removed the endbell cover

removed the endbell, there is lots of magnet wire in the stator and rotor, I could unwind it and build no end of projects

Removed the stator

the rotor sticking up

the rotor removed

Just the engine shaft sticking up

Did you notice when knocking apart that alternator..no circuit boards, electronic's, slip rings, or avr's...just a rotor that when spun makes AC voltage..nice and simple.

Now I can take my measurement from the engine shaft to the muffler to see what size steel disk I need to cut..these things are so easy to work on....and look there are four bolt holes around the output shaft, these are perfect for bolting my stator to..it doesnt get any easier..anyway it will have to sit for now..

and I think I need to add a flywheel as by droping the rpm's out of the manfacturers spec, I think I will get stalling under load at low rpm's, just a suspicion, works out well as as I can use the flywheel for mounting my magnets to.

think of this, you could mount a water pump off that shaft, either direct drive, or belted up, and have a great , low noise,fuel efficient package, or here is a idea mount a 4 pole ac motor directly off the shaft, excite the field with a few caps, drive it at maybe 1850 rpm and you have a even more quiet ac alternator, long run times, good for running lights, lap tops etc just a way to get some ac power in a shtf situation where fuel economy matters most ..so many ways to use this thing.
dam it, now I have to get another, as I think I want to mount a four pole ac motor to it, always usefull to have a lower rpm ac alternator, probly only good for 500-600 watts but thats ok if fuel economy is your goal, should get really long run times...

The engine crank output shaft is a taper with a keyway I see. Your going to need to adapt to that and it will be metric. The alignment to the alternator is critical as 80 cc's can't afford power loss due to any extra drag. Is there any kind of coupler between the previous generator and the motor to allow for alignment deviation? What is the alternator that you are intending to use as the motor has the equivelent of 1/3 hp only? I'm amazed that that engine could already produce 1200 watts. It's the drag produced especially at startup that requires the most HP. Cold weather will add to this factor as lubricants thicken. These factors may reduce reliability in times of necessity.

I too have looked at these units during sales. I know that many items such as the cheap chain saws and weeders often have a lifespan of 70 hours built ino their design. This works on the presumption that the user will use it little and it will exceed their limited warranty provisions. Now I know that the engine is 4 stroke and thus more reliable yet quality in moving parts such as bearings and machine tolerances are major factors in lifespan of any motor. I find that most often things that fit into such "Sale" categories often seem to crap out early in today's throw away society. This is why I never bought one. They may still be good but I did see that the bigger unit has customer rating on it whereas the this little unit bears no mention to thus evaluate it better.

I too am cheering you on though as I always like to see rules others set in stone be broken and show there is still more room for improvement. 😀

Knuckle, you are absolutly right most any engine at this price level is crap...those little 800-1000 watt 2 cycle generators that sell for 150-250 shake themselves apart by 100 hrs, never seen one make 150 hrs... these engines on the other hand at the 199-249 price range, for the 1500 watt unit, and 150 to 220 for the 1200 watt unit are ok, you will pound 1000 hours out of one no problem and I dont trust any reviews on any site, you know my thoughts....its all bs on the net the only review that counts to me are things I have had my hands in or people I directly know, who play with things as I do..all others pay cash!

You will get 1500 watts out of that unit no problem, thing is you cant keep pulling 1500 watts out for any length of time, as they have put a 10 amp breaker on the output, so you can only pull 1200watt continously, thats why I said jump out that breaker in my first post on these engines, then it can carry more, and start larger loads....that 80 cc engine will carry 1500 watts no problem...then bump up your rpm to say 130 volts, 135 volts.. if you want to carry a little more load than 1500 watts...trust me you wont have any problem never found anything that has a problem with 130-135, of course thats open cct voltage as you load it it drops down under 130 ofcourse. now for some things like a chop saw or such I think I have even dialed the rpms up to 170 or so just to run my 1700 watt chop saw, that thing takes a lot of start up current.. Now add a 120 volt ac muffin fan to blow in the alternator to keep the windings cooler, these use 20 to 30 watts or so but are really worth it, it makes a dramatic difference in keeping the windings cooler and that in turn lets you carry a heavier load.note the fan in this pic

and the fan in this pic

even if you arnt going to drive this gennie hard add the fan.
about lubricans..yes I said in my first post you should use lighter than what they suggest, and thats what I do, and a few other things so I can milk more power out, not that its needed...in fact it should be clear by my other posts how little power you really need, this engine/ gennie will run your furnace fan 1/4 hp to 1/3, and leave you extra to run a lap top, lights,fridge..enough to keep you comfortable through any ice storm power failure, short or long term..but most importantly be dirt cheap affordable in cost to buy, and run. The run part is very important...almost always any dissaster is followed by fuel shortages for a while, until supply catches up...the only thing that beats this for fuel economy, are inverter units like the honda eu 1000 and 2000 series but at a grand for the 1000, and maybe 1600-1700 for the 2000, thats not affordable for most people, 150 to 250 is, and thats why I am putting attention on this unit.

