I'm looking for a diesel generator for RV trailer and home emergency use. I'm a firm believer in the concept of - simpler is better.

Does anyone have any experience with the single cylinder diesels? I found this gen set on e-bay and must say that it sounds interesting. 12KW is more than I need but I think that they also offer a 7.5KW gen. head unit as well.

http://cgi.ebay.com/12KW-DIESEL-Elec...QQcmdZViewItem

Experience, opinions, theories?

 

I wish I knew more about that particular gen set to tell you, although I will say the water hopper setup might be simple and effective, but I'm not a big fan of it. It doesn't lend well to RVing unless it's got a cap that seals to keep the water from splashing out. I do know that around here 12kw will run a house very nicely if your smart about what you turn on. Try to keep the electric stoves to a min, 1 burner at a time and no oven.

The few single cylinder diesels I've had experience with where loud (very loud injector rattle at idle) and vibrate quite abit, but then again what single cylinder without balancers won't. I have a 13hp Hatz in a 1961 Bungartz T5 tractor and a friend of ours has a 7hp Wisconsin-Hatz. Both german designs and both air cooled.

 

All of the one cylinder diesels I've been around have been loud.
Sure wouldn't appreciate it much if someone pulled into a campground near me with one.
I think you should go hear one run even if it isn't the brand you're looking at before making your decision.

 

Something about that whole ad smells bad. I wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw it. Buyer beware.

 

I do installations of larger gensets (usually 30kw and up) and I have never herd of that manufacturer before. If you want a really good reliable, quiet and efficient small genset there is no question in my mind that Honda is the way to go. They are complex but are far less likely to need major repair. Their only down side is of course price... nothing good ever comes cheap. You might want to check out Onan as they have a wide product line ranging from small camper sets to huge multi MW sets. I have installed a few Onans running diesel or natural gas and the clients are always happy with them.
It is also very important to keep sure that any set you buy is UL or CSA listed. I have herd of insurance companies not paying out if the equipment being used causes a fire or other type of unpleasant event!

 

You also have to take parts availability in to consideration. Established brands like Honda have reliable parts inventories all over north america, I am currently repairing a 3500w (that i got with a cooked voltage regulator for free) gasser for resale and all the parts I needed were easily available threw my local tool rental place even though its a fairly old model from the late 80s. I could be wrong but I would have far less confidence in finding replacements for the set featured in the add.

 

I read a bunch of stuff on generators since Ive been toying with the idea of some batteries, an invertor and a generator to supply power to a home. Apparently the gas generators arent very long-lived in part because they run them at a high RPM. Diesels can be found that run at 1800 rpm and supposedly theyre pretty good on runtime. Id look for a liquid cooled one, and something thats enclosed with baffling and a good muffler. Theres not many I could find in small power densities though. There was one site that rambled on about how good these cheap chinese diesels were. cheap and chinese in the same sentence sets off my alarm bells though. Brand names like Onan wont be cheap, but theyre certainly reputed to be reliable.

 

here's a little reading on the Changfa. http://www.utterpower.com/changfa.htm You can find some info on the ST heads on George's site as well. As an aside, I finally got my hands on on a 6hp lister clone and am in the process of gathering batteries, an inverter and an 1800 rpm gen head...maybe a (gasp) Chinese-made ST. If I can find an american-made 1800 rpm head at a reasonable price, I'll definitely enterain the idea. My opinion on the Changfa is that it is far too heavy to be used in/around an RV. As an emergency genset I think it would work well, but you could do better on price sourcing parts one at a time. My little lister clone spins a stagaring 650 rpm's WFO, but the flywheels carry so much momentum there's nary a grunt when surging to over 12kw

 

Try Onan They list a few diesel generators with sound levels as low as 70db!

 

That is probably a very good quality unit for the price. I looked at the generators without the engines and liked them. When they say so many of them are being used in China I believe them. There are big stores that sell only that type of power equipment and you can see them working in the fields while driving around in China.

But for an RV it is very heavy, will have a lot of vibration and the hopper cooling is a nuisance. For statioanry engines in a non freezing environment the hopper idea is ok but it is a very old idea that requires a lot of attention to make sure it never runs out of water. When it's running its boiling and steaming all the time and will require topping off every few hours or so. A more modern hopper style with a radiator or even a condenser would be less trouble. I have a Kubota hopper style with a radiator and it is a very good design, a closed system with antifreeze.

RV air conditioners usually take about 3,500 watt generators to start but they can be easily modified to start on 2,250 if needed (I did mine). And the 45 Amp chargers take about 1000 watts but that can be turned off while running the air if needed. Small, light and quiet equipment is a real plus and, of course, diesel is nice but you can get a VERY quiet Honda or Yamaha 3000 watt genny and probably be better off if you plan to park near others.

Wetspirit

 

Interesting web site. Thanks for the link. Definitely would love to have a listeroid in the future. Keep us posted on your progress with your 6/1.

 

that is something i want.. although those 12hp twin listeroids look pretty interesting too.. if i could get one for cheap, i would get one [just need to upgrade the oiling system on them iirc. pressure fed from crappy plunger pump]

 

Mine still sits in the crate...looking for some time to dive in and play I can't wait to hear it run, but I don't want to rush a good thing. The fella I bought from said he's had good luck with the particular importer he uses...soe have just poured oil in and fired them up with no problems...I think I'll at least pull the rod bearings and have a look. Those twins sound just like an old John Deere 2 cylinder---extremely high cool factor there, but I just don't need the extra power/expense just to charge batteries. To hear both an original single and a clone (or original...can't remember) run, check out: http://www.oldengineshed.com/main.html navigate your way to the diesel section, but be sure to check everything else out...this fella is absurdly talanted/dedicated!

 

when i was in tech school, we had a original old lister 7hp in the engine lab.. it did sure sound nice especially if you just about killed the engine then went to full fuel and let it go the governor a bit.. hand cranking it was a blast.. you can get them started without the decompression valve if you try.. my one prof there didn't think you could until i proved it to him.. that engine making 7hp makes like 700ft/lbs according to the spec sheet that the school had...

 

Maybe the Lister was rated in inch lbs. or some strange english rating to get 700 or maybe that was the weight but we can calculate the torque at a given speed if we know the HP by this equation: HP x 5252 divided by RPM=torque in FT lbs.
The Lister probably would be rated @ around 1000 RPM which would give a torque rating of about 37 ft lbs. at that speed.But max torque is usually at lower RPM than max HP so that would be probably be a little higher than 37.Intresting to remember also that torque and HP are equal at 5252 RPM.

Not trying to start anything but throw out some useful facts around torque /hp calculation which can be fun to play with.