Picked up a Listeroid Diesel last weekend

[dkmc]

Bucket list item. Been searching for one of these I could afford for 15+ years.
Finally found one, and made the 7 hour round trip to bring it home.
This was made in India, around about 2010. It's 6hp at 650RPM, and the generator is 5kw. It's never been run, no oil in the sump.
I'm stoked to tear it down, inspect and clean it, go thru the dimensions, correct any machining errors or sloppy assembly, then re-assemble and fire this thing up.

 

[vavet]

I wish I understood the significance of this so I could be happy for you.

But seriously - congrats. You have some serious persistence if you've been trying to buy one for 15 years.

 

[jd_1138]

Wow, she's a beauty. That will come in handy if the power goes out. I'd build its own little generator room so you're not breathing diesel fumes in the garage.

 

[Air21]

I guess a bunch of us are in the dark on this one... But I found another guy who seems pretty stoked about his as well.

Congrats on a neat find!

 

[mike93lx]

What's the appeal? Does it run at 650rpm? How can it make 60hz power?

 

[Bretny]

More windings equal less rpm needed.

 

[MBfreak]

Can be a great engine
.
I worked in a mining company where mine and processing was 350 km apart. We had our own railroad, and microwave link , with a tower/radio and generators at each siding , 12 in all.
We had two UK made Lister diesels, 4,5 kVA generator, looking very much like yours, at each siding, one running and one backup.
We run them 6500 hours between teardowns and they had regular oil chages, filter changes and belt replacements every 600 hours. Never a failure for the 12 years I worked there

 

[gungatim]

that's on my bucket list as well. used to be able to get them cheap out of India. now not so much. will run forever though...congrats!!

 

[fasteddie]

What? It runs on mouthwash?

 

[u118224]

It looks like a hit/miss engine, but I’ve never seen one that’s diesel powered. Is that what it is?

 

[dutchgray]

Lister made them in the UK into the 1980's, the twin flywheel CS model, the more modern diesel engines were made until much later. They will pretty much run forever with the occasional refresh.

 

[dkmc]

I guess a bunch of us are in the dark on this one... But I found another guy who seems pretty stoked about his as well.

Congrats on a neat find!

That's just it.....while you guys are in the dark, us guys that have them will see the light.


It's a standard 1800 RPM generator head. The belt goes around the 24" flywheel, and the generator has a smaller pulley on it so the 650 is increased to 1800

I'm even more excited because I also found a 12/2 (12HP 2 Cylinders) and I'm going to get that one this coming weekend. That's a 15 hour round trip.....

 

[mike93lx]

More windings equal less rpm needed.

I know, but the generator needs to be run at certain speeds to acheive 60hz. 1800rpm and 3600rpm are the most common.

The missing piece was pointed out above, its pulley driven, not direct drive

 

[MoonRise]

A 1.4 liter 750 pound 6 hp diesel engine.

To run a generator head at the 'correct' rpm, you just get the correct ratio pulley set to increase the rpm output from the engine to what the generator head needs to spin.

If the engine is running at a true 650 rpm and the generator head needs to spin at 1800 rpm for 60 Hz output, then you need a 2.769231:1 ratio from the engine to the generator.

(btw, a true 6 hp at the engine is not quite enough power to get 5 kW out of a generator. 6hp is 4.47 kW, not even taking into account any efficiency factors/losses in the pulleys or bearings or the generator itself. With a WAG of 80% efficiency overall, 6 hp from an engine will let you get about 3.6 kW out of a generator.)

 

[ZRX61]

Lived on a farm in the UK & that set up was all we had for electricity. Exhaust exited through the shed wall into a heap of bricks to act as a muffler.

 

[930dreamer]

I think its super cool and I've always wanted one, super low tech diesel engine, congrats.

Is Central Maine Diesel still in business?

 

[Samuel D]

Very cool. Makes the old Sabb marine diesels look lightweight and high speed.

 

[bob from indiana]

They are popular with homesteaders who live off grid. Many rig up an alternator for battery charging to help out on cloudy days when the solar panels don't make much power. Direct DC battery charging is more efficient that making AC and rectifying it back to DC.

 

[intillzah]

Nice, you'll enjoy that...

 

[Olafur]

I had to search a bit to understand what this is.
https://kk.org/cooltools/listeroid-diese/

From 1930 to 1987 the Lister company made diesel motors for pumps, generators, and general-purpose use, using mostly the same design of big, slow-speed, heavy flywheels and simple, easily-repaired parts. The Lister company then sold the designs. Today there are many Indian and Chinese companies that produce Lister copies (aka: “Listeroids”) for export. These are fairly faithful to the original design — with varying quality. The price for these engines *per kilowatt* is cheap, when compared to the more commonly found gasoline-powered generators, though they are not very portable.

I know Lister, have rebuilt few of them. Two rules about them. If they stop running they are out of fuel. If they stop leaking they are out of oil.

Congrats, have fun!

 

[Tduby]

Sweet they are a cool “little” engine I wanted one too but they are not easy and I want less projects now.

 

[Samuel D]

What sort of specific fuel consumption do these engines get?

 

[dkmc]

I think its super cool and I've always wanted one, super low tech diesel engine, congrats.

Is Central Maine Diesel still in business?

They still have a website up listing parts
http://www.centralmainediesel.com/order/lister-parts.asp
I'm headed up their way this weekend, might look them up.
This engine came with the complete spare parts kit listed at the top of the page.

 

[txvwnut]

I know Lister, have rebuilt few of them. Two rules about them. If they stop running they are out of fuel. If they stop leaking they are out of oil.

So just like a 2 cycle Detroit.

 

[930dreamer]

They still have a website up listing parts
http://www.centralmainediesel.com/order/lister-parts.asp
I'm headed up their way this weekend, might look them up.
This engine came with the complete spare parts kit listed at the top of the page.

Complete spare parts kit=bonus, very nice.

 

[TractorJeff]

There is an Amish Blacksmith shop over near Gowanda, NY that runs the whole place on a Lister!

 

[dkmc]

So it has to all come apart. Check for slag, casting sand in the crankcase, undesirable tolerances, etc. This thing's never been run, bought 10+ years ago. And I've never seen or heard one run in person. And here's one I finally own.
I really want to see thing thing run.....but I must be diligent.
Got it in the shop on a cart, and going to tear it down into all the small pieces.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

That's pretty cool, never heard of 'em. Post pics of the teardown/inspection/rebuild!