Remote mounted gen radiator ###pics added

wal1809 · July 30, 2011, 09:29:32 PM

Well the Texas heat has set in. You know it is bad when we want a hurricane to come our way. Two weeks ago I was beaded to Dallas for an advanced palm print interpretation school. I knew it was going to happen and it did, the gen kept shutting off due to overheating.

I will post pics tomorrow showin how it was set up. I will also post the remote mounted radiator. I knew this was going to be a doozy of a project, but really had no idea. I have about 40 hours into the project.

So I pulled everything out of the gen bay to include the black tank, the fresh tank and the gen with the slide mount. I pulled the radiator and out the gen back in 90 degrees so the gen can actually slide out now. I built a box for the radiator amd bought a 12 volt fan.

I rebuilt the box because the rad cap was lower than the water neck on the engine and I would not be able to fill it all the way. The water neck was getting vapor locked. The new box worked good but I still had to take off the rad hose from the wate neck and force the air out with a water hose.

I have a Kubota diesel gen. I know it is not designed to have 10 foot hoses to a radiator. They are lower than th water neck on the way to the remote rad. Any suggestions on how to fix that vapor lock when filling the rad? It is not a problem but if I am on the road and have Trouble I would like to be able to just pour water in to fill it back up.

wal1809 · July 31, 2011, 03:56:09 AM

Oh BTW heads up to Kubota gen owners!!! Be derned careful when you tighten the nut behind the positve battery cable on the starter. 1/4 turn too far and your starter and altermator will fry in all about 1 second. $400 mistake on my part.

Joe Camper · July 31, 2011, 06:14:23 AM

I have a kabota do you have the 4 cly that are very prevalent in professionally converted buses.

I'll assume so.

Many of these most of them I believe have the radiators in remote locations.

Liberty puts them in the rearmost bay and the radiator is in the second bay back 2 bays forward from it. The Millennium I was just playing with a few days ago had the radiator on the roof.

On my bus the bay is subdivided with an additional wall separating the gen and the radiator and blower in separate soundproof boxes.

Standard procedure on every dern one after fluid loss or change is start run for a period of time shut down refill. Also there is a plug on the thermostat housing. Given that I can tell you from experience it takes a great deal of doing to get mine back on line when I need to do it.

The top of the rad is lower than the top of the 2ND tank and its corresponding tank attached to the gen itself. I think may go thru this.

1 thing is to make sure the lower of the 2 radiator caps is a higher pressure cap or in the event of a failure you will loose coolant there first ant that's no good.

I seem to recall 1 occasion where I did not do this correctly The gen ran went into overheat shutdown the rad was about 1/2 full of lukewarm water that would not flow even after I restarted and filled it back.

Needless to say anytime I drain one I capture every drop and make darn sure it all goes back.

After a loss of coolant due to failure you better be patient and make sure you burp it all out.

wal1809 · July 31, 2011, 06:33:20 AM

I took the hose off at the top water neck and let water flow into the hose u til water shot out of the water neck. I checked it at the radiator after it warmed and I am good to go.

I am thinking of putting a T and a valve at thr water neck. It would be easy to burp it then.

luvrbus · July 31, 2011, 06:40:15 AM

Wrong fan Wayne a 12 volt is not going to do the job a 110 v squirrel cage with 2 or 3 speeds shroud has to cover the radiator been there done with the 12v fans a waste of time and money

good luck

demodriver · July 31, 2011, 07:49:01 AM

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Inline-Fill-Adapter-with-1-4-Inch-NPT-Fitting,9245.html

Several companys offers these. This is just the first one that I found. Summit racing, Jegs, and I am sure there is others that offers these if various styles.

Hope it helps.
Eric

I left you a message on your other thread about the electrical and the 12 volt fan options. The same company in the link offer some really nice shrouds and fans that will pull your bus sideways lol.

