Micro 12VDC Generator with a Cox .049 Sure Start Diesel Engine

robot797 wrote:i dont know
maybe becaus our diesels never fail?
becaus of german enginering

True, German diesels never fail, however, any diesel, German or not, will not be able to start or will start with a great difficulty at low ambient temperatures and there is no much of a way around this. I have heard they use glow plugs of some sort for car diesel engines as well as they use gasoline starter engines to warm up ( and, best, to start up ) the diesel but I doubt they install these on cars, only on trucks.

Some use electrical heaters. In Canada, electrical heaters are available for all engines, gasoline too. These are plugged in an electric mains plug when the car is parked to keep the oil and the block not frozen. Problems still exist with frozen gasoline for which reason the shops sell gasoline antifreeze. The electrical heater systems do also keep the battery fully charged.

These remarks apply mainly for Northern Canada where the temperatures may go to - 40C in the winter or lower.

Some people use these in Southern Canada and Northern USA too.

I have been long suggesting to equip the cars not only with heaters but with electrical starters to start the car. These may use 20A at 12VDC for 10s. No one has ever done so as far as I can tell. Most likely, they are afraid from an electrical spark which may start a fire.

I have also been suggesting to use mini gasoline engines on diesel to be used not only as heaters ( as they are used now ) but to also use them as starter motors which replace the standard electrical starter motor when freezing. The gasoline mini engine can be started with a tiny battery and thus the big battery can be fully removed as well as the electrical starter. Thus, the mini gasoline engine with the tiny battery will occupy a lower amount of room and will have a lower weight than the electrical starter motor and the standard battery.

No one has ever made this as far as I am aware.

Please, note : you and others can reply to this reply as much as you all want but, beware of the fact we are entering a side topic not directly related to Cox engines nor to other RC engines.

The thesis was updated by appending the discussion related to diesel engines with glow plugs, a. k. a. hybrids :

http://www.steven-stanley-bayes.com/Cox%20.049%20SureStart%20Diesel.doc

Here are all of the links again :

Thesis : http://www.steven-stanley-bayes.com/Cox%20.049%20SureStart%20Diesel.doc
Pictures of the Engine and the Stand : http://www.steven-stanley-bayes.com/Pictures%20of%20the%20Engine%20and%20the%20Stand.doc
Pictures of the Engine, the Dynamo and the Stand : http://www.steven-stanley-bayes.com/Pictures%20of%20the%20Engine,%20the%20Dynamo%20and%20the%20Stand.doc
Video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7FfparKL78&list=UUiFdItymm78mcEB5Qlu67tg
Electrical Schematics : http://www.steven-stanley-bayes.com/12VDC%20Micro%20Generator%20with%20Micro%20Engine%20with%20Internal%20Combustion.123

To Do :

Larger 3cm pulley side rims for the engine pulley. These will prevent the belt from jumping and will allow a very low tension belt.

These will also occupy some room on the propeller screw which is now fully tightened because I have not used washers for reduction of the length of the screwed in part of the propeller screw.

all our diesels here have glow plugs
even personal cars

Hey Steve, I haven't had time to peruse your documents yet, but I've noticed something. For the sake of accuracy, when you refer to a 3 blade prop, refer to the entire diameter rather than just the length of one blade. Such as your 3 blade prop with 3.5" blades would be correctly referred to as a 7" prop.
Rusty

robot797 wrote:all our diesels here have glow plugs
even personal cars

Happy to know. Thanks.

RknRusty wrote:Hey Steve, I haven't had time to peruse your documents yet, but I've noticed something. For the sake of accuracy, when you refer to a 3 blade prop, refer to the entire diameter rather than just the length of one blade. Such as your 3 blade prop with 3.5" blades would be correctly referred to as a 7" prop.
Rusty

Very good point. What I have been calling a 3.5 inch triple blade propeller is a 3.125 inch propeller with 2.5 inch pitch and three blades.

Here is the propeller : http://coxengines.ca/cox-.020-propeller-3.125-x-2.5-3-blade.html

I have just measured the propeller diameter and I have found the DIAMETER of the circle which the propeller makes, I. E. the outer diameter to be around 8cm which coincides with 3.125 inches pretty close.

I also thank you for your reply because I have just found Cox has many 3 blade propellers. I don't know how I have not noticed carefully before.

