Integrated generator for diesel

[IHDiesel73L]

I am in the planning stages of upfitting a Super Duty crew cab for overland traveling and one of the first things I thought of was an integrated onboard generator as opposed to a unit that I would simply carry with me and hook up when needed. What I was thinking of was a small permanently mounted generator with some dedicated hookups (block heater and batter tender) so that I could ensure easy starting in any weather. The block heater and battery tender consume about 1200 watts together, so I was thinking of a generator no larger than 3KW. When not being used for keeping the engine warm and the batteries topped off, a generator that large could operate a TV or basic communications without a problem-it's probably a bit too large, but I figure it's better to have some extra capacity just in case I decide to add electrical needs later on. Does anyone have pictures of something like this where I could get some ideas?

 

[dzzz]

Look at an Espar or Webasto coolant heater for cold weather starts and possibly camper heat. A block heater would require the genset to run all night. You wouldn't want to do that. Diesel gen sets are heavy and expensive if good. Are you using propane? Consider generating electricity from propane and/or solar instead of diesel.
Will you have camper air conditioning? If not solar probably works best over the long run.

 

[dwh]

I second the diesel fired hydronic for cabin heat, block heat and hot water.

I'm not a fan of running gensets off of propane for vehicles. For home backup use where you can have a 500g tank, then propane is great because unlike gas or diesel, the works don't get gummed up from sitting around unused for long periods and you don't have to add stabilizer to the fuel. But for a generator on a vehicle, it's better to run it off the same fuel source as the main engine.

For diesel vehicle use, the one that looks the best to me is the one that Doug Hackney bought for his truck. His looks to be this one:

http://www.nextgenerationpower.com/3kwlow.html

Looks like the same basic unit as this (spec sheet at bottom of page):

http://www.nextgenerationpower.com/3kwmarine.html


It's an electric start, single cylinder Kubota diesel engine, 19ci (309cc), that burns .2g (2/10g) of fuel per hour. Due to engine output, the entire gen set is rated 3.2kw, but it has a 5kw alternator head to handle brief surge loads. Just around 200 lbs.

VERY nice!

But expensive. And heavy.

That is just about the smallest electric start diesel gen set I've seen for vehicles other than a Chinese inverter type unit. There is also the Fisher-Panda which is BLOODY expensive (10 grand or more), but there are some negative reviews on boating forums.

Next Gen Power can build a lot of different sort of setups. You can get their generators with welders and/or air compressors, or as a trucker style APU with an automotive a/c compressor and an automotive alternator:

http://www.nextgenerationpower.com/products.html

 

[IHDiesel73L]

Good suggestions-funny, I now remember reading about the Webasto heaters years ago but totally forgot about them until now. It would actually be a good option for me because I only use diesel for startup and shutdown purging (the truck runs on vegetable oil for normal running) so I'd be able to use the coolant heater quite a bit without depleting much of my traveling fuel. I should have worded my post more clearly as well as I'm not wedded to the idea of a diesel generator, I was trying to explain that this would be a generator for use in a diesel truck. Obviously the coolant heater would take care of block heating, but I would still be interested in having the generator connected to the battery tender so as to keep the batteries topped up and warm. Maybe I could go with an even smaller gasoline generator since I won't need the high wattage for heating coolant.

 

[dzzz]

Unless your doing true winter camping in the north your not going to need to worry about keeping batteries warm. I expect you wouldn't want to be doing true winter camping traveling on vegetable oil.
As far as a webasto, you could route radiator lines to keep parts like the veg. tank warm at night.

 

[shortbus4x4]

The smaller the diesel generator the more its going to cost. I have looked into getting one but for a small one for like an RV the cost is crazy. I am going to use a Honda EU series. They are gas, small, lightweight, fuel efficient, and the most important thing is they are super quiet. You can hardly hear them running when you are right next to them, put them in an enclosure and you won't even know they are running. I will be forced to carry a fuel can just for it because its on a diesel rig, a Honda will run a long time on five gallons of gas. I will make sure my diesel cans and gas can are clearly marked, other than that it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[dzzz]

I went with the Yamaha EF1000i and a propane option (dual fuel). This size maxes out my battery charger. I run everything through the inverter.

But I'll look at my configuration with each new major trip and consider changes. The cost of a diesel genset ($, weight, space) buys a lot of battery and solar. I will only consider that option if I expect to frequently need AC to sleep.

 

[IHDiesel73L]

Unless your doing true winter camping in the north your not going to need to worry about keeping batteries warm. I expect you wouldn't want to be doing true winter camping traveling on vegetable oil.
As far as a webasto, you could route radiator lines to keep parts like the veg. tank warm at night.

The veg tank is already heated with engine coolant (truck starts on diesel, switches to hot veg, and purges the lines with diesel on shutdown) so that's not an issue.

The smaller the diesel generator the more its going to cost. I have looked into getting one but for a small one for like an RV the cost is crazy. I am going to use a Honda EU series. They are gas, small, lightweight, fuel efficient, and the most important thing is they are super quiet. You can hardly hear them running when you are right next to them, put them in an enclosure and you won't even know they are running. I will be forced to carry a fuel can just for it because its on a diesel rig, a Honda will run a long time on five gallons of gas. I will make sure my diesel cans and gas can are clearly marked, other than that it shouldn't be a problem.

Good suggestion-I've been looking at the Hondas a lot.

 

[dwh]

You can hardly hear them running when you are right next to them, put them in an enclosure and you won't even know they are running.

Putting them in an enclosure is dicey because they are a 100c air-cooled engine and they get pretty hot. You need a lot of free air to allow them to cool.

I have a Honeywell HW2000i and a box on the back of my camper. I made the box so the top can open up and the front drop down to keep it cool.

It's quiet and you don't really hear it unless you are right next to it, but since it's sitting on a shelf on the rear of the truck you can FEEL it. Mine has a 125cc engine, and though it's quiet, it certainly vibrates the truck.