Oonrahnjay · July 31, 2011, 08:05:51 AM

Quote from: demodriver on July 31, 2011, 07:49:01 AM
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Inline-Fill-Adapter-with-1-4-Inch-NPT-Fitting,9245.html

Several companys offers these. (snip)

Yeah, this bleeder was what I was thinking about. You have to be careful to burp all the air out but once it's done, you're good to go. A good thing to do is to put a loop of clear plastic tubing up and then into a can of coolant. If you get a negative pressure in the system for a second or two, it pulls coolant into the bleeder - that means you don't have to start all over again. With the clear tubing, you can see the bubbles as the air bleeds out.

luvrbus · July 31, 2011, 08:20:00 AM

Wayne the 12 volt fans don't have a enough power to over come the negative static pressure a bus creates the 12v automotive fans the cfm is rated in a open space install a 12 v fan on your home AC and see what you get from the ducts nothing my friend

good luck

wal1809 · July 31, 2011, 11:22:06 AM

Luvrbus I know you have been there and done that. I remember you telling me to buy the squirrel cage. Where do you buy yours? I can fix this but it is going to have to be this week as I will be headed to the Dallas area the next 5 weekends training dogs. I wondered about the negative void thingy. I thought I was getting around that because when I stick my foot under the bus I can feel some major wind. I know your right though. I will look for a squirrel cage.

wal1809 · July 31, 2011, 11:30:51 AM

Here is what I had and here is the new.

wal1809 · July 31, 2011, 11:35:24 AM

Oh BTW that white tank is my new poly tank for the veg oil. The aluminum custom one never came through so Tractor Supply had this one for $200.

wal1809 · July 31, 2011, 01:17:54 PM

well monkey butt!!!!! Clifford was right on. I knew it I knew it I knew it before we headed to the walmart for a test run. Didn't make 10 miles and she got hot. Got hot faster than the guage could keep up with. Time for a blower fan. Thank you Clifford. Like I always said "I wish you were my next door neighbor".

wal1809 · July 31, 2011, 01:35:38 PM

I looked at Grainger and the CFM tratings on the blowers is really low compared to the 800 cfm yall were talking about earlier. Clifford what CFM should I get?

JohnEd · July 31, 2011, 04:30:23 PM

Wayne,

Lotsa folk know lotsa stuff but only Dick Wright knows everything about generators. I guess what he hasn't seen...... Now Clifford is the guy that has the most "stuff" to solve your material needs and knows lotsa stuff.LOL.

The first time I heard that a genny was being cooled by a 110VAC squirrel it just din't make sense to me...I am confused by lotsa good ideas. The answer was that "if the genny is running I have the 110 to do the work." Kinda makes sense when you look at it that way....duh

I was picking up some materials from a bus converter/upgrader/remodeler one afternoon here in town. Ended up visiting and watching him install a sound proof box and remote radiator. He really did fine work and it was my pleasure to "watch". While he was working I asked what he thought about the design where the engine rad was used for the genny also. he answered "I talked long and hard trying to change his mind but it was no go. This will work just fine but it will cost him double for me to do the job." That was an 8V92 Pre and the genny was in the rear compartment. I can't swear to this but I think he used three 18 or 20 inch Hayden aux rad fans when using the engine rad to cover the cooling while the engine was not running.. He said that the genny water pump was fine cause it was pulling in cold water from the rad and if more flo was needed the option was a 110VAC inline water pump. If this approach is flawed somehow i hope someone shares that info. Now if your cooling system was marginal I guess that would queer the plans.

Good luck with your install. 40 hours would be a new record for me in a project of that scope. Hope you can make the Tex rally with the family. Unfortunately, Tejas doesn't exist for me in Aug. Not as a destination, anyway.

Be well,

John

Joe Camper · July 31, 2011, 08:47:19 PM

On our gen we have a 110 volt squirrel cage and blower housing it is about the size you would see in a residential fan forced gas furnace for a home about 2000 sq ft or so.

Its power is fed thru a separate breaker and the way it is set up It lets me know if I have power or notcause if the blower is int running I have no juice. This has proven to be beneficial since I have been having to flash it from time to time and the no radiator cooling fan is a dead giveaway.

Luverbus there are quite a few Marathons with 2 2 speed thermostatically controlled d/c cooling fans All thru the 90s that's what marathon used. The legendary also sports d/c radiator cooling fans.

That said I enjoy the a/c blower and probably prefer it too. Bound to move more air.

Our blower has the motor connected directly to the shaft. I have also seen a pulley on the shaft to the squirrel cage to another pulley on the motor with a belt in the mix. All the liberty's are like that.