VW Gen-Set Project

I have not done it,but I think all you need is a governor setup from a diesel gen. or welder.

Thanx - GA - That's the way I was leaning towards, but have never done it before, so an electro -mechanical adventure is for sure to be ensued if I decide to go ahead with it.

I've also heard of a solid state way of governing with a speed pickup putting a signal to an actuator to run the injector pump throttle.

That's the way all aeronautical reaction engines are controlled in this days. I think it would be easy to do with a speed pickup from monopole type, a frequency reader with controller for proportional pickup, and an actuator from some kind to act over your injector. I think the most expensive of all is the frequency reader. The rest can be purchased in really afordable prices in the internet.

Great idea. Keep in mind the VW 1.6-D was about 53 horsepower normally aspirated at about 4,000 RPM (~40kW) so your power at 1,800 RPM will be considerably less. I figure you should be able to get between 10-20kW without too much trouble. I have considered the same thing for a vacation home that's too far from the grid. I would also use the waste heat for domestic hot water and space heating when needed. For safety reasons, you want to be sure to use code approved double walled heat exchangers if you want to use the engine coolant to heat your domestic hot water. I would be curious to know where you get the four-pole generator and the couplings. Keep us appraised of your project if you decide to proceed.

Cheers !!

Does it have cruise control?

Seems like that would get you at least part way there on regulation?

Once you got it set up as long as there was battery power, resume would get you back there.

No cruise control on the original car but your's is not a bad option to considered - thanx

Keep us "posted" on what ever option you choose [including none of the above]

Great idea. The VW diesels have a fairly flat torque-speed curve. To get better regulation than can be achieved with a motor governor have you considered adding a large VSD on the end of the circuit.

The motor-alternator would provide poorly regulated AC as a feed for the VSD and the VSD electronics would set the output frequency and voltage.

It sounds a bit expensive, but it's using off the shelf technology so it'll be working quickly and reliably.

An added advantage is that the VSD has smarter input/output, over current/over voltage protection.

Really good app! Thank you - I never considered it before, but it makes perfect sense! It would be a near perfect regulation package, which would smooth out the surges & dips - I could even have 3 Phase power in my workshop - Thanx again - Loupy.

Great read and valuble information. 8-)

Thanks for sharing the article.

Maximo

Thank you, Ian. As a matter of fact, I browsed this article a few years ago, but lost the link. Thanks for finding it again for me. Thanks again to all! - Loupy