On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 08:47:40 GMT, SomeBody
wrote:

To answer your questions, I am in the Spring Hill area, north of Tampa,
close to the Veterans Expressway, if you know where that is.
South of 50 and North of 52.

Damn, were almost neaighbors! I work with a weld / machine shop just
south of you called H&R Metal Fab, down the Veterans at Hillsbourough
ave.

I live in Ellenton, just south of the SkyWay bridge off I-75.

I bought the Direct drive coupler ($269) from a man named George at
utterpower.com and the genset combo package from someone named Joel, it
was from EBAY.

The utterpower.com guys have a really nice web-site! One of the
reasones I decided to attempt this adventure. To be honest, I'm still
a little leary of jumpying into the made in Chine assembled by me
game, but it honestly looks like a fun project!

The coupler came with the LoveJoy-150 and what looks like a machined,
brake rotor off a small car, 4 lug. that mates up to the flywheel
mounting lugs. It works.

Ahhhh That explains the 4 extra (un-used) bolt holes I saw in their
adapter! Also, I would imagine that the extra mass on the engine side
definetly can't hurt.


You do know that there is some kind of formula on what size engine
you need to turn the head? It's something like, 2hp for every 1Kw.
If you use a direct drive, you cant run the engine at full output of 2200
rpm, which means you wont develop the the full rated 22 hp. You need to
spin the engine at 1800 rpm to match the genhead requirements of 1800 rpm.

Indeed, while the generator head I got is rated at 15KW, if I did the
math right @ 22HP / 2200RPM the max available is only 14.7 KW. Now
factor in the direct drive which will reduce the available HP @ 1800
RPM, and it's probably closer to 12 - 13KW max.

The question is, if we stuck with the belt drive arrangment, running
the diesel at 2200 rpm, how much power would be lost to the belts?

The truth is, even if I can get 10 or 12KW out of the direct drive
arrangment, I really don't "Need" more than that. Plus it's got to be
easier on the engine and generator head not having those high side
loads the belt would provide (not even mentioning the possible
improvement in longevity of running the diesel at 1800 rpm..

The engine was ran without the genhead attached, I built my frame with
isolation bumpers built-in ($9.00 transmission mounts) so the vibration
will be reduced to the concrete piers. When I had the engine up to speed,
it did vibrate some, it's an engine, but was not jumping around like a
rabbit. I put my foot on the frame and could feel the vibration and with
my foot on the pier, it was greatly reduced. I am happy with the way the
frame came out. I modified a frame I've seen on the internet.

That's good to know, I was a little worried about that huge one
cylinder idea

As far as how noisy it was, well, let me try and explain it.
Standing next to it, at speed (1800 rpm), you would need to raise your
normal talking voice to a level that you would need to do in a crowded bar
with heavy metal music playing, while you are about a foot from someone
you are talking too. This is with the stock muffler installed.

OK, that sounds a little loud

The owner of the weld shop just recently purchased a new Miller Big 40
Diesel (AC/DC, with 12KW of single or three phase 220vac power). It
has got to be the quietest diesel I've ever heard! With the Miller
Big 40 running outside a closed window of the shop office, you can
bearly hear it running. While standing next to it is about as noisy
as a LARGE shop fan, which is exactly what I believe is making all the
noise, the fan for the radiator.. (but for 10K, I guess you get what
you pay for!)

As I walked away from the running engine, it did get quieter. It wasn't
really that bad. I live on a 1-1/4 acre, where my neighbors are quite a
distance from my genset with sound dampening barriers, fences, garage and
blocking some sounds. If you neighbors with close by, plan on offering
them free power during outages.

I was the reciever of free power last year, so this year I hope to be
able to return the favor

I am planning on changing the muffler with something else in the near
future, as well as some other modifications.

Same here, specifially getting rid of the hopper cooling system, and
going with a radiator and a fan, so I can mount this thing in a
enclosure on a trailer.

Once I am satisfied with the genhead alignment I plan on making a small
video to post on the web of it running, with sound.

Cool!

BTW, if you ever need / want something machined or powder coated,
shoot me an email. Maybe we can start up our own little chapter of
the ChangFa Generators Anonymous


Take Care,
James Lerch
http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm (My telescope construction, Testing, and Coating site)

Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Calvin Coolidge