Workshop Generator

I am building a home metal fabrication workshop. Have been doing this for a few years and intend to go full time in a year or two. The new workshop is a good distance for any 3 phase lines and I'm thinking of installing a large generator to run the workshop. I was looking a similar setup over the weekend and apart from the noise it seems to work quite well, couple of litres of diesel an hour, keep it well serviced.....some rough calculations would point towards a genie rated between 20 to 40 KVA to run a welder, couple of 1 - 3 Hp machines (drills, milling machine and lathes) bearing in mind that they won;t all in use at the same time.

Anyway my main question is that is a fair few ex standby generators for sale, i.e. they are quite old (circa 1980's) but the hours run are low, something like 100 - 200 hrs. Is there anything to beware with these machines?

Paul

Reply to
paullyons
Loading thread data ...

Insulation on the generator can deteriorate over time. The mechanical parts can be of indeterminate longevity - but the "chewing gum and string" bits are always dodgy.

Used to work in commercial power generation and we had four alternators fail with earth faults (requiring rewinds) within 6 months. They were 20 years old but they were of top class (British) manufacture, which goes to show that when the life is up for insulation, it's up. You may think that 20 years is a long time, as it is, but you have to bear in mind that these alternators were very large lumps and effectively were never cold. That's the death knell for older insulation - temperature cycling.

Snakey

Reply to
Snakey

generators for

mechanical parts

alternators fail

Paul,

I think your estimate of diesel consumption is too low. I have a 100KW set that I run intermittantly at varying loads but reckon on about 20 litres / hour if heavily loaded (80-100 kW). This is an ex standby set of 1976 vintage driven by a Ford 2704ET 6 cylinder 6 pot turbo charged industrial engine in very good condition (350 hours on the clock)

AWEM

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

paullyons explained :

As others have suggested, I would be more concerned about the electrical sides condition than the mechanical side. If left standing cold unused, motors and generators can and do absorb moisture which can cause insulation breakdowns - which is why many of the larger ones are fitted with internal heaters, to keep the windings warm. Take an high voltage insulation tester with you and test the generators winding insulation before agreeing to any purchase, or get some sort of guarantee. Also check if the generator has internal heating wires plus indications that they had been connected, which might be a good sign if they were actually made use of.

Before using it, dry out all of the moisture by keeping it warm and in a dehumified atmosphere for a week or two.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

You see many on EBay because they don't fall within the newer noise emissions standards item 270074132784might just do the trick though

begin 666 rtCurve.gif M1TE&.#EA" `(`)$``/___^_O[\[.SO___R'Y! 44``,`+ `````(``@```(1

35( Y8PF[#H)QTG$N>SIH5@``.P`` ` end
Reply to
Robbo

Probably folks on alt.electrical.engineering would help with this. You could try posting there?

-- Adrian C

Reply to
Adrian C

I'm wondering what the 100kW is for... the imagination...

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Induction furnace melting cast iron & stainless steel

AWEM

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

Agreed. A quarter of a litre per hour per kVA is a good guideline, at typical real-world power factor.

That sounds about right.

Reply to
Andy Wade

Many thanks for all the sugestions there, I will also put this post on the electrical forum

Paul

Andy Wade wrote:

Reply to
paullyons

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.