Load Bank?

[DieselBob]

Bob, Would happen to have a few photos of your load bank to share with us?

Here ya go. Nothing fancy and I know it has some "code" "osha" issues but it works fine for me and was cheap to make.

 

[bmwsyc]

I have a 002a, and I do what DieselBob does, but only one element. I have a short cord and the element in mounted on a brace that I can set on top of a filled 5 gallon bucket. Works great if supervised and was Cheap.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Load Bank

Ok, they say the only bad question is the one not asked, so with that, what do you need a load bank for. Couldn't you just hook it up to your house. I'm guessing it's bad to test your generator out on the house? I'm getting ready to do just that, so let me know before I burn down my house.

 

[derf]

Ok, they say the only bad question is the one not asked, so with that, what do you need a load bank for. Couldn't you just hook it up to your house. I'm guessing it's bad to test your generator out on the house? I'm getting ready to do just that, so let me know before I burn down my house.

With a good dummy load and good meters you can check your gens output and power capability.

You don't want to test you gen with your computer, fridge, flat screen TV, expensive central A/C, etc.

When electrical things go wrong they get damaged in a hurry. Circuit breakers generally protect your house from catching fire but surges, spikes, over-, and under-voltage situations can kill appliances and things before the breakers can stop the flow.

Military ratings are good, and generally conservative. Consumer crap makers like to embellish their numbers. For example, a 5HP 120V compressor would draw 56 Amps. The largest common 120V receptacle is 20 Amps. If you see a compressor that claims to be 5HP and is 120V then you know that someone is full of something. The same goes for generators. A 5500W China special may or may not handle a 5500W load. I like to tinker with all kinds of generators so being able to test them would be nice.


What kind of gen are you getting ready to hook to your house? Make sure it is hooked up properly and safely.

 

[Speddmon]

The load bank is so you can run your generator at full or nearly full rated load for a period of time to prevent wetstacking. You only need to do this about one time per year, depending on how much you use your generator during the year. Also, to perform some of the recommended tests and adjustments on some of the generators, you need to have the set running with a full load applied.

 

[derf]

Running with a load bank will not prevent wet stacking, will it? If you do run at full load for a while and then run a very light load for a long period it will still wet stack, right?

 

[Speddmon]

Running with a load is exactly what prevents wetstacking. The light load over an extended period of time is what creates that tar like substance (actually unburned fuel and carbon) that will clog exhausts and cause valves to stick open, and eventually burn. Wetstacking can do major damage to your diesel engine. But it is a cumulative affect, a good hard run every so often for an hour or more with a full load to get the engine up to a higher operating temperature will burn off any deposits left behind and keep things clean.

 

[steelandcanvas]

Circuit breakers generally protect your house from catching fire but surges, spikes, over-, and under-voltage situations can kill appliances and things before the breakers can stop the flow.

Circuit breakers are over current protection devices only. They will not "stop the flow" during surges, spikes, and over/under voltage conditions,

 

[scrapdaddy]

load bank

Thanks, that all makes sence. I've got two mep-003's on a trailer, not quite ready to run. The house wiring is done, inter lock panel all done by electrician. I also need a 4/4 so cable about 40 feet long to reach generator. Now it looks like I better build a load bank. I'll reread the posts and think about my next questions.

 

[derf]

Running with a load is exactly what prevents wetstacking. The light load over an extended period of time is what creates that tar like substance (actually unburned fuel and carbon) that will clog exhausts and cause valves to stick open, and eventually burn. Wetstacking can do major damage to your diesel engine. But it is a cumulative affect, a good hard run every so often for an hour or more with a full load to get the engine up to a higher operating temperature will burn off any deposits left behind and keep things clean.

I see what you're saying, now. Running at full load will help get rid of deposits caused by wet stacking. But, those deposits are still going to form if the gen is run with a light load. Eventually those deposits can cause trouble.

