HUGE Perkins Dorman Stationary Engine - Will It Run?

In this video, I see if I can get this very large Dorman Perkins Diesel engine fitted to a genset in this railway carriage container running. I understand some of these style of engines were retrofitted as truck engines (smaller and earlier than this one) and in other vehicles but they made their name in marine and power supply generator engine applications, particularly in army or military applications in ww2 and after. I believe that at some stage, General Electric took them over and Perkins Diesel later bought out the Dorman aspect hence the reason this engine is classed as a Perkins in the original paperwork. Thanks for watching! Bruce

[@davidhakes3884]

A Tuned Perkins is a Joy of smoothness to run in anything. That one sounds Superb.

[@bruceinaus]

Your not wrong there, Bruce

[@cobbleup]

Love this stuff. It reminds me of one time while aboard a huge cruise ship and was privileged to have the first engineer give me a tour of the engine room. 2 long banks of coupled together diesel engines turning huge generators. The noise was unbearable!!

[@geoffcavanagh9906]

This bloke is gold.

[@rolanddunk5054]

Hi,I sailed in a tug with three of these engines as generators.They had hydraulic starter motors.cheers,Roly🇬🇧.

[@markmckenna1353]

I was a DCA mechanic in the late 60's. I don't remember much of the Q's - mostly dl4 and some 6's. That engine will go forever!

[@lazaglider]

Oh wow. Vivid yet terrible memories from childhood. My father, on reflection not a good person, would often take me to his workplace, a telecoms station, back in the 80's. There was a backup generator there, to keep the telecoms systems running in case of, well, war. His party trick was to show me around the place and start the generator, very similar to this one, when I was stood near to it. I remember the huge room going from silence to madness in a couple of seconds. I remember running out of the room in terror.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

Perkins made some fine engines but the new ones are giving out. The old crusher here had a D-8 or 9 genset in a trailer, pony motor start before 3-phase line was run. It was sure interesting starting it with a flashlight in the dark but when it fired you had power and light. The exhaust was shot so you had a trailer full of white smoke till the Cat lit off. Good for you, Bruce! CHEERS!

[@andrewmawson6897]

Bruce, I have a 110 kva Dorman generator also driving a McFarlane alternator that I use to drive my 100 kva induction furnace - only runs occasionally as it's a hobby. The Deep Sea controller one yours I'm fairly sure is a retrofit - mine originally had a whole shelf full of relays controlling it but I removed them and fitted - guess what - a Deep Sea controller that handles starting and stopping, controlling the fuel solenoid and starter relay and monitors oil pressure and engine temperature. I've lined the room it's in with acoustic insulation that made a huge difference - mind you don't damage your ears. I think many of these sets went into cold war facilities at huge cost to the government and us the tax payer!

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks for the info Andrew, good to know there is still a few of these old units getting around and that might explain why this one originally appears to be from dept of aviation, Bruce

[@johnsmith7676]

There's no such thing as "cost to the government"... We all know where that money comes from. It's all a just a huge criminal syndicate.

[@thetoymanator7723]

Another great vid Bruce. The rate at which our coal-fired power stations are closing, and the increased demand for EV charging and air-cons leading into summer, you may have an opportunity to top up the network ha ha.

[@bruceinaus]

Lol, might put a bit more back than solar panels you reckon! Thanks for watching

[@PeterLee-zn3jl]

Outback --end of the earth stuff...do it or die

[@johnsmith7676]

Intentionally diminishing generating infrastructure, whilst simultaneously greatly increasing electrical demands on said infrastructure... You see what they're doing, right? Welcome to "The Great Reset". Enjoy the descent. We've really gotten ourselves in a pickle this time.

[@PeterShaw-lb9lt]

Good video Bruce no adverts noisy intros or music just great information on the things you are working on you explained every thing in a way everyone can understand really looking foward to your next video pete

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks for the kind words Peter, Bruce

[@kymmarshall1116]

It was so good to hear that old girl fire up Bruce, she’s a beauty.