After reading some of the replies I have realized large pulley rims would block the propeller aeration to some extent. Thus is true.

Yet, to make the belt not jump out and to use a low tension belt is very important. I will see what compromise to make in case any.

I am to make a video of the generator with the dynamo attached. This is the most important point in the generator progress. Please, hope everything would be OK.

Heres to hoping...
Good luck!

It would be nice with some pictures in this thread, super-glue and rubber bands doesn't sound like a good combination...

RknRusty wrote:Heres to hoping...  
Good luck!

Thank you!

Surfer_kris wrote:It would be nice with some pictures in this thread, super-glue and rubber bands doesn't sound like a good combination...

The super glue was used to glue the plastic rims to the rubber sink tap washer in order to make the engine pulley. The big plastic rims are positioned on each of the sides of the pulley ( on each of the sides of the tiny rims which, as explained are super glued to the rubber washer ). Because of the good and strong contact when the propeller screw is tightened as well as because of the strong and stiff fit of the big pulleys to the propeller screw due to a lower diameter holes than the screw, the big rims have not been supper glued to anything.

I have not made pictures of the big rims but I have made the video which does not show the system in profile, yet, the big rims ( or one of them , the outer one ) can be seen on the video.

No super glue was used around the elastic bands and the previously used super glue was perfectly dry and had dried for a week or more before use.

Please, read the next post ( s ) for the video link.

Thanks for the warning though. True, super glue dissolves rubber and plastics. Not as much as to harm the pulley components, though.

PLEASE, NOTE, THE LAST SECONDS OF THE VIDEO ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT

I am incredibly happy. Will make more videos. For now, this is the one which brings the major point of the development and the most important one : the system working perfectly!

Temporary Video Link : https://youtu.be/vA0HQJMAUSo ( Please, note : the video file is too big and takes a while to be processed by YouTube. The video now is 95% processed and will take a while to complete. Most likely, the video will be available to be viewed in half an hour. )

Preliminary Information : This has been the second start with the dynamo attached to the engine and the first start with this propeller and these pulleys. This was why the beginning was slow. Took a while to find out the best settings to start the system. Consequent starts would be much faster with a possibility to reach just a few seconds to start the whole system. Also, because a correct belt had not been preliminarily established, a few belts were used and one of them broke while the system was working. This was expected as this belt was incredibly thin. Other belts wrapped over themselves or the propeller. Although a low tension belt was desirable, the propeller was very close to the belt and loose ( low tension ) belts moved towards the propeller and away and got caught by the propeller. Extra room is necessary between the propeller and the pulley which is supposed to be an easy fix. Also, this propeller is bent slightly and worn from misuse during previous tests. A brand new propeller of the same type is available. Also, initial “ empty “ spring starts were used at Fuel Needle Valve 5 turns open and Air Valve ( Throttle ) fully open as well as Fuel Needle Valve 4 turns open and Air Valve ( Throttle ) fully open just to bring fuel into the engine which was then achieved by closing the Air Valve ( Throttle ) and, with the Fuel Needle Valve at 3.5 turns open, performing a few spring starts at low compression just to bring fuel in. The video shows the components of the fuel used as well as a sound reference : a hammer positioned up at 90 angle and released to hit a pine plank.

Engine : Cox .049 SureStart Diesel

Muffler : Not Installed

Pulleys : Engine Pulley : 1.5cm, Dynamo Pulley : 1.5cm

Pulley Ratio : 1

Dynamo : RS555, Brushed DC Generator ( Dynamo ) and a 12 VDC Electrical Motor

Fuel : 38% Ether ( John Deere 80 Starter Fluid ), Kerosene : 34%, Castor Oil : 23%, Cetone Booster ( 2 Isopropyl Nitrate & Xelone ) 5%

Amount of Fuel : 20mL

Preliminary Start without the Dynamo Attached : Yes, at the same settings. Reason : to heat up the engine for the start with the dynamo attached.

Propeller : 3.125 Inches Diameter, 2.5 Inches Pitch, 3 Blades

Belt : Elastic Band. Various used in the test. The thin ones got broken as expected. The loose, low tension propellers had a tendency to get wrapped around the propeller. More room is necessary between the propeller and the pulley to ensure free movement of the belt.

