WILL IT GENERATE? Rusty + Crusty Onan Diesel MAGNECITER MDJE

[@centauri61032]

Absolutely amazing how reliable and functional some of this older technology is. The people designing things like that 'back in the day' were just genius.

[@tombeauchamp806]

They also didn't have to sacrifice reliability for emissions. EPA is the reason for a lot of the modern fuckery

[@jp-um2fr]

You really do some great videos. Those bores looked bad but there was no smoke when running even under load so they were not as bad as they appeared. In the U.K.the idiots are pulling down our coal fired power stations before they have a viable generating system. A few weeks ago there was a mad panic to get what they had left running. It was dark and no wind. Well I never, who would have thought that could happen. I would love an old Lister diesel generator but they are like hens teeth. I bought a German 4Kw petrol inverter and I have a little Chinese 750w stinker (2 stroke). They have suggested that if we don't use electric at peak times they will pay us not to. "Sorry dear you'll have to wait till 8 o'clock for your dinner". They can go forth and multiply.

[@AmericanLocomotive1]

It seems to use what would be called "saturable reactors". Basically each of those big reactors has two coils, similar to a transformer. One coil is hooked up to DC, the other to AC. When you apply DC to one of the coils, it begins to "saturate" the magnetic core. As the magnetic core gets more saturated, it changes the inductance, which then affects how much AC current can pass through the other coil. You can almost think of saturable reactors as a type of amplifier. A relatively small DC power going through the reactor can control a much larger amount of AC power flowing through the other side. It looks like they combine that with some sort of current sensing shunt coil to create a system that regulates the output voltage based on both output voltage and output current.

[@douro20]

Magnetic amplifiers were once commonly used as operators in analog computers used in aircraft instruments and gunnery control systems and are still found as signal amplifiers in nuclear power plant instumentation. The exciters in early dynamometric radio transmitters also often used magnetic amplifiers.

[@alancordwell9759]

Great explanation, thanks. If those are ferrite toroidal cores, they saturate very easily - which clearly is an advantage in that application; but for the same reason I heard that you can't use them for output transformers in tube amplifiers because the standing DC plate current of the tube would saturate them and you'd get very little output.

[@DigD97]

I really wonder why some big company that has a bunch of these generators out in operation hasn't offered you a 200+ thousand dollar a year job just running a bunch of other people that don't understand everything but are good at doing things. You're a pretty amazing guy and I love to watch your channel. Plus it's fun to watch old stuff live another life.❤

[@mattslimmer8633]

Like many others, I am amazed by how well that thing runs considering the cylinders looked like the surface of the moon inside. I was still confident you would get it running last episode but the fact that it took a 7500w load this episode with compromised cylinder walls is downright incredible. That engine must be designed fantastically well!

[@hodwooker5584]

It would be fascinating to run that bore scope back into the cylinders after a few hours of additional run time. The rust pits would still be there of course but I wonder how well it would “polish up” when it’s run under a heavy load.

[@jasontexter1721]

Tech support said "still within tolerance, send it" Machines 40+ years ago, with tolerance for degradation and horsepower loss maybe even 20%. Today's machines are made to fail after a 5% loss of anything 😡😡😡

[@willthomsen7569]

Imagine if people still made stuff like this 50 years all pitted out still runs fine and does it’s job without hardly any complaints whatsoever :O

[@petepeeff5807]

Should give that van some traction weight for snowy service calls 😁👍👍

[@lewiemcneely9143]

I remember with the old Onan light plants you had to keep the heaters on for a long time but they'd fire right up. FINE job!

[@erik_dk842]

If an indirect injection engine doesn't start in the first couple of revolutions, you have mostly used the glow plugs for too short time.

[@notadream-tt3cn]

Personally, I pull odd stuff like pullies off with a large 2 piece bearing puller. Since its in between the pully and the shaft its less likely to damage the pully, unlike the jaw type pullers.

