diesel for generator

[Dargo]

what size you looking for? have seen up to 10kw

I bought a Yanmar powered 65kw unit with Deep Sea electronics and sound dampening container included. It came with it's own tandem axle trailer, which I don't really need and will be removing from the generator as soon as I can get a licensed electrician to permanently wire it to my home.

I'm keeping my little Honda 8500kw has powered unit as a portable unit. It's been the ultimate in reliable, but is obviously just a toy for what I need. I'm selling the 6500kw Yamaha powered gas generator. It was just to run things in my guest house when power was out. With my new Yanmar turbo diesel unit, I should be just fine for all my needs.

 

[DarkBlack]

65kw?? You got a house full of grow lights?

 

[Boeing]

Don't know what you saw, Soundguy.....Lowe's does not carry a diesel gen. Home Depot DID.....last year, but dropped it. It was also a Chinese clone. Guess they got tired of supporting it's warranty

I'd like about a 7500 Wt but will accept the 6000 in Diesel.
I will run an occasional MIG welder, occasional air compressor, rarely a radial saw....and maybe SOME day, a well pump. (if I ever get a well) I'm going up there next week and try to use a borrowed gas generator to run a water pump to suck creek water into a 300 gallon tank....then trailer that back up to my hill top. We'll see.:confused2:

 

[JB4310]

Military Diesel Generators - Green Mountain Generators (GMG)

Just throwing this out here for conversation sake.

900 lbs for a 5 kw genny!

I like anything military, these things would probably last forever.

JB.

 

[Soundguy]

Don't know what you saw, Soundguy.....Lowe's does not carry a diesel gen.

Wow.. nice response. Think I have another name to add to the bit bucket.

I havn't looked for a genset in a few years. Guess I should have prefaced that back in 04/05 lowes had a diesel genset. I'm surprised they dropped it. looked like a good unit.

My diesel genset is a big ford tractor with a pto gen mounted to a pallate on a carry-all.

soundguy

 

[Boeing]

Hey guys....guide me here. FIRST, good news, HOME DEPOT has started carrying the diesel AGAIN. (Lowes still does not) I read about it, it states CSA (Canadian certification) and looks identical to the Aurora one. I called them; you have to buy it thru the "internet store", ($1199) must be delivered to a home or address (not a store) has a 1 year warranty and a THREE year WARRANTY is AVAILABLE for $279. What is wierd is that the extended warranty must be paid for at a store even though the store does not carry the genset??? And claims require the gen be taken to a store and THEY ship it to a repair center......
I asked about the unit.....made in China, "tested" and certified by Canada. It DOES NOT mention the cold weather start coil that the Aurora has in the intake.

So here goes, I called Aurora and asked if they had an extended warranty available. A rather SNOTTY salesman did not answer that question, rather he asked HOW I intended to use the unit. I told him on land where there is no electricity. He stated that I would have NO WARRANTY as this unit is AIR COOLED and was neverr designed to be a primary power source. I told him that I did not live there and only needed power to occasionally run a saw, a MIG welder, maybe an air compressor and someday a well pump. He then said that "PERHAPS" I would get the standard warranty but he would have to consult with a supervisor. I HUNG UP ON HIM....!!!!! Immature but it felt GOOD:laughing: OK guys, AIRCOOLED.....aren't MOST portable generators AIRCOOLED? PRIMARY power source? When ice storms or HURRICANES come thru aren't portable generators running for days or weeks? What's his problem? Do I ignore him and order Aurora to get the starting heater or get it thru Home Depot and buy an extended warranty? AND....is the extended warranty a good idea or a waste of $279. I HATE JERKS!!!

 

[Soundguy]

most diesels or lp/prop/NG I see are liquid cooled. ( of course these are 10K+ units too.. not small units.)

most small gassers i see are air cooled.

soundguy

 

[Boeing]

I have never seen anyone do it or even mention it but.....how about using one of the 4 plugs to run a "box" fan pointed at the Generator itself...:thumbsup:

 

[JB4310]

most diesels or lp/prop/NG I see are liquid cooled. ( of course these are 10K+ units too.. not small units.)

most small gassers i see are air cooled.

soundguy

Some of those military ones are air cooled and man that makes them wicked loud, as they equip them with over engineered air cooling.
I guess they figure less to go wrong with the air cooling.

After hearing one though I would much prefer the liquid cooled.

JB

 

[DarkBlack]

Aren't all engines air cooled?

 

[Soundguy]

Some of those military ones are air cooled and man that makes them wicked loud, as they equip them with over engineered air cooling.
I guess they figure less to go wrong with the air cooling.

After hearing one though I would much prefer the liquid cooled.