 

[derf]

Circuit breakers are over current protection devices only. They will not "stop the flow" during surges, spikes, and over/under voltage conditions,

Right.
If hey trip they can do so after the damage is done. They keep wiring from getting too hot and causing fires.
They also don't trip during under/over frequency conditions.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Load Bank

Don't mean to hijack, BUT, could I use my old 50 gal. hot water heater as a load bank? I beleive it has two 4500 watt heaters in it. I have two mep-003's and if I test them once, is that enough. I really don't want the old tank sitting around. The name Scrapdaddy came from my wife because of all the " stuff " I bring home. I'd have to hide it somewhere

 

[derf]

Don't mean to hijack, BUT, could I use my old 50 gal. hot water heater as a load bank? I beleive it has two 4500 watt heaters in it. I have two mep-003's and if I test them once, is that enough. I really don't want the old tank sitting around. The name Scrapdaddy came from my wife because of all the " stuff " I bring home. I'd have to hide it somewhere

No hijack that I can sense.

You can use a water heater to load test but I would be very careful. Make sure the tank has a good blow off valve. I've thought of maybe circulating fresh cold water in while letting excess drain out during such tests. Also, be aware that while testing you are going to have a lot of hot water on hand. If anything happens you may have to deal with all that hot water.

I think I'm going to use a salvaged oven and/or some salvaged heating elements from central heat units. They are all "air cooled".

If I were you I would trade in the old water heater for an old electric oven or two. With a little wiring you can rig both bake and broil elements to come on at the same time. Just be careful as most ovens weren't made to run both at the same time. But, with bake, broil, and 4 stove eyes you should have a decent load, no?

 

[scrapdaddy]

I'm just thinking of something I already have here and can trash when I'm done with it. How long of a test do you need to determine everything is good to go.

 

[derf]

A test can last anywhere from a few seconds to a year, I guess.
But, an hour or two should be sufficient and help alleviate deposits from previous wet stacking.

 

[Keith_J]

Even a leaking water heater will be fine. Just keep the tank full and without pressure. Boiling water absorbs heat just as well as cool water. You will have to reset thermostats if you don't maintain flow, you would need a 12 kW generator to heat 4 gallons per minute with a 50 F temperature rise.

IIRC, the common heater elements are 4500 W each. If you keep wiring stock, the elements are sequential based on the thermostat. If wired parallel, you have a 9 kW load.

As an alternative, you could wire three elements directly to each phase for a 12 kW load (at 208 volts, 240 volt elements should be fine). You will need a three pole switch.

 

[quickfarms]

How about using an electric clothes dryer?

Could you take the elements out of the dryer and cool them with a good old box fan.

Thinking about it You could connect two fans together and put the elemints in one and yous the other for cooling.

 

[supermechanic]

Liquid rheostat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
enjoy

 

[PeterD]

BTW, for an alternative load bank, places that surplus (industrial not military, but military places may also have some) electrical/electronic/industrial often have larger electric heaters. Recently I noticed a 15 KW, three phase (208 volt!) heater, with a built in blower. IIRC, they wanted about $250 for it (was almost new) and I should have made them an offer.

The water rheostat idea is interesting. Say three 55 gallon drums, one for each phase, with the drum on the neutral (and grounded, of course) and the center electrode being the phase? It would take a while to boil 150 gallons of water!

I kinda wish I could find an old water heater that had three elements instead of the usual two. With three, a load bank would be easy to do.

 

[lonesouth]

Old thread, but it came up in my google search. Looking to get a MEP-803a which I suspect will be lightly loaded for the majority of my needs, but I want the reserve for when I need it. I figure, after reading here, that it will develop some wet stacking and require occasional loading.

I'm planning on building a recirculating system using black iron pipe to house 3 water heater elements with pickup and exhaust going to my swimming pool. I'll feed it with my pool cleaner booster pump on the pressure side. I figure it will be great for a small, easily stored size, variable loading, and I'm not likely to cook off the elements with 20k gallons of water available.