[@ScoutCrafter]

Incredible power to size ratio on this one! 7500W and not even a hiccup.. That thermostat and housing was new to me! Great stuff Mike...

[@albinklein7680]

Those compound-regulators work really well. Some German manufacturers still use them for pretty big brushless alternators. If they are put together right, they outperform electronic AVRs, because they have an incredibly fast response time and are very safe. It's basically impossible that they run away and destroy everything connected to the generator.

[@robgm6926]

I know nothing of the electrical but I love watching all the different old engines. But I think I'm learning a little about it. There's a young Chinese woman with a channel, Lin Guoer, she picks up old engines and get's them running and does a lot of electric motor and generator work. I can't understand a word she says but she's fun to watch 😅.

[@larrywalker7759]

You could weld a 3/4", extra length nut (coupler nut) onto the water pump pulley hub and then lay a greased flat washer against the pump impeller shaft end. Then thread a 3/4" bolt into the nut and tighten it with an impact wrench to push the pulley off of the impeller shaft.

[@calvinhobbes7504]

Yep - these magniciters are a form of magnetic amplifier - or mag amp .... They ware a staple for precision motor control systems in the US Navy back in the day.

[@_..-.._..-.._]

Sounded great when missing, had a motorcycle sound. It would be a great engine to put on an old cruiser.

[@rodneymiddleton9624]

You could weld a couple of nuts to the pulley center to attach the puller to pull it off. To be a old rusty/crusty it's doing well. Thanks!

[@alouisschafer7212]

Fascianting how much can be achieved with a few resistors, coils and diodes just by arranging them the right way.

[@rlferv]

Mike is one of the only guys in NJ that cant wait for a blackout !! As always thank you for sharing this video.

[@p.m3735]

Nice to see the old installation resistance tester. I've got a Evershed and Vignoles version with the varley test information on it.

[@rhiantaylor3446]

That regulator would be expensive to make these days but it is very rugged and clearly does the job !

[@butler386]

Wow this sure seems to be a fantastic generator. It handles a load with ease. They don't make them like this one any more. Thanks for the video's.

[@williambikash6645]

RPM is constant at 1800 = 60 Hertz no matter the load. 1830 rpm equals 61 hertz, 1770rpm equals 59 Hertz. Typically the HP is twice the 7.5 kw or about 15HP. Could be a bit less HP. A15hp Diesel will burn about .75 gals an hour at full power. If the engine is not a full fuel at 7500 watts then it is not working to hard. Probably most fuel efficient at about 3/4 max output. I would incorporate the raw water cooled exhaust manifold into the closed cooling system and I would remove the water cooled exhaust elbow and fabricate a dry exhaust from plumbing and tubing. Tying into the trucks cooling system would keep both engines warm when either one is running. Or a small car radiator with an electric fan would also work.

[@W4BIN]

Amazingly quiet considering no muffler on the exhaust or the air intake. He rewired it for 240 Volt output and added a four terminal strip. I would love something just like this for my basement. I didn't know it was a 7.5 kW unit. The lift pump isn't leaking, that fuel was from the injector fitten that he loosened when testing. Ron W4BIN

[@hfdzl]

5 star as usual! You are my generator mentor even with me being a retired mechanic. Always a learning moment. Thanks!

[@happyirishman4683]

Diesel powered coffee maker . Nice Job getting it running.

[@oldrock9641]

Nice genset Mike ! Thanks for the expanded explaination of the electrical end. That helps a lot.

[@peslange]

Pleas give that survivor a cote of paint ant som tlc, she definitely deserves it😊 love your videos. Greetings from Norway 🇳🇴

[@jcondon1]

Definitely a winner. Sounds great and holding the load very well. Great naming of the voltage regulator and its components.

[@willwaconsya3433]

Those Onan diesels are a great little engine. They start easy and run fairly quiet. Regarding the old regulator on your engine, I had to upgrade many to the faster responding modern day electronic regulators. Mostly because starting some larger AC motors would be a problem because of the slow reaction from the regulator and mechanical governor.