[@mick00000000002]

Bruce can no do better then old school. Keep it up Bruce. 😊😊😊😊😊 Trully enjoy old school ozy. ))))) Take old mate )

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks Mick, glad you enjoyed and thanks for watching, Bruce

[@ivanolsen8596]

Had 2 slightly smaller Dorman as harbour sets on trawler, one night the 330 kw went kaput, we tried to start a Dorman, they hadnt been run in years, it was air start and refused to go, the boss in his wisdom kept pouring ether into it. Then it decided to start and had the revs run away, smartarse me reached behind the injector pump for the shutoff lever just as a bigend parted company and struck my hand, by the time I freed my hand it was a mass of black and red, oil and blood. Stopped me in my in my tracks for a few weeks! Finished up having to run the main engine so the shaft gen could power the refrigerators.

[@bruceinaus]

Wow, scary stuff! I can picture the chaos and it sounds like a pretty sizeable trawler. Hope your hand made a full recovery? Thanks very much for sharing, Bruce

[@ivanolsen8596]

@@bruceinaus Yes Bruce, she was a 220ft, 1300hp ex Icelandic trawler, one of 3 that came to WA in the 70s to fish the Bight. They failed spectaculary! Thanks for the concern, the hand only suffered flesh injury, and I was back at work in 2 weeks.

[@robleary3353]

What a 'stonking' bit of kit!.... Nice one!. Nuff said. 🙂

[@felipepresapereda1550]

Muy buen video Bruce, la unidad estacionaria se ve muy limpia y sin pérdidas.Enhorabuena la caja de control eléctrico está muy clara, es entendible. Saludos desde España.

[@davidgwin4540]

This reminds me of my job. I work on fire pumps for large buildings that supplies water pressure for fire sprinkler systems. If the city pressure isn't enough to cover a fire, the good old pump kicks on. I like the diesel places. Most here in California are electric. Diesel is the best in my opinion. Great video my friend 👍

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks David, much appreciated, Bruce

[@chriscorrigan7420]

OOOOOHHH. The sweet sounds of a big Perkins. It would be a thing of joy just to come and stir it up once a month just to make sure she still purr's. I could sit there with a couple of stubbies while it had a monthly test quite easily. The noise, the smell. You won't get that with your electric MOTOR. Maybe set it up as a charging centre and do us all a favour and tip in 3 phase into those fuse's on wheel's.

[@seanworkman431]

I reckon you have no trouble getting company on that day once a month.

[@whitesapphire5865]

F.G. Wilson are a major builder of generating equipment in the UK. They're the company who take the Dorman engine, marry it up to the McFarlane alternator. GEC (not to be confused with the American GE company) was a major electrical/electromechanical engineering company in the UK. They also made excellent electrical control gear. GEC took over Ferguson Palin, which was a Manchester based electrical switchgear manufacturer until about 1962/3. Ultimately, GEC was absorbed into AEG somewhere in the 1980's, I think. All great names that are now extinct, in all but name. However, F.G. Wilson are still in the game, or at least were when we last contacted them a few years back for a circuit diagram of one of their generator control cabinets. That's a nice lump of engineering you have there. Look after it well, and it will reward you with decades of reliable service.

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks so much for that information whitesapphire, really helpful to learn the origin of this one, best wishes, Bruce

[@amateurknight235]

Dormans is now Perkins however a couple of the original 1930s factory buildings still survive in Stafford

[@1Longranger]

I have come across a Dorman English Electric genset years ago. Good reliable bit of kit. That old girl would probably like a load bank hooked up.

[@kirinithagowryamirtharatna6069]

What is the fuel consumption

[@dennisjohnstone4739]

The company Dad worked with had a former NSW Egg Board generator driven by a Davy Paxman Ricardo diesel engine located at a quarry they had. It didn't have a muffler, just an exhaust pipe out through a hole in the shed and out into the bush with an elbow on the end pointing up. It was a huge engine and a thing of beauty to a young teenager's eyes, but when it was operating you couldn't stay in the shed with it as the noise was horrendous. Unfortunately a head gasket issue led to water in a cylinder and we all know what happened next, yep,blew the gasket out,cracked one of the heads and put a rod with piston attached outside the block. Scrap metal!

[@geraldingram9351]

Awesome, that was funny when it started you had a big smile on your dial,their must be a lot of stationary engines just sitting around eh. Gerald Feilding, New Zealand.

