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Old 11-04-2013, 18:40   #16
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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Originally Posted by Teknav View Post
Diesel powered engine and light weight are mutually exclusive. There is no such a thing as a light weight diesel engine; engineering wise, not yet invented. Mauritz
My diesel naked weighs 124 lbs, with sea water cooling, mounts and alternator it tops out at 170lbs.

I'd say that is light weight.

Lloyd
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Old 11-04-2013, 19:35   #17
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937 View Post
How about something like this

perky/cat/volvo



It weighs in at 170lbs, 21" tall X 14' wide X16" deep, makes 3.8kw DC, it heats domestic hot water as a byproduct.

It's quiet.

I have now finished my variable speed ECU. It's auto start/stop/manual. Has a 3 step charge regulator, that can be configured to charge Li-Ion bats.

You want air.con/water maker/ac50/60hz/dive compressor? no problems.

State of the art Variable Speed Control for my dc gen.

This is how the system works start the gen and the controller holds it at 1000 rpm for 60 seconds to allow oil up. Then it slope up the rpm to 1600 and sends a signal to the Balmar regulator to turn on, as well as to a time delay relay, the puts the Balmar controller in small engine mode. Then it ramps up speed to 2000 rpm and holds for 45 seconds, the Balmar starts ramp up of the field to the alternator set to 60 seconds this allows the engine speed to stay ahead of the alternator out put. At the end of the 45 seconds the governor begins to ramp up to full speed of 2800 rpm or at a speed to be determined by the controller between 1600 rpm and 2800 rpm depending on the current out put/hp required by the alternator.

The speed is measured by a tooth counting flywheel sensor.

So now when the engine is running, the speed will follow the alternator current out put up and down between 1600 and 2800 rpm. If a large load is applied to the bat bank by the inverter then a separate Hall effects sensors will alert the controller to again ramp up speed.

I worked with the engineer at PG to tweak the software based on needs. It also has 3 adjustable pots on-board to fine tune, as well as an RS 232 port to tweak the software after installation with a laptop.

I worked out a spreadsheet to follow the hp required by the alternator, to match the hp output of the diesel.

An add on belt drive ac gen is accommodated by a switch that holds the diesel at 2200 rpm, and puts the dc alternator in small engine mode as a current limiter.

Next month the second unit goes to Caterpillar for Certification... then to test market. The unit in the picture is my test-bed.

Lloyd
Now that's the ticket. I've always thought with modern inverters an AC gen set was heavy and redundant. A DC gen set to charge the house bank is the way to go, much lighter too, and not rpm dependent.
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Old 11-04-2013, 19:46   #18
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937 View Post
How about something like this

perky/cat/volvo



It weighs in at 170lbs, 21" tall X 14' wide X16" deep, makes 3.8kw DC, it heats domestic hot water as a byproduct.

It's quiet.

I have now finished my variable speed ECU. It's auto start/stop/manual. Has a 3 step charge regulator, that can be configured to charge Li-Ion bats.

You want air.con/water maker/ac50/60hz/dive compressor? no problems.

State of the art Variable Speed Control for my dc gen.

This is how the system works start the gen and the controller holds it at 1000 rpm for 60 seconds to allow oil up. Then it slope up the rpm to 1600 and sends a signal to the Balmar regulator to turn on, as well as to a time delay relay, the puts the Balmar controller in small engine mode. Then it ramps up speed to 2000 rpm and holds for 45 seconds, the Balmar starts ramp up of the field to the alternator set to 60 seconds this allows the engine speed to stay ahead of the alternator out put. At the end of the 45 seconds the governor begins to ramp up to full speed of 2800 rpm or at a speed to be determined by the controller between 1600 rpm and 2800 rpm depending on the current out put/hp required by the alternator.

The speed is measured by a tooth counting flywheel sensor.

So now when the engine is running, the speed will follow the alternator current out put up and down between 1600 and 2800 rpm. If a large load is applied to the bat bank by the inverter then a separate Hall effects sensors will alert the controller to again ramp up speed.

I worked with the engineer at PG to tweak the software based on needs. It also has 3 adjustable pots on-board to fine tune, as well as an RS 232 port to tweak the software after installation with a laptop.

I worked out a spreadsheet to follow the hp required by the alternator, to match the hp output of the diesel.

An add on belt drive ac gen is accommodated by a switch that holds the diesel at 2200 rpm, and puts the dc alternator in small engine mode as a current limiter.

Next month the second unit goes to Caterpillar for Certification... then to test market. The unit in the picture is my test-bed.

Lloyd
Nice one. What do you think the whole package will cost?
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Old 11-04-2013, 19:54   #19
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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Now that's the ticket. I've always thought with modern inverters an AC gen set was heavy and redundant. A DC gen set to charge the house bank is the way to go, much lighter too, and not rpm dependent.
In the NW solar is only icing on the cake, and wind doesn't blow much during the cruising season, rag boats are stink pots most of the time.

My DC-Gen only runs for an 1.5 hrs every other day, it produces my domestic HW, battery topping, and only burns 1 liters of dino.

