First full electronic governor I had to deal with was on a Cummins KT38...a REAL nightmare. Overspeeds, speed flutter, droop... a mess...until I found out that the idiots from Alturdyne had wired in the jumper for a DUAL bearing alternator on a single bearing Marathon. Took that out and it was more stable than a Woodward. That KT38 had other probs as well (oil consumption) due starting up the nee engine with the block DRY. Never did business with them again for anything.
As a retired Onan Tech, it warms my heart to see a younger person who actually understands how generators work. There's a whole generation of 'technicians' who are parts changers with laptops.
It's soo refreshing to watch a youtube channel that hasn't gotten a 'big head" like soo many others. This just seems like good entertaining and informative content, not a bunch of fluff and filler/ads. Thank you for a genuine channel.
Interesting and obvious design flaw resulting in inadequate lubrication. It would be great to see if you can fab up an electronic governor and get it running. Thx for the video!
I've just discovered this channel. Sir, you have a gift for leading people through the topic, I really enjoyed your description; to do that unscripted, is a real talent
Cool video. I enjoy the failure analysis. It is an excellent way to learn. I think an electronic fix would be a great bookend for old school and new technologies.
I like you, you remind me of my uncle. He worked for the NYS Canal Corporation. He used to show me how all the ancient mechanical equipment worked. Thank You
Outstanding videography & fault diagnostics...excellent troubleshooting. Somewhere in an old Onan warehouse is a supply department shelf filled with 60 year old new governors waiting to be requisitioned. Sounds like a field trip to Onan in Part II.
Engine was built on Line 5 at the Waukesha Motor Plant in Waukesha Wi. My grandfather would have been one of the men doing the final assembly. I worked in the test room during the early 70's and set up or tested some of the last of these engines to be produced. Thanks for the video. Pretty cool to see one of these old engines again.
When you started showing the carnage in the governor housing, I was wondering if there is a modern, electronic equivalent to it, using hall effect switches, or a resolver or something like that. Then you mention electronic conversion.. I've got an idea in my head, and I'd love to see how close I am to what industry has designed.. Please do the conversion!
I'm interested in seeing the electric governor refit. I'd be very surprised if you have a high pressure natural gas line feeding the house, are there options to feed it from a bottle?
@@dustinpoole5106 yep! I've got a propane powered 70kva onan with a turbo 460 Ford on it and it will make 4 500lb. Propane tanks in parallel cold enough to condense water on them even in the middle of summer
Your diagnosis seems very accurate, I came to that conclusion when I saw what was left of the bearings in the top of the governor. The flyweights had the scuff-marks indicating high RPM also. Westinghouse should have stayed with air-brakes, that system is widely used in both railroad and semi truck applications. The bits that fell out when you opened the governor up look like the remnants of circlips that may have held the thrust bearings in place, but were eroded to failure by friction due to the lack of oil. Excellent work.
Hell yea I wanna see a conversion...Cant leave us hangin now!...and I like the "crunchies" reference..lol...put a camera on your gas meter...watch it spin!
I really like how you explain things so I can follow along and understand them. Really like your channel. PS: I'd like to see that electronic governor.
It's "Roy LINE." This was a renaming of the Le Roi line of engjnes after Dresser Industries, through its subsidiary WABCO, bought Le Roi. WABCO also owned Waukesha, which bought out Climax, thus putting several competing engine manufacturers under one roof.
Le Roi, translated from French means The King, thus you see the 'crown' symbol above Line, perhaps the massive cubic inches for a gas engine signified being the king of cubic inches.
I think the governor's thrust bearing failed a long time ago, and the weights have been rubbing for a long time, increasing the governor drive load, wearing the gears excessively. I'm thinking the thrust bearing failed first, because nothing looks like it really got excruciatingly hot, which would be a sign of lack of oil. Nothing really looks very dry either. There are many engines that utilize "timed" oil supply for various things without issue. For example, the Toyota F-series engines only have one tiny hole drilled into the camshaft that supplies oil to the top-end once a revolution. I also believe the vacuum booster might also help reduce governor droop under load? It'd definitely be cool to see an electronic governor conversion. I've seen people do it with old aftermarket cruise-control modules before.
I just found your video,You really do a great job of explaining things. I think an electronic govenor video would be awesome. I've been a mechanic in one form or another for 50 years,Its good to see these old beast still running. Thanks.
any friend of steve1989mreinfo is a friend of mine! ... alright I was going to subscribe anyway, I love the way you draw out the diagrams on the steel table and explain things in detail.
Engine only exercised once a week, failed when it was called on for a extended run. Usually ran 30 min a week which is 26 hrs a year, or about 1300 hours in 50 years. Really under extended load conditions for about 300hrs in 50 years. Usually most power outages are less that 3hrs. This ways an unit not used hard. It was not used for 24 hour at time normally. It should have lasted much longer. with no issues. But I believe had a big oil issue in the drive gears of the engine area of the govenor
1 - loved the video of the troubleshooting. Very interesting to see someone else thoughts when doing things like this. It helps me when I need to troubleshoot something as well. 2 - heck yes, we want the conversion. Ya almost gotta now that you mentioned it. 3 - love the reference..... "Let's get this onto a tray - Nice!". I watch his MRE and survival meal reviews also.
