Diesel Engine

[edsan]

We bought a new Motor Home with a Diesel engine in it. The question I have, we are at a park for the winter and I was wondering if I can run the engine for 15 minutes while parked, with the 50 amp power to it, slide outs out, and levelers down on it?

Ed

[ve7prt]

mchero wrote:

Hey Mike,
you might want to do some more research on your boat story.

I was on a 150 foot oceangoing tug to Singapore. We had some HUGE diesels!!! We had multiple storage tanks for the diesel fuel. We had a main tank called a "day tank".

When the day tank stared getting low the engineers would pump diesel from one of the many storage tanks into the day tank. Note that BEFORE the fuel was pumped into the main tank (day tank)the fuel was run through a device called a centrifuge. This centrifuge would separate and water\dirt\GROWTH before getting pumped into the day tank.


Can't be running through filters out in the middle of the ocean.

This was told to me by one of our station technicians. I don't know how the CCG ships are set up (again, not in my paygrade), but it could have been pre-centrifuge filters, or even the centrifuge itself. IT could also have been the ship service generators. I don't really know. All I know is, the captain of the vessel in question swore to never again take on fuel that had come from a mountain-top radio site.

But my point was/is, if you want to store any amount of diesel fuel for a long period of time, you should probably treat it with something to prevent algae growth and keep the moisture out. Older engines may not care a whole lot, but newer engines have such tight tolerances that any crud in the fuel will cause problems.

Cheers!
Mike

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Camper93 wrote:
No disrespect to the people on here that gave you advice, but I would check with the people that know your motor best. that being the dealer. Those motors are around $10000 should you have to replace them

no disrespect to you either -
but if you or the OP want a definitive answer - that has to be "right from the horse's mouth" - ask (a mfgr rep) on the tech line for the Engine Manufacturer!
Don't know of *any* (diesel) engine mfgr that doesn't have a tech line.

IMO - the majority of posters here know more than the majority of *dealers*..:S

~

[ol_Bombero-JC]

lanerd wrote:

sch911 wrote:

lanerd wrote:
You can run it that long, and it doesn't matter if you're plugged into shore power as your transfer switch will disconnect and make the engine's alternator primary.

Sorry but that's incorrect information. The transfer switch would only change over if the generator was started. The chassis alternator has nothing to do with the 120V AC system.

Not knowing what the OP was asking the question for, I assumed he was referring to charging the chassis batteries. So my answer stands. I didn't say anything about 120vac.

Ron

Actually Ron -
if you go back and read the OP's post.......he's really wondering if it's OK to leave his slides out and remain connected to the campground power - while he ran his (diesel) engine for 15 minutes.

Of course the easy (and correct) answer is, "No problem".

However, as other posters noted - if he's not going to put it to work, let it sleep!..:C

~

[mchero]

Running the generator under load warms up the windings so that any moisture will be dried out.

[WILDEBILL308]

edsan wrote:
First, thank you all for your thoughts.
I talked with Cummings, and they told me the following, so I thought I pass it on to all of you:
Cummins recommends cranking your engine and letting it run for up to ten minutes at least once a month. This will circulate all your fluids sufficiently. Letting your engine idle for more than ten minutes at a time is not recommended as it can cause twice the wear on internal parts compared to driving at regular highway speeds, which can increase maintenance costs and shorten the life of the engine.

Again, thank you, Ed

Yes did they also tell you not to leave it on low idle but to bump it up using the cruise control to about 1000 rpm. This helps minimize the build up of carbon in the combustion chambers. It will also improve oil pressure and reduce wear.
The most important thing to exercise is your generator it needs to be run for at least 1-2 hours each month at 1/2 -3/4 loads. This will greatly reduce problems with the generator set later.
Bill

[RVUSA]

edsan wrote:
First, thank you all for your thoughts.
I talked with Cummings, and they told me the following, so I thought I pass it on to all of you:
Cummins recommends cranking your engine and letting it run for up to ten minutes at least once a month. This will circulate all your fluids sufficiently. Letting your engine idle for more than ten minutes at a time is not recommended as it can cause twice the wear on internal parts compared to driving at regular highway speeds, which can increase maintenance costs and shorten the life of the engine.

Again, thank you, Ed

I like the cummins in my life as much as anyone, but thats just bad mojo. Dont just idle it for 10 minutes. Take it for a ride or at least "high idle" it. The oil pressure at idle can be abysmal and when the engine is cold it doesnt take a lot of effort to cold starve the cylinder walls of their nectar. If the cylinders dont get their oil...

[mchero]

ve7prt wrote:

jauguston wrote:
In this area and I am sure in others there are mountain top communication radio systems that have emergency diesel generators that activate if their normal power supply stops. I,in my working years as a crane operator setup several of them. They typically had 5000 gallon fuel tanks. I asked if it was a problem for the diesel fuel to set in the tanks for years without being used. No problem was the answer.

Not always. I work for the CCG as a radio operator and most of our sites have diesel gensets onsite. On our primary radar site both diesel units are stand-by as we have commercial power. That site also has 6000 gallons of storage capacity which gives us about 600 hours of genset runtime (yeah, they're thirsty buggers, but what do you expect out of 50 year old Detroit Diesel 6v71 Screamin' Jimmies?).

