My First Listeroid Experience

[bschwartz]

   "Wouldn't it be wild if we found out that India was broaching the key slot incorrectly, and hence, positioning the counter balance weights in the wrong place?"

I think that is the case with mine!!!!!

Well one anyway.  My 2008 Metro has the key cut in slightly different locations in the flywheels.
Several degrees off.  Right now I'm trying to balance it with the Mr. X method, and it wants to hippity hop side to side and around in circles (always clockwise).  It isn't the worst I've ever seen, but I want to try to calm it down before mounting it to the concrete block. 

[billswan]

   "Wouldn't it be wild if we found out that India was broaching the key slot incorrectly, and hence, positioning the counter balance weights in the wrong place?"

I think that is the case with mine!!!!!

Well one anyway.  My 2008 Metro has the key cut in slightly different locations in the flywheels.
Several degrees off.  Right now I'm trying to balance it with the Mr. X method, and it wants to hippity hop side to side and around in circles (always clockwise).  It isn't the worst I've ever seen, but I want to try to calm it down before mounting it to the concrete block. 

Swap the flywheels side for side maybe it will hop the other way around   

billswan

[toydiesel01]

Hello Quisp, I have a Metro 16/1  not the 6/1  when I first started my engin on the pallet it jumped and hopped and shook the fuel out of the tank.  I was scared it was going to tip over my engin crain that I kep attached to it.     I mounted it to a good frame now and the engin is very calm now.  So I think you are on the right track now with the 2 ton cement block. 
Good luck and keep us posted

[Blueflame]

Quisp my 6-1 is also a powersolutions with 2005 on the head casting. The shed is also 14x10 but I did things diffrently. The whole genset was built on a steel frame and had many hours of test running in my driveway before I moved it 170 miles to its permanent home, an off grid camp in the woods. I used boat hoist wheels temporary mounted to get it on the trailer and thru the woods to the new spot. Once positioned I jacked it up slowly at each corner and placed formboards and anchorbolts and poured the concrete. It used about 800 LBs but seems enough to hold it steady. The shed went up around the generator and was designed to absorb sound by using staggered framing and fiberglass insulation thruout. A big car muffler and pipe goes thru the far wall and a flatplate heat exchanger for cooling the motor and heating the cabin was installed. The insulated piping goes underground to the hydronic system of a wood fired boiler and provides space heating and domestic water heating. The system was fun to build and I can have continuous power and 300 gallon tub of bathwater heated with wase heat for about 4 to 5 gallons of fuel per day. The engine when I got it needed tappets trued and new fuel lines and filter,the fuel line swelled shut. Other wise I have done nothing more to it. I really believe this batch of engines were good ones. Brian

[Quisp]

Well here's an update.

My 6/1 is now mounted to the concrete block and runs great without transferring any vibrations to the shed it lives in. Here are a couple pics of the base. The concrete is about 3 ft deep.







Now I'm setting up the ST5 gen head. Thanks again.

[SHIPCHIEF]

One thing that I did not see mentioned here is;
What engine speed was it hopping around at? If it was running above rated RPM it will shake. You still need that foundation you built tho-.
My engine -as delivered- had the governor set too high, so when I started it, well it took off and started jumping and rocking around (twin). My engine is one of the smoother ones when run at a reasonable speed. It's scary smooth at about 940 RPM. Unfortunately, no one has a generator pulley correctly sized for that  It's rated for 1000, but it ran 'nervous' and when load was removed and the governor let the RPM rise a few RPM it whould get 'wild' and eventually break the sub base mount bolts.
I de-rated the RPM with a George B generator pulley, engine speed now is a sedate 735 RPM, with lots of safe top end to spare in case of an over run. I also improved the governor arm geometry and made up some better governor springs. You will be doing that too. It really controls the speed droop from no-load to full-load.
Nice pictures. I always like to see the individual ways people work out their engine rooms. 

[M61hops]

Yay Quisp!  Way to do it  !  It looks like you put something soft between the concrete and wood sub frame so that the concrete floats free from touching the shed structure?                                              Leland                                                       

[Quisp]

Shipchief,   the governor was actually set too low, and it was still hopping up and down. I don't know what the rpm actually was, but when I finally got it all put together and connected to thye ST5, I was only making about 55 Hz. I had to bump it up a little to make 60 Hz. Yes, I can already see that I'll be doing some work on the governor. Sounds like you have a sweet setup!

Leland, the concrete does not touch the shed structure at all. It's close.... but it doesn't touch it. The bolts that go through the 6x6s and the 6/1 are 3' long, most of which is in the concrete. I also put nuts and washers on the bottom end. Those rods are NEVER coming out!

Thanks to all,
Quisp

[Quisp]

I've done some work on my roid in the last week. I picked up one of those auto exhaust pieces which are semi flexible and welded threaded fittings on each end. That decouples the engine vibration from the weight of the exhaust system. It seems to work well.

I also had to replace the fuel line between the fuel filter and injector pump. The rubber in the crimp-on fittings was already half dissolved by the biodiesel and was leaking badly.

After that I was able to run it with about a 3000 watt load for about 45 minutes. In the beginning, it smoked badly. Towards the end it was hardly smoking at all. This was really the first real break-in run with a load.

I did notice that one of my tappets isn't turning. At least, the push rod isn't. I assume that means the tappet isn't either. Is that true? The other push rod rotates every time. What do I need to do to fix it?

Thx,

[xyzer]

Quisp,
I paint a white line or put a wire tie on the lifter so I can see for sure it is turning without my glasses on . The lifter needs to turn! The pushrod not that important....IMO

[t19]

I put a spot of yellow paint on them and watched them dance around... very re-assuring

[Quisp]

Well, one of my tappets turns occasionally, while the other spins like a top.  Do I need to be concerned?

[Tom]

Probably good enough. Does it turn easily in the bore of the lifter holder by hand?

[Quisp]

Yes,  it spins freely by hand.

[xyzer]

Well, one of my tappets turns occasionally, while the other spins like a top.  Do I need to be concerned?

Quisp,
Try loosening the guide clamp and turning the guide and then retighten the clamp. See if you can get a little more action out of it. I do it while it is running. Occasionally is better than not.......