OVERSPEED SOLVED: Onan DJE generator WORKS!!!

Congratulations! I gotta say you are persistant. Fiddling with that thing, juggling a constant stream of questions and answers and taking and posting pictures to boot. Bet you could chew gum at the same time ;) Ken.

Thanks!

I can be, with things that I am interested in.

You know, what a wonderful resource these newsgroups are. Absolutely the cheapest and most effective way to get expert advice (with a lot of bunk along the way though). And people are, mostly, so nice and pleasant. Or maybe it is just my mood.

What I am wondering about now, is, what other parts of engine need cleaning, oiling etc. I want to do a "service". I guess I need to change oil and fuel filters also.

i

Huzzah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You did damned good for a brainless Liberal

Nice job! ^5!!

Now search google groups for generator soundproofing. There have been any number of threads on misc.survivalism and alt.rural etc on the subject and hints and warnings about how to kill air cooled engines by attempting to sound proof them the wrong way.

If there is anything I, master scrounger, can help you with, feel free to email me.

Gunner

"I mean, when's the last time you heard of a college where the Young Republicans staged a "Sit In" to close down the Humanities building? On the flip side, how many sit in's were staged to close the ROTC building back in the '60's? Liberals stage protests, do civil disobedience, etc. Conservatives talk politely and try to work out a solution to problems through discourse until they believe that talking won't work... they they go home and open the gun cabinets. Pray things never get to the point where the conservatives decide that "civil disobedience" is the next step, because that's a very short route to "voting from the rooftops" Jeffrey Swartz, Misc.Survivalism

Ignoramus7135 wrote:

As I mentioned before, this particular engine was built to withstand terrific abuse! Mine came surplussed out of an offshore lighthouse (marketed by Princess Auto). I ran it for years without any maintenance except oil changes at shameful intervals. I finally changed the oil filter when it actually blew apart! I now have 'grid' power but for ten years that little engine ran my shop. As for a fuel filter - I dont remember what the setup is on the engine but put a good one in the supply line! Whoever worked on mine before I got it installed the starter solenoid housing upside down (easy to do).There is a felt wick that is meant to drain any moisture out of said hoising (condensation etc.). That wick should point to the ground. Installed backwards, pointing up, it does exactly the opposite - collects moisture, with the expected nasty results. Some important considerations: The wiring on these things is incredibly complicated! Dont mess with that unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing. The pre-heat switch (momentary contact) takes a lot of amps and has been a cronic problem for me. Maybe yours (milspec) is better in this regard but I have been using a piece of 8 gauge solid copper wire for a long time to 'switch' the pre-heat on - the original pushbutton having long ago melted down and I have found no adequate replacement for it. You did find the governor adjustment (a suprise place to put it). As for oil - I have always used straight 30 wt. Diesel service (extreme service) and, partly because of the size of the sump, and partly because the engine runs 'gentle' oil changes can be few and far between. The fuel pump on that sucker will outlast ten of them engines. I have noticed, as have you, that putting a serious load on that motor seem to have no effect. Its rating sure as hell isn't in 'Sears Horsepower'. Gunner pointed out that there can be dangers associated with trying to 'soundproof' an air cooled diesel (or any air cooled engine for that matter). Put that baby in a box and you'd better be prepared to supply a

*forced* supply of air to it. Better to put the gen shack a distance away from your dwelling (surround it with a thick hedge) than to go to heroic extremes to silence it. By its nature, ringing off the cooling fins is the prime source of noise. Sticking a muffler on it will net you absolutely no noise abatement. I ran with a straight pipe elbowed into a bucket of gravel sunk in the ground - more to clean the exhaust than to quiet it. Should you need it - I have a 'brand new out-of the-box starter motor (shop-worn but never used) for this engine sitting in my shop. You do not want to know how much this would cost if you had to buy one, assuming, of course, that you could actually find one - try to - you will see what I an speaking about. If you feel that having a spare starter is a good idea let me know. You can do it off-list - my return address is real. I will let it go for a 'C' note and you pay the shipping. I will not be home until the end of April - ducking the Canadian winter in Honduras. Enjoy your new toy. Regards. Ken. (glad I could help)

Along with that screw adjusting the basic governed speed, there will be another spring adjustment to damp the 'hunting' or variations in speed with a constant or varying load. Read the instructions, and you can get it adjusted to stay constant with maybe 1/2 Hz. swings when the load changes a lot - but it should quickly settle back down at 60 Hz when adjusted right.

