M 1031 generator conversion to stand alone?

[Skinny]

I did some mods to my governor system...involved a lot of maintenance, switch cleaning/adjusting, and some better wiring with a blade fuse. I would eventually like to do the digital controller from B4thundr.

I had mine on a scope once when I rewired it to 120/240 just to make sure I did it right. The pattern didn't look "dirty" at all. I think if you are running sensitive equipment you should be going through a battery back up incase the generator/truck decides to shut down by chance, and also a filter that would keep it perfect at 120v 60Hz without any noise. I wouldn't think twice to hooking it to a house as backup.

 

[cucvrus]

Well that was another point. The 6.2 roaring outside a house at night with a power outage was not very practical or efficient. And the price to update the existing unit was not cost effective or efficient. That is why the power company sub contractors bought and installed the Yamaha diesel generator in back of the 2 units they bought from me. They were always hearing complaints about the 6.2 roaring every time they were running a drill or lights. I think they work great in the field for what they were intended for but I don't think I would want one as a back up generator. My opinion. They would be a bit costly to run and loud compared to a Honda or Yamaha of the same size. I have a Honda very dependable, quiet and efficient. And very portable like a wheel barrow. How long do you think an M1031 will run hooked to a house or shop on 1 full tank of diesel fuel? Say in dead cold winter.

 

[Skinny]

Not sure but I would never run one as a house backup for extended periods of time. Just too darn noisy.

I have a 2000 watt Honda inverter which whispers and sips fuel. It runs lights, fridge, TV, oil furnace, etc. just fine without strain for hours on end. I don't even hear it run outside. I also had a 5000 watt Honda for when I needed to run 240v appliances like the well pump. I'd fire that up when I needed to take a shower. I would say use the CUCV for that scenario only. Doesn't make sense running an M1031 for small appliances.

If not, I would consider getting some type of battery/inverter system so you can run without a genset and only use the CUCV to charge for short bursts.

 

[cucvrus]

That sounds great. I was afraid to ask because I thought you would be offended. I did the M1031 during a winter power outage a few years ago. I ran thru a tank of fuel in about 6 hours and I fell asleep in the house and when I woke up the house was cold and the truck was out of fuel and the batteries were dead from the key being left on. I ran it about 150ft away. The neighbors loved me. NOT. I did give one neighbor electric and he gave me $50. Never again. What a PITA to get the truck restarted and the batteries charged. Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

 

[dependable]

I'd say the 1031 running the generator is not that loud. An air cooled MEP without ASK is louder. But the fuel consumption of the 6.2 would rule it out for extended home back up for me. The 002 and 802, 003 and 803 for that matter, are much less thirsty.

The 1031 is great because it is mobile power using the truck you are driving. If you were carrying a generator and motor for it that size, it would take up most of your truck(light truck, anyway). Plenty of good power for welding, a bunch of outlets. Those inverters are handy and portable if you are running a drill or something, but 12KW is a pretty respectable current.

Back to the intention of the OP, using a 1031 body as a generator or welding shed would make most sense if you found an efficent and simple way to spin it. If it were me, I'd keep it mobile.

 

[Skinny]

I think an M1101 (or M101A3?) with the M1031 bed or even just the enclosed HMMWV trailer top with the PTO genset would be total BA. Could run the PTO shaft to the back bumper with a jackshaft into the trailer. Probably more cool factor than anything but who cares...I like different.

I would never run my M1031 as a dedicated generator unless it was as a mobile power unit for utility like welding, trailside repair, etc. I think 99% of the time you can get away with solar, battery backup, and supplemental tiny generator in a house when the power goes out. Unless you have reverse cycle climate control or electric heat, no reason to need an M1031 as primary power source. I purposely ran an oil furnace, circulators, fridge, half my house lights, and tv...Honda AU2000i laughed at it. That thing would run almost 72 hours on ECO with normal power consumption using my 5 gallon marine tank hook up. That setup is tit, never needed to wheel the M1031 out. I do like having the horsepower in case I needed to do some roadside welding but never needed it. One guy really can't lift a 5000 watt genset into a truck. I like to just carry my 12000 watt generator with me at all times

One thing I did since I'm not running anything industrial is rewire the M1031 for 120/240. The 208v 3 phase served me no purpose.

 

[bimota]

A couple options - run a belt and calculate the timing of the gears but that means running a belt off the output shaft or flywheel of the engine and then mounting securely the generator - other option would be a universal joint but not sure that at 1800 rpm what type of universal joint would be appropriate. Either way you'll want good guards and a well designs steel pallet to secure things. If you have a governed engine then you only need a voltage regulator, I think the generator is self excited - would want to check on that.

 

[Keith_J]

I don't think Miller Dynasty Welders could get any more modern, all of them will run on 208 three phase easily, and to their maximum output. Sure, the documentation lists 240 three phase as well as 480 volt but they also run fine on 120 volt single phase, if you have enough current, with somewhat less output due to power cord limitation.

I run my Dynasty 200 DX all the time on 208 three phase, both off the 1031 generator and a MEP 002A. Only when running SMAW does it put any load on the generator. I barely hear the strain when running GTAW.

 

[b4thundr]

Those are good points but, my thoughts are you already own the trk, it has a long run time on 20 gallons of fuel, you already maintain the unit, diesel fuel stores better than gas. I told pops all that and the fact that you don't have to store fuel for a standalone unit. You won't have to get fuel for it (cans) change the oil in , exersise it worry about water in the fuel, store it in the off season, he said ok let's do it! LOL there are a lot of pros to using the trk to power your house.

 

[Keith_J]

About the only con of the Lima MAC as installed is the 208 volt 3 phase low wye stock connection. But under the NEMA junction box are the 12 leads and all it takes is a little know how, some #4 SOOW wire and a double pole breaker to convert it to low zig zag for 120/240 single phase split. A frequency meter is also a good thing to have.

 

[Csm Davis]

Okay so how much does the stock pto 12 kw generator complete set up weigh? My truck didn't come with any of the genset equipment.

 

[jesusgatos]

Have a complete M1031 genset that came out of a low-miles/hours truck, and have been thinking about adapting it to power a mobile workshop that I put together using an M447 box that will be set on top of an M989A1 ammo trailer. Currently using a pair of M002's, and one is set up to supply single-phase power for the majority of the shop tools, lathe, welder, plasma, etc. The second genset is really only there to supply three-phase power for a rotary-screw air compressor, which I need to be able to use at the same time as the plasma and other tools that run on single-phase power. Read about converting to 12/240, and was told that the M1031 puts out usable single and three-phase power at the same time, is that correct? If not, using the M1031 genset would allow me to ditch the only three-phase powered piece of equipment onboard and run an air compressor directly off the engine, which I can't figure out how to do with the MEP's. Regarding engines, have a Kubota V2203 engine out of a reefer trailer that seems like it would be just about perfect to match-up to that M1031 genset. It's already set-up to run at the correct speed, and would buy one of b4thundr's electromagical boxes to control it. This sound like a good plan?