Anyway, one year it was decided to replace all the fuel in the tanks with fresh stuff. The old stuff was pumped out and transported to one of the ships. That ship went on patrol, and when it returned to the dock in Victoria, the Captain swore he would NEVER take on fuel from a remote site ever again! They went through their entire inventory of fuel filters, averaging a filter change every 10 hours. The engineers had to resort to cleaning the filters to reuse them!

Now, I don't know if the fuel in those tanks is ever treated as that's not in my paygrade, but I suspect it isn't.

SO, if you are going to let diesel fuel sit, you might want to treat it with something to prevent growth.

Cheers!
Mike

Hey Mike,
you might want to do some more research on your boat story.

I was on a 150 foot oceangoing tug to Singapore. We had some HUGE diesels!!! We had multiple storage tanks for the diesel fuel. We had a main tank called a "day tank".

When the day tank stared getting low the engineers would pump diesel from one of the many storage tanks into the day tank. Note that BEFORE the fuel was pumped into the main tank (day tank)the fuel was run through a device called a centrifuge. This centrifuge would separate and water\dirt\GROWTH before getting pumped into the day tank.


Can't be running through filters out in the middle of the ocean.



Now, back to the original post. The OP just needs a battery maintainer for his chassis battery.

[wolfe10]

64thunderbolt wrote:
I wasn't aware that shore power charges the chassis batt. Isn't that a seperate system?

Depends on the coach maker. Less than half of coaches charge their chassis battery from shore power.

[64thunderbolt]

I wasn't aware that shore power charges the chassis batt. Isn't that a seperate system?

[mpierce]

dakdave wrote:
It will be ok.A lot of construction and farm equipment sits longer than that in North Dakota
dave

+1

I have diesels here on my farm that will sit for 8-9 months at a time. Full fuel. I like to have fresh oil in them.

Much worse to just run 15 minutes, as they will form condensate, and not get hot enough to vaporize it out. If you MUST start it, get it on fast idle, 1100-1200 rpms, and let it run for AT LEAST an hour. 2-3 would not hurt. Just to be sure you get ALL fluids up to full operating temp for a while.

I had an older combine that we were using for parts. Cat 3208 engine. It sat for 5 years. Needed to move it. Charged up the batteries, used the fuel prime pump to prime it, and still needed a shot of ether to get it going. But, once it got fuel, ran like a champ!

[edsan]

First, thank you all for your thoughts.
I talked with Cummings, and they told me the following, so I thought I pass it on to all of you:
Cummins recommends cranking your engine and letting it run for up to ten minutes at least once a month. This will circulate all your fluids sufficiently. Letting your engine idle for more than ten minutes at a time is not recommended as it can cause twice the wear on internal parts compared to driving at regular highway speeds, which can increase maintenance costs and shorten the life of the engine.

Again, thank you, Ed

[ve7prt]

jauguston wrote:
In this area and I am sure in others there are mountain top communication radio systems that have emergency diesel generators that activate if their normal power supply stops. I,in my working years as a crane operator setup several of them. They typically had 5000 gallon fuel tanks. I asked if it was a problem for the diesel fuel to set in the tanks for years without being used. No problem was the answer.

Not always. I work for the CCG as a radio operator and most of our sites have diesel gensets onsite. On our primary radar site both diesel units are stand-by as we have commercial power. That site also has 6000 gallons of storage capacity which gives us about 600 hours of genset runtime (yeah, they're thirsty buggers, but what do you expect out of 50 year old Detroit Diesel 6v71 Screamin' Jimmies?).

Anyway, one year it was decided to replace all the fuel in the tanks with fresh stuff. The old stuff was pumped out and transported to one of the ships. That ship went on patrol, and when it returned to the dock in Victoria, the Captain swore he would NEVER take on fuel from a remote site ever again! They went through their entire inventory of fuel filters, averaging a filter change every 10 hours. The engineers had to resort to cleaning the filters to reuse them!

Now, I don't know if the fuel in those tanks is ever treated as that's not in my paygrade, but I suspect it isn't.

SO, if you are going to let diesel fuel sit, you might want to treat it with something to prevent growth.

Cheers!
Mike

[Canadian_Rainbi]

edsan wrote:
Thank you for all your answers to my question.
My fuel tank was full when we parked, but we will be here four months, not two or three, so it should be OK?

Ed

We are parked at the moment, and living in it as we do every year, we'll be here in hot and humid southern Mexico for a little over three months every year, once for four months. Never a problem.

I have asked two Cummins service reps and was told Don't start it unless you need to drive it somewhere. Then it should be for at least 20 miles.

[Huntindog]

lanerd wrote:

sch911 wrote:

lanerd wrote:
You can run it that long, and it doesn't matter if you're plugged into shore power as your transfer switch will disconnect and make the engine's alternator primary.

Sorry but that's incorrect information. The transfer switch would only change over if the generator was started. The chassis alternator has nothing to do with the 120V AC system.

Not knowing what the OP was asking the question for, I assumed he was referring to charging the chassis batteries. So my answer stands. I didn't say anything about 120vac.

Ron

Are you sure about that? I have never heard of a transfer switch for the 12 volt system... Theoretically, there is no reason it can't be done... But since there is really no benefit to such a installation... Why would the OP have such a system?