Lister Engines > Listeroid Engines
My fix for Listeroid light flicker
veggie:
Earlier this winter we experienced a power outage.
It happened at dinner time and ran for most of the evening during a winter storm with temperatures at -16C.
The house started to cool rapidly.
Wearing my headlamp, I ventured out to the garage, fired up the listeroid, and flipped the transfer switch.
All good, we had power and heat. But one annoying thing was the flickering lights throughout the house.
It also concerned me that damage may occur to sensitive electronics such as the $600 control board in my natural gas furnace.
Here's a short video of the Listeroid running in the dark and powering the house.
Notice the 240 volt AC generator head. (Soon to be changed).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfS4dqnn4_I
I decided to try a different approach.
Driving a DC alternator --> battery bank ---> pure sine inverter --> House
I already had a set of batteries left over from a previous solar project, so I though they could act as a load buffer and a voltage clamp for the alternator/inverter system.
I swapped out the AC generator head for a Delco 25Si heavy duty 50A, 24 volt alternator.
Next step was to build a power module consisting of box, batteries, solar charge controller, pure sine inverter, and safety breakers.
This is what I ended up with.
The idea is that during an outage the Listeroid runs constantly.
Sometimes the house pulls from both the batteries and the alternator, and other times the charging is greater than the house draw.
Overall the system can keep up.
The listeroid can achieve 50A alternator output at the reduced speed of 395 rpm which makes the system very quiet.
Here is a video of the first run where the bank is charging at 20 amps.
The yellow cable from the power module plugs into the generator inlet box to the house transfer switch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxJo6UqwCi0
When not in use, float charging is accomplished with a small 24 volt, 5amp 3 step battery maintainer.
Once the solar charge controller is connected to the 600 watt panel array, the solar charger can take care of keeping the batteries topped.
The Magnum inverter provides split phase, 240 volt AC to the house, just as my AC alternator did.
I realize this is less efficient, but I don't care. I can justify it by not having to replace expensive electronic components.
cheers,
veggie
BruceM:
Alternately, use LED bulbs with a switch mode power supply (constant DC voltage and current to LEDs in series) in the base.
Edit- I missed the 395 rpm; that's probably a no go for direct AC power without some serious flywheel mass additions that would make the SOM flywheels look lightweight. I like that the inverter can handle bigger peak loads, while the Lister CS just keeps on purring and catches up the batteries later.
cujet:
Very nice setup and thanks for the videos. It's one thing to understand what's being described. It's another to see a fantastic installation in all it's glory, and watch it function properly.
veggie:
--- Quote from: cujet on March 28, 2022, 02:41:42 AM ---Very nice setup and thanks for the videos. It's one thing to understand what's being described. It's another to see a fantastic installation in all it's glory, and watch it function properly.
--- End quote ---
Yes, when the unit powered an AC generator, the engine ran at 650 rpm.
All the house lights are LED's but lots of flicker. I was also concerned about sensitive electronics.
When accounting for the power demand of the 50 amp alternator, the load could be achieved with the lister running at 395 rpm (alternator running at 2000 rpm).
So I slowed the engine down to match the load. The engine is running near max load for that speed.
One benefit from this system is that while the house is being fed power, the engine heat dissipated from the radiator fan (1 ft away from the engine) keeps the the insulated garage at a nice 70F when it's -16C (3 Deg F) outside. No need for my garage heater.
veggie:
--- Quote from: cujet on March 28, 2022, 02:41:42 AM ---Very nice setup and thanks for the videos. It's one thing to understand what's being described. It's another to see a fantastic installation in all it's glory, and watch it function properly.
--- End quote ---
Thanks cujet :)
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