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks Gerald, I imagine your are right, particularly around my area in which there’s quite a bit of cane farming, Bruce

[@markfowler2066]

A keeper! Perfect for after the big EMP

[@paullloyd2634]

Perkins bought Dorman diesels in 1994, with Perkins subsequently bought by CAT in 1998. I worked at Dorman when it was acquired. 6,8,12 & 16 Cyl engines now produced in India (Aurangabad)

[@glennfryer1539]

Good engines, I was a CE on a fire tug, these engine were reliable, powerful and tough, and never failed to start.....nice video Bruce, from a Pom up here in the UK...

[@peterragless242]

Saw them a standby gensets in older telecom buildings. Starter motors ran in 10 second bursts with at least 3 tries if a no-start. The Simms pumps had an excess fuel button for cold starts. If that was deployed engine would start quicky (brief black smoke cloud) Telecom had enormously enormous starter batteries and just wound them till they started. More modern and powerful engines had preheaters to get easy starts.

[@richardkilb8305]

Onya Bruce

[@kerrygleeson4409]

Amazing Bruce what a massive machine 🦘

[@bruceinaus]

Thank you Kerry

[@felipepresapereda1550]

El buen material es eterno. Saludos.

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

If you had to pay for fuel for this beast you'd better be a utility company. It would probably handle my entire town. The exhaust would have to shoot straight up to keep from gasing the neighbors. What a memorable beast. Ya'll should make a date on a hot summer day to start it up each year for 5 minutes Bruce.

[@crazyguy32100]

Neat genset. I've worked on a couple of the really large CAT ones (about 72LV16 quad turbocharged, 1.6-3MW, diesel and natural gas). Startup of them is like you said, the heaters are always on to keep them up to operating temp, batteries always on trickle charge and compressed air system for the urea injection always up to pressure. When they get the start signal the oil priming pump runs for 5s while the louvres on the enclosure open. Cranks, fires, idles for about 10s. Then if the board is green it goes wide open, kicks on the field current, syncs to the grid, throws the main contactor and is making electricity. The timeframe from everything closed up and quiet to a deafening roar and hurricane force wind from a 7' fan is about 20-30s. Disconnect from controller then unhook batteries before doing anything more than checking the oil.

[@1245rs3]

Great video Bruce!! Amazing how much knowledge I get from watching another experienced person.. Said it before and I'll say it again, truly refreshing watching actual experienced people show you on KZbin VS the people with no experience. Nothing against them, but watching those videos reminds me of boring videos we watched in school. You can pick out all the bad habbits or improper ways. I do nothing but learn more watching you, all the best 🙏🙏👊

[@ahmadzuber]

Thank you so much Bruce for showing us this hidden gems

[@jamesgibson5606]

The motor sounds great Bruce, keep up the good work. I live around 60 miles from where she was built, Glasgow in Scotland

[@graeme8755]

Bruce you came across the dress of the genes. The S4 indicates, the 4th suburb south of Glasgow.

[@chuckh.2227]

That's a incredible genset Thank you for sharing this

[@WeeShoeyDugless]

On the nameplate, 'Cathcart' is a district of Glasgow, Scotland and where your generator was produced. Glasgow companies were well reknowned for their quality of electrical gear.

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks very much for that info, Bruce

[@stevereid8903]

Not sure but also S6 is probably the postcode. As mine in UK was L13 for Liverpool.

[@denismartin4680]

Hello Bruce I had a feeling that engine was going to start started on the second crank it was well stored in that container well done Bruce and thanks for sharing I enjoy watching your episode's keep up the great work love it blessings from tablelands north Queensland 👍 ❤ 😊

[@pete-mate3524]

Wow! That was awesome!! Watching you try to talk kinda gives an idea of how loud that thing is. General rule of thumb for hp needed for generators is; Petrol = 2 x Kva (eg 20hp to run a 10Kva) Diesel = 1.5 x Kva. So that engine should be at least 370hp to run the 245Kva. At least, that's my understanding. Fantastic video, Bruce!! I loved it!! Pete 🙂

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks Pete, great information there which I did not know, Bruce

[@HereIsMyOffer]

They had something like this in an open sided shed, in the car park of a building i used to work in! It had a massive compound turbo setup and it was quite an eye and ear catching event when they used to come and fire it up to test it every year. wish I'd filmed it lol

[@kobusdutoitbosman6240]