[@chrisssmallengines7163]

That is a nice little load bank you have there . Great video .

[@upsidedownfarmer3513]

Those little onans are great units. Had a newer 15kw on my last service truck that was designed for rv use and it was super quiet(like a box fan on medium in a quiet house in the country). I am curious to see how you install it into your work rig. Going to plumb into the truck exhaust, keep the mechanical water pump or go to like a davies Craig electric setup and the into vehicle system and run a aux fan or complete seperate system? Also curious how you will setup your controls and i dont know if your e350 is diesel or not but if it is are you going to tap into the fuel supply from the truck? What a cool project and thanks for your professional work and time to bring this to us. You are very thorough and a great genset mechanic!

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

The frequency droop is almost perfect as 59 under full load is very acceptable. Two things now need checked. 1.thd total harmonic distortion. 2. Engine fuel consumption under 7500 watt load. This seems maybe the best set for home emergency power I have yet seen on KZbin if the thd under full load is less than 15. Good job Mike, a regular radiator with an electric fan would probably just come off the battery charging circuit and not take power from the house voltage. On James Condon's channel a guy went through 4 Predator gensets in ten years. He could have used this old Onan jobbie and still be using it with no failure for probably ten years with maybe 100 gallons of French fry oil per year. Maybe twice that I just don't know what it's thd is.

[@Doktorglory]

I note that the original raw water/sea water pump was removed. It is direct driven and there is an opening for it on the left side of the motor next the flywheel. These were very expensive /proprietary and failed frequently by leaking. So my point here is there is an open oil duct that you will likely need to cap off or you will spew oil during motor operation. I had to fabricate a cover for mine when I bolted a jabsco raw water pump on the gen set in lieu of the original one. The jabsco approach has been an upgrade.

[@ovalwingnut]

You [are] the "Genset Whisperer" + I'm a "beggar for that megger"... You are really hitting on all cylinders and bringing back my gear-head memories. Thanks so much. Cheers!

[@wiesvandessel1366]

happy now I finally have something to watch

[@8068]

Now that you got it running and tuned up it should provide years of good service.

[@landongodspeed8466]

Sounded good...your passion for these has inspired me

[@ron827]

I assume you plan is to connect it to the cooling system of your truck. That way the block should always be warm for easy starting.

[@AJ-wj9ij]

That's a good backup unit mike good on you brother

[@richardphelan8414]

Another ready for service ,she snorts good at full power out sounds great

[@MitzvosGolem1]

Nice! That exhaust manifold is water cooled in marine applications. Make a small radiator and set up quiet exhaust for service truck. Paint it Onan green. Awesome quality Onan

[@davidbohner692]

Nothing like having the right tool for the job said Rube Goldberg 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👏👏👏👏👏⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@arthurbiringer5676]

Great resuscitation! As always great video.

[@kandkmotorsports]

I love watching these projects of yours Mike. The gov on the old girl is doing pretty good!

[@orlypalomar]

Very fond of all your videos. I just hope you also find time to see what the AC waveform looks like, with and without load, from an oscilloscope. Thanks!

[@wotnoturbo]

Sweet little unit.

[@JimmyZ408]

I'd like to get my hands on something like this. Great video, highly enjoyable!

[@adamfletcher4262]

Really would love to see this again very interesting unit

[@nosaltiesandrooshere7488]

Herzliche Grüße aus Österreich! Greetings from Austria! 👍 Danke fürs Hochladen! 👍 Thanks for uploading! 👍 Very good and beautiful, thank you! 👍 Sehr gut und schön, danke!

[@regsparkes6507]

Not bad, not bad at all, Mike. 7500 watt diesel is, to me, an idea sized gen-set. When you consider the wear that was shown earlier, to the cylinders and wondering too, if this little diesel would be able to keep up it`s power, I for one, am surprised that it performed so well in this test. Great videos `mini-series` you have here, well done!

