DRASH units Generators. Any Info?

[CARNAC]

I'll most likely swing by GA on my way to Aberdeen to pick mine up and assuming I do, I'll have it for sale at Aberdeen.

NOTE: Batteries not included, meaning there won't be batteries in it.

Other than that, I have no pics, I don't have a clue about condition, operation, etc, etc, etc.

 

[storeman]

From your junk yard to mine!!

 

[capnkirk]

Well, a little late but here goes anyway. I haven't done many conversions to mine yet. Still 3 phase but the changeover shouldn't be too bad. The set runs great. It's an Isuzu 4LE1. The 8 ton HVAC unit is a scrap job on mine. The army guys let the refrigerant out the old fashioned way and it takes R22 so it's not really worth the investment to fix. Scrapping the copper and aluminum will probably pay for the whole thing! Trailer pulls great even without the brake. Removed the lunette ring and replaced with bulldog coupler (2 bolts-sits in an adjustable channel). The hydraulic surge brake cylinder was rusted out on mine. Replacement is $150 ish but I don't have any issues stopping trailer so I'm passing on replacing that for now.

If you can pick one of these up, get it. They are top notch and less money than a generac standby 20kw. I'll be hooking up an auto start controller this spring or summer and will post details here.

 

[johndoe007]

I am excited to hear what you do to yours. I have a 36KW with a totally trashed ECU. Would you sell yours for spare parts? I know after taking to a few guys three phase is a bear. Thanks for documenting your research,

P

 

[capnkirk]

Three phase is easy! What kind of parts do you need? Mine doesn't really have an ECU. It's all analog gauges and discrete parts for voltage and freq regulators.

If you have electronics and they're trashed, you should check out Deep Sea Electronics or FW Murphy. They have a bunch of different controllers. Basically, in addition to the controller, you'll need a working voltage regulator and a working governor. Marathon makes several somewhat universal governors that control the engine either by a throttle control or an electronic connection to the engine. If you don't have the manual for your gen, you can usually call DRASH. The guy I talked to was helpful and emailed me a manual for mine.

 

[johndoe007]

Sorry to be so ignorant, I have a DRASH 36 KW Izuzu engine powered genset which is amazing and smooth. I am actually working with the manufacturer on the ECU but was looking for spare parts if you had any. Especially the vibration isolators. I have one of the old DRASH power hubs and a connecting cable thanks to a member here.

What I am looking to do is due to ridiculous building codes is keep this thing as my baby on wheels inside but be able to tie into twin split phase 120 / 240 panels for residential.

 

[capnkirk]

I am going to at mine up as 3/1 phase switchable (not recommended for beginners!). It's not too big of a deal to wire a 12 lead generator for single (split) 120/240. There's probably a diagram under the cover of the generator end j-box.

If all you need is single phase, rewire gen head for single phase 120/240 and bolt a 150A breaker/disconnect to the side. Get a length of 2-2-2-4 SO cord and wire to your transfer switch. You can use a deep sea or Murphy controller for your voltage/current/freq meters. Chuck all the original meters and stuff in the junk box.

 

[CARNAC]

Good luck. I searched and even knew some DRASH and BASE-X reps but could never get them to cough one up. Finally got a set on CD from a guy that had been a gen repair specialist. Not sure what I did with it but it's around here somewhere. Besides, I was going to buy another system but now that everyone just found out about them, I'm gonna have to sell the manuals for $5K to afford another one. Oh well, so much for it being a well kept secret.

I belatedly checked my cd's-----they're blank. F! Good thing I got the disc for free.

 

[capnkirk]

Drash has a lot of manuals on their site.

 

[bonds]

Has anyone scrapped one of these units recently? What did it scrap for? I have one with a Perkins in it, the pushrods are bent so if the new ones dont do the trick then i am scraping. If anyone needs parts please let me know. I can post pics if anyone is interested. Thanks

 

[capnkirk]

Keep me in the loop. I'm in Oklahoma. Where are you located? May be interested.

 

[bonds]

In SC

 

[Mr.Fixit]

I just bought one. We will see. I am going to use a Deep Sea controller to set it up for auto start. Also planning on setting it up to be switchable between single and 3 phase. Will post info when I get it done.

So did the auto start project on the DRASH generator get completed? Just purchased one myself and will be connecting to an auto throwover. I'll be doing some research to see what I will need to do to connect to my Onan throwover. I was just curious what your plan and results were.