hear the gov and volt regulator are all in sinc.  it is not uncommen for a gassie screamer to suck down a gal / hr for 10 to 15 k. a roid running 210f  has no fever at all. the coolant system may belcht puke or watt ever but the beast is happy hot. you cannot cook the oil in the crankcase it will never get that hot even with no coolant at all.  run er hard any compression ignition design tends to last longer if run hard.  not beat to death and maintained but not to work unloaded or at idle any length of time. there have been cases where the paint was baked off the head due to coolant failure. sometimes a head gasket sometimes not, very rare a split between the valves (anyone ever heard that). often times no replace of the o ring on the bottom side ofthe liner. spin up throw the decomp, fuel and the rest is in the BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS

[cschuerm]

Thanks for the kind words from everyone!  We're still without utility power and the roid is chugging away reliabily.  I hate that it's sitting out in the snow and rain, but have no option right now.  I'd sure feel better if I had some spare parts as well.  I've been trying to order gaskets/bearings/etc from RMPS (where I purchased the engine), but havn't had a lot of luck yet. 
To answer the questions:
I'm in NE Oklahoma - tulsa area
The engine is a vidhata 20/2 that I completely went through.  I also have a GTK 24/2 that's next in line for "the treatment".
I've been meaning to order the offset gear kit, but just havn't had time.  I'll make it a priority now!
Have absolutely no idea what the average load has been.  I've been working 20 hour days trying to keep the water system in the area online, so the roid has not had much attention at all I'm embarassed to say.  my best guess is that average has probably been 7-8kw but who knows.  I have collected all the parts to build a nice control panel with volt/current/freq meters and safety systems, but it's all in boxes at the moment. 
Got my fingers crossed that we'll have utility back on by the end of the day so I can at least go throw a tarp on the trusty genset!
cheers,
Chris

[hotater]

Chris--

Many don't realize the difference in a 'hobby' engine and a 'necessary' engine until it becomes the latter.

Does your heart take a leap when the wind changes and the engine sounds different?

Do you feel sorry for having to make it work so hard without a rest?

Are you worried it'll be 'mad' at you and not start in the morning if you abuse it?

Been there, done that.   

[BruceM]

Bravo Chris!  Good to hear another sucess story regarding the reliability of 'roids that have been given the "full treatment" (tear down inspection and correction).  Keeping your neighbors going too- fantastic.

Best Wishes,
Bruce

[clytle374]

Glad to hear everyone is hanging in there.  Weatherman says it should be here anytime, not that I believe him.  Filled up all the diesel cans and cars just to be safe.

Good Luck
Cory