[@gsengineering284]

I cool my MDJE conversion with a school bus heater core and a home furnace blower. Mine (a 1971 model) has a header tank with a radiator cap above the thermostat. i have considered making a new thermostat housing and using a " 3 way" for a 3208 Cat so the engine gets constant flow. I control the temp with a control system from the HVAC industry set to make on rise and the blower motor is 4 speed so the control is staged to lowest and highest speed, or off if below temperature. Good story- it got hot due to mice nesting in the air duct between the blower and " radiator". They chewed up fiberglass insulation from the sound box. It blocked the air flow. Oberdorfer pump is made in Syracuse, NY.

[@philipblick8887]

Congratulations Mike. All the best from Aotearoa (New Zealand)

[@shawnmrfixitlee6478]

Great job Mike , I love the old Onan gensets .. You just make the WAY BETTER !!

[@nashguy207]

That engine didn't seem to care. It just kept purring along. Hope you take us along with you when you install it in your truck. Onan made and still makes some great gen sets. We had an Onan generator in our race car trailer and it never gave us any problems.

[@donaldelrod9172]

marine manifolds tend to crack if the water jacket around them is run dry. the raw water pump normally supplies the source of coolant after the the heat exchanger warms it up to prevent shock of cold water on hot manifold.

[@time1800]

For a second I was looking at the schematic for the mic output! This is going be a nice gen for your truck.

[@DieselFuelOnly]

what a nice little genset

[@newdawn8477]

You need to duck down to your local wrecker yard and look around for a decent radiator and mount it to the frame along with a fan. Then give it a clean, paint it if you feel the need and re-lube it. I'd also put a cowl with some flame retardant insolation over it, as most of the noise (once you have a muffler) is produced by engine noise.

[@pedrotheswift5937]

I always find your video's enjoyable Mike, but thanks for asking.. ;)

[@stephenbridges2791]

I was going to comment about how quiet that thing runs. Even without a muffler it came across on the video as just a purr. Very nice, indeed!

[@markae0]

Great video of a test platform. Great fun! (8:53 spoiler) the engine starts.

[@courtlandyarborough4408]

Great video! Can’t wait to see how you wire the control box!

[@_..-.._..-.._]

Surprised that it runs this well without the entire intake, my Yanmar smokes white when the intake isn’t completely hooked up. The resonance isn’t right when wide open.

[@chavescrave]

Fantastic video. I loved seeing you use the old Megger set to test insulation of the windings and expaining how it is used. Brings back memories of electronics and electrical training at the start of my Royal Australian Navy career in the early 90's. Bravo Zulu Mike.

[@glennfryer1539]

What a great little gem set .. it hardly feels the load… built to last .. 🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@nickroman9386]

Please make a video or videos of this being installed and all in the truck. Love all your videos.

[@garbleduser]

COOL! That voltage regulator is basically a saturable reactor or magnetic amplifier.

[@2253benjamin]

Good job mike. Love your video. 9 years as a Gen tech

[@mrmatt2525able]

Tack weld a short section of pipe over that water pump shaft to the pulley, then weld a nut on the end of the pipe and use a bolt or ready rod to pull the pulley off, cut the tack welds and file down welds

[@dans_Learning_Curve]

Fun project!

[@12345678989814]

About to get a Kohler light plant out of a older model travco motorhome 4 cylinder 6500 watt output head 220 has about 1,200 hours on it total going to need some work for sure

[@toddthompson3043]

Awesome video as always. Keep up the great content

[@mtm101designs9]

Nice work, thanks for sharing.

[@walterlamb4756]

Very impressed!! Enjoy

[@thelongislandguy]

Can you please explain how that water pump seal works? Why ceramic? I’ve heard that some of those seal surfaces are finished so precisely that their flatness is measured in wavelengths of light.

[@MitzvosGolem1]

Ceramic is spring loaded to touch stationary ceramic and no water leaks but acts as a lube. Used in automotive pumps since the 50s i think. Dirt in cooling system can wear out surfaces. Salt water raw water pumps on marine use rubber neoprene not ceramic. I am" Long Guyland marine mech guy.

