Tossing around an oil test idea...

[Texan4Life]

I have been looking at building a genset when I have some some time off and money this winter. Just a project I have been kicking around.

I was thinking about rebuilding a slant 6 and either running it on natural gas or gasoline. It would run 24/7.

Thats when I had the idea of why not use it as a test bench for comparing different brands of oil via UOA?

Would this produce useful information in comparing oils?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Texan4Life

Would this produce useful information in comparing oils?

Maybe if you put a typical load on it. If it'll just be free-revving (like when in neutral), then it may not be as useful, IMO.

 

[Texan4Life]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Texan4Life

Would this produce useful information in comparing oils?

Maybe if you put a typical load on it. If it'll just be free-revving (like when in neutral), then it may not be as useful, IMO.


It would drive a generator.. most likely a 27kW.

 

[tomcat27]

certainly we would find the information and results fun - but it would not simulate real driving where we have lots of cold-starts and varying speeds and loads.

a mechanic friend of mine opened up a cat generator engine that had been running for 7 years straight. (dual oil system to allow oil changes while running) he said the engine was incredible inside - they didn't even need to rebuild it.

 

[crazyjake]

some things you would have to do would be to make sure that the operating conditions were identical. especially having a consistent resistance provided by the generator and identical operating conditions for the test- fresh air filter, same temperature, same fuel quality and so on.

of course you would have to get through the break in period before you start tests.

It's a pretty cool idea. If you need the power anyway, it wouldn't cost that much to do, but just running a 27k generator to test oil will use up a lot of money pretty quickly.

I'd sure love to see the results if you do it!

 

[crazyjake]

If you could make a control program to apply loads and start and stop the engine at intervals, you could do a reasonably good simulation of everyday driving. you would loose the usefulness of the generator in generating while you are testing if you do that though.

 

[JimPghPA]

Oil in an engine ran on natural gas would have different contaminants, and different requirements than an oil used in a gasoline engine. The results obtained would not relate to gasoline vehicle engines. Schaeffer has some special oils for use with natural gas.

For a long life genset you want a very low RPM engine. You would require a multi-pole generator, and a pulley system chosen to provide the proper RPM's for the generator.

 

[Texan4Life]

Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
For a long life genset you want a very low RPM engine. You would require a multi-pole generator, and a pulley system chosen to provide the proper RPM's for the generator.


yeah i know there are better engines for generator duty.. but I have had a boner lately for slant 6's. They also had a excellent track record in industrial/ag use for a gas engine.