Redstone

Above: Utterpower's Redstone Drive. The massive 11.25 inch pulley is machined further by Randy Allmand so it mates up to a drive ring that allows the pulley to be off set to clear the massive flywheel rim, (far thicker than other big singles I've seen. The 8.4 inch pulley shown on the generator side allows the mighty Redstone to operate at 1350 RPMs where it still make a lot of power, but under runs the rated 1500 RPMs in an effort to provide longer life and better fuel economy. The utterpower 4.2" Pulley can be used for the 2 pole generators like the PMG Combinations of other pulley sizes can allow you to find the sweet spot for the work you do, we have one Redstone currently running at about 970 RPMs that is meeting the expectations of the owner operator charging batteries and doing other duty.

Note: with the 11.25" on the engine and the 8.4" pulley on the generator head, I found the NAPA Micro V belt # 080702 a good fit, this is an 8 rib belt made by gates.

Redstone RS115 specifications

      Horizontal, single cylinder, double flywheel, electric start,
      water-cooled slow-speed diesel engine

Approximately      5.3" Bore, 5.10" stroke

      115 C.I.D.

      15.5 to 1 compression ratio

      22 HP@1500 RPM

      250 grams/KW/HR fuel consumption

      80 foot pounds of torque

      2800 PSI injection pressure

      Dry weight 660 pounds

      38"X23"X28"H

After 10 or more years devoted to the study of Indian slow speed designs and how they can be applied to off grid and emergency power, I have decided it's time to devote some time to the Blackstone and similar designs.

Mamad (Mohammad Matbouei) may have as much experience with the Blackstone JPs as anyone in the field today, certainly, there are others in UK who are the top most authorities, but Mohammed was recently servicing some of the JPs that are STILL earning their keep!

You might spend a moment reading about the old JP in Jask, still plugging away. Reality is, these engines are no longer made, the only alternative I know of is to find one as similar as possible and attempt to save it from being tossed on the bone pile. We might do this by marketing same and optimizing it to meet our needs of small off grid power, the less power we need, the slower we turn the prime mover unit we reach the speed of diminishing returns, certainly, we'll need optimize the governor for lower speed, etc.

It is a rather sad note, but the clone engines from India are for DIYers only (my opinion of course). Certainly there are others who will tell you different, but the fact is, and for a number of reasons India has not been able to develop any sort of Quality Control to assure what you receive is ready for service. It's a fact that some are useful right out of the crate, but a good number of them need attention before they are run, or you will experience troubles. It doesn't make sense to me to run any of the Indian engines without a good inspection, but the real DIYer might say that about any engine. The accuracy of shaft centers, idler gear shaft location, improper heat treat or poor materials are all things that can frustrate even experienced mechanics and engineers.

What to do? Well, for one, I've been comparing notes with many people from around the world who need reliable power, and they are also frustrated after their many efforts to purchase higher quality from India. Many have visited there, they've been reassured all will be perfect, and then received a container load of troubles.

My goal is to study the JP, the bore the stroke, the fuel efficiency, and the Redstone, it's all about longevity and fuel economy, fuel/kwh figures. Collectively, we may have enough influence to make the Redstone exactly what we want it to be.

As you might already understand, there are many of us who feel we have failed in our endeavors to help India establish QC in slow speed engines. QC happens in India but it is usually found in high volume high demand items, we all understand that some of the best piston rings made in the world come out of India, same for cylinder liners, and many other things, all of which are high volume items with well developed QC processes. Slow Speed Engines? Most who know them best have all but given up on India, and are looking at other countries for reliable long life solutions. There are many reasons for the failure, environmental issues, demand for the product is not steady, emissions laws in India, high costs of commodities, transportation costs and more.

Above: Here's a DI piston design that has been used by a number of diesel engine builders for many years with good results.

Above: look at the size of that Piston Pin! This looks to be a very nicely made piston

Above: Flywheels fit on tapers, they can be removed in about 5 minutes with tools in the kit.

Update: Jan 27, 2009 Thanks to Diyer Phil P out In Streator, IL we've got more information, Phil has done a complete tear down and eye ball of this engine, one of his comments to me "it's built like a tank."

Redstone: Weights of main components.

Having completely disassembled the RS 115 I took the time to weigh the major components

BARE BLOCK WITH GEAR CASE COVER, NO LINER, 161 POUNDS

LARGE FLYWHEEL 120 POUNDS

SMALLER DRIVE FLYWHEEL 120 POUNDS

CRANKSHAFT WITH MAIN BALL BEARING AND COVER 65 POUNDS

PISTON W/ROD 12 POUNDS

SUMP/OIL PAN, 76 POUNDS <<< this is NOT a miss print!

SUMP CAPACITY, 12 QUARTS, FULL TO GASKET SURFACE

SUMP BASE PLATE, 13 5/8" X 21 5/8"

BASE PLATE MOUNTING HOLES 18 MM

BASE PLATE MOUNTING HOLES MEASURED DIAGONALLY, 22 5/8"

OIL DIPSTICK AS SUPPLIED, 8 5/8" FROM O RING TO END OF DIPSTICK

NOT INCLUDED IN WEIGHTS ARE MANY ITEMS SUCH AS CYL HEAD, LINER, END COVER, STARTER, INTERNAL GEARS, ETC.

Here's some more pictures thanks to Phil.

The Studs are Nicely made and HUGE at about 13/16" and notice that two of them have locating shoulders So the head goes on right every time.

Unlike the Lister Clones.

Above: Governer System, notice that KISS linkage! It doesn't get simpler than this, and there's no external linkage to bind!

The picture doesn't show off the quality of the finishes nor the accuracy of the gears, but it's nice, some of the following pictures shoe the gears better. Note there's not any plastic in here as found in smaller Chinese engines, there are a number of things different in the Redstone.

Machine work on the overhead is very nice, end of the rockers are shaped and finished VERY nicely, and look, they wipe across the

end of the valve properly right from the factory!

Here's one of the lower water ports, a VERY nice casting, and look! the port is not full of casting slag.

Governor assembly, nicely done, all gears marked, you can't put this one together wrong without effort!

more to follow...

Above: unlike other horizontals, the Redstone has this neat lower cooling port, I was able to run an NPT 3/4 inch Tap with zero prep work. I think there's plenty of room to bore a little larger and fit with a full one inch NPT thread. but 3/4 with do all you need even in thermal mode.

Stay tuned, the Redstone is already good, and the future will tell us if we can make reliability similar to the Blackstone, it's a tall order, but if we get halfway there, we'll be far ahead of the game.

If you are interested in the Redstone project, you might consider checking this page for additions in the near future, or if you want to buy a Redstone and help in the development, drop me a line.

As of Jan 12, 2009, there are a handful of Redstones for sale in North America, I'd recommend you have some mechanical skills, there will be a Redstone User's Group for owners, we'll use the input from those with "their hands on the equipment" to help develop our version further. We need folks that will actually be running the engines. At this time, I see the Redstone as a solution for power levels in the Twin Cylinder Lister Clone area without all the head aches. The fact that this engine has Massive flywheels that can be removed in about 5 minutes is a big bonus all by itself.

Here's where you can make inquires for the purchase of a Redstone, consider doing it before the EPA makes anything that's simple and durable illegal!