1951 PE-95K Gen Set, Canadian Version - Refurb

[Peter Phillips]

I got this fairly complete gen set when I bought a M38Cdn Jeep off a guy in Calgary, Alberta. He bought it at a cost of $500.00 for the replacement Willy's engine if he ever needed one. I've seen a video of it running for a few seconds and it sounded good. The unit has 3572 hrs on the clock and has a rebuild tag on the block from 1969. I started it the other day on a temporary fuel tank but only for a few seconds as the water pump leaks way too much to risk anything. I did find out it wouldn't stop with the toggle switch so I had to choke it out; probably the toggle itself is bad or the stop relay? My big question is; does it run well for the long haul, govern under load and produce AC/DC power? My plans.......IDK? I've ordered a water pump and removed it from the start cart it was on. It has the original muffler which was cut off to convert to one that worked while on the cart. I found out the fuel tank drain cock was cracked and subsequently broke off in the fitting. I removed the tank and got that out OK. Now I've started to remove everything I can in prep for paint once I confirm it runs and produces power. As I believe it's fairly complete, all I can see it needing thus far is a 12V fuel gauge, one side panel and a spring loaded latch. It has had some damage to one idler pulley and the cooling fan has been welded at some point. It looks as if an exhaust stud is broken off and the governor engine bracket it a bit off kilter too. I'll deal with all those as I move along.

 

[Chainbreaker]

For a 66 year old piece of equipment that looks like it is in pretty darn good shape! The cart its on looks waaay cool!!! Nice score!

 

[NDT]

PE95 sets are great running quiet efficient power plants, perfect for single phase 120/240 feeds to houses. Easy to convert to natural gas. My only worry with running one continuous duty is the armature sealed bearing with 60 year old grease in it!

 

[Peter Phillips]

I'm going to modify that old turbine cart to be a standard flat bed; it's been hacked apart already so it won't matter. Fortunately, (thanks, I didn't know about the sealed bearing!), I don't plan on using this as a true auxiliary power source. It's another conversation piece in the shop that I'm going to tinker on and learn how to paint on before I tackle my jeep. I'll keep this thread going as I continue on.

 

[m715]

I think that turbine cart looks real cool. I have never seen one like that. I ran the same type of generator in a outbuilding for years, they are quiet runners.

 

[Peter Phillips]

Update

I've tore this down about as far as I'm going to for now. Just about ready to paint the motor and still waiting on the water pump to arrive. I'm also trying to source out a new governor mount bracket and a idler pulley assembly. The ones on there work but I'd rather it be serviceable as much as possible. I got the broken off exhaust stud out with no issues and am in the process of refitting the cut off exhaust back on. I found the remnants of the Canadian Forces Registration number under a bunch of preservation grease on the top tool tray (?) but it's worn off so much it might never be deciphered. I also have to wonder who did the bubba retrofit to the oil drain?

 

[ReoRider]

Had to run the generator the other day and remembered this recent thread on the PE95. This is mine with the Jeep engine, late model with shielded/waterproof ignition. The engines have low compression heads and slightly smaller carb throats than the regular Jeep, and loaf along at 1800 rpm to get the 60 cycle needed. The 30 or so hp available is more than adequate to supply the nominal 10kw output.



They are quite reliable and quiet and only have the common problem of refueling when there is a power outage, as it will always seem to include the local gas station as well. While storing quantities of diesel is certainly easier than storing the diluted gas of today the real answer for home generation is propane/natural gas. No fuel to handle or to go bad. A few years ago I converted my PE95 to propane and have not looked back.

The propane adapter sits directly on top of the carburetor, and the air cleaner hose then supplies the adapter. An added feature is the upper cylinder oiler, with a siphon feed directly into the intake manifold. I'm told that the propane is not as much of an an upper cylinder lubricant as the gasoline and hence the feed of Marvel Mystery Oil; a few ounces over each 24 hour run. The shut off valve and pressure regulator complete the install and you're good to go. Starts easily, runs smooth and clean. Shortly after the conversion had a 3 day outage with well below zero each night. The rig ran continuously, holding solid temperature and pressure readings the whole time. The units are governed well and load is quickly picked up or dropped off with steady frequency and voltage output.

For home use the PE95 is still quite viable, easy to convert, and doesn't require a nursemaid when running.

