Generators

[Lickey]

It was the other way round for us today in Namsom, usually the lights or powered items flicker a few times before storm comes, but today no warning, the black clouds came and wind then it pissed down, i was on the farm and my CD player kept going, so i knew Ms salon would be ok, havent had the borehole or booster pump running for 3 days now,

[Maizefarmer]

Licky

I'm going to see a gennie on Sunday morning - 900cc diesel (2 cylinder - handstart/handcrank). The gennie is pully driven 230Vac 3phase @ 32Amp Max. I don't what the efficiency factor is but even if it's 0,8 - 0.9 it'll be worth around 25Amps I guess.

All I know is that it works and is about 20 years old, comes with 12 gallon fuel tank and is used weekly to run washing machines!! The owner wants around Baht 10-12K.

I'll get some pics and send them to you.

It's about 5miles from me.

MF

[Lickey]

Thanks Maize, sounds good to me, 20 years old, even better, made to last!! and the mains failure, thats me with a torch going out in the back garden shed, 900cc twin, hope its got a good cranking handle and decompressors, not having to rely on batteries and starter motors is another plus, 3 phase too, might just get a welding outfit, if you are happy with its condition maize, then i will have it, Thankyou very much for your time and help, Lickey.

[Maizefarmer]

That was my take on it as well - weekly use for 2 decades = must be good. Yes - I believe it does have a decomp switch/lever to ease starting.

Old thumper style - around 260 rpm.

[Lickey]

Maize, did you see gennie today? is it on wheels or skids, has it got some wireing with it? or did sonkram get the better of you

[Maizefarmer]

Yes Licky - I did go and see it.

I'll send you details in the morning - I need to get some sleep as I'm getting back to routine from tomorrow onwards, so will send you all details tomorrow - but the brief of it is that it's a single pot (not twin as I was told) Lister type air cooled unit running a 3 phase Indian made gennie. I'll give you the run down tomorrow.

MF

[Lickey]

Maize, the Lister engine sounds great, used to work for a main dealer in UK doing waranty and repairs, my older brother is service manager there so parts no problem, I am slighty familar with the indian made gennie, if its not pulley/belt driven, im pretty sure the gennie relied on the main bearing of the engine for amature support, looking forward to pics, thanks Lickey,

[Maizefarmer]

Licky

It’s an old single pot air cooled Lister type clone – not twin. The top end is noisy – I think the tappets/rockers are worn, but without opening I can’t be sure of that. Black smoke – yes, there is some but as you’ll know as well as I do, that in the case of a diesel is not necessarily a bad thing. RPM’s are steady. It does have a manual decomp lever for starting.

The gennie unit is just as old – 3 phase output: 1 and 3 phases are fine, but 2 does not appear to be working. It’s a Star Delta wind – so the 2nd phase is not been used. If it’s just for single phase use that’s no problem. No idea what make, all I could see was “Made in India”.

The whole thing must weigh around 300 – 400kg’s. No skid – it’s bolted down to the concreate.

Diesel consumption I’m told is 1,5 litres per hour at 26 Amps (230Vac) both Amp and Voltage gauge work.

The engine doesn’t appear to ever have been opened and the gennie wiring is original old stuff that looks as if it could be run quite safely at twice the Amperage – really thick.

This is an old genie Licky, the sort of thing that was built and designed to run for ever. Other than for the top end noise (which I’d want to check out first – I can get someone to do that if you wish) and confirmation that tappet/rocker could be replaced – it certainly worth the asking Baht10.5K. I can’t imagine the 2nd phase problem is a big issue, and as said, if it’s just for single phase use, I wouldn’t even bother trying to fix it.

Pics coming in a day or so (I forgot to take the digital with me – so had to use a cheapie disposable from 7 – 11).

Whats your initial feeling about this? (I'm tempted if you're not). If the rocker/tappet is the problem and a replacement can be sourced, I'll get it out and you can collect it here if you want it.

PM me your number or if you have VOIP PM me your reg name and I'll give you a ring.

MF

[Lickey]

Maize, thanks for your time and troulble on this, i will almost certainly buy the set, you like me are a diesel engineer, before i PM you my mo number i would like to point out a few things about top=end noise to the readers and posters on here who might be interested;

We all know thai machine operators are a breed of {if it aint broke dont fix it} characters, Preventive Maintainance schedules are unheard of here.

Black smoke, aceptable while engine is increasing revs, still smokes at peak revs under load, too much load or blocked air filter,silencer carboned up is another cause.

Noisy top-end, usually tappets, but if oil hasnt been changed for 20 years {god forbid!! }its likely the rocker arm bushes are near worn away, and if this happens, the rocker to valve stem contact area is suspect, the valve stem will wear a hollow in the rocker arm.this promotes valve giude wear, and causing blue smoke as oil gets into combustion area.

