Generator

[mk1]

We had a power cut last night which lasted for about 8 hours. So it's got me thinking about making a backup generator.

I have a nice Ruggerini 2 cylinder 1200cc 1500-3000 rpm diesel engine in the shed. Any advice on the best type/size of alternator to connect to the engine.
Thanks

 

[flecc]

Not my area of knowledge Martin, but maybe pages 321/322 of the latest Machine Mart catalogue will help. On page 322 there's the Clarke generators listed with engine HP against KVA shown, and on page 321 are their alternators with KVA ratings.

A guess at your engines HP rating together with that information could produce a near enough idea of what is needed.

Nationwide shops, a visit to MachineMart website will show where your nearest is for the catalogue.

If any problems, I'll scan and email the info for you.
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[mk1]

Thanks flecc, I was sure one of the boffins on here would know about this stuff(maybe I should have said that I intend strapping it to my bike)

I believe the engine is about 20hp so I guess it should power a 10kva alternator with ease. The engine is virtually brand new, so it seems a shame not to use it for something.

 

[flecc]

Machine Mart's alternator range has a 9 kVa single phase at 1500 rpm which might be ok.

Three times the price of 6 kVa at 3000 rpm though, £293.73 to £997.58, so it might be worth undergenerating the potential.
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[mk1]

I just found these also ST Generators they look very big and heavy but could do the job. Quite a few crop up on ebay as well, its just knowing the right one to get.

This is the home page of the above site Listerclones some interesting projects on here.

 

[flecc]

That's interesting Martin, the ST generators at very good prices. I know Machine Mart's own brand Clarke budget stuff is very competitive, but the better ranges can usually be beaten on price.

Of course Lister are one of the great names in this field.
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[mk1]

The old low revving Lister engines seem to be a popular choice for people living 'off the grid', they just plod on forever, its also easier to run them on veg oil than some of the more modern engines.

 

[flecc]

Yes, my brother had a few of them on his dairy farms for running the milking machinery in the absence of grid supplies. Memories of one frozen frost covered morning, both of us trying to get one of them which was completely out in the open to start at 4.30 am. Not a nice experience, but it gave in to us eventually.
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[simonbarnett]

Apart from yoghurt, this has to be the weirdest thread in a while, even allowing that it's in the Charging Post. What's even odder is Flecc still has the answers. Do you do personal counselling too as many of us cold probably benefit?

 

[mk1]

Apart from yoghurt, this has to be the weirdest thread in a while, even allowing that it's in the Charging Post. What's even odder is Flecc still has the answers. Do you do personal counselling too as many of us cold probably benefit?

I think it must have been the fumes from the gas lamp that made me forget this is a pedelec forum.

At least it makes a change from reading about how nasty 50cycles are

 

[flecc]

What's even odder is Flecc still has the answers. Do you do personal counselling too as many of us could probably benefit?

I'm not just a pretty face you know. In fact I'm not even a pretty face.

The answer to personal counselling is yes, I do, and the last occasion was on Thursday evening, helping a long time friend with advice on handling the difficulties he's currently suffering without incurring further stress.

You may have seen me remark in here a couple of times on how I regard the saying "Jack of all trades, master of none" as very silly, saying that everyone should be a Jack of all Trades in our complex world. Knowing just sufficient about everything one can cope with empowers more than is generally realised and enables action in widely diverse fields. It makes life far more interesting than narrow specialisation to know everything about very little.
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[simonbarnett]

Doesn't stop you being a master of at least one.

 

[simonbarnett]

Doesn't stop you being a master of at least one.

Sorry sent this before I could find a nauseating creep smiley to add.

 

[flecc]

Doesn't stop you being a master of at least one.

Guessing you mean this one, I don't regard myself as a master in it. There are areas of it where many in here have more knowledge than me, my advantage being only the spread of the knowledge I do have.

Like the nauseating creep smiley, perhaps we really do need a more suitable one, maybe this one with wide eyes looking up in admiration.
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[Sector]

Talk of standby generators reminded me of an occassion in India when I was sitting with the Chief Engineer of a power station and the lights went out. He automatically reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a candle and lit it, all without pause in conversation.

Load shedding, where they cut off whole groups of their consumers on a daily basis, was common, and even affected the offices at the power station. Desktop computers were practically useless.

I hope we don't see that in this country, although if they don't get on and build a few more power stations there does seem to be a risk.

 

[flecc]

I hope we don't see that in this country, although if they don't get on and build a few more power stations there does seem to be a risk.

We've had it over the years in my area, and it's just inside a London borough!

For a number of years through the 1970s into the early 1980s it happened regularly due to cabling problems on this late 1960s estate. Recently it started happening again with three sessions out, one of 14 hours. It took that long to attend to it due to a large area of Kent blacked out at the same time, that having the priority. No storms or other weather events at the time, just the routine "service".

As a result I'm always at the ready. In the lounge I have a standby lamp that lights automatically the moment the mains disappears. Also to hand is a car battery always charged up with output connectors and lights wired onto it.

That also powers my laptop for TV, radio and recording, separate music systems etc, so the full range of entertainments and broadband connectivity. And I have a camping gaz stove to stand in for the electric cooker, plus a camping gaz lantern and a box of candles too.

All this in Britain's capital city in the third millennium.
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[Sector]

Baden-Powell would have been impressed Flecc.

 

[stokepa31]

I tell you what Flecc - If there is ever a nucular war and I survive, I'll be beating a path to your door. Just think mad max on pedelecs!!

 

[flecc]

Baden-Powell would have been impressed Flecc.

I've always been a fiercely independent person, self-sufficiency very much my thing. When the first one of the last series of after dark power cuts began, the more recent of my neighbours in the flats were caught out of course, and were taken aback but thankful when I appeared at their doors to give them candles and matches.

I tell you what Flecc - If there is ever a nucular war and I survive, I'll be beating a path to your door. Just think mad max on pedelecs!!

At least you'll be able to eat. I always have a reserve stock of dried and tinned food items and could last for weeks if necessary.
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