I would put a full-output receptacle on the side of the output terminal block. A perfect connector for this would be a CS-6369

50-amp 120/240V 3-wire 4-pin "Spider Box" connector. This will fit standard 50-amp cords and pre-built "spider box" breakout boxes for receptacles.

If you want to run the house by hooking it up to the house power panel, do NOT just hot-wire it in. You MUST have it switched so there's no way the generator output can backfeed onto the utility lines. Call a professional to do the work, or if you buy a transfer switch kit and install it yourself you must get your work checked by a pro when you are done.

You don't want to kill any utility line workers trying to get your power back on during a storm, do you?

Any good small engine shop will have mufflers with NPT stems that'll spin right into that threaded fitting on the manifold - and don't forget the anti-seize compound so you can get it apart again later.

Kill two birds - make a simple steel frame cart with bar-stock axles, and get 4) 8" pneumatic tires from Harbor Fright. They'll act as shock mounts when you block them in place with little chocks, remove the chocks and it'll roll wherever you need it...

If you want it parked permanently, call Grainger or a refrigeration/ industrial supply house. They have lots of shock mounts.

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Before long, ig's going to be the sage everybody else goes to for info.

Thanks! And I am not even a liberal. And Bush is not a conservative, with his plundering of the budget.

Yes, I just spoke about that with my friend yesterday. Fortunately, this genset has forced air cooling that can be directed outwards. I will build a little air outlet from aluminum flashing, and then some soundproofing from some sound insulation panels etc.

Thanks.

i

back in the '60's?

home and open the gun cabinets.

"voting from the rooftops"

Thanks, that is very encouraging to hear. I am trying to find out how I can estimate the hours that are on it now. One way was asking about the color of the exhaust manifold (it still has paint for some reason).

Got it.

I do not think that my genset is milspec. It is a civy model, there is no NSN on it, etc. I suspect that it was attached to some firetruck on some god forgotten military airport.

They could have said something on the cover, you know...

I used what the diesel's plate says it needs, 5W30 for temps under

32F. We are going into winter now.

Yep, it was fun to watch.

Yes, I hate fraudulent horsepower, kilowatt and sound power ratings. "5HP" vacuum cleaners and "4 HP peak" compressors irritate the hell out of me.

I wonder what is the true limit of this 6kw rated onan DJE.

You know, it does have forced air circulation in it, all I need to make sure is that there is air inlet, that the air exits the engine outside the enclosure (not back into the enclosure), and that the generator is accessible.

I will also add forced air exhaust from the enclosure, but this is more of a "just in case" measure.

Well, my yard is only about 0.5 acre, and the best spot for the genset is near the house, definitely.

I am interested, write me at ichudov At algebra DOT com and ichudov At yahoo DOT com.

Thanks! Life is so good...

i

Yes, thanks. I am aware of the hunting problem from reading manuals, but it seems to be not so bad. I tried to instantly apply 3KW -- not in separate 1.5kw chunks -- and it would not budge.

These things can get pretty expensive though. The panel that I'd have would really be for "convenience". I would prefer to directly wire this genset straight into the transfer switch. Will save me a bunch.

Agreed (save for hiring a pro:). Having a manual transfer switch is in my plans, definitely.

My friend promised to give me a Toyota Corolla muffler, if it does not fit, I will ask for a NPT 1.5" threaded muffler.

That's a good idea, thanks. I have an idea to use two spare tires sandwiched between thick plywood, for a shock foundation, see my another post.

i

That's great, congrats!

Have a clothes dryer around? Those are usually 5KW, IIRC.

So how is it for noise?

I just noticed this thread.

Congratulations on the generator and getting it running.

