LISTER CS 3.5 hp

LISTER CS 3.5hp at 650rpm. Made in Dursley, England in 1937.
Single cylinder 'Cold Start' diesel stationary engine.
I acquired this engine in 2009 and during 2017 and 2018, the engine was completely overhauled by me from bottom to top after having stood idle in a farm shed for about 30 or 40 years. The farm was near Waroona, Western Australia and the engine was originally supplied by 'Malloch Bros' Perth, Western Australia.
It is believed to have originally powered a small lighting plant on the farm. When electricity was finally laid to the farm probably in the late 1940s, the engine was re-purposed to drive milking machinery out in the dairy, most likely driving a vacuum pump.

[@Railfan6675]

Great old engine. I have a 1913 Lister N. They are fun projects. Cheers from Canada.

[@peters9929]

I just picked up an identical lister to restore. You have inspired me .Greetings from Brisbane Australia.

[@NormanSurgeon]

Hi Peter, I hope your restoration goes well and that you get the old girl back up and running. It would be great if you post a video when you are done. All the best, Norman.

[@poundfarmisleofwight]

Good to see old engines come back to life

[@CuriousEarthMan]

So wonderful to watch, such a beautiful machine! Can't thank you enough for sharing this! Very inspiring!

[@NormanSurgeon]

Thank you, ...glad you enjoyed the video. 👍

[@handy335]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

[@NormanSurgeon]

Thank you....! 👍

[@loyidgeorge5188]

Very relaxing, rhythmic mechanical marvel to watch and feel. An ever lister lover.....

[@georgedasilva2906]

Thanks! Imagine when temps were low!

[@TheMakadimic]

Just perfect, nice work Mr Norman. Love your work Best regards from Egypt.

[@NormanSurgeon]

...Thank you, ...your comment is much appreciated...!

[@rexharvey8420]

Love the playing and the CS a great old friend there were meny on aux gen sets in the UK in the fifties. we had a six hp on the family farm in Cornwall which did electric generation and drove a line shaft.

[@NormanSurgeon]

I was told that this old girl drove a 24v or 32v lighting system on a farm at Waroona in Western Australia. After the farm received electrification from the grid, the engine was then put to work driving a vacuum pump in the farm dairy for a number of years.👍

[@jimmybritt9537]

Nice job bringing it back to running 👍👍🇺🇸

[@NormanSurgeon]

Thank you.

[@sonythomas3596]

Great work. Is it possible to buy one to India?

[@CuriousEarthMan]

I forgot: at 3.5 HP, it's the same output as our old 21" push mower. I can hardly imagine pushing that old girl around the yard to keep the grass cut!

[@NormanSurgeon]

...at about 345kg, ...it would certainly keep you in shape, ...or wreck you...! 🥵

[@derek361]

Absolutely gorgeous

[@NormanSurgeon]

Thank you, I am glad that you appreciate the old girl...!

[@peters9929]

really nice well done

[@NormanSurgeon]

Thank you, ...much appreciated...!

[@dabprod]

Love it.

[@osbaldolinarez3878]

Me encantan los motores antiguos como estos lister son mas silenciosos y de gran poder

[@NormanSurgeon]

...87 años y todavía fuerte...👍

[@peters9929]

Tks Norman ill keep in touch cheers

[@jimbodesamparado6377]

How about fuel consumption...

[@p1973ify]

Lovelyy machine

[@francisxavierfrancisxavier5014]

Fantastic realy l,ve like this sound.

[@ulmerulken]

Its very nice.

[@NormanSurgeon]

...Thank you...!

[@garethmilne6887]

I'm so jealous. I hope to rebuild mine if my health improves. Lovely work!

[@NormanSurgeon]

All the best to you. Just take the rebuild slowly and tackle one part at a time and you will get there.👍

[@garethmilne6887]

@@NormanSurgeon Thanks. I have a suspicion the cylinder maybe beyond repair as there's a hole at the bottom when the piston is at bottom dead centre. I may get away with getting it sleeved. But I'll look at it in a year or so hopefully after my surgery that should be coming up in July. Thanks for your reply. Have you tried running it on cleaned used engine oil?