You most certainly bring a lot of joie with the things you dig up Bruce This one is wonderful A magnificent sound of dieselgen power in health (and very few service hrs too⁉️) They do’nt build them like that anymore, that’s a given Great engineering and rock solid quality ~ can last a 100 years still easily Thank you STACKS! (Watching you from the Fairest Cape ZA, place called Stellenbosch) (hope to find more of your work along the way ~ great moments these, thanks kindly❗️) 👊🔥 🪖

[@adrianmead7862]

We bought Dorman to extend our engine range to larger engines. Perkins is part of the engines division of Caterpillar. FG Wilson is a gen set manufacturer and a customer of Perkins.

[@hubertrobinson8825]

In the mid to late 70s I worked for citrus company as a farm tractor mechanic we had all Massey Ferguson tractors around 20 of them over in factory they had some ancient single cylinder horizontal engines from around 1940s and huge 6cylinder cat and what I think was a V 12 Dorman engine that was big and noisy never got a close look at it to see if it had any Perkins markings but I think maybe by now it might have been scraped as the company shut down about 15 yrs ago I was told good video Sir brings back memories of timed long past

[@raygale4198]

The speed that the starter drops out can be adjusted if needed, but it sounds okay, it would light off much quicker if it was preheated. Those big lumps are fairly cold blooded and not all that high compression for a diesel so they are a bit slow when cold. I came across a few Dormans in my 30 years of working with Detroit Diesel as an electrician. Solid engines but the castings are very brittle and it's easy to break stuff if overtightened, good luck finding the Vokes oil filter elements.

[@bruceinaus]

Hi Ray, thanks for your comment. If you go through the comments, there’s another interesting story from Ivan where the rod came out and smacked his hand when he was reaching behind the injector pump! Thanks for the advice, Bruce

[@user-gv3bt5mi3o]

Nice bit of kit there , also still making perkins diesel engines in peterborough , England , go past the factory every week .

[@johnbarham7718]

I used to operate a 500kVA cummins unit in a container. the noise was body shakng. The fan should start when the temperature of the unit reaches a temp. (about 180) and it should push the air through the radiator, drawing it over the engine from the other end.

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks John, that would be about twice the size of this setup id say. And yes, when the fan runs it does exactly that, sucks through the end past the radiator and blows back across the engine. the first time it fired up it nearly blew me out the container it’s a very strong fan. Thanks for watching, Bruce

[@johnbarham7718]

I expect the sound level will be about the same, as the steel container reverberates as well as the engine and fan noise. thank you for replying.@@bruceinaus

[@viti8347]

You are a legend Bruce. Loved this!

[@honahwikeepa2115]

Cheers from Sydney. Excellent content 👏.

[@kensutherland414]

What a gem mate.

[@DavoShed]

That’s a dosey of an engine. I bet you will remember your earmuffs next time. Let’s see you throw some lightning 🤠

[@kirinithagowryamirtharatna6069]

I have a Dorman English electrical 6LDT engine with 300 hours. I am planning to install in a big boat.

[@eugeneoreilly9356]

FG Wilson used alot of Perkins engines on their generators.Their plant was in Larne northern Ireland.Its now owned by Catapillar.

[@roosthrower]

Never seen a oil primer like that before great idea should be electric controlled on every diesel engine these days, what a great sounding diesel engine🤙

[@paullloyd2634]

Perkins bought Dorman to extend the engine range for Gen Set applications where the largest customer was FG Wilson of Larne Northern Ireland who were subsequently acquired by Caterpillar. The engine is a very old 6QV which predated Perkins, when they had moved to a mechanical Unit Injector fuel system. Probably under the GE ownership. The paperwork referencing a Perkins/FGWilson 1306 is a Navistar 6 cyl engine which was bought under license. I don't think its the same engine you have in the container.

[@johncunningham4820]

Started right up . One Pop and then away it went . As Dorman's go that is a Baby . Ship Main Propulsion was the Dorman thing .

[@bruceinaus]

Thanks very much John, yes I agree with you on my limited knowledge of these dormans, Bruce

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

I'm kind of surprised Dorman seems Australian. I bought a Dorman intake manifold for my auto and after a week it sprung an oil leak and I had to put back on the oem after I refreshed the gaskets and o-rings.

