Greetings from Tasmania

[sirpedrosa]

Hi Bob

Very nice work, indeed!

Keep good work.

Cheers
VP

[ajaffa1]

Thanks VP, I`ve got a sh1t load of work left to do. I want to put in a toilet and sink so I need hot and cold running water.
I need to build a sound proof generator shed for my CS. I also want to get a large solar array distributed across the shed and house.
I need to do all the wiring for lights and power outlets.
If anyone has any experience of LED high bay lights it would be much appreciated. They come in different wattages from 50W to 500W, while I would like things to be well lit I don`t want to have to wear sunglasses!

Bob

[ajaffa1]

Hi Guys, I was having a conversation with Cobbadog, on another thread, about digging trenches when too old to do it. I have found that having a beer every hour allows me to keep digging. Today was a five beer day, the last storm water ditch is dug and the overflow pipe is now installed down to the creek. I`ve just got to backfill it in the morning.
A couple of pics.

Bob

[ajaffa1]

Hi Guys, having built the new shed I have started to collect tools to fill it. This is difficult because I only have a single phase electric supply and a lot of the tooling for sale is 3 phase. There are only four options for dealing with this problem
1. build or buy a rotary phase converter
2. buy a suitable variable frequency drive for each 3 phase motor/appliance
3. buy a 3 phase ST generator head and couple it to my Lister CS 6/1
4. buy a three phase generator

The shed has no electric at the moment as my electrician has been working in New South Wales for the last six months and won`t be back in Tasmania for another 3 months. I need to have a plan for the electrical installation when he gets back.
Tomorrow I am going to a deceased estate sale where I am hoping to buy a complete fabrication shop, Gas welding gear, Mig welder, plasma cutter, AC/DC Tig welder & accessories a lot of it is 3 phase.
Any thoughts on how to best resolve this dilemma would be appreciated.

Bob

[mikenash]

Hi Bob. I don’t know if my experience is of value in your situation - but here goes

I have been shopping for a good quality 1500 RPM diesel genset for over a year. Been watching TradeMe (our ebay) closely and struggled to find what I wanted at a price I was happy with. I didn’t want to pay more than 5K for a solid unit; and looked at many. But at that price they were either versions on a theme of the Chinese Yanmar at a noisy, air-cooled 3000’RPMs or worn oit junk

Eventually I paid $6900 with a guy here who’d specialises in solar-support-sized gensets of varying spec & who imports gen-heads to his own spec from China and fits, typically, low-hours Kubota or Perkins 3 or 4-cyl diesels & new controllers etc

In spending a chunk of time “shopping” it seemed to me there was less demand for smaller 3-phase gensets? 

I’m a fan of “simple is good”. Perhaps if you were willingly to spend a bit - a good-quality 3-phase diesel genset would be an option?

I will watch with interest. Cheers

[ajaffa1]

Hi Mike, thank you for your input, it is much appreciated. I have been doing exactly the same as you and scouring the internet for a 1500 RPM diesel genset. Sadly everything made now is designed to run at 3000 RPM, this is because it is cheaper to manufacture a 12 HP engine that runs at 3000 RPM than a 12 HP engine that runs at 1500 RPM. The old Lister CS6/1 became an 8/1 by swapping the cast iron piston for an aluminium piston and running it 200 RPM faster.

I have found an old Ruston engine that I`m interested in, sadly the gen head is not working, the lady selling it can`t tell me if it is single or three phase, she has consulted a friend and I hope to hear from her soon. I attach a photo.

Bob

[mikenash]

Hey Bob, it's maybe a question of finding the right supplier?

See pic?  The bloke that builds these chases low-hours diesels in several sizes - one of which is 1500RPM Kubota/Perkins ex things like lighting towers

The donor machines (gensets, light towers etc) are smaller, lower-value units and - when the alternators fail - are basically scrap.  He keeps an eye out for engines and, as I said, imports gen heads to his spec

I asked him for a simple unit with a mechanically-governed engine and a simple, $500 controller that just looks at RPMs, engine oil pressure & temp, over & under RPMs and a couple other things; and which offers 2-wire start options if you want it

I'm taking delivery in a few weeks.  This weekend I'm building a base with rubber inserts for it in the (work in progress) soundproof shed

All that said, I did look at many, many gensets before I admitted to myself my budget was too lean and spent what I needed to spend to get what I wanted

"Patience" might be a big part of it lol

Good luck

I'm pottering away with solar in the same shed - got three panels, wiring, initial charge controller, 100A/H 48V battery etc sort of in place . . .

A work in progress.  Like life lol

Cheers

[mikenash]

See Bob?

Gen 1 wiring

3 panels currently in series around 150 VDC into a simple cheap Chinese "MakeSkyBkue" charge controller that - I'm told - loves to put 170-odd volts into a 48V bank (our old friend Starfire, whose advice I trust, suggested them,  They're $200 off the shelf in stock in NZ and I can do some "learning" on it with little cost.  Big fancy LFP battery has its own BMS and should be OK

Eventually I might end up with two in parallel seriesed with one on its own for about 100V and a fancier controller?  Or maybe not.  We'll see

Battery $3090.  Controller $200, panels about $1250, wiring maybe $150 - guess it all mounts up.  No avoiding it

Cheers

[ajaffa1]

Hi Mike, looks like you have been a busy boy. That generator looks like it should do the job.
I have been searching for a suitable genny every day for months. Last night I found a Perkins 3 phase genny mounted on a trailer. It`s only got 130 hours on it, I offered him $2000 and finally agreed to pay $2100 for it, hope to pick it up next week.
I`ll demount it from the trailer and install it in my new generator shed. Now all I need to do is design and build the generator shed! 
I`ll post some photos once I get it home.

Bob

[mikenash]

Hi Mike, looks like you have been a busy boy. That generator looks like it should do the job.
I have been searching for a suitable genny every day for months. Last night I found a Perkins 3 phase genny mounted on a trailer. It`s only got 130 hours on it, I offered him $2000 and finally agreed to pay $2100 for it, hope to pick it up next week.
I`ll demount it from the trailer and install it in my new generator shed. Now all I need to do is design and build the generator shed! 
I`ll post some photos once I get it home.

Bob

Well done.  That's a great deal, too.  I will watch with interest.  Cheers

[ajaffa1]

Hi Mike, I`m hoping to drive to Hobart on Thursday to collect generator. The registration on the trailer has expired so I have to get a temporary rego permit which costs about $15. Trouble is I have to get it from St. Helens which will cost me $50 in Diesel!
The good news is that the seller checked the hours meter and it only has 93 hours on it, probably still got the original oil in it! 

Bob

[mikenash]

You got a great deal there, Bob.  Mine is 500Ks away - but that's OK, i don't mind the drive

This weekend's job is to finish building a base for it with some rubber vibe-reducing inserts between layers; and I'll collect it when I'm up that way again in a few weeks

cheers

[ajaffa1]

Hi Mike and everybody else, I went and collected my new diesel generator today. Its mounted on a trailer and was built for the State Emergency Service. It has three 240 volt 10 amp outlets and one 3phase 20 amp outlet, so I`m guessing at about 25KVA. I am very happy because I was told it was a Perkins diesel engine when in fact it is a Petter air cooled engine with electric start and etc. The trailer was first registered in 1997 so the generator would be 1996? The hours meter shows 93 hours and 10 minutes!
I don`t have time to do anything with this right now but plan to build a permanent brick enclosure to house it.
A few pics attached.

Bob

[ajaffa1]

More pics

[ajaffa1]

A few more pics