Q and A: 1/15/2011 Email of the day

George,

Thanks for your quick response. I just wanted to be clear on this, the larger Lister twin cylinder jobs would not be able to handle this?  I just wanted to know because there are 2 dealers up in Maine selling them. One dealer is selling a complete package (15kw) and the other is just selling the Lister engine.  One of the dealers told me that the larger Lister clones were not well suited for alternate fuel uses, I believe it had something to do with the carb or fuel injector ( sorry not much of a mechanic but willing to learn).  Well anyways, thanks for your time.

Bill

George’s Response: I believe your original question had to do with electrical power produced and a suitable prime mover to drive your generator.  I like to error on the ‘conservative’ side, as we know there are over unity nuts on the liberal side, and everything in between.  I use the standard rule of 2hp per KW of output, this continues to be a GOOD RULE OF THUMB for continuous output. Some sales types might miss your question and quote you a KW figure as it relates to power at the output shaft of the prime mover.  I am giving you a figure for electrical power out of the generator head.

There are others out there that think KVA and KWH are the same thing, and they might be running a dot seven (.7) power factor with their test load and forget the formula for power… Power= ExIxPF. yes.. if the power factor were .7, you’d have 70% of the KVA figure for a KW figure.

All the the Listeroid clones I’ve seen would miss the 15KW of output on a continuous output basis, and running them at the speed required to make this power won’t likely give you the longevity you are expecting. You mentioned the 2-71s, that might be a better prime mover for this kind of power output.  Sellers in Maine might know different, and I’m sure if they disagree with my assessment, they’ll gladly give you a written guarantee, and pay all the shipping back to their dock if the engine doesn’t deliver what they promise. It’s just good business to keep your promises realistic.

Hats off to the Maine Dealers, now where is that WEST Coast Distributor? a reminder.. there’s one Kansas.

all the best,

George B.

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One Response to Q and A: 1/15/2011 Email of the day

  1. home alone 777 says:

    I am new here, and would like to register in with utterpower.com but never did see where to. I share your views about the EPA, There’s too much stuff going on that just does not make sence to anyone I know. eventually they will go to far and it’ll be agianst the law to BREATH! When’s it all ever going to end? What will it take? At one website I was at, [Ican’t remeber which] , The EPA allowed wood gasifiers; Someone tell me please; Which one pollutes more?

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