Arrow k6

[BruceM]

I think Mr. X's Arrow project is great, too.  I was very interested in these engines (to run on Propane) when I was first researching my off grid move.  Alas, I couldn't find any old ones and the new one's were way beyond my budget.

Thanks for taking time to share it with us, Mr. X.

[38ac]

I have driven right by Big Als but didnt stop to see what all they are into.  That used to be a big oil producing area 40-50 years ago.

[BruceM]

Meaningful winter PV collection in N. Alberta would be difficult.  Summers would be the opposite. 

[Mr X]

You are right solar power is difficult. An example of this ,I used to raise pigs and had an electric fencer  hooked up and charged by solar. This was in December and after 3 weeks of no sun to speak of the battery died and now froze. So after that lesson I ran a long extension cord from my house battery to the pigs, it worked from then on. But on the other hand come Feb when the day light hr get longer and there is still snow on the ground, it's like having 2  suns one from the heavens and one from the reflection off the snow. And of course solar pannel love cold weather. Another limitation is the lack of size of my pannel. I think I have 250 w of mostly used pannel, bought back when the price was still 12 bucks watt. Oh well if only my world was perfect.

[BruceM]

At last, someone living off grid with less PV than I.  I had only 875 watts for about 10 years.  Just added 1500 for $0.64 watt (plus freight).  The new seasonal tilt ground rack ran me about $200 in steel. 

I assume your refrigerator, like mine, must be propane.

[BruceM]

There's the engineer in Ohio who makes hydrogen and stores it in a Propane tank farm for winter.
No one else that I know of.

[mikenash]

Amazing.  For the used panels I buy, I set the price for comparison of different panels at $100 Kw or 1 C watt.  Often I pay less than that.
Sure puts a different ROI on these things.
I was thinking that @ $9 day even for 6 Months would have a reasonable return but then I saw  that most of the use is heating which would not be needed in summer.  Add longer day etc, costs for gas for summer might be $3 per day depending on cooling used.
The change over with bright skies and Snow would be perfect though.  Panels would be Cranking. How many days this happens would be the thing. 
Be interesting to crunch the location on the PV watts website and see what they come up with for those winter months.

I'd be surprised if $100 per kW wasn't $0.10 per watt?

That's the big drawback with solar as I mentioned the other day. When you need it the most you get less and when you need it the least it's in it's greatest abundance.

[EdDee]

Interesting pricing comparison...

355W panel costs new here ZAR5/watt - that equates to AUS.50/W - A quick search on a marketing site lists the average pricing at around ZAR10/W or AUS1/W.....

Cheers
Ed

PS - 4.2Kw of array up and running  , overcast miserable weather  ....result: 100W usable from panels......   

[Mr X]

Ok I got the gas permit and I'm now done plumbing the lines now I guess it's time to put my k6 back together. I'm waiting on rings and head gaskets from Big All s . A lot more pricey then from An ad but he quit talking to me after that last shipment of mostly the wrong parts. If any one needs some petteroid parts I'll sell u what I have. 5 head gaskets 87 mm bore, mine needs 102 mm and I think by the shape these are air cooled. I have some governor stuff including weights and springs.
       Now the reason I'm writing is I m clueless as to what do u set the tappets . Another is being I have no injector to set spill timing how would u set the timing. I was going to convert this back to diesel but now will keep as ng, so when I took apart I didn't pay much attention to some details. I haven't a clue what engine this is I'm leaning to a DM 10 and am guessing the reason they call it a k 6 may be it's a Koal or Kirloskar and probably at the recommended 800 rpm may develop 6 hp, I'll be running around 900 rpm so I now have a k7

[Mr X]

Forgot to mention I found a number stamp on the block DM then 10 stamped sideways and a few other numbers I can't recall.

[Mr X]

It's alive!  And running on ng or propane. And purrrs like a beast. Not sure where I saw it but this is 900 something cc . Lots more to do now gotta  mount generator. And sin of all sins I'm going to pull the roid out of her closet and replace with Mr Petter ( k6 ) .

[BruceM]

Bravo!  Pictures and/or video, please!

[Mr X]

I'm having a change of plans yes I love this k6 petteroid, haven't got running proper yet but am now thinking, and working toward using a k301 Kohler. Thinking of running ng at around 1800 rpm. It is a 12 hp engine and hoping at that rpm will develop enough power for my needs. I'm using a Honda at 3600 rpm and it drives me nuts after a while when I work in my shop. I also picked up for cheep a 10 hp and a 14 hp Kohler. These are old and obsolete engines but we're very popular so there are many parts. That is my concern with the petter I paid $100 and after some minor parts I'm into it for several hundred. A kohler though heavy about 170 lb it dosent  require a crane to lift, so sorry guys don't mean to be a turncoat but buying an American product can't be bad, after all the saying isn't make India great again

[Mr X]

I'll just keep rambling on as not many are interested in Kohler engines. But this relates to the k6 because I now found the sweet spot to convert the Kohler carb. I took off the float bowl and with 3/8 drilled out the high speed idle jet where it goes from the float bowl to the venture In the carb. I then plugged the high idel adjustment screw. I had to plug another hole from the float bowel. The 3/8 copper tube I shoved in to the newly expanded jet and intruding in to the carb 1/2  inch. It runs good I have full throttle and govenor control and now I can open the choke compleatly. Before with the 1/4 inch line I couldn't open the choke. I had similar issues with the petter, so now I have new insights into my next experiment with the petter. But now to get the Kohler a frame and mount a generator so I can park the Honda.

[dieselspanner]

Mr X
Don't worry about rambling, almost everything that gets posted on here eventually turns up a nugget of interest. If, like your 'ramblings' on Kohlers and gas conversion, they are engineering based to start with, so much the better!

Keep it coming
Stef