My latest project

[fabricator]

I bought a Listeroid from Diesel Electric Service in Kansas, after the usual thorough tear down and casting sand removal I set it up with a 24 volt alternator and tied it into my hydronic heating system, I'm burning my bio diesel in it right now but I plan to run it on cleaned and dried veg oil.

[bj]

     Sounds like you did it right, from the start.  It will probably outlast both of us.

[TomW]

Fab;

Nice video and cool set up. Just curious how the copper plumbing will hold up to the movement?

Looks like lots of movement along most of the length of copper?

Always wanted such a backup system.

I put floor heat in my detached office but due to a free installation "deal" from the power co-op I used electric resistance heat and have  regretted that since the cheap bulk power discounts disappeared . I could have used an electric water heater and in floor Pex and they would have paid for all the electrical gear and I would have paid for the plumbing, pumps and controls.  Now it sits unused because power is just not cheap enough. With the Pex I could heat it from any source that could heat water. Duh. Kind of obviously a silly choice in hind sight.

Tom

[Volvo farmer]

That is so freaking cool. I need to get me one of those things someday.

How much waste heat comes off one of those things? I would have thought it would only be in the hundreds of BTUs. Also agreed with TomW. Copper work hardens and I'd be concerned that you'd make something really brittle with all that movement.

[Bruce S]

Fab;
 Very nice! I like the idea of having the braided line going from copper then back to copper for movement.
I also like how quiet it works  are you grabbing any of the exhaust heat for a little extra heat scavenging?
The one concern I would have it the copper to black/galvanized pipe, there exists a galvanic possibility there.
I'll be looking forward to see how well your cleaned WVO works out.
Cheers!
Bruce S

[12AX7]

Looks cool!   eerrrrrr  I mean HOT!

Don't you loose a lot of heat with the copper pipe so close/against the concrete block wall?  Since it's already there, maybe slip in some aluminum foil between pipe and wall to help reflect hot/cold?

Had a friend that used copper pipe on a air compressor.  It was coupled to a solid fastened wall mounted pipe by  a rubber hose.  That cooper pipe shook like NUTS.  Everyone told him it wouldn't last a year.  I think that was 30 years ago,  last I heard he's on his third compressor but same pipe and soldered connection to a shut off valve and union.    But..  if it does go, all he'll get is a blast of air and an over worked compressor.

Do you have some sort of a "high temp" engine cut off in case you loose coolant?

I'm unsure of your location,  do you have another thread about the rest of your hydronic heating system?   

ax7

[dave ames]

Thanks for the look fabricator,

Is this one of the 8/1 clones?

Really like the whole time tested idea of a low rpm heavy duty engine like these. Seems that with a small inventory of replacement parts and hand tools an average guy could keep one of these running for a lifetime.

Great stuff!
dave

[fabricator]

Yikes! Lots of questions and almost no answers  , I'm gonna be monitoring the whole thing closely for the forseable future, the copper will get a bracket on the motor frame and on the wall so the only thing that will be moving is the flex hose.
This whole thing is a learning experience, it is an 8/1 the compression is so high you cannot physically crank it over with out using the compression release.
I have a slight set back tonight, it is basically leaking water from every gasket on the engine, the gaskets that come with it from India looked very questionable, kinda like recycled brown painted newspaper But I figured I'd give em a try.
There are outfits that sell American made gasket kits, looks like that is the direction I'm gonna go.
The thing is cool as hell, no electronics, no glow plug just a pure diesel ignited by compression only.

[12AX7]

A couple more questions..

How much power are you pulling off your alternator?
Do  you have any plans on running any other type alternator?
What is the HP rating of the Lister?
The galvanized pipe 2in?  is that the exhaust and where is it piped to?   looks like it runs into the floor??
and then for the juicer ones..   How did you score a Lister here in the states? Was it a new engine? What kind of shipping charges?   and of course,  willing to share how deep you had to reach into your pocket?

[fabricator]

A couple more questions..

How much power are you pulling off your alternator?

It's a 24 volt 100 amp internally regulated alternator

Do  you have any plans on running any other type alternator?

Not right now

What is the HP rating of the Lister?

8 hp but the two 24 inch 200 lb flywheels effectively add about 2 hp

The galvanized pipe 2in?  is that the exhaust and where is it piped to?   looks like it runs into the floor??

Yes it's 2 inch pipe, it runs into and under the floor into a steel box with baffles in it four feet under ground, then a two inch pipe comes out of the ground next to the pole barn, out there is sounds about like a clothes dryer exhaust


and then for the juicer ones..   How did you score a Lister here in the states? Was it a new engine? What kind of shipping charges?   and of course,  willing to share how deep you had to reach into your pocket?

It came from Diesel Electric Service in Chase Kansas, the EPA has banned importation and sale of these engines because they don't meet emissions standards, so DES sells them as a kit, it is a new engine they weigh about 850 lbs, the cost was $1990 plus 343 bux to ship from Kansas to Michigan

You need to know these engines are a project, the Indians aint big on quality control, the block is is usually full of casting sand that has to be cleaned out, the balance is usually way off but it can be corrected, but once you do get em running it is just damned cool to sit and watch em run, they are very stingy on fuel use also and will burn anything that looks greasy, this one will be running on cleaned dried vegetable oil.

[mikeyny]

wow thats real cool. gotta get me one of them soon. i really love the duct tape holding those pipes together. Just the way I would do it. get it going and then work out the details later. awesome project really!