Regarding the bigger units you spoke of I have the one above this a 4000 watt unit, in fact brand new, I took it apart a while back just to check it out...crap by comparisine to the 1500 watt unit. First a avr that I found during testing cant handle high start up loads, like my miller dynasty 200 that runs fine off the line.....120 volt 15 amp breaker but this pos cant drive it. A potted avr that I cant fix or hack when it goes bad, it will go bad..and above the 1500 watt series these champion gennies have slip rings, which isnt bad by themselves, your bobcat has them, but the construction of these are... you will get 1000 hours out of these rings but I dont think 2000, maybe not even 1000 if used in a sandy dirty area....then the fuel consumption is double right off the bat, then as I found out when that owl hit the line, I fueled up this gennie to take over to the house that lost power due to the owl strike, I was going to back feed the house through a outside outlet in order to power up the furnace fan so his pipes didnt freeze, until fortis got there the next day, it was -18 or so and the engine was only 196 cc, but pull starting that when cold was almost enough to make me say "let his pipes freeze".. it took a while. anyone can pull start the 80 cc engines even at -30. bigger is not always better.

Knuckle this is what I am going for...(I just stumbled over this site tonight)but at a 10th the cost... http://www.altendc.com/g1-portable-gasoline-dc-generator.html if you have the coin this is what you would want, a honda engine, and it looks to be coupled to a car altenator, and spun at 3600 rpms, it will pump 55 amps dc out. I think that engine is smaller than mine, I think its 50 cc's..or so and maybe just over 1 hp, but look at the fuel consumption and run time of 4 hours....4 hours on just .77 liters! I spill that much when refueling!!
Thats 12hrs on 3 liters of fuel...thats 660 amphrs or 8kwhrs you could run a off grid place off that no problem at all...forget panels all together....but at 1300.00 dollars, and thats US, maybe 1500-1600 up here its pricey. so far I have spent 150.00 on that engine/gennie, I just have to figure out the alternator to build...but the fuel consumption is impresive I am looking to get 20 to 25 amps, with a engine rpm 1800-2000 and a run time of 14 hrs on a little over 5 liters...not as good as that unit, but still real good, with far less engine wear, and noise...thats my goal and now that I see a off the shelf product that can do even better then I am sure I should get close.

I can't see the forest for the trees when numbers start flying at me and then I want to excel it 😆 My Honda generator is an absolute gas pig at 4000 watt but reliable. I too like the small quiet gensets as you could keep one inside if their so silent. I'm going to likely convert the RV's back to gas as propane is too hard to refill in my area. But your concepts of seeking the best bang for the buck definitely has me hoping you succeed in your quest for this Holy Grail for preppers.

peppercorn,

Looks good. You are obviously mechanically inclined. So I am curious why you are not building a diesel gen set? I know out the door a descent unit is a lot more expensive than gas. With your skills and a few dollars more you would be able build yourself a nice diesel genie that IMO would have a much better ROI in the long run. Toting a Miller Dynasty you definitely have great taste in welders which makes me anxious to see what a diesel project would yield.

Good luck with the back up power. Power would be high on any prepares list and it looks like you nailed it.

Cheers

something bothered me about that 55 amp charging unit. The site said .77 liters per 4 four hours....that just sounded way to good to be true if it was running at 3600 rpm, and hammering out 55 amps or any amps for that matter, and it is driving just a car alternator that at best might be 50, maybe 60 percent efficient...took a lot of checking around but I found one other company using that 55 amp alt with a 50cc engine http://www.christieengineering.com.au/products.html and their spec is 3/4 of a liter fuel consumption per hour, hammering out 55 amps thats more in line with what I would expect. I questioned that fuel spec when I was typing up my last post, but they are a reputable company so I let it pass at the time, until I thought more about it..... they just made a misstake I think.... See trust nothing verify everything..

Jfamily.....got that base covered in multiples, from air cooled diesels starting at 1.75 hp and up, to 12 hp water cooled..Multiples of every kind, some set up with ST heads, permanent magnet alts, You name it. Started buying them in the early 2000's before the tighter requirements that peaked at tier 4 and killed the importation of small affordable diesels.
and thats the problem...the small affordable ones are now gone...if you didnt get them when you could you are out of luck, unless ofcourse you have lots of coin, then there are ways around the importation laws, but again that takes lots of coin.
Also, they are not the be all and end all so to speak...I have found women in particular arnt too happy with the small diesels, first, they are heavy if you have to move them around, often smoke a little untill they come up to temp, the smell of diesel while attractive to me, is something that if you spill on yourself and bring in the house with you, you may as well plan on sleeping in the dog house, then if they are crank start, for some reason, women dont seem to like that..dont know why seems easy to me to start...but then we get into winter when you need it most, unless its in a heated out building, as the temps fall they become harder to start( not for me) for many people, so often glow plugs are added, or electric starters..up go the complications...you see where I am going.... I like simple, and try to stay away from increasing complication on anything mission cridical. Not that I find any of the above hard to deal with for me, but others often have problems, few will have any problems with the gas unit I am talking about. And here is a pic for Knuckle...I have taken that engine down to the piston, this is a shot of the rocker arms...note the smooth castings and adjustment screws for setting the valves.

