Yard Lights, Maybe??

[mark777]

Hi everybody,

Well my intentions were to go out this weekend and find an "N" or something similar in that tractor era. I got all that paint and wanted to buy a tractor (cheap) so I could paint something.....

Look what followed me home! Some new yard lights.

[mark777]

...forgot to mention that the lights were purely incidental, it was the two cylinder Onan diesel 6KW generator that really got me hooked. After all the time with no power during the hurricane season, I want to be ready for the next one.

Anybody familiar with the Onan diesels? I purrs like a....well, tank, because the muffler is about 6" total in length. It does have 3090 hours, but a military service history about 1" thick, indicates more than routine maintenance. Seems like they only change oil on days that end in 'Y' :).

It's equipped with a 120V, belt driven compressor with dryer and water trap that operates the telescopic boom pole and auxiliary air, two 220 V 20 amp twist lock outlets, four 120V 20 amp outlets, four 1000W ballast boxes, 25 gallon diesel fuel tank... and a bunch of other stuff that I haven't quite figured out.

Stuck a battery in it and it fired right up. And it was CHEAP!

Regards, Mark

(BTW: I still don't have anything to paint)

[Greg]

That thing looks like brand new! Congrats. Err... how much is "Cheap?, if I can ask...

Good going, Mark.

Uncle Greg

[Mickey]

Nice find Mark. Got any idea who made the engine? I bet it's a 4 pole genie and only needs to run at 1800 rpm.

At 6kW it should be able to handle most of your needs if Heating is not a reguirement.

[mark777]

Greg,

$440. So far....$400. for the unit and 40 for a battery. I actually bought it from the guy that attended the auction. He wanted the 7.5KW and bid on the wrong one, so he went back and got it. When he told me how many there were and didn't need the 6KW, I bought his. Honest guy, tested it at the auction and wouldn't take a nickel more than what he paid.

Mickey,

Yeah...the I.D. tag says 1800 RPM. I don't know who makes the engine but it says OnanGenSet - McGraw Edison on the top of the fan shroud. That's all I could find (so far). It has mechanical heat shutters that open thermally, when I opened it I still couldn't determine what make it is. But I am tickled with the price.

We lost all of our perishables in the frige and freezer...probably more than what I paid for the unit.

[Greg]

Mark...that's a steal! Just don't fire up the lights at night and loose the excuse..."it's too dark out to do that!" ROF ROF.

How many sets were there? Sizes? Any that didn't sell? Was it a govt. surplus auction, or just a regular one?

Any plans for using the lights? Jobs that can use a truly portable pulled to the work site?

Anyway, congrats. That's quite a tool.

Here's a link that might be of interest: http://www.perr.com/onan.html

Uncle Greg

[mark777]

Greg, I absolutely have no use for the lights and they're bright as heck. The one picture is where I just tested them (this am about 11:00) and shut them down before they were fully excited (is that the term?). Pops, (my stepfather) said they're metal halide, I thought they were mercury vapor.

Sean said there were 11 left over yesterday. This was the smallest and the bigest was a two axle, 4 cylinder diesel rated at 15 KW that that sold for a Grand. There must have been 3-4 each of various sizes in between.

Cool link and thanks. So did McGraw Edison make the engines or just the juice parts? Sorry, I have no idea on the two cylinder diesel.

[Carl]

If these guys are maintained like my army buddy took care of his 15 kw generators it will purr like a kitten for years!

That should take care of your electricity needs when you loose your power. What a great find!

[drbailey]

Mark 777 , thats a great deal , I have thought one of them would be good in my busseness . for them late night wrecks, down in the hollars.
congrats , you hit a home run on that on !! :congrats:

[mark777]

Thanks gentleman,

I thought it was a pretty good deal for my needs but wasn't sure. I'am feeling much better about the whole deal after hearing from MTF members. Even if you don't need the lights, still hellava genny!

[Keweenaw4310]

When I first saw the thread title, I didn't know you were talking about portable generator lighting. I know those units go for thousands of dollars new. As for an older Onan, we have one at work on our generator and it runs great.

I thought you were just talking about lighting up your yard. This thing has all kinds of uses. I'd love to have something like that to work on projects on my property this time of year.

[Michael]

Thats a portable light generator that the Air Force uses on the flight line to provide lighting around aircraft. Its been over 20 years since I last worked on them but it should be great for your use. The thing should have a spark arrester on the muffler, if it does I would consider removal of it, then just extending the tailpipe, the spark arrester will make it use more fuel. A lot of the time the Air Force removes the spark arrester as they are very expensive and they transfer the arrester to another unit.

[mark777]

Michael, Yep...seen lots of these on the flight line.

No spark arrester that I can see. Just the header pipe straight through to the coffee can size muffler and rain cap. And it is LOUD.

Do you think if I ran a larger horizontal muffler that dumps out the back, it would be any more fuel efficient? I know the military's concerns were never about fuel consumption.

Mark

[Mickey]

Mickey,

Yeah...the I.D. tag says 1800 RPM. I don't know who makes the engine but it says OnanGenSet - McGraw Edison on the top of the fan shroud. That's all I could find (so far). It has mechanical heat shutters that open thermally, when I opened it I still couldn't determine what make it is. But I am tickled with the price.