JB

i've heard a bif deutz on a genny.. and we have one at work on a large water pump.

soundguy

 

[Boeing]

I can presume that Mr. Black was joking about all engines being air cooled but I'll bite......many, many engines are water cooled with internal pumps to make the water flow. OK, I couldn't stand it.
Now about noise.....I had an ONAN generator in a cabin cruiser that had a small water pump and drew sea water, pumped it thru the little bitty block and head and... this is the cool part...the EXHAUST discharged into the water being expelled. You could barely hear that generator run. Sure wish there was some way to have a portable water muffled generator......hhmmmm? How about mounting a 55 gal barrel and have the exhaust bubble down into it? hhhmmm......like eating beans and sitting in a bath tub:

 

[JB4310]

I can presume that Mr. Black was joking about all engines being air cooled but I'll bite......many, many engines are water cooled with internal pumps to make the water flow. OK, I couldn't stand it.
Now about noise.....I had an ONAN generator in a cabin cruiser that had a small water pump and drew sea water, pumped it thru the little bitty block and head and... this is the cool part...the EXHAUST discharged into the water being expelled. You could barely hear that generator run. Sure wish there was some way to have a portable water muffled generator......hhmmmm? How about mounting a 55 gal barrel and have the exhaust bubble down into it? hhhmmm......like eating beans and sitting in a bath tub:

I think he meant even liquid cooled engines use air thru the radiators to cool the water, so in a way an acurate statement. The exeption being raw water cooled marine engines like you mentioned.

JB.

 

[DarkBlack]

Exactly. "water cooled" water/air radiator engines are cooled by air the same as "air cooled" engines. They only use liquid as a heat transfer medium. They still require the same volume/density/temperature of air to absorb the heat.
Any gen set as discussed that won't warranty off grid use is just a poor excuse for an inadequate design.
Off grid users normally onl run long enough to charge batteries anyways.
Any temp rise in a good engine design will have stabalized well before 1 hour of running, due to a properly sized fan and exchange area, and the non-waranty is more likely a fear of low quality parts and the cumulative toll of vibrations without hydraulic dampening.

 

[DieselSJ]

I just emailed the distributor and asked why off road can't be used in their generators and here is their reply.

The person who answered you knows not of what they speak.

 

[dlabrie]

Well It arrived in great condition. I filled it with oil and fuel, bled the line, charged and hooked up the battery and she started right up. I have run it for about 5 hours so far to break it in.
It has been running very well. The only thing that is wrong is the solenoid that trips the shut off lever doesn't work, I have to do it manually. They are going to send another. So far, so good.

 

[Boeing]

It looks good.....how long did it take to get it?
ALSO......what did that solinoid do? Shut down with a lever? Sorry I don't understand...... You shut it down manually.....what does that mean? Is there a fuel valve where it would starve in a few seconds? After your "break in" will you change oil and to what? synthetic or some special type?
Thanks

 

[dlabrie]

It looks good.....how long did it take to get it?
ALSO......what did that solinoid do? Shut down with a lever? Sorry I don't understand...... You shut it down manually.....what does that mean? Is there a fuel valve where it would starve in a few seconds? After your "break in" will you change oil and to what? synthetic or some special type?
Thanks

It took about a week for it to be delivered to a warehouse about an hour from my home. I put it in the back of my RAV4. It was pretty heavy, but manageable.

There is a manual lever that you can use to shut off the generator (how it works, I don't know) you just press it down. Attached to it is a cable going to a solenoid, the solenoid is activated when you turn the ignition switch to the off position it pulls on the cable that is attached to the lever and shuts it down. The solenoid is not working. I have been waiting for almost 2 weeks for it.

Break in requires dino oil and after break in synthetic oil is specified.

It looks like a pretty good rig. I have just about finished installing a transfer switch and remote plug to use when the power goes out.

 

[Dargo]

It took about a week for it to be delivered to a warehouse about an hour from my home. I put it in the back of my RAV4. It was pretty heavy, but manageable.

There is a manual lever that you can use to shut off the generator (how it works, I don't know) you just press it down. Attached to it is a cable going to a solenoid, the solenoid is activated when you turn the ignition switch to the off position it pulls on the cable that is attached to the lever and shuts it down. The solenoid is not working. I have been waiting for almost 2 weeks for it.

Break in requires dino oil and after break in synthetic oil is specified.

It looks like a pretty good rig. I have just about finished installing a transfer switch and remote plug to use when the power goes out.

You're wiring it to your house?? Wow, it seems awfully small for anything like that (I have two larger ones that I never considered using a transfer switch) and I flat out am very skeptical of how clean the power output would be on a Chinese bargain unit. I wish you the best of luck, but I spent almost 10 years researching before I bought me a whole house generator. Not one single electrical contractor, union or non-union, said that they would hook up a Chinese unit to their home.

Hopefully they've improved. Having just gone through my 2nd homeowner's insurance claim in 26 years with State Farm (cannot recommend them!), I know for a fact that they deny electrical claims when a Chinese generator was used and transformers got toasted. You may want to make a call to your insurance agent. It could save you tens of thousands in denied claims or it could give you something in writing (I'd ask for approval for a Chinese generator running items in my house in writing; not verbal). Good luck!

 

[dex3361]

I run my Aurora generator at my house and the computer big screen TV microwave etc did just fine. No over heating wall wart transformers. I checked the quality of the power and it was pretty good for a portable generator. I test ran my generator at my house under normal conditions to make sure it worked. I have since used it during power outages and have no issues. I was surprised how long it ran on a tank of fuel.