Now think about this, the good simple diesels are now gone, the same laws are effecting gas engines, how long before we cant buy a simple engine like this? already many gas engines have had to go to fuel injection, just going to fuel injection would X4 the price of this unit. Think it wont happen...people thought it wouldnt for diesels too, its already well underway for gas ones, already its hard to buy a engine driven welder like a miller bobcat unless its fuel injected. that added 400 to its price, and good luck trouble shooting that on your own when it goes sideways...it will go sideways everything does sooner or later

After a little digging around I find the factory that builds the Champion series gennies, and here is the model I like http://www.yfpower.com/en/productsd.php?tid=55&pid=132

For fun I fired that engine (1500 watt unit) up tuesday at 8 am...I am running it at its reduced output at rpms of around 2500, and only loading the gennie down to a couple hundred watts (280 watts this would = 6.7 kwhs over 24 hours)....its now been running for almost 50 hours..I am just doing this for fun, but simulating how it might be used in a emergecy situation. Its consuming 11 to 11.5 liters per 24 hrs We have a winter storm blowing in with temps going to -20, and heavy snow coming...I will keep it running for 100+ hours, its sitting outside, exposed to the ambient temperature . This could very much = a situation like a ice storm where power is lost for 4 or so days one thing should be clear, fuel consumption is most important as time goes by.

this engine already has 350 hrs on it, oh wait that was before I fired it up, now its over 400, and will be 450 maybe 500 when I shut it down, with 100 hours+ of continuious use.

Now you have all heard emp, cmp and such destroying everything, engines wont start.. gennies wont run, .....well there is no truth to that with this unit ..look at that pic, this engine has only one electrical component, that black square in the upper left of the pic...now look closer, see that bar that has two silver screws holding it on..it comes down almost touching the flywheel it goes up through the black square and comes out the bottom of the square and again almost touches the flywheel, that metal bar is the primary winding, little more than a piece of metal that completes a magnetic circuit, the magnet is mounted to the outside of the flywheel, when you pull the cord and spin the engine over this magnet moves fast past this bar generating a strong magnet pulse (current in the primary) that fires the spark plug. That black square has some magnet wire wraped in a circile to act as a secondary winding...there are no semiconductors at all in this unit...even if I took a hammer and smashed this black coil to bits, I could pull some wire out of any old electric motor ( blender or vaccume would be perfect)and wind a new coil...nothing will stop this type of unit from running (until its worn out) So for those who live in endless fear of of cme, and emp here you go...so long as you have fuel nothing will stop you from having power.

Really appreciating your sharing all this , peppercorn. I'll be following your conversion too.
The 1200-1500 unit is on sale right now at C. Tire now for 199. (black friday special?)..in ontario, anyway.

105 continous hours of running so I am just over 500hrs on this engine. I should have replaced the oil before running it this long it needed a change before I started this test and by the end I could tell it was low by the sound but it ran fine. a little over 50 litres of gas used, something like 60 dollars worth. ran through temps as low as -26. I would love to fire one of these up and just run it until it wont go anymore, but that could get expensive fuel wise, just to get to 1000 hours might be 500 to 600.00 dollars in fuel.

So I am in the garage and I have that 4000 watt gennie sitting next to another piece of engine driven equipment....I look a little closer and I swear the engine is the same, just with a well known engine brand name on this other piece of equipment.... I grab my tools and decied to find out if they are the same so I strip the heads off both and the parts, valves, gaskets, rockers all look and measure the same. I swap the parts from both engines and they fit! and both run with the others parts!

These ct engines are the same as another well known engine brand..they have to be coming off the same line for the parts to be interchangable!...that is good news.
after I get this engine set up with a custom built alt for efficient charging, I want to use this engine as the power for a tadpole recumbent, either direct drive, or more likely e assist, Alberta has reasonable regulations for e assist bikes and it may be very practicle to have this engine alt/ combo used for charging purposes on one ( charging a spare batt, while driving on another)

I have my steel disks now, 8 in total, and these are 5/8th inch thick steel, each disk weighs as much as that entire motor. I am making one for this engine, one as a spare and one to put on one of my diesel engines...and i just know that if this works, some of the other guy's who are using this engine, when they visit will want one so I will have a disk to give them and can say have at it.

The disk will have magnets around the outside, 12 in total, still deceiding on the size, I wont balance the disk until all the magnets are mounted.
I am using PPAD, rather than CAD...to figure out the layout....

Just in case anyone thinks this is complicated....its not so, in fact no matter what I do its going to work....you see I have engine speed to playwith to achieve what I want, I can adjust the spacing of the stator to the rotating magnet disk to get what I want, and if I still cant get what I want I can add a second magnet disc to double the output.....just the kind of project I like where I know its going to work ahead of time...what I dont know is just how much better fuel economy/per kwh produced, I will get..