I'd be very tempted to use a belt over a love joy. Solves all the alignment challenges. Puts you into common parts that can be found most anywhere. Allows you to rotate the generator so the entire machine is operated from the same side. I'd probably fab it up with an automotive style spring tensioner so I never have to fuss with correct tension. Cool project. Not sure if the fuel consumption is significantly different than say a Honda or Subaru.
I have an old Onan generator from an RV. The original motor has seen better days, but when it runs it still pus out steady 120v. This video gives me great ideas for motor replacement, and my wife anxiety, lmfao.Great video. Stay safe.
interesting. apparently you don't use galvanized pipes on pressurized steam applications steam decays the zinc. You have no way of checking the water level in the set up currently.
Great video series. I may try it. Question: how does this convert in terms of horsepower? In other words, if I buy a 6.5 hp predator engine, what horsepower steam engine would it likely be? I realize that depends on pressure and rpm to some degree, but what would it be running at optimal speed?
You should use an alternator instead of a dc generator because the alernator is way more efficient and you can use a bridge rectifier to turn ac into dc.
how does the motor deal with the fluctuating load ? I suggest putting slight out handles on one side and holes on the other to snap in removable wheels. You could build a box for sound insulation and put a couple cooling fans in for redundancy. How about a belt off the coupling to an a/c dompressor modified to for compressed air.
Couldn’t you also change the timing of the exhaust by changing the gear ratio from 2:1 to 1:1 crankshaft to camshaft which effectively doubles the rotation instead of doubling the lobes? It would require less work to change the gear on the end of the cam instead of welding new lobes on the cam.
Awesome build. Have you put a decibel meter on it to see how loud it is? I couldn't hear any of the other equipment over the sound of the generator. I have an off-grid property and would love to do something like this there but am concerned about the noise.
It would be interesting to see what it's brake specific fuel consumption is, and just how many kilowatt hours it can generate per gallon of diesel fuel. It should be much more efficient, than a commercially available gasoline generator of the same power rating.
I wonder how well one of these would take to an rhb31 turbo and what kind of kw it could reliably put out. If it would be enough to run my house which uses 12.5 kw.
Not, such a big deal. I built a 14 kw 25 years ago using the Love Joy coupling system because they are very high grade products and offer the ability to couple different sized shafts (they aren't cheap). Used a car axle to build the frame on because it was both mobile and acted as a vibration damper.
Gasoline engines mate well with 2-pole alternators to generate power at 3600 rpm. Diesel engines mate well with 4-pole alternators to generate at 1800 rpm.
#gwseymour imagine having a cabin in the woods and putting that little beast in a generator shed and having it wired to your cabin with either remote or push button start and having an in ground well and have it hooked to a battery bank and breaker box and have a water heater inside and have a 50-100gal fuel tank to hook up to the generator you'd have it made
hi nice video, i did exakt same on my lawnmower steam but after exploring steam engine theory in years i concluded that this is not practical at all. an steam engine even homemade need a sideways actuated camshaft with different lobes for different cutoff, say 10, 20 30 and 40% intake of the stroke in other words that can be shiftet sideways. if the intake steam just expand 180 degrees for the fuul stroke until exhaust open it wont expand at all= 0 % efficiency, steam need expand AT LEAST 4/5 of the stroke so the steam should be cut off after 20% of the stroke but even 1/5 of inlet open is leading to very poor efficiency under 5%, it should only expand for 1/10s of the stroke NOT more. longer inlet with steam before cut of is only need under heavy temporary loads/startup. sure u can use only on lobe for one cutoff setting say 15 % cutoff but then u cant vary the power. Even at 1/10 cutoff reaching of efficiency is hard around 8-10 % if proper conditions with uniflow with exhaust ports not more than 1/10 of the stroke. the key is high steampressure. Then u will get good power even with minor inlet openings but the steam need to expand very much, often a compaund uniflow is needed for those that are serious. im building my own steam car in very soon. a compaund uniflow. its a rebuilt honta VTX 1800 cc chopper engine. in V-2 formationit will be a boxer cvariant, one side is high pressure cyl and the other a very big piston. tripple the with in size to let the incoming steam expand. down to vacum with a vacum pump. with a monotube boiler. it will run on wood and waste oil/cooking oil burner. with a monotube boiler steam gets up to pressure in just minuits :) but for now im also up to build a lawnmover 13hp engine converted to steam that will power a little electric grid or moped. but it will ha a camshaft actuated sideways with different cutoffs. u cant build a serious steam engine without variabel cutoff. the engine will be released here on youtube in some years
Great work! I would recommend some sort of inverter and battery buffer between your house. Many things in the house have goofy electronics that don't like generator sign wave. Had to replace the spark module in my gas stove because I was testing out the generator on the house.