We lost all of our perishables in the frige and freezer...probably more than what I paid for the unit.
I think Cummins bought Onan in the early 90's. My Onan genset in the MH is an 89 and it showed It was from the time McGraw Edison owned the Co. Onan made their own gas engines but I don't know about the diesels. I think I know someone that could tell me. I'll let you know if I find out as the info could be useful some day.

We've been fortunate about power outages and have only had one or two that was longer than a couple hrs in the 30 yrs we've been here.

I have been giving thought to buying a HD generator head, building a frame and drive it off the tractor. Not real high on my list of things to do but would come in handy at times.

[mark777]

Thanks Mickey,

It would be nice to know. Even the maintenance history doesn't include any information about what make/model the engine is...more about outriggers, boom pole, compressor and engine operation.

[Mickey]

Mark,
Posted a Q to the fellow that in an Onan tech about your find. Here is what he replied. Let me know if I can be of further help.

" If it is an air-cooled engine, it's probably a militarized version of
either a DJC or DJE genset - the engines for these were -made- by Onan.
While I can come up with the Onan filter numbers for these sets, I have no
way of telling what might have been changed in the 'militarization'
process - and in any case, versions of these sets were made for a wide
variety of applications from the early 60's to the mid 90's, so some changes
took place from time to time. McGraw-Edison implies manufacture in the 70's
or 80's, but I might be able to pin it down better with info from the ID
tag. If you can confirm that they -are- aircooled, I can send you PDF files
of the part manuals that may help to identify what he has."

[mark777]

Again Mickey, thanks.

The numbers I have from the generator body ID tag indicate (barely legible) 6 00JE-3C1/24365/E. I have another slight problem...Starter quit. Drags fiercely when removed from the engine, will find a rebuilder today. Still very pleased with the buy.

Definitely air cooled two cylinder...

Mark

[Michael]

Mark,
Posted a Q to the fellow that in an Onan tech about your find. Here is what he replied. Let me know if I can be of further help.

" If it is an air-cooled engine, it's probably a militarized version of
either a DJC or DJE genset - the engines for these were -made- by Onan.
While I can come up with the Onan filter numbers for these sets, I have no
way of telling what might have been changed in the 'militarization'
process - and in any case, versions of these sets were made for a wide
variety of applications from the early 60's to the mid 90's, so some changes
took place from time to time. McGraw-Edison implies manufacture in the 70's
or 80's, but I might be able to pin it down better with info from the ID
tag. If you can confirm that they -are- aircooled, I can send you PDF files
of the part manuals that may help to identify what he has."

Generally speaking to make it a military version they just painted it and most times just put on a spark arrester but sometimes it did not have the spark arrester. On the starter since you have it pulled You might try NAPA alot of times they have a starter that will work and if they don't they can recommend a good place to rebuild it.

[Mickey]

Mark,

Just received a pdf file for the manual for your genset. File is 3.6M, if you would like me to forword it to you, just give me the word.

[mark777]

Mark,

Just received a pdf file for the manual for your genset. File is 3.6M, if you would like me to forword it to you, just give me the word.


Mickey,

That would be great, what do you need, E-mail address or anything?

Mark

[Mickey]

E-mail address would be great. Use PM if you wish.

Manual is total of 63 pages.

[mbkerk]

What a deal! It would be great for field work at night...!

Looks like an air compressor in there too? I suppose the light pole is pneumatic?

That's sure a keeper!

[mark777]

E-mail address would be great. Use PM if you wish.

Manual is total of 63 pages.

Mickey,

Received the 63 page parts index...A detailed fountain of information, and thrilled to death. Nothing equates to a military version of manuals as they cover every aspect in text and diagram. Again, many thanks to you and your connection!

Mark

[mark777]

What a deal! It would be great for field work at night...!

Looks like an air compressor in there too? I suppose the light pole is pneumatic?

That's sure a keeper!

mbkerk,

Yes, it was a heck of a deal. Friend told me some guy's were bidding so low just to get the units for salvage on the copper generator fields, aluminum boom, and scrap steel on the rest.

The telescoping pole is pneumatic and the little compressor operates it all. It even has an auxiliary fitting for (??) air tools maybe, or blow up tires? 60 lbs @ the gauge, which is plenty to lift the boom maximum height in about 30 seconds. Air valve locks it into position and the compressor can be shut off. To collapse the boom, you simply (slightly) open the valve and bleed the air off.

My only snag so far is the starter is shot. A rebuilder stated that the solenoid is bad and the armature is only slightly worn. Wrong, new solenoid, same problem...starter drags. BUT, with the file Mickey sent me, I've discovered two thrust washers missing in the exploded view from parts manual. It may be that simple.

Regards, Mark

[Mickey]

Glad to hear you've made use of the manual all ready.

From my glance of the manual it looks like tha air filter could be the same as the one used on the Yanmars. Nice when you have multiple vehicles that share some of the same consumables. Cuts dn on home inventory.