[@ahmadzuber]

Bruce would love to meet you mate

[@1961kickboxer]

Can’t beat an old dorman.

[@das2419]

Bruce, I need your help on freeing up a pump on 12 HT

[@JimLahey21]

Damn it I thought all these had blown up by now. Terrible motors the q series dormans

[@linc11]

The engine is most certainly a Dorman, many australian government agencies had these units coupled with a Macfarlane Eng Company , made Magnicon , Transicon alternator that later evolved into Markon then Stamford Newage Stamford and now owned by Cummins CPG , but I stand to be corrected on this as that's around 60 years of progress in a few lines. These brand types are the grandfathers of Generator/Alternator machines of brushed and brushless high speed machines we use today , the unit itself may have been packaged back then by GEC General Electric Corporation / GEC Diesels not 100% sure , Macfarlane Generators is an Australian company with a similar name however they do have loads of knowledge and experience with Dormans In regard to the starter motor hanging in this can be controlled by the deep sea controller or the original speed switch if fittedwhich should operate off a magnetic pick up if it still exists, you just need to do your homework and trace it out as the controller may use the AC output from the Main Alternator / Gen sense to detect engine speed at a guess it should disconnect at 750 RPM but its been a long time since i set one of those up FG Wilson information is a Furphy that was probably left in the file

[@linc11]

Just to confirm , Dorman Continued as a Trade Mark by GEC from 1968 to 1995 where i am sure the name was also used in conjunction with Rolls Royce and Caterpillar builds

[@pablorios1990]

Que hermoso suena eso y ese motor de que behiculo es ?

[@jamespayne8781]

I bought an old MEP 5 (30000 watt) that has 3.4 hours on it. I figured it sat on a pad out behind some office building and got exercised about 15 minutes a year. About as good as new for a few hours traded electrical work. No where near as big as that one but still a bit of work to move. I guess that’s why God invented trailers.

[@joecummings1260]

Looks larger than a 225 to me. Maybe I heard you wrong when you were reading the tag. It's a 1500 RPM 50 hz unit right?

[@wayneandrus240]

What a beaast!!

[@marcusgault9909]

F. G. Wilson's, of Larne, N.I. famed for their gensets, bought out by Caterpillar, since they bought so many Cat engines, but also had the cheek! to buy Dorman/Perking, Cummins or other Cat competitors, which Cat could NOT be having! So Cat bought them out.

[@eugeneoreilly9356]

They used so many Perkins engines.Perkins was bought out by Catapillar.Perkins had previously owned Gardner,and RR diesel.Perkins still trade under their own name.

[@user-sc8dh4vn4v]

She wot we called dorman6lc ❤

[@ianatkinson8464]

😎👍

[@matty_isthemotto]

What watch is that?

[@bruceinaus]

Hi Matty, it’s a sieko

[@matty_isthemotto]

@@bruceinaus great choice

[@julioquiroga6388]

trabaje con motor cat 3516 planta de 2000kwa

[@bruceinaus]

That’s a big unit, thanks for watching, Bruce

[@PeterLee-zn3jl]

Somd fireproof sound pa els..youre gonna go deaf....an exhaust sydtem to ...relieve the heat in the box.. Oh my.. Some solar pv for trickle charge on start..as well a small pumped preheat system via solar therm collector....INSTALL A PRECHARGED OIL PRESSURE YOUVE

[@julaingallimore7152]

English engine plant Stafford

[@andyharvey608]

you are all set if the commercial grid was to go down, power to burn.

[@johncunningham4820]

Power to S E L L you mean .

[@bruceinaus]

One person told me he thought it might power a small suburb! I’m not sure about that though, Bruce

[@bigears4014]

​@@bruceinaus25 houses if they were using 10kva each

[@johncunningham4820]

@@bruceinaus It is the kind of thing you would find two or three of on a Ship .

[@kensutherland414]

Thermal circulation.

[@andydelarue9344]

You would look good with real ear muffs , please

[@garynew9637]

Mothballs keep the rodents out!

[@paulcollins9098]

Not really a stationary engine tho is it, let's be honest!

[@PeteWilliams-sb7nf]

Bruce,Don,t Dorman make or used to make large boat engines ?

[@IchliebeHunde58]

Thanks for sharing