Table Of ContentHow hard is it to make a working Hydro Turbine generator? This one probably didn't take
more than 40 minutes.
The shaft opening is standard pipe thread, this makes it easy to cut a hole in a piece of stock,
cut the same pipe threads in the stock and screw the mount on with a short threaded
connector. The motor has two studs that stick through the mounting plate. The drive shaft
was made out of a threaded piece of stock, one end slips over the automotive DC motor shaft
(threaded hole with Allen set screw), the other engages the slot in the plastic turbine wheel.
I hooked it to the garden hose and powered a boom box (radio), I then run a 12 volt
automotive tail light; not bad for our wimpy water pressure. What is most impressive is the
low volume of water it takes to spin the turbine. Maybe a good way to explain this is... turn
the garden hose on, and adjust the water down to where you would drink from the hose, this
is all the water this turbine needs to produce a low voltage!
Something like this would be great for a site with a hundred or more feet of head, even if the
Micro Turbine
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volume was VERY low, this mini turbine could still keep your batteries charged.
George B.
Micro Turbine
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How to contact me
We will become more SOPHISTICATED some day... but for now.
To help reduce Spam, the following email address contains XXX's that must be removed
before attempting to send same...
send email to George B. <<< click on the name
If you're emailing me to ask for a price list of all the things I might sell, the shipping
weights, warranties and the likes, you're probably attempting to do business with the wrong
person. I like to work with people from a needs basis, I don't care if you have no clue where
to start, but addressing a need or desire is far more pleasant from my perspective. In addition,
don't expect me to try and sell you something, if you don't sell yourself, you won't find me
trying to twist your arm, this is my hobby, not my means of making a living.
If you send me email and don't think it's important to share you name, it may not make it
through my sophisticated Spam filter, don't take it personal, but the software seems to get
annoyed with minor omissions like that... You can lie about your name; just pick one and
the software won't get offended.
If you send an email asking me to call, know that I do not have a good long distance rate and
would find it easier to accept your call, ....just ask for a number in your email. I take calls
from 0900-2200 PST most days.
I'll try and set up email return notification and let you know when I'm in the field, I do spend
time off the grid and in the deep weeds, so if your email isn't answered right away, don't
think I'm ignoring you.
All the best,
George B.
Contact Me
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Devoted to Intelligent AE Solutions
Alternative energy solutions, with a focus on equipment you can
maintain and rebuild yourself!
If you can't maintain and repair it with basic tools, we probably won't like it. If you
like to 'DIY', you might enjoy our pages.
At present, our focus is on building back up power, identifying reliable and cost
effective small diesels, continuous duty generator heads and drive systems, and
deploying them efficiently. If it can burn Green fuels, we like it even better. We believe
in slow RPM, the slower it is, the longer it lasts. We usually have Listeroids and
the Mighty Changfa singles in stock.
Utterpower is different, we openly share information with our customers and do all we can to
support the DIY philosophy. This site will continue to evolve as a resource for DIYers and
the products we like. It is our goal to build on resources and provide parts and service. When
we find alternative sources, we often post them for our customers, this builds your
independence, and your ability to keep running in hard times. If you bought a similar
product elsewhere and found they have no clue how it works; or how to repair it, we'll still do
what we can to help. Our pages are living documents, they change often as we learn and
evolve.
We have readers and customers from many countries with years of hands on experience, our
younger readers are often professional people who hold engineering positions, our mean
audience are folks in their fifties who have a lifetime of knowledge and experience and grew
up understanding the value of DIY. We do our best to learn from this incredible resource;
and pass on useful information to our readers. Knowledge is power, it is the primary focus of
utterpower.
An important reminder
How to contact me
Engines
Generator Heads
Products
Generator Heads, Generator Ends, Homemade generator, DIY Generato..., Asian Diesels, off grid power, custom pulleys, custom sheaves,
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4 sale pages
shipping info
Articles
Utterpower's Project page
People
Show Quality Listeroid Generator plants
Our off grid Lab
Travel
Favorite links
Wanted
ST Generator Heads
Custom designed for the DIY crowd? you can
do almost any repair yourself! 4/29/02 utterpower.com to carry replacement parts for
ST gen heads
Changfa Diesel Engines
Simple, efficient, and cost effective one
cylinder diesels
Sea Pump A complete cost effective water system for your cabin?, you can afford this
one.
