On Sun, 04 Nov 2012 13:02:11 -0800, Gunner
wrote:


And they can be had very very cheaply out of wrecks and other sources.
A buddy of mine built one using the HF 10kw gennhead and a Pinto
engine. It runs for days on a 20 gallon gas tank. At something like
800 rpm

Gunner

Gunner,a Pinto 2300 peaks at 96 ft lbs at 3000 RPM
At 800 RPM it would be doing VERY well to put out 55 ft lbs.
55*800/5252=8 HP
Not likely it could run a 10Kw genny at full load.
With proper modification you might get the torque up to 75 or 80 ft
lbs. That would give you 12 HP. JUST, possibly, enough to run a good
10KW genhead at full output, and take over a gallon an hour to run, so
2 days at close to full power on 20 gallons is believeable. Running at
less than half output might increase run time by 25% if he is REALLY
lucky.

On a later model engine 800 RPM could possibly be controlled bretty
well under low load by the idle air speed control after it got warmed
up.
The same engine, running at 1800 RPM would put out about 90 ft lbs,
for 30 HP - and running a 10Kw generator head at full output would use
about the same amount of gas because the efficiency of the engine
would be higher.


What is he using for a speed governor to keep the frequency stable? I
know there are a lot om OEM parts used to control idle speed on modern
vehicle engines that could be used to make your own governor. The HF
generator could be directly coupled to a small engine running at 3600rpm
using a Lovejoy coupling. The specs call for 16hp for full output so I'm
wondering if you could couple it to the existing pulleys
on a small 4cyl auto engine keeping the bell housing, flywheel and
starter to make things easier. Of course many modern vehicle engines
don't have a simple ignition system with a distributor and coil, so what
could you do there. I know an old Pinto engine didn't have an ECU
but a simple, possibly electronic ignition with distributor and a carb
which would make for a easy conversion to a stationary engine. My old
89 Dodge van has an engine control computer and TBI which could be used
to build a stationary engine for a generator but I'm wondering about the
new super whiz bang computer controlled engines of today's vehicles? O_o

TDD


Keep in mind..that 3600 rpm engines are using 4 times as much fuel as
a 800 rpm engine. Which is why the good gensets only run at 1800
rpm. They took subsized engines, hooked them up to a genny and run
them hard in order to keep the hp ratings up. Which works..but its
hard on the engine and hard on the fuel bills.

The new whizbang engines do exactly the same thing with the new
computers and they can be yanked out by the roots and installed on the
standby, though its a bit more complicated because so few of them have
a distributor anymore. Hence my suggestion about older engines with a
distributor for the hamhanded or those without a decent shop manual
for the engine/vehicle in question.

Gunner