Cooling a Generator

[Eagle Andy]

 I have a question for you guys, On our Eagle we have a 12.5 generator in my bay passenger side right in front of the bogie. It is cooled by my radiator that is monted where the spare tire used to go. and it is also tied into the bus main cooling system. it works fine, I just dont like not being able to isolate it if something were to happen to either system. would i be nuts to cut a hole in my bay door and put a kabota radiator in there and take it out of the bus system.  Just lookin for some thoughts.

[Liberty]

Andy, ours is radiator cooled on itself. no fan on motor. the radiator is 'sealed' to the door and behind it all is a squirrel cage fan that pulls air across everything and vents out the bottom.
does yours run engine coolant through the genset all the time or does it tee off and only pull coolant when running via the generator water pump? If it is teed off do you have a place to add ball valves to those lines?
OR have I missed your point?
LeRoy

[Eagle Andy]

Leroy the engine coolant runs thur the generator all the time it is all tied together with both radiators. for the life of me I can't seem to see how i can make this work. I really don't want to cut a hole in the bay door or another bay.

[luvrbus]

Andy, the way yours is setup it is by far easier now to cut the hole in the door and install a radiator and fan you can buy nice stainless mesh and make it look nice  

I spent a lot of time (and money) on Matt's bus to keep from doing that I installed the radiator in the middle of the front bay that is where the generator is located, it cost me a pass through bay and 2 ft of bay space  

Matt's generator sets long ways in the bay with a wall and lead foam the radiator and the fan is mounted behind that wall with another wall sealing the other side his is completely sealed you cannot see the radiator or fan or hear the fan

I was after quietness and I achieved that by not having the fan blowing out the door you may not like the noise venting through the door then again it may not bother you JMW of doing it have Matt send you some photos 

I am with you on the 2 different systems I am not a fan of tying the 2 systems together it cost me a generator on my MCI

good luck

[wg4t50]

On my MC7, I used the total stand alone system, not tied into the bus system at all, seperate battery, cooling and seperate fuel tank.  Always felt it the bus died on the road, I would be comfy until fixed, if the generator died, I would run to closest motel.
Do what makes you smile, we are all different, so what fits one does not need to fit another.
Never had either issue, so I won. 

[Jon]

If you do not want to cut holes in a bay door, set the radiator back about 6" and bring cool air up through a hole in the bay floor and exhaust it out the bottom also. Just add a baffle between the intake and exhaust so you are not pulling hot air back through the radiator.

My generator radiator has been mounted that way on three buses and I have never overheated. The intake opening is about 6" X 15".

[Eagle Andy]

Thanks for your thoughts' all good ones just need to take my time and think it through.

[TomC]

I would eliminate any tie in to the main engine and have your genset cooled by the radiator in front. As stated, if the main engine goes-you'll still have the genset running-as we have experienced when I lost my oil filter on the main engine-still had comfy A/C during the repair of the remote oil filter.

I use a 1/2hp 2spd belt driven fan cooled entirely closed electric motor to power my single inlet squirrel cage blower that is mounted directly to the radiator-it sucks the air through and blows out the side. On low it is just about silent running. For ventilation on my small gen cabinet, I use a 8" axial bathroom blower to push air through the cabinet. All works well and all was bought from Graingers. Good Luck, TomC