Got yourself an old APU for an aircraft. They will want at least a 20% load to run stable. It sounds good so the mechanical is fine. The easiest way to convert the output is to either rectify the output and drive an inverter or find an old rotary converter which is a motor driving a generator. ❤
so regular incandescent lights will be fine on 400HZ as they are a purely resistive load, i doubt you can lower the rpm enough to get a 60 hz output without causing issues, if you want to run anything "normal" besides lights like another person said best bet would be a dc to ac inverter on the dc output depending on its voltage. cool find though! i didn't know these wer a thing and i have a new mep gensets myself
You can use a 3phase to 3phase VFD for 60hz. VFDs rectify the incoming Ac to DC, dump in into capacitors before chopping it back up to AC. They won't complain about the ac in as long as the voltage us right. They will run off of Hv DC too!
Tachometer inop is the fault. Without tach signal, the fuel control can't sense if engine is self sustaining. This is a single shaft simple centrifugal compressor so it is quite fussy on startup.
That's what I thought too, but according to the wire diagram on the unit, the tachometer signal doesn't interface with anything other than the gauge. There is a separate tachometer signal produced from the generator head and that goes to the control circuitry but that works since the starter shuts off automatically.
That's what I think too. I disconnected the cannon plug on the generator head because I didn't want it to generate electricity while I was digging through the wiring and when I went to start it, the starter didn't automatically shut off. I had to quickly flip the master switch to shut it down because the starter motor was still running and it was almost at full speed.
wow that is insanely cool!! Is it true that they are only fuel efficient when operated at near full-to-full load? also would be great at remote places, you can use the exhaust heat in a co-gen recovery system for hot water/air - even more efficient then
It's driven off a reduction gear box. There is one compressor and one turbine in the engine, which spins at 52,000 RPM then is reduced to 8,000 to drive the generator. I would love to hear it down further to run a 60hz generator but that will probably happen well into the future.
@@Pyro15D from my looking around it will be hard, as 400hz will make the windings in the alternator alot smaller than on similar 60HZ equipment so most likely not enough power to drive a similar 60hz gen head, but gearing down to 3600 should be doable with some pullys or gears, ez is just a rectifier and a inverter since its only a few 1000w
@Pyro15D best way to get to the 60Hz would be to rectify and filter the output then feed that into a high voltage MPPT type inverter. Your APU generator also will work best at 20 percent or better of load rating. ❤
Non 400 cycle electronics don't like the 400 cycle, learned that in the military after plugging a radio into the convenience socket on the Sentential Radar generator...
ive always wanted a little gas turbine to play with outside of work
One of these looks like fun to work on
It's got a lot of potential. What a great little toy!
Got yourself an old APU for an aircraft. They will want at least a 20% load to run stable. It sounds good so the mechanical is fine. The easiest way to convert the output is to either rectify the output and drive an inverter or find an old rotary converter which is a motor driving a generator. ❤
with this being higher output dc, it may be more effective to us a dc to ac inverter to achieve your desired 120-volt ac usage for this equipment
100a at 28v, only 2800 watts, maybe a 2000w inverter max accounting for losses. That's a noisy 2000w.
what a beauty
that thing needs a full restoration and maybe modern electronics
so regular incandescent lights will be fine on 400HZ as they are a purely resistive load, i doubt you can lower the rpm enough to get a 60 hz output without causing issues, if you want to run anything "normal" besides lights like another person said best bet would be a dc to ac inverter on the dc output depending on its voltage. cool find though! i didn't know these wer a thing and i have a new mep gensets myself
Yup, they literally cannot do less than 400hz. Trying to do 60 would not allow the compression of the fuel to be enough to burn it.
You can use a 3phase to 3phase VFD for 60hz. VFDs rectify the incoming Ac to DC, dump in into capacitors before chopping it back up to AC. They won't complain about the ac in as long as the voltage us right. They will run off of Hv DC too!
Very cool! I have often thought about playing around with a gas turbine engine, but what would i do with it? Question answered. Thanks for sharing!
Tachometer inop is the fault. Without tach signal, the fuel control can't sense if engine is self sustaining. This is a single shaft simple centrifugal compressor so it is quite fussy on startup.
That's what I thought too, but according to the wire diagram on the unit, the tachometer signal doesn't interface with anything other than the gauge. There is a separate tachometer signal produced from the generator head and that goes to the control circuitry but that works since the starter shuts off automatically.
Doesn’t he tach reference for these units read another speed input for startup. The tach on the main panel is separate and just for indication
That's what I think too. I disconnected the cannon plug on the generator head because I didn't want it to generate electricity while I was digging through the wiring and when I went to start it, the starter didn't automatically shut off. I had to quickly flip the master switch to shut it down because the starter motor was still running and it was almost at full speed.
wow that is insanely cool!! Is it true that they are only fuel efficient when operated at near full-to-full load? also would be great at remote places, you can use the exhaust heat in a co-gen recovery system for hot water/air - even more efficient then
Wow. Great project. Is the genny driven off a reduction gear or a separate power turbine?
It's driven off a reduction gear box. There is one compressor and one turbine in the engine, which spins at 52,000 RPM then is reduced to 8,000 to drive the generator. I would love to hear it down further to run a 60hz generator but that will probably happen well into the future.
@@Pyro15D from my looking around it will be hard, as 400hz will make the windings in the alternator alot smaller than on similar 60HZ equipment so most likely not enough power to drive a similar 60hz gen head, but gearing down to 3600 should be doable with some pullys or gears, ez is just a rectifier and a inverter since its only a few 1000w
@Pyro15D best way to get to the 60Hz would be to rectify and filter the output then feed that into a high voltage MPPT type inverter. Your APU generator also will work best at 20 percent or better of load rating. ❤
Non 400 cycle electronics don't like the 400 cycle, learned that in the military after plugging a radio into the convenience socket on the Sentential Radar generator...
enemy can hear you powering your ps5 20 miles out
A 24V inverter should work great with that, get a 3kW one.
there is nothing comparable to a turbine spooling up..
That’s cool shit!!!!!
It might be low on oil, etc.
Would you sell it?