A wind gen runs 24-7 and makes little power, but 24-7 aggravating noise, won't keep the bats up, and doesn't make domestic HW in any quantities. Let alone as a by-product.

And for the Li-Ion poster boys it charges fast. One day Li-.... might make $cents$ for the NW.

Lloyd
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Old 11-04-2013, 20:06   #20
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

And by running 1 1/2 hours at a good load, that will be one happy little diesel that is going to last a long time, and it is treated so well with those warming up run times before the load is applied.

5.7 KW-hr (475 amps if 12 volt) into the battery bank and a hot shower for 1/4 of a gallon, yes for knowledgeable cruisers with large sine wave inverters, there will be a demand for that DC gen set. It is the way I would go.
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Old 11-04-2013, 20:09   #21
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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Nice one. What do you think the whole package will cost?
Baseline is going to be just south of $7,900.00, Baseline is DC charge/variable speed, manual start, and HW. It will be world-wide cat service. With options it will be price dependent.

Lloyd
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Old 11-04-2013, 20:18   #22
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937 View Post
Baseline is going to be just south of $7,900.00, Baseline is DC charge/variable speed, manual start, and HW. It will be world-wide cat service. With options it will be price dependent.

Lloyd
Lloyd,

Your system sounds good, is this your main competition in the DC gen set market? Marine Micro-Cogen for recreational and commercial vessels
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Old 11-04-2013, 20:19   #23
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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And by running 1 1/2 hours at a good load, that will be one happy little diesel that is going to last a long time, and it is treated so well with those warming up run times before the load is applied.
Yep, I design for service, both in-time, and availability of parts and location

I was already to send for cat cert, then I had this bright idea to go variable speed, HP match in/out or commonly known as DBW. So with the Tier-4,

I had to resolve the variable... fixed is only cert... for fixed, and varia... only for variable.

Lloyd
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Old 11-04-2013, 20:34   #24
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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Lloyd,

Your system sounds good, is this your main competition in the DC gen set market? Marine Micro-Cogen for recreational and commercial vessels
Well kinda of sorta. Polar has a nice alternator design, and the regulator is good for dc power, not so much for battery charging. last I checked they were north of 14K.

You can't add additional options for mechanical take off, such as water maker, ac 50/60hz, dive compressor, refrigeration, or air.con.

Lloyd
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Old 11-04-2013, 20:42   #25
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

Your right. I always thought Polar was pricey, but they addressed a need for light weight DC gen set. I'm glad to see others in the market like yourself, competition is a good thing for the end user. How is your PTO set up and does your unit use external diodes?
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Old 11-04-2013, 23:12   #26
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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Your right. I always thought Polar was pricey, but they addressed a need for light weight DC gen set. I'm glad to see others in the market like yourself, competition is a good thing for the end user. How is your PTO set up and does your unit use external diodes?
PTO is all Gates certified/engineered. Radial Graphs meet or exceed Cat.cert.

Remote mounted rectifiers, sea water induction cooled stators. Currently 2 options for stators, ver. 240 volt stator w/3 phase toroidal buck transformer 12/24/36/48 volt, where bat bank exceeds 20 feet oneway, or ver 12/24/36/48 nominal 6 phase HV-Hairpin.

Lloyd
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Old 11-04-2013, 23:29   #27
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

You cover all the bases. I'm a fan of ribbed serpentine belts, minimum parasitic losses, bearing loads, and quiet. Your avatar finally makes sense to me. On the other threads that our paths have crossed, I should of asked about the avatar. I guess you missed my old posts on going to DC gen sets instead of AC.
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Old 12-04-2013, 04:56   #28
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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Originally Posted by Teknav View Post
Diesel powered engine and light weight are mutually exclusive. There is no such a thing as a light weight diesel engine; engineering wise, not yet invented. Mauritz
I guess you really have not been reading along here.
The OPOC diesels are at 1HP per 1Lbs

13.5 hp (10kW) opoc engine for applications weighing approximately 13lbs and measures approximately 3.6in x 6.1in x 16.2in

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1208290
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Old 12-04-2013, 05:46   #29
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

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I guess you really have not been reading along here.
The OPOC diesels are at 1HP per 1Lbs

13.5 hp (10kW) opoc engine for applications weighing approximately 13lbs and measures approximately 3.6in x 6.1in x 16.2in

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1208290
This product seems like it could revolutionise the world of diesel-electric propulsion. Hell, one of these in a small multihull and a small electric engine driven by loads of LiFePo4 batteries, and you'd have loads of power. In fact, imagine having the option to carry, say, 150lbs more LiFePo4 batteries for the same all-up weight of a small "normal" diesel!
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Old 13-04-2013, 19:15   #30
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Re: Small 1KW Diesel Generator

There are a number of small 3.5 to 5 kw AC generators available which use Kubota or Farymann one or two cyl diesel engines. Go to:

Marine Generator Test - Victron Energy

In addition Fischer Panda sells a 3.2 kw DC generator that has an autostart feature
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