Changfa's Alphabetic Codes

[Rainbow-Farm]

On Changfa's site, they say that "N" means condenser (the water condenser/radiator thing that sits on the hopper? the thing that is reported as "to be upgraded ASAP?)

"P" means pump. What kind of pump? Fuel pump? Water pump?

"M" means electric start.

"G" means... what?

"ZS" before the model number means what?

"CFS" models... vs. "CFZ" or "CFS" or "ZS" or "CS"... what are the differences in all these different model configurations of the same engine!?

Does anyone know any of the answers to the significance of these codes?

[Rainbow-Farm]

I just found out that "P" is a water pump.

"circulating water pump. It is a small pump bolted to the engine block and driven by a v-belt. You can configure it to circulate the water in the engine block using a hose from the top to the pump or you can introduce a small tank or a radiator between the top and the pump. Some people install a thermostat with the radiator."

... and half of that I do not understand, but that is another topic.

[bitsnpieces1]

I just found out that "P" is a water pump.

"circulating water pump. It is a small pump bolted to the engine block and driven by a v-belt. You can configure it to circulate the water in the engine block using a hose from the top to the pump or you can introduce a small tank or a radiator between the top and the pump. Some people install a thermostat with the radiator."

... and half of that I do not understand, but that is another topic.

  The codes escape me, but, the above would be equivalent to the water pump on your car/truck.  Most of the engines like this caan run as a simple 'boil off and refill' hopper, circulate to even temp, or run through a radiator to give lots of cooling ability. 

[Rainbow-Farm]

Thanks, bitsnpieces1. The cooling set-up that MJN did is simply (simple) beautiful, a work of techno-art. I also have a good supply of "old valve" propane tanks, good for the vegetable oil.

The pump would not be a show stopper. I am more concerned about having the starter. Importers/sellers of the engines also do not understand the codes, and report that the sales folks at Changfa in China also have no idea about the products.

You buy one. You get a mechanic to fine tune it. Keeping the hopper fed with distilled water seems like a bother and a risk to me.

[bitsnpieces1]

  Running plain water in the hopper [boil off] type isn't a big deal.  Just fill it with a mild acid [vinegar, etc.] and soak for a while then flush to get out lime deposits every now and then.  Use stronger acid [muriatic - pool stuff] if you feel confident in it's use.  Better way to go is to seal off opening and setup with a convection radistor system.  Check out utterpower .com for a kit that will let you do that fairly easily. 

[mjn]

I would not recommend using hopper cooling on an unattended engine.

Before I got my radiator hooked up, I ran my Changfa with hopper cooling.  With a 5000 watt load, it would boil dry in an hour.  With a full hopper, lots of water splashes out and dries on the hopper making a mess.  I was constantly adding water, and wiping up the mess.

Here is what my engine looked like with hopper cooling


Here is a video showing the amount of steam generated by a Changfa with a 5000 watt load:
http://martin.nile.googlepages.com/changfa195firstpower.wmv

[europachris]

I would not recommend using hopper cooling on an unattended engine.

Before I got my radiator hooked up, I ran my Changfa with hopper cooling.  With a 5000 watt load, it would boil dry in an hour.  With a full hopper, lots of water splashes out and dries on the hopper making a mess.  I was constantly adding water, and wiping up the mess.

I'll second that!  However, since mine is a 'portable' set, I kept the hopper cooling.  Anything less than 50% load and the water barely bubbles.  But, once I get the generator loaded up all the way, she boils up pretty good like yours.

But, we were working on some outside projects earlier in the year, and I was mostly just running a drill while assembling a playset for our son.  I really don't think it ever really boiled, maybe just simmered a little.

Even if I need to run the house as backup, with the fridge, freezer, furnace, and a few lights, I'm not working the set that hard, so it should be manageable.

I wonder if one could make a condenser setup that you could mount on top of the hopper and remove for portability?  Something like the Arrow oilfield engines have.  Basically a miniature one pipe steam heat system.

Chris

[bitsnpieces1]

  How about making a cooling/condensing unit on a frame that fits over the engine in a way that it can be lifted off for transport and connect it with standard galv. pipe unions. 
  Place engine, drop cooler over it, join union halves, and run.
  To move:  drain water, unjoin unions, lift off cooler, move it and engine to new site. 

[Rainbow-Farm]

Bits and Pieces... I have seen the adaptor plate at utterpower.com (3 "pipe" bits on a plate that fits over the hopper). One for thermostat, one for water in, one for hot water out... something like that.

Sounds easy enough to do as you suggest, but... how much water would you need to run through the piping "condenser" (water goes up hot, cools, falls... is that the idea?)... must not be an engine that requires much in the way of cooling. Is that the case?

If a bit of water in the hopper is enough to cool it, then something simple, as you propose, would be easier to put together than hoses, radiator, fan, etc.

Would it be adequate? Anyone tried it?

[bitsnpieces1]

http://www.utterpower.com/cooling.htm

  The above link talks about the thermosiphon system.  Basically you run a smallish car radiator with the hot water from the engine going to the top, cooling down and then falling backto the engine.  An engine running a load will need a fair amount of cooling.  Do a search on 'thermosiphon' on this site and you should find more than enough info about how to set it up.