Worst thing would be cam-lobe wear, easy to find, the rocker arm adjusting screw will dissappear through the lock-nut, other causes would be advanced cam follower wear or a bent pushrod. Even a loose valve seat in the cylinder head.

Hope this info might help some of you,

Lickey..

[Pond Life]

Id be interested to see a pic of this motor,

I'm tempted by a similar engine i saw in Chiang Mai.

7 hp, single, built in water tank, made in Poland '76.

Looked "Lister style".

10 k B.

I'm thinking it would run on just about anything combustable.

[Maizefarmer]

Generally these old single and twin diesel "thumpers" - charcaterised by their long strokes and big bores, but slow rpms (almost always a max of 1800 of less - and in some cases as low as 200 - 300rpm) - run for ever. They have few parts that can go wrong.

They are excellent for jobs that require high torque ability but not much hp - and geared or pullied down can handle jobs often rated at significantly higher hp. And they can run on anything from heavy oil to diesel to cooking oil to parrifin

Lister is the big name - and can be purchased in China town - but the Inidan and Korean clones are just as hard wearing and reliable.

Brilliant to drive large diameter high volume/low pressure ag pumps - first and last you'll ever have to buy.

[Pond Life]

I was in BKK last week with some time to kill, so thought I'd take a wander around China Town & see If I could spot some Indian or Chinese Lister type engines.

I concentrated on the area between Haulumpong Station & Yowarat Rd.

Nothing, lots of car breaking shops, a few new & used Kubota/yanmars.

No big thumpers.

Can anyone give me some specific directions to likely a area.

This is the sort of thing I'm looking for.

Thanks

[Maizefarmer]

I lived for 8 years on a ranch with only generator power. If you can find one, something between 7.5 to 12 KW would supply everything you usually need, and have good economy.

Look for a low RPM model....(Mine ran at 1200 RPM, but i needed 60 Hz) Here in Thailand you need 50 HZ so 1500 RPM will work fine on a direct drive. My little 2 cylinder diesel consumed about 2 liters per hour of fuel.

If you have an electrical background, or hire somebody, then you can do an auto start in case of loss of power, but more expensive.

For myself I had to walk out to the shed, and maually start mine when I decided I wanted electricity. Good insulation of the gen building is necessary to keep the quite around the village. (Also bury your fuel tank and have it under the building to prevent pilferage.

I am not a fan of the high RPM gas generators, as reliability is not available.

Couple points to keep in mind:

1) electricty produced from a gennie versus the grid is apporx 30% more than grid electricty.

2) Yes - Thailand is 50Hertz - but you can run just about anything here on a 60Hertz gennie - the 10Hertz diff is not going to effect most things.

3) because a gennie has 10Kw output written on it - it is unlikely it is capable of that: look at the power factor figure - that is a more accurate representation of the gennies ability.

4) Avoid petrol and other high rpm gennies - diesel and the slower it turns the better, quiter and longer it will last.

5) Honda gennies - no thanks (personal opinion).

Your best bet: buy commutator and engine seperately - then gear appropriately to work together. if you get things right it'll work out much much cheaper. 2nd hand deisel engine and 2nd hand commutators can be found at most of the Eastern Seaboard scrapyards - and as most of the stuff in these yards comes for Europe or the states, so long as it works, chances are it will be good stuff.

The Lister type engine as shown by Pond Life - they are brilliant - even the Chinese copies - loads of torque (loads and loads) - give it a decent exhaust, ensure the fuel is clean, basic maintanence on a regular basis - and they last forever (I use one to drive a compressor for a milk cooling tank - it runs 11 - 14 hrs/p/day. Purchased it in 1989. Downtime? - 0 hrs.)

[Maizefarmer]

I was in BKK last week with some time to kill, so thought I'd take a wander around China Town & see If I could spot some Indian or Chinese Lister type engines.

I concentrated on the area between Haulumpong Station & Yowarat Rd.

Nothing, lots of car breaking shops, a few new & used Kubota/yanmars.

No big thumpers.

Can anyone give me some specific directions to likely a area.

This is the sort of thing I'm looking for.

Thanks

China Town - the area around the open air Chinese shrine (its like a gate on a small traffic island) on ..... dam_n, I can't remember the name of the road - it's the area where the sell aluminium stock bar and water pumps - get to there and there are at least 3 or 4 shops within a 100yard radius of the shrine that sell these Lister type single/twin cylinder diesel thumper type engines.

[Pond Life]

Hmm, I think I was right there, description of the Chinese gate thing sounds right.

Right close to the gate was a big shop with a Lister sign, but they only did spares.

I will have to do a bit more asking next time, rather than just looking.

If you remember some specific shops/directions Id be glad to hear about it.

Thanks