Micro 12v Generator Project

water cooled manifold is AMAZING!

just finished work, and completed the manifold, and fitted....and tested.....video below and a photo....may be hard to hear the noise difference, bear in mind the camera is about 6" from the running engine, much nearer than the first video, trust me, it is significantly more quiet, and the whole thing is massively cooler, ran if for 30mins, and you can still touch all of it with your hand, before, you couldnt get anywhere near it...coupling is all done, just waiting on an M14 tap to arrive in post so i can finish it off !

Honda GX25, water cooled manifold conversion:-

First one, no cowling running with a fair bit of throttle...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FVezcR3zNQ

With cowling, much less throttle....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7YavgFxijo
 
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starfire said:
As a lateral thought,

Article in YM about the same thing being used as an emergency bilge pump, so, how about a quick change coupling to change pump to alternator as required ?

Cracking Idea as it is though, let us know how it gets on.
Click to expand...

didnt see that article....they would make an excellent bilge pump for sure, but its not going to be an easy conversion...."we are flooding" hang on let me change the genny back to a pump, will take about an hour :-)
 
Matt

Just seen the videos. It's looking good.

A sudden thought - I am sure you have realised this....:)

I am not quite certain how the water interacts with the gases (is it sleeved inside or just injected into the gas stream ?) The water should be turned off before the engine is stopped, otherwise could you get water entering the cylinder through an open exhaust valve ? Especially on board if the boat is rocking a bit.
 
What happened to the Stirling engined powered generator that was going to be on the market a few years ago. Was it price? That would have solved the noise problem.
 
Just my sort of project. If one has the time, and is not commercially worried, very satisfying.
BTW, the original ref. was a guy in a Drascombe who wanted a small genset for beach cruising. I conversed with him because I was also talking with another friend who was linking a strimmer with a car alternater for minimal criusing.

There is a certain amount of perverse satisfaction in continually fixing ones own inventions, rather than buying off the shelf. This is PBO! ( Well it used to be.. I was given a load of back issues. Full of self started projects that showed true Brit nous. Not much of it around now.)
A
 
Just a small point. Copper exhausts are illegal on road vehicles because of the reaction between the gasses and the copper producing some nasty by product. Cupric oxide or something like that....
 
DownWest said:
There is a certain amount of perverse satisfaction in continually fixing ones own inventions, rather than buying off the shelf. This is PBO! ( Well it used to be.. I was given a load of back issues. Full of self started projects that showed true Brit nous. Not much of it around now.)
A
Click to expand...

There is something in what you say! I remember, in my youth, reading my dad'd copies of PBO - full of hands-on articles on marinising car engines, building in ferro-cement and similar topics. Wouldn't surprise me if DIY gensets featured, too. But now, the advice to anyone wanting to try something original seems to be "don't do it", "buy it ready-made" or "pay someone to do it"

I can see potential flaws in the OP's plans, probably he see them too and has ideas to solve them, but that's no reason to have a go at him!

It's probably the same "perverse satisfaction" that keeps me plugging away with my Seagull, when everyone else says chuck it away! :D
 
sarabande said:
Matt

Just seen the videos. It's looking good.

A sudden thought - I am sure you have realised this....:)

I am not quite certain how the water interacts with the gases (is it sleeved inside or just injected into the gas stream ?) The water should be turned off before the engine is stopped, otherwise could you get water entering the cylinder through an open exhaust valve ? Especially on board if the boat is rocking a bit.
Click to expand...

Yes, though of that, the manifold you see in picture is 22mm, but the exhaust goes down a 15mm pipe on the inside, and round the elbow, you can actually leave the water running (although a bit risky) and gravity takes it away.
The pump will (not got round to that yet) come on when the alternator is running so the water will be automatic stop/start.

Bassplayer said:
Just a small point. Copper exhausts are illegal on road vehicles because of the reaction between the gasses and the copper producing some nasty by product. Cupric oxide or something like that....
Click to expand...

mmmm, think i need to look into that....any chemists around :-)
a quick google search seems to suggest its old diesel (high sulphur) that was the problem in the 50's/60's with copper, but i need to check it out....
 
Couple of thoughts.
The water cooled system you have is going to give back-pressure to the exhaust which might impair performance.
Why not use the standard silencer for this engine and a simple water jacket to cool the exhaust pipe OR the double wall system that is used in many boat heaters would allow you to use a standard exhaust outlet at the hull.

Over the whole piece, its an interesting exercise to achieve cheaply what is already available commercially OR is that really the case?. How much for a new Honda engine and a new Bosch alternator? Often the cost of building from spare parts is far more than the finished product where the advantages of trade prices and bulk buying apply.
 
saltwater_gypsy said:
Couple of thoughts.
The water cooled system you have is going to give back-pressure to the exhaust which might impair performance.
Why not use the standard silencer for this engine and a simple water jacket to cool the exhaust pipe OR the double wall system that is used in many boat heaters would allow you to use a standard exhaust outlet at the hull.

Over the whole piece, its an interesting exercise to achieve cheaply what is already available commercially OR is that really the case?. How much for a new Honda engine and a new Bosch alternator? Often the cost of building from spare parts is far more than the finished product where the advantages of trade prices and bulk buying apply.
Click to expand...

The water cooled exhaust has done what it was designed to do....take a load (most?) of the heat away and reduce the noise.. the performance seems to be very similar...

check the 2 vids, before:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4KT8pcY9Uo

and after:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7YavgFxijo

personally i am not really interested in the costings as its a 1 off just for me...
 
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Hi Matt, I haven't read the whole thread because the subject doesn't grab me, but I think you're a true PBO and you and your son have had fun with the project. Good on you. I remember in David Sinnett-Jones book about his RTW trip in Zane Spray he had a little Mase generator to charge his batteries for radio usage. ISTR he had problems with the engine/genny linkage because of vibration, but I'm sure there are modern couplings that will cope with that. Good luck with your project.
 
alahol2 said:
All that heat going to waste... as you are already pumping the cooling water, you could send it through a couple of radiators inside the boat for use on cold evenings...
Click to expand...

I'm sure I'm not the only person considering a fully plumbed in version sharing its hot water with the calorifer.
Also wondering about the economics and weight of generator and electric heaters vs eberbasto types.
 
tugboat said:
Hi Matt, I haven't read the whole thread because the subject doesn't grab me, but I think you're a true PBO and you and your son have had fun with the project. Good on you. I remember in David Sinnett-Jones book about his RTW trip in Zane Spray he had a little Mase generator to charge his batteries for radio usage. ISTR he had problems with the engine/genny linkage because of vibration, but I'm sure there are modern couplings that will cope with that. Good luck with your project.
Click to expand...

Heh, I used to have a little Mase genset. 2T, 600w at 220v and 20amp for 12v charging. Very usefull, esp when we needed to boost the starter bats. for the company yacht after they had been let down in dock. (out of reach of shorepower) And a spectacular 'save' after the storm blew out the power in Albufeira and the little generator powered the music stuff for the 'Music Night' groups in our bar. Rest of town was dark. O.K. The beer got warmer, but nobody cared.
Sadly, it is not listed on Mases' website.
A
It was actually quite quiet, but the also sold a version with a cover that was very quiet.
A
 
DownWest said:
It was actually quite quiet, but the also sold a version with a cover that was very quiet.
Click to expand...

I had one of the ones in a cover! It was quiet, too. In a period of madness, I built it into the back cabin of a Westerly Pentland, with the exhaust going through a bulkhead into a cockpit locker and thence to the great outdoors. It's now in landfill - I used it as part of the rubbish to fill the inspection pit in my garage before concreting it over.
 
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