 

[Peter Phillips]

Interesting Reo! I haven't really though about this rig as an auxiliary power source but it might just happen. And the propane conversion looks simple. Our grid is 99.8% good but...........?

 

[ReoRider]

We seem to get about 3 or so outages each year, the winter ones are the real concern. Last year was a 3AM one with a temperature of -24F. The cold split a major pole that then took out power to 4 towns. The line crew had 12 hours work, all below 0, to get back on line. Not many tougher jobs around. I've added a power outage alarm since then, as a good hour went by with associated freeze-ups before knowing about the outage. Anyhow, the PE95 fired up in the cold shop and did its job. Again the propane keeps you from having to handle cold fuel on top of other things to watch at those temperatures.

 

[Peter Phillips]

Does your unit still have all the original stickers on it? Mine has all these yellow on black stickers showing component numbers and the regular stuff like oil drain, water drain etc. One of the stickers on the oil bath heat stove system is rubbed a bit and I am wondering what it said? It's the one about the cold ambient temperature.

 

[marchplumber]

This is a KEWL thread! Really neat to see that the "engineers" of bygone days were on the right track! Amazing how some of this "older stuff" will out perform and out live it's present day counter parts! I use a simple 22KW propane fired gen here for outages, it's automatically tied into the house system. BUT, a unit like that would be a treasure to find! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Peter Phillips]

​Got quite a bit done, drilled out a broken exhaust stud and re-tapped, welded and refitted the original exhaust back on, soldered up a cracked dipstick cap, welded and re-aligned the governor bracket and put the rebuilt waterpump on. The rest was mostly cleaning, prepping and painting. I'm just going to detail inside the electrical panel as it's pretty clean in there already. There's still a lot of parts to deal with yet but with any luck it'll be running by next weekend with hopefully no surprises. I thought I had a new idler puller assembly and governor bracket from a parts rig in Minnesota but they turned out to be different machines; I'll just have to run with what I got.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Nice job with the restoration! Looking quite good so far. Can't wait to see a video once you get it running and making power!

 

[ReoRider]

Looking good, there should be enough of these units around to replace your few tired parts. Amazing what a lot of TLC and paint can do! Attached is a picture of the decal for the air cleaner settings, that you mentioned, along with a shot of some of the other decals. I picked up this unit with 3 hours on it, back in the day, and it has run fine.


The exhaust comes out the engine front end, added a SS flex pipe and then a tall pipe up and out, with a rain flapper on the end. No inside exhaust noise or fumes. The forward blowing fan looks at a removable cover with a louver vent behind it, leading to the outside, to extract the engine heat.


I found most of the parts to a winterization kit for the PE95, including a regular Jeep flywheel starter, battery warming trays, and a gas heater. Only put on the starter so far, as sitting inside the bottom temperature is about freezing if the shop is not in use.

 

[marchplumber]

Got quite a bit done, drilled out a broken exhaust stud and re-tapped, welded and refitted the original exhaust back on, soldered up a cracked dipstick cap, welded and re-aligned the governor bracket and put the rebuilt waterpump on. The rest was mostly cleaning, prepping and painting. I'm just going to detail inside the electrical panel as it's pretty clean in there already. There's still a lot of parts to deal with yet but with any luck it'll be running by next weekend with hopefully no surprises. I thought I had a new idler puller assembly and governor bracket from a parts rig in Minnesota but they turned out to be different machines; I'll just have to run with what I got.

Thanks for the post, but could I ask you to change your color of your font? Hard to read against the background. Pics look good though!! Again, thank you for sharing. Like the grey

 

[Peter Phillips]

I would Tony but I don't know how; it just kind of came out that way? I went back to the "Edit Post" button and switched to white but it didn't take? Any ideas?

 

[Peter Phillips]

Thanks for the decal shots reo! I see I'm missing a few now. Sorry to bother you but what does the one by the exhaust say?

 

[ReoRider]

Here you go- pix of exhaust and top of radiator decals.

Big storm and wind here but very dry snow, so no power outages yet.....

 

[marchplumber]

I'm computer incapable....Sorry. =(

 

[plym49]

Late to the party it seems.

I have a 1944 PE-95 - US version - no cart. I use it regularly when the power is out. I cut the head .040 and that significantly reduced fuel consumption. I was advised that I could have cut it as much as .080. There was .125 above the valves at full lift, stock, so there is plenty of room.

Fuel consumption was 2 GPH at full load before, and is at 1.3 GPH after. So it paid off.