Dynamo Fan : Installed

Electrical Load : 0

Spring Starter : Yes

Other Means to Start the Engine : Not Used

Level of Spring Start Engagement during Successful Starts : Different levels used. Most successful starts have been achieved with the spring engaged to ensure two compressions only. Not fully engaged.

Settings : Air Valve : 75% Open ; Fuel Needle Valve : 3.5 turns Open ; Compression : Close to Maximal but Not Maximal ( the compression screw was screwed gently until some resistance shown ).

Engine Control : The engine exhibited a very good ability to be controlled by all controls : Air, Fuel and Compression.

Voltage Achieved : Unless the voltmeter is wrong, voltages between 30VDC and 100VDC have been achieved at various RPM. The engine has not been run at maximal RPM and not on minimal too. During the previous test, voltages double of these have been achieved with higher than 200VDC maximal voltage. In case the voltmeter is right, even lower pulley gear ratio can be used. However, these tests are at 0 electrical load and how the voltage would react to a load is unknown as no test has been carried out with any electrical load yet.

Greasing the Pulleys Before Start : No.

Temperature of the Engine and the System : Room ( 20ºC to 25ºC )

Temperature of the Fuel : Room ( 20ºC to 25ºC ). Because Ether had been derived from a John Deere 80 Starter Fluid can with compressed Ether and propellants, the Ether was freezing when squeezed out. Thus, the fuel had to be warmed up. The fuel was put in a measuring glass where the fuel was mixed. Then the measuring glass was dipped into a jar with hot water and kept for a few seconds. Then the fuel was shaken to mix up even more at the new, high ( room ) temperature.

Noise : Yes. The engine is powerful and noisy. Some reduction may be possible with the muffler. Not as much so the power is not reduced.

Messy : Yes. Exhaust fluids have not been canalised. Can be canalised through a pipe attached to the exhaust ( best modified with a bigger hole ) with a nipple attached to the exhaust to allow attachment of the exhaust pipe.

Other Problems : Because Windows 8.1 Enterprise Evaluation Version has been used, the computer has 1 hour before shutting down. The video was shot in .avi mode which occupies a huge amount of room, around 15GB for 50 minutes recording. The software ( Veedub64 ) provides a possibility for a decrease of the amount of room but these have not been used. Thus, the computer shut down before the video and the test were completed and I do not know when as yet. The last minutes of the test are the most important. The test completed when the fuel was used.

Seconds Missed : I have watched the video and have established just a few seconds are missing. These were important because they showed the engine controlled to achieve higher and lower RPM. The fuel burned just, probably 4 to 8 seconds after the video recording stopped. I am happy, however, the performance of the system with the thick and higher tension blue belt which worked very well at high as well as low RPM to provide the system with a reliable and consistent work.

Conclusion : This video shows the most important point of the generator development process : a reliable, consistent start and work with the dynamo attached to the engine. I am incredibly happy with the result and can now continue with assembling the whole system to complete the prototype development. Extra improvements may be consequently carried out.

The video is still crunching, I'll check back after Doctor Who.

RknRusty wrote:The video is still crunching, I'll check back after Doctor Who.

I have just checked and the video is still not available.

How long is the video?

Cribbs74 wrote:How long is the video?

Around 45 minutes and more than 600MB for the uploaded file.

The video has fully been uploaded on YouTube and the YouTube processing is 95% completed.

The problem is thee processing has been stuck to 95% for more than 2 hours. I think the progress is non linear, yet, I am upset the processing is stuck to 95% without showing any indication of being processed.

Hopefully, the video will be available tomorrow.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

StevenStanleyBayes wrote:

Cribbs74 wrote:How long is the video?

Around 45 minutes and more than 600MB for the uploaded file.

Sounds like you need to do some editing, you said earlier that only the last few minutes were important?

the video worked for me. pretty cool idea

Here is the long link : www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA0HQJMAUSo&list=UUiFdItymm78mcEB5Qlu67tg

Surfer_kris wrote:

StevenStanleyBayes wrote:

Cribbs74 wrote:How long is the video?

Around 45 minutes and more than 600MB for the uploaded file.

Sounds like you need to do some editing, you said earlier that only the last few minutes were important?

I want people to see the whole process but I may leave the long videos and make edited ones which show the successful spring starts and the engine after successful starts.

You have suggested a good idea but I am not sure whether the software I have can do so.