[@NormanSurgeon]

@@garethmilne6887 No, I just run it on ordinary pump diesel, ...it's cheap enough for the miserly amount that the engine uses.🙂

[@garethmilne6887]

@@NormanSurgeon Indeed. I like to generate power so I plan to run mine in waste vegetable oil which I can get cheap or free. I mix a bit of diesel with it then let it settle and it comes out golden again with the rubbish at the bottom. So I filter that out and use that on my current diesel generator. It's just a Chinese 4.2kw with a Yanmar 9hp copy engine. I have a new smaller 5hp Yanmar copy that I want to run an inverter generator head from a petrol 2kw unit 7 have here. But I'll use a belt drive I think to run the engine st half speed as I think it would be pretty efficient. But long term goal is to use the Lister

[@rupendragangwar2357]

Good engine

[@leehauxwell1149]

I could go to sleep listening to that. Can we have an 8jr long vid please? Lol

[@NormanSurgeon]

Its called 'Audio Therapy' and comes highly recommended......🥱😴😴😴

[@manjulamewada1287]

She is a sister of Lister cs 6 hp

[@NormanSurgeon]

...Yes, the little sister of the family...!

[@Exiledk]

How many of our engines today will be running a hundred years time? Not many, I'll wager...

[@NormanSurgeon]

I totally agree ! And what I find quite amusing is that the 3.5hp Lister weighs about 345kg whereas a modern 3.5hp industrial engine probably weighs in at about 15kg...!😆

[@_kerosene_9070]

Greetings from New Zealand, I have a Lister CS 6/1. Followed your lubrication steps on my first start up ! Thank you ! Now the problem is, to paint ? Or not to paint ? I have brought the transfers from England .

[@NormanSurgeon]

...Ah yes, the old ...'to paint or not to paint'... debate? I don't rally or show my engine and personally I like the raw metal look where you can see all the casting imperfections and fettling marks from when the casting came from the foundry. However, a very well painted and detailed engine can look terrific too.

[@andrewrathborn8339]

Sounds great maybe adjust inlet valve looks like the push rod cup is oscillating around the tappet adjuster stud at 0.25 speed

[@NormanSurgeon]

Thanks, inlet and exhaust are set at 0.017" and 0.032" respectively. The cam followers and push rods are designed to slowly rotate to alleviate developing any flat spots. At 0.25 speed, the camera shutter speed does make the video image appear a bit 'wonky'. 🙂

[@sumanmondalsuman7635]

Sir. 👍👍👍🌹🌹🌹❤️❤️❤️ 🙋🙋🙋💯💯💯🛠️🛠️🛠️🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@sergiosantos3030]

parabens pela aprsentaçao sergio santos pelotas rs br

[@NormanSurgeon]

Thank you, ...much appreciated...!👍

[@malcolmcooke8092]

That’s a beauty. What type of parts did you use in the rebuild? Did you source original Lister old stock parts or reproductions?

[@NormanSurgeon]

Hi Malcolm, unfortunately there are very few original parts available for the CS 3.5. I had to resort to buying reproduction parts for some of the rebuild. Mostly they were very inferior quality so I had to rework or re-machine some of them before they were fit for use. Some other aftermarket parts were so bad that they went straight into the bin! I am a fitter/machinist so I did end up making quite a number of new parts from scratch or re-modelling new parts to suit the rebuild. Cheers, Norman.

[@sr50223]

As soon as the music started I shut her down

[@NormanSurgeon]

...??? ...and at 5min 30secs the music stops and you can listen to the engine running. 🥰

[@PraveshKumar-kd8bx]

Very mast sound iwant to buy this engine

[@TheRebelOne.]

A stunning restoration. Beautifully presented engine. No paint. Is the surface just polished?

