Seafoam saved my Honda eu2000 Generator

[john p]

BB WD40 RP7 SAME THING different brand
never had a problem spraying it into air intake as there is a filter there between the end opening and the engine... even use fly spray it works.. as for its lubrication properties ??? well it scores .0967 on the intergalactic spectrometer..

[mike95490]

is there any problem with letting it die from lack of fuel while under load?

YES. If you are running close to full load, the residual heat in the windings, when the "blower" stops, will cook the varnish, and then you get shorted windings.

Much like a car boils over in the desert, when you stop at a gas station. (East coasters find out about that the first trip out.) You have lost your 80mph ram air thru the radiator, and water circulation when the engine switches off.

[icarus]

Good point Mike,

My run on such small loads I forget about the consequences full loads,

T

[BB.]

Regarding closing valves to lessen spring loads (and "spring sag")... I don't think I buy that as a failure mode for good quality/well designed engines.

Obviously, for multi-cylinder engines--finding a place where all the valves are closed is not going to happen--and we don't ever worry about that.

If the valves springs were designed to be so close in yield strength that they start yielding/creeping when left open and the engine is cold--they would die at elevated temperatures during normal operation and cycling operation which would seem to be a more severe load (dynamic forces of moving valves, slamming shut, etc.).

I have a friend that used to make light weight valve keeper sets for racing motorcycles... And they replaced the sets after a few races--not after sitting around for two weeks between races. There it was dynamic stresses that caused failures--not storage under tension/compression.

-Bill

[icarus]

I confess that I have no evidence, anecdotal or otherwise that keeping the stress of the valve springs helps anything at all. It does seem intuitive however when a large engine (my Lister Diesel for example) is stored for many months, that leaving the stress off the springs is a good thing.

Tony

[BB.]

Regarding Listers--I have read (like here where an oil pump pressure relief spring shattered into 7 pieces) about springs failing (and governor springs needing to be replaced) in the new ones from India (among other failures).

-Bill

[icarus]

There are Listers, there Lister/Petters and then there are "Listeroids". Most Listeroids are knockoffs made largely in India.

Mine is a 1950's vintage SL 2 coupled to a 5 kw 240 genset. Still runs like new. Makes a ton of noise. I fire it up every couple of years but I don't use it for anything. I have been trying to give it away, but shipping would be expensive.

Tony

[thorsness]

Bill,

I like the LPS 1,2 & 3 myself. Use the '3' on exposed surfaces on my floatplane and it does a fine job.

JB

[BB.]

Mine is a 1950's vintage SL 2 coupled to a 5 kw 240 genset. Still runs like new. Makes a ton of noise. I fire it up every couple of years but I don't use it for anything. I have been trying to give it away, but shipping would be expensive.

Every time I hear of something like this -- I just have to step back and be amazed...

We are now in a world that is so interconnected by trading and cheap/efficient transportation (Pakistan pot on a stove designed in the US assembled in Mexico from parts made in China a Thailand running natural gas from Russia piped in Korean steel, cooking some strange--to us--Peruvian grain using meat from Argentina...) a perfectly working piece of equipment is not worth anything.

And yet, Tony's Dad (I am guessing) somehow found it worth bringing this "monster" (in the good sense ) all the way from England (probably) to an island on a lake in Canada in the middle of nowhere.

Wow....

-Bill

[icarus]

Actually,

We bought it used in ~1965 from a fishing resort 100kms away. In those days, we had no roads, so the seller floated down his lake, put in on the CN Rail, and they dropped it off at our stop. Over the portage on a 1929 Model A Ford Truck, floated down our lake, off our island on rollers with blocks and tackles. Been there ever since.
(It replaced a 1948 Onan 3 kw auto start. The lister burns ~1/4 per hour, the Onan ~1 gal! Still have the Onan, it runs like new as well!)

It is important to remember that Canada, especially post war had lots of trade with GB, and tons of manufactured items came from England. The engine came from Dursley England, but the GenSet was made by Russel-Hippwell in Owen Sound Ontario. (A fairly large industrial company at the time). We also had, (at the bush camp we ran) another Lister, 10 kw open flywheel water cooled. That ran great until the next owners killed it y not putting oil in it. It probably had 20k hours on it.

As for the middle of nowhere. We are in the middle of nowhere now, sort of. We do have a road to the lake shore so that we can go to town anytime, but in so many ways we are way more isolated than we were back then. In those days we only had the railway. Our community was 400km long, but only 10 meters wide! All along the railway were small communities, populated mostly by railway maintenance workers,, every 5-10 miles. You knew everyone along the line, as you would take the train to town once a month or so for supplies. We would ride down the line with the section gang on the "hand car" to visit neighbours.

There were bush trappers, prospectors, fishing and hunting guides all scattered in the bush. In 1950 within 10 miles we probably had 20 people living around us. Now there is one other. The railway now does all it's maintenance with trucks from town, no one traps, and all the guides live in town.

I miss the community,

Tony