| Author |
Message |
John G Root Jr (Johnroot) (66.82.9.28)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 12:31 am: | |
I have got the generator installed in the old airconditioner fan compartment (drivers side of the fuel tank) It is the air cooled Onan 6500 propane generator. The compartment is sealed with a 3" plywood insulation sandwich with foil covered EHP on the surface. The intake and exhaust air is baffelled coming in and out and the exhaust goes through the bus and out the roof. It is as quiet as a roof air conditioner, maybe even quieter. HOWEVER, because the compartment it is in is hardly bigger than the generator it gets hotter after it is turned off, because there is no fan to take away the residual heat. Four hours after turning off the generator I opened the compartment and it was still hot. When the generator has been running for a half hour or so the plywood behind the insulation is hot enough that after about 5 maybe 10 seconds you can't stand the heat and have to take your hand away. Does anyone know how hot is safe? At what temperature would it smolder and pose a fire hazard? I'm trying not to worry about how hot it gets but maybe I should do something?
Thanks guys!!
John G Root Jr
PD 4106 1638 |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 1:28 am: | |
Sounds to me like you might consider adding a cool=down fan in there. "too hot" is very much a judgement call... perhaps you should measure actual temperatures and report to us what you see.
What's happening is the latent heat stored in the genset has nowhere to go when it's turned off and it's fan quits spinning, and there's no way for convection to take that heat away due to the baffles you have. Depending on how hot it actually gets, it might be a hazard... if nothing else, the hotter wood gets the easier it is to ignite if an oops happens, so personally I wouldn't leave what you have as it is. My seat of the pants feeling is that if I can't hold my hand on wood, it's too hot...
Cheers
Gary |
jmaxwell (66.42.92.15)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 1:46 am: | |
I would agree w/Gary that if u can't keep your hand on wood, it is too hot. Add a small squirrel cage fan in the air discharge and for added convenience, put it on an air stat, such as a fan switch thermostat that you find on forced air furnaces. I would suggest just a pancake fan but they are all plastic and that kind of heat may melt it down. |
two dogs 40-110 (66.90.217.58)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 8:43 am: | |
the hotter wood gets, the dryer...the dryer it gets ,the easier to ignite,think about replaceing the wood,what do they call that cement board that goes behind ceramic tile,something like that.. |
two dogs (66.90.213.12)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 10:06 am: | |
excess heat(gen)+ combustable material(wood)+ oxygen (fan)
heat+fuel+air= get the weiners |
Scott Whitney (66.82.9.37)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 10:30 am: | |
They call that tile backer board "wonder board" but there are other names for it.
I did some searching on eBay and found an all-metal blower where the motor is isolated from the air flow. The motor has its own cooling fins. It is very quiet. You might find something like this that would work well. The one I found was designed for a fireplace blower. It is very quiet.
The bargains will be on eBay or with surplus industrial dealers. If you have to buy new from grainger.com or mcmaster-carr.com it will be muy espensivo.
Scott |
bobm (64.12.96.235)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 11:12 am: | |
I have a 12v blower & motor in an adjacent bay that blows fresh air through the generator compartment. I use a furnace filter to keep bugs and such out and use dryer vent hose to duct the air into the gen compartment, keeps it cool. |
William Guire (Will) (216.82.156.148)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 11:23 am: | |
I have the same generator that I am about to install. I plan to use a squirrel cage fan. How much air flow is good? Is 1400 cfm too much. How about horse power. 3/4 , 1/2 , 1/3 ? I am installing in the front cargo bay, drivers side, so I have a bit more room. I was planning on exausting the air with the fan and having a baffeled intake, maybe through the floor.
Thanks
William |
FAST FRED (67.75.111.29)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 3:44 pm: | |
A second hassle might be if the genset is using that hot air.
Propane is a bit weaker than gas , and if its eating 200deg air it will be weaker still.
Hot air is thin air , like on Rocky Top.
IF the compartment is reasonably cool while operating due to the huge cooling fan , and mostly gets hot after shutdown , I wouldn't worry.
FAST FRED |
Craig S (68.158.238.167)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 6:06 pm: | |
Dear John,
Sorry, I just had to do it. I have a 24 volt squirel fan if you want. Just pay shipping. Let me know.
Craig S.
P.S. Dave D. If you want the TV motor mechanism that raises up and down out of a table let me know. I'm leaving next thur to go up the east coast from FL to ME. I'll drop it off, no charge. |
Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (170.215.36.143)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 6:50 pm: | |
Craig S,
Can you tell me where the TV lift came from? I have been looking for one of these for sometime and no one I asked even had a clue where to start. Thanks.
Peter. |
Craig S (68.158.238.167)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 7:54 pm: | |
Hi Peter,
This particular one came out of a house on Palm Beach. I think there's a name/model number on it somewhere. I'll look when it stops rainning.
Craig S |
Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (170.215.36.143)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 8:12 pm: | |
Craig S,
If it doesn't have a new home, then maybe I can adopt it. Email me off board at madbrit@ctaz.com
Thanks.
Peter. |
Craig S (68.158.238.167)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 8:33 pm: | |
OK. It's 7 years old. The co is Auton Company, Box 1129, Sun Valley, CA 91353 (213)659-1718. Anyone wanting this unit, I can send pictures and will meet you at any exit on the interstate from FL to ME next week or ME to FL a couple of weeks after that. Same for the 24V blower. Just helping out the bus folks with my extras.
Craig S |
John G Root Jr (Johnroot) (66.82.9.37)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 9:23 pm: | |
I hope you don't mind if I come back to the topic of too much heat. I put a meat thermometer in through the hole the wires come out and it got up to 200 degrees with a full load (two air conditioners with the heat strip on)180 degrees with no load. I asked Onan how hot is too hot but the tech didn't know. He did say that they get hot, but if you could hold your hand on it for 10 seconds or so that was pretty normal. Fast Fred points out that the propane is working with thinner air so that is another reason to cool it down. I appreciate the idea of backer board instead of plywood and will probably do that. If I put a fan in the compartment I will also let out the noise! But maybe if it blows through the generator it can go out the hot air duct. I'll keep you posted and would appreciate any other ideas any one has.
John G Root Jr
PD4106 1368 |
DaveD (216.133.188.162)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 7:29 pm: | |
Craig,
Please e-mail me pictures to ddulmage@scc.ca.
Thanks
DaveD |