[@NormanSurgeon]

Thank you, a great many hours went into getting the old girl back to good running condition. The surface is not polished, all that I have done is give it an occasional spray over with WD40 which seems to retain a waxy surface over time. I have had no issues with surface oxidization since using this method.

[@TheRebelOne.]

@@NormanSurgeon The WD40 method is a great idea as it will help keep the flash rust away also. I have a 3 h.p CS which is identical to yours. The cylinder needs a liner fitted as the glase is chipping away and I don't want to replace all the bearings until this job is done first. Yiur engine by the way runs beautifully. Well done again. 👍

[@philhall5609]

I feel sorry for the fuel filter 🙂

[@NormanSurgeon]

...A cocktail shaker on steroids...! 😅

[@TheMoelgaard]

Is the valves adjusted correctly? Seems to be very loose

[@NormanSurgeon]

Yes, ...inlet and exhaust are set at 0.017" and 0.032" respectively as per manufacturer's specifications.

[@MechanicalCore]

This engine is older than my grandpa

[@NormanSurgeon]

...Yep, ...it's older than me too...! 😅

[@EdwardEngines]

Hi, this looks really lovely! How have you achieved this finish? I see you’ve applied wd40, but before that? Many thanks

[@NormanSurgeon]

Most of the parts were de-rusted using electrolysis. When they came out of the tank, they were brushed/scrubbed under running water and the WD40 applied as soon as they were dry. The flywheels were too big to fit into my electrolysis bath so they were wire brushed with a rotary brush and then the WD40 applied. See my other video about the total rebuild for photos of the electrolysis process. 👍

[@EdwardEngines]

Thanks so much Norman, I’ve just watched the video you refer to. Could I ask, re the electrolysis, what’s in the solution / what you are using for electrodes (?)… and how long it took? I think I can look up details of your power supply. Kindest regards, Edward

[@NormanSurgeon]

Edward,@@EdwardEngines You need to dissolve sodium carbonate (washing soda) in water. I don't remember the exact ratio but from memory it is about 3 heaped tablespoons of sodium carbonate to 5 litres of water. Washing soda is a coarse white powder and is available in the laundry section of most supermarkets. The cathode (neg-) must attach to the part that you wish to de-rust. The anode (pos+) must attach to a piece of cast iron or mild steel and preferably as large as possible. I often used 2 large pieces of mild steel flat bar (300mm long x 75mm wide x 12mm thick and usually had them arranged either side of the piece being de-rusted. The process usually takes several hours and is dependant upon how much rust or old paint there is on the part being de-rusted. You will need to pull the anode(s) out about once every hour and give them a good scrub with a wire brush or angle grinder to get them back down to bare metal. When they gather a lot of crud, you will notice your amperage starting to drop lower and lower. If there is a lot of thick old paint on your part, you may need to also pull it out occasionally and wire brush away the loosened and softened paint. The CS engine crank case took me a whole afternoon to clean. The main bearing carriers took about 2 hours each at most. Do not worry if your solution becomes incredibly dirty, it will still conduct electricity so long as the anodes are kept clean. DO NOT use stainless steel as an anode, it reacts and starts producing toxic gasses and a toxic solution. Stick to cast iron or mild steel for your anodes. And finally, remove any non ferrous bushes or parts because electrolysis will eat them up before getting to the iron oxide (rust) on your parts. Hope this is helpful, Cheers, Norman.👍

[@EdwardEngines]

Wow! Thanks so much Norman, you’re the best!! 👍🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@pratikkubhoi4381]

These things are very rare these days and times so he needs to be kept safe at home. 👍🏻Very Very Nice Sir 🙏🏻. In my opinion, you will never sell. Such a valuable thing. Thank you very much Sir🙏🏻🙏🏻 for showing it's such a Unique video. I Am a Indian From Odisha Puri Jagannath Temple.🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@NormanSurgeon]

Thank you for your thoughtful comment. ...Yes, these old engines are real treasures to their owners and it is more than a pleasure to be able to share them with you. Kind regards, Norman.

[@pratikkubhoi4381]

@@NormanSurgeon ❤️❤️