Beautiful Old Generator - BIG RED

[DanF]

She's a 7500 watt Wisconsin, 1800 rpm with a 2-cyl engine and crank start. Probably not too hard to convert to electric start...many of them were made with it.

She sat at the pawn shop for almost a year with a $900 price tag on her. When I saw her she was marked down to $200, since she would not start anymore.

DanB is an old engine expert, and it only took him a few minutes to diagnose the problem....the gas was old, stale and brown, and the gasket around the top of the glass fuel bell was cracked, so the mechanical fuel pump was sucking more air than gasoline.

We drained the gas, and made a new gasket with silicone, and she started right up! Very quiet thanks to the slow 1800 rpm operation.

Big Red has a good home now!
DANF

[(unknown)]

that has got to be the buy of the year...

the wisconsin will likely run forever, and even if it needs rebuilding,parts are available..

the 1800 rpm is a huge plus, in my books.

now all you need to do is get a heat exchanger to scavenge the waste heat off of the exhaust and you will have all the hot water you need,  and for that matter a sizeable amount for remote space heating..
which if used will lower the cost per watt by about 25 percent

wish i had gotton there first... lol

bob gayle

[Demetri]

Nice! Gonna leave it stock and use it as an a/c generator, or build one heck of a p/m alternator to charge batteries with? Hehe, either way, it should outlast that H*nda by a few millenia.....

Demetri

[Bruce Downunder]

great  catch Dan.  I joust  luv prawn shops.

 I straight away know when ones with-in 'walking in" distance,  the little 'handbrake' tries to steer me in the other direction ,lol.

At them RPM  it would be fairly quite ?.

put it in the lounge ,just turn the TV up a bit .

Bruce.

[Norm]

 Hey that baby oughta' toast about 8-10 slices at once!  Ya gotta love those magneto's who needs an electric start? When mine was tuned up and had the gas...one slow turn and as soon as that mag clicked...Bam! you were off and running!
 Only thing that beats that in my book is a v-4 (Ah the neighbors old hay bailer! (1944) 300 to 400 bales a day,penny a bale... some real money back then!
Have fun!
Norm

[DanF]

AND -- the cooling air blows from the end of the engine, up into the shroud and around the head, and out near the carb....so a heat recovery system would be EASY for this unit. May do that to help heat my garage (when i build a garage, that is....)
CHeers
DANF

[ADMIN]

When the temperature is warm outside, she starts with 1/2 turn on the crank.

When it's cold out -- 1 full crank choked. Release choke, and 1/2 crank does it!

Cheers
DANF

[(unknown)]

How much gas does it use in an hour?

[shootist357]

I just picked up my own version of big red, except mine is big grey...It is a Wisconsin TH with a 5500 watt USA LIGHT POWER head attached.  Mine is propane fed, and has a "weird" electric start.  There is no physical starter...somehow it energizes the field and spins at 200 rpm for startup.  I just got it today (saw big red several months ago online).  I paid $160 for mine (ebay), and had it running in about an hour and a half.  I'd appreciate any info you guys have on this generator.  It had a big electronics mess on top that was rusted solid.  I removed all the non essentials, and wired it up for easy use.  It has a hand crank, but it almost broke my wrist the first time it kicked back (still soaking hand in ice bucket).  It needs a new starter solenoid (autolite SS 4303)can't find it online.  It had the original X8 plugs in it, but I put in new ones since autozone had em in stock.  This is my first wisconsin.  If I can figure out how to post some pics on this site, I will do so.  Thanks, Mike