Definitely get the sucker cleaned up. If it moves, lube it.

I've seen old commercial/industrial grade Onan's serving as emergency generators still kicking along like a charm after 20-30 years of service. In fact, there is one in my back yard. Different model than yours. It's 30 KW with an regular Ford in-line 6 driving it. More generator than I've got any real use for. But the price was right.

When I worked for a phone company we had Onan's all over the place. With routine, not expensive or intensive maintenance which consisted mostly of changing oil and filters regularly, flushing and renewing coolant every 3 to 5 years, and a once a month exercise run just to run it up to full operating temps for an hour or two, with load, to make sure fresh oil flushed all passages and bearing surfaces and any collected moisture was steamed out, they were about as reliable as yah can get.

Your biggest enemy is negligence. Make sure she has a once a month run. Change oil and filters regular. Etc. Most of our problems if regular maintenance was done was an alternator or starter dying on us. Alternator, for charging start battery wasn't a big issue. I'm not familiar with the one you have. Most of em accepted a standard auto alternator. Most issues with the starters, which tended to be beefy would be resolved by cleaning contacts and/or cleaning and lubing bendex and linkages. Model I have takes a readily (as yet) available starter.

Sorry, can't tell yah much more about a 6.5 DJE as I've not worked with one.

If you don't have em, you should be able to get manuals still from an Onan/Cummins dealer. Even the old beastie I have, I was able to get manuals for. Local dealer had one old copy. Charged me the cost of copying it.

Anyway, enjoy the new toy and the feeling of a little extra security when sh*t happens.

Bob

Oh yeah, make sure when yah build your enclosure that air flow is unrestricted, not hard to do. Those commercial gen sets will tolerate a lot of overheating, but it will shorten MTBF.

Bob

Yep, that should happen in the first 10 hours of your operations. Normal Oil change routine is 200 Hours for DJx series engines. Good Delo400 oil and NAPA will have all the filters you need, except the one for the air cleaner. Also you better look for the "GLOW PLUG" so that you know where they are. And I DON"T mean the SPARK Plug looking thingy on the bottom of the Intake Manifold. Follow the wiring from the SparkPlug thingy, and you will see the GLOW PLUGS that are going horozontaly thru the heads into the combustion chambers. You will need to know where these are, and they are covered up by the shrowding for the cooling air during operations. Again the manual will have all this, in it.

Bruce in alaska

No, my dryer is gas heated. I do have an electric range though.

i

Thanks.

Will do slowly. Also, i needs some basic cleaning and prettying.

Very impressive, how about its fuel consumption?

This is very nice to hear.

I already have plenty of manuals, not for this unit exactly, but for onan engines, military MEP-002A generator, etc.

It is such a lovable generator.

i

Yes, I will make sure that the cooling air is vented directly outside, and that there are large enough openings for air to come in.

i

It has new oil, it came without oil.

The filters though, are old.

Great. The air cleaner looks okay and my air is rather clean around where I am. No dust storms etc.

Thanks, all good stuff.

i

The big connectors are about $20 to $25 each, not too bad considering. The good thing about hooking it to the house with a chunk of SO Cord and a plug is that you can unplug the generator, roll it out of it's shed, throw it on a motorcycle lift of some sort, and get it up where you can work on it easily.

You have to get it out of the shed to work on it, or build a way oversized shed with the unit high up on a raised stand and plenty of space to walk around it and work. Because bending over to work on it close to the ground will get old real fast.

You can take that small-car muffler and weld a threaded black pipe nipple in the Inlet port, screw it into the exhaust manifold, Done.

Or get a standard automotive exhaust header bolt flange and doughnut seals from a muffler shop, and weld the pipe nipple to one half of the flange, the muffler and tailpipe assembly to the other. That way it comes apart easier for service.

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On 5 Dec 2004 22:01:54 GMT, Ignoramus19295 calmly ranted:

That means it has old oil in it. Change them immediately and change the oil again, now that you've used it to flush the old stuff out.

Wow, 3 filters? I can see one for fuel, and one for the oil, but what's the third one for? Are there hydraulics on that thing, too?

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