Amazing such small minute damage can cause things to go haywire (well except the destroyed bearing) I wonder if taking it to a machinist and having a small 20-30th groove cut in the lower bushing at the oil inlet hole to allow 360 oil flow would help if he decided to rebuild the mechanical (or maybe a "fix/recall" for other generators that are still running)
@@MitzvosGolem1 There's also a 903 Cummins V8...but that's a diesel. Its largest use is in the Bradley fighting vehicle where it has twin turbos and makes about 750 horsepower.
Darned good explanation of how the governor system works, the vacuum amount varies, and how things change under load. I'd have to see it a couple times more, but so far so good.
Your videos pop into my feed quite a bit. Didn't realize till today that I wasn't subscribed! Well, I fixed that, now I will get a notification if you convert this. Thanks for the education about mechanical governors. Never dug into them before.
Great share Mike , that was giving trouble before they noticed the total shutdown .. I sure would ENJOY seeing you convert it over , Let's save another Onan ..LOL.. Thanks Mike !!
Great video thanks.If you fit an electronic governor don't forget to block off oil feed hole to governor or you will lose some oil pressure to rest of engine.Cheers from UK.
I love your videos, and I would love to see a conversion to electronic governor. Then see you hook up the big load banks and give it a work out. Keep up the great videos.
Don't know why I'm watching your videos or how I found your channel, but very informative and super cool to watch. Also made me laugh with the steve1989mreinfo reference.
It wouldn't run what you have to understand its generator motor so its actually meant to turn at alot lower rpm than a normal gas engine and is actually why so big in cubic inches like a diesel turns very low rpm just like gas it makes it low wear on it
@@Joelontugs That's probably why it ran fine for 60 years. Everything moves so slowly, I'd also imagine that the parts are all overbuilt, weight probably isn't a huge consideration in a stationary powerplant.
@@Joelontugs, if you've ever built an engine you know that can be remedied. Balance, polish, port, big fn cam, custom split duel four barrel intake, or fukit twin turbo. Boom 3000 easy. Even if it reds at 5k
Mikey, do the conversion to electronic speed control/governor. I'd love to see it. In my opinion, for whatever it's worth, this site and "Mr. Carlson's Lab" are very well done in that they give us, or at least me, an education about how these mechanical and electronic devices function, why they are malfunctioning and how to repair them. Keep up the good work, Mike!
"pushed up by atmospheric pressure" is so correct it made me smile and cry out, "Yes!" I love your explanations because you make such an effort to be correct about your use of words. That said, I'm also a fan of engines and generators and really appreciate your videos. I would love to see the conversion to electronic governor! Thanks very much. (I should note that I'm a translator of technical documents and scientific manuscripts, so words are very important to me). :-)
As you were showing all the carnage in the governor, I was thinking of the various damaged parts that can be made at a machine shop, or electronic conversion. And then you said so. The speed sensor can also be run in the governor location, instead of the fly wheel, only that gear in the cam is too worn. Very much interested in seeing the electronic conversion.
Great video mike and I work for Cummins and I do a good bit of onan consumer product and I would like to see you convert this to electronic governor. Your channel is great
An electronic governor is the best option. Even if you had an old mechanical governor to install you still have to address the worn drive gear. Keep up the good work.
That was a great education! Just as if I was attending a school learning how that thing works! Great instructor! I went 'oh-oh' as as soon as you said that's a lot of spring tension there. I was wondering why such a behemoth spring had to be used to control a flappy throttle valve! Then when you lifted the flyweight assembly out of the block I said, wow, that looks awfully dry. Then the gears worn out and so on. It may have lived longer if the oiling supply was better designed. Now, with advanced electronics, going to an electronic speed controller would be a no brainer. That genset is still young in hours IMO. Good Luck!
RU-vid recommended one of your videos so you have a new subscriber. I enjoy watching these vintage generator engines looking forward to catching up to your videos.
A bit backwards on the governor operation explanation. As soon as load is increased, engine speed begins to fall, and the flyweights begin to move in, opening the throttle. That increases the hp to carry the greater load, at a lower speed, and increases manifold pressure (less vacuum). There will be a bit of a restriction between the manifold and the speed booster to prevent hunting, but in a short time it will increase the main governor spring tension, restoring the speed to rated speed.
Great video brother. I love the way you are so methodical in your work. It says alot about you as a person. I hope you and your family are staying safe and well. Keep up the fantastic work brother.
When you pulled out the governor and mentioned about the teeth being sharp I noticed right away a lack of oil. Also if Oil is supposed to be pushed up into the governor to lubricate things, it’s pretty dry you don’t seem to have oil dripping off onto the cardboard or anything. I did notice at least one common here dimension lubrication. You could probably start that holding the throttle closed and watch for oil being sprayed out by that gear. If there’s a pipe plug inside the engine that goes into an oil galley that has a small hole like .040 inch or so could be plugged up and no oil is getting spit onto the governor gear assembly and possibly the distributor as well