Utterpower Project Page take a look at some of the
Generator Heads, Generator Ends, Homemade generator, DIY Generato..., Asian Diesels, off grid power, custom pulleys, custom sheaves,
http://www.utterpower.com/index.html (2 of 4) [1/24/2004 11:17:50 AM]
things we're doing.
The Listeroids arrive!
They are like a magnet!
7/19/2003 ...They'll go fast, order your 6/1 Listeroid now
MISC ITEMS 4 SALE
Useful Information related to DIY POWER
Unforgettable Folks Not everyone follows the beaten path.
This site is under construction. While we're setting up a few pages, take a look at the
following sites:
Visit Steve Gray's oldengineshed, you'll be amazed!
The internet is full of sites that dispense useful information about home made wind turbines.
Hugh's site is a must and an excellent place to start.
http://homepages.enterprise.net/hugh0piggott/
Want to learn a few things? Check out windstuffnow.com, Ed has something new brewing all
the time, and has some interesting products.
Inverters, if you are thinking about buying a modified sign wave inverter, you must visit
donrowe.com before you purchase anything! I couldn't find a better price, and you won't find
better service or nicer people to do business with. Count on it!
Greg Weinfurtner turns discarded stuff into useful power plants, learn about converting
induction motors into generators and how to make gas powered battery chargers. It's a fun
Generator Heads, Generator Ends, Homemade generator, DIY Generato..., Asian Diesels, off grid power, custom pulleys, custom sheaves,
http://www.utterpower.com/index.html (3 of 4) [1/24/2004 11:17:50 AM]
place to visit.
Generator Heads, Generator Ends, Homemade generator, DIY Generato..., Asian Diesels, off grid power, custom pulleys, custom sheaves,
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We usually have engines in stock, if not, there's usually a new shipment inbound, send
me email if you wish to purchase or have questions about engines.
Modern engines of the WESTERN World are often 'throw aways'. If they are
rebuildable, the cost is often Prohibitive.
Our Focus: Is 'off grid' or 'mission critical' power. If you appreciate either, you are a
rare individual, you probably fall into a percentage of the population too small to
measure State Side, and you can be sure that the big marketing companies won't be
spending a lot of time studying your buying habits or needs.
We view the world as a complex place where trade offs and compromises are necessary,
we know that single cylinder diesels are NOT the perfect prime movers for AC
generators...... but they fully meet our needs.
What is foremost in our minds, is a dependable generator. We'd give up light weight,
mobility, name brands, fancy art work, and more to assure it will run and produce
power when required.
Shipping expenses are factored into every product you buy in North America. When
you visit Home Depot and look over the consumer generators, you will note the use of
alloys, plastic, air cooling, and all the other wondrous things that make a portable
generator appealing, manageable, and more cost effective to ship to the 99 plus percent
of the population that they are designed for. If you decide to use these generators
often, you may have problems.
The stuff we like is 'heavy', you will pay higher shipping costs in many cases to move
them to your site. Once there, you will want this stuff on wheels if mobility is important
to you. Part of the pay off is the simple design and ease of maintenance. If you are even
half way mechanical, you could overhaul one in an afternoon for a very small
investment. These engines were designed from the ground up to run for long periods of
time and to be maintained by the mechanically challenged, having simple tools.
The following engines have massive cast iron heads with thick decks like we haven't
seen since the 50s and early 60s in American products. Valves have massive stems, with
valve guides having twice or more the surface area as you would find in a 'modern'
engine. Efficiency is important in these designs as well, fuel prices and fuel quality is
not always good where they are typically deployed.
Following are engines and designs we like! Sometimes we know where you can buy
these engines new, other times we can put you on a waiting list or put you in touch with
the seller of a good used engine. Parts are easy to come buy, we stock some, we can
Engines, Listers, Asian Diesels, Changfa, Petters
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order the others.
German designed, Chinese built, they come in a number of sizes. I like the units with
counter balance shafts, 185=9HP, 195=13.38HP, 1115= 22HP, these engines all have the
same design and layout. The counter balance shafts provide very smooth running at 1800
RPMs. We have developed a direct drive coupler for these engines and feel they are well
suited for driving generators and pumps. Changfa is a Multi-National Company making
use of superior parts from countries outside China. This is an important difference.