[@shawnbottom4769]

The mechanical seal will have a hard sealing face and a soft sealing face. Usually the hard side is ceramic but not always, carbides are used as well. The soft side is a graphite material. A spring keeps the two together and eventually the soft side does wear down. Yes the seal face is made to very tight tolerances. Finally, a rubber bellows seals the rotating half to the pump shaft. That would be a typical mechanical seal arrangement. There are actually several types.

[@ruben_balea]

Fill-Rite fuel tranfer pumps use a ceramic seal too, at least some models for gasoline and diesel.

[@lrq7927]

Nice! What a great little unit, nice score!

[@Doktorglory]

Amazing Thank you very much.

[@movingforward6099]

How do you know when Mike's happy? 60hz / 240v / low gov droop / full load !! I think there's a shirt in there somewhere? Cheers Mike keep up the good work!

[@AJ-wj9ij]

Hi mike hope you all well what's new on content we waiting and love your education thanks in advance sir

[@SmallEngineMechanic]

AJ, have been very busy lately but I have the control upgrade job just about finished up on the Perkins gen set. The video on that is still in the works!

[@inspiredscreens]

Thank you. I enjoy your videos very much. Take care.

[@davidbohner2061]

Great work👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✅✅✅✅✅

[@bulwinkle]

"Will it generate?" Might be better as, "Will it regenerate?"

[@whathasxgottodowithit3919.]

Great video, give her a coat of paint though prior to installing in your truck

[@timhaganify]

good job enjoyed the video very much neat old generator.

[@rogersmith7396]

If you wanted to get tricky you might install the cooling into the trucks system, possibly through the heater loop. Use the trucks rad.

[@Mrcaffinebean]

Then you have to wire up the trucks fans (assuming they are E fans), and you have to worry about overwhelming the radiator if you run both the truck and generator on a hot day, not the mention taking it off the truck becomes messy.

[@kerrygleeson4409]

Great job Mike thanks for sharing 👍🥳

[@trickyrat483]

I was very disappointed.. ..that you didn't throw some meat and veg in that hot water for a stew. :)

[@sportytone1]

An a/c condenser fan puller will remove that pulley. It clamps on the inner hub where the set screw is.

[@JesperValentine]

Nice one, Mike 👍

[@offgridmangogrower]

It sounds amazing once the injector gets fuel

[@RobertKohut]

Impressive!! :-)

[@gilbertmarshall7957]

Great set of videos, I'm about to start on a seized MDJE on a boat I've just bought. Any chance you could upload those generator schematics? Hopefully, that side of it's okay but always good to have as much info as possible. Thanks again for the very clear and helpful descriptions.

[@giggiddy]

Did he say how many RPM at 6k watts? Its just perking right along. Happy as a clam. And how many hours on the old girl?

[@johnfnielsen5068]

Do you have piece on how to adjust the carburetor, and electric chock on a Onan BF/3CR 16000 B 4,000 watt genset???

[@donaldtheroux3626]

That sea water pump should have some market value since it cost over $700 from Onan. If you have to rebuild the circulating pump, it may be more economical to retrofit and inline 12 volt electric pump. Onan parts are overpriced. Onan model 6.5 MCE uses an electric circulating pump that works fine. It is relay controlled in the engine run circuit. The water cooled elbow may also have some market value since it is over $400 new.

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

I think I would use a motorcycle radiator or something off a v-belt to use less power with a clutch on the fan.

[@cesargallo7424]

Sweet engine! good job

[@Jarrett17333]

Very much appreciate all the great content sir. Keep it coming!! I missed what you were tracking with your Klein clamp meter. Also I have never heard of Onan until I came across your channel. How did you discover them? Are they your favorite gen-set?

[@beckster181]

just goes to show the old stuf still works good as it was made to last and not made to a price so much

[@johnbarham7718]

I thought I was the only one with a wooden case 500/1000V megger.