Lister Engines > Listeroid Engines
Lister engine as a backup generator
T19:
Well I'm looking for a backup generator as well. I too am a computer geek. I got involved with diesels in the Military (Tanker) and of course my 92 Diesel Passat with 400,000km.
I've been surfing the web reading everything I can, and luckily there is a guy about 15 minutes away who is offgrid and has a 12/2 Listor and a 25/2 as well. You guys that have them, how daunting is it to get them mounted and working??
Stevels:
Yeah, I have not started my 12/2 yet. Scared. Very scared.
I have heard tales of runaway engines, and without an adaquate cooling system rigged yet, I don't know what I will do.
However, once I do get the 'roid running, I will post my experience!
quinnf:
Well, it helps to have a welder and the ability to cut and weld heavy steel for the frame, but you could just screw the thing down to a timber frame made from 6x6" or even railroad ties sunk into the ground. The articles on the CD explain it pretty well. Almost everyone has a friend/neighbor who's always picking grease from under his fingernails. Motorheads sometimes make good, and even useful friends. If all else fails, set the engine in the driveway, pretend to tinker with it and see who stops by. While working on mine, I made a couple of new friends from among my neighbors. One, hearing it start up for the first time excused himself fromt he dinner table just so he could see the thing run.
Once the engine's bolted down, you just open the compression release(s), bleed the air out of the system, which George explains well, then crank it over until you hear the injector ping. Then give it a harder spin and close the compression release and the engine should start to slowly pick up speed. Pull the crank off the shaft and keep your hand near the shutoff lever in case the governor doesn't, and you should be fine. I started mine for the first time standing on a small table on casters, and it ran fine without even being secured to the table. You can't do that with the 12/2, though. It will have to be sittign on something more substantial.
Even if the engine does start to run away, it doesn't accelerate very fast. You've probably got 10 seconds from First Smoke until it's up to speed.
Stevels:
Hi Quinf,
Thanks for the advice. Funny you mention neighbors, since I am fortunatly friendly with all of them, they have all been through my summer of constant ranting about the conversion of the Mercedes to Veg Oil. Most of them helped me in some way getting it done. They all knew that my next project would be the Lister, and they were intrigued, if not a bit sucpicious that I am crazy.
Unfortuantly, I am probably the closest thing to the greasy nailed guy on the block, and I am not good at all compared to most DIYers -- and no one on my street welds.
My next door neighbor is especially interested in the Lister and wants to go in with me on a welder and some lessons! We will see.
I have the Utterpower CD, but it is damaged, adn all the good parts are inaccessible. I will send for a replacement.
The truth is that the manual I got with the engine is awful. The basic first page of ant manual should have a picture of the front and back of the product, with a legend indicating the name of each important part. I stil do not even know what is what! The instructions on starting and stopping it are written such bad, broken English, that they simply don't make sense.
Oh well, fun fun fun! I will reread your last post, adn also try to get my CD replaced (George seems to be out of town)
If you read in the paper that a man was attacked by an Engine, it was probably me.
quinnf:
Steve,
If you're going to disassemble the engine to check for casting sand like everyone recommends, keep a digital camera handy and snap a close-up picture at each step. As long as you're consistent, if you get lost you can then reverse the order of the pictures to get it put back together. Use zip-lock sandwich bags to keep nuts/bolts/pins/small parts separate, and label the bags with a marker. There are so few parts to this engine, you can't really get into trouble. Just don't get in a hurry and you'll do fine.
The only part that takes some work is getting the gib keys out, but you don't really need to take them off unless you want to remove the crank. The piston rings are difficult to compress and slide into the cylinders without a BIG ring compressor, but you can use a piece of thin sheet steel, a couple of hose clamps, and some STP oil treatment to lubricate it.
Once you get your CD from George, it will answer most of your questions. After the holidays I'll probably spring for another one myself just to see what new stuff George has added. And hopefully this site will grow and others will hang out here to help.
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