The Changfa Pages
British designed, Indian built Lister 6/1s (Singles) and 12/2s (Twins).These are legendary
650 RPM work horse engines. They are massive, the 6HP single weighs around 750 pounds.
Here's an engine that was designed from the ground up to be rebuilt in place! Actual tests
have produced .125 Gallons of biodiesel per KWH using the efficient Allmand drive, and
the ST head.
The Listeroid Pages
Inside the lister
Drive System for Listers
Purchase a Listeroid, email George B.
British Designed, Indian built Petters. These engines are more compact and higher speed
Engines, Listers, Asian Diesels, Changfa, Petters
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than the Listers. They produce their power at 1500 to 1800 RPMs. Singles and Twins are
available.
The Petter Pages
This engine has a totally enclosed valve train and a pressure oil system, this is another
durable, time tested design that should perform when you need it. Mine starts the first
compression stroke every time.
Engines, Listers, Asian Diesels, Changfa, Petters
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What makes a Changfa different from other Chinese diesels? they have
become a Multi-National Company sourcing superior parts from Partners
outside China.
Purchase a German Designed, Chinese Diesel
Parts for Changfa engines
General Design Overview
Changfa makes large volumes and types of Diesels, they are cast iron, heavy, and built to last.
There's a number of standard engines in China and a large degree of parts interchange between
the engines that different Manufacturers in China make. The 195 and 1115 are my favorites, they
are German designed, and have two counter balance shafts, they run very smoothly at rated
speed. These engines make 13.38 and 22 HP at rated RPMs, I run them at 1800 RPMs for direct
drive and longevity.
Some of these engines are hopper cooled, others have radiators, fans, belts, and little DC
alternators designed to charge a start battery and power a head light. These are popular on two
wheeled tractors that are sometimes used to pull carts to market. The belt is something that can
fail, the condensers are sized to work with the fan. If you use an adapter plate, and thermo siphon
cooling setup with an auto radiator, you've eliminated a number of failure points, if the radiator is
large enough, the fan will not be running, and you will run more efficiently when you are NOT
running that extra belt, pulley, and fan..
I have some regular visitors that are kind enough to point out things that will be of value to
our readers; following is a snippet From Andris V.
I could never reconcile their conversions from Hp to kW. They always seemed to be a little off.
Then I remembered there are at least four different definitions of Hp (rounded to five places):
Changfa
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1 International Hp = 745.70 Watts
1 Electric Hp = 746.00 Watts
1 Metric Hp = 735.50 Watts
1 Water Hp = 746.04 Watts
We Americans use the Electric Hp number of 746 W/Hp but Changfa (China being a metric
country) uses the Metric number of 735.5 W/Hp. Now their published conversions make sense! It
might help your customers if you mention this on your web site.
Here's a link to my first Changfa powered generator.
Harry's Changfa powered generator Harry Anderson
7X24 Duty! A great story in progress.
Put a Changfa on your Garden Tractor?
The belt driven setup fits up against the wall nicely, it doesn't require any walk around room, and
all maintenance can be done from the front of the unit. The two heavy belts may last a life time,
we'll see.
The Changfa comes with a standard pulley that mounts to the flywheel, If you want to direct
couple to something, it can be done fairly easily. I like to do the job with junk parts or standard
parts, when possible, read on for my approach.
First let's look at the stock pulley, the ring cut on the back side 'centers' the pulley into grooves
cut in the flywheel face.
Changfa
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Here's a Changfa 195 flywheel facing a ST 10KW Generator shaft. Notice the three raised
mounting tabs, the inward side is machined to receive the pulley, this arrangement 'centers' the
pulley.
Changfa
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Above is a picture of our first direct drive adapter. The three holes drilled in the rotor face are
used to mount the unit to the flywheel. This work was done by Randy Allmand in Kent, WA...
Thanks Randy !!!
Changfa
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And here's the back side, notice the lip around the inside, go back up and compare this to the
stock pulley cut, this is what the direct drive adapter will CENTER on.
Changfa
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