New Listeroid Veggie-Gen Arriving

DJ MacIntyre from Leboise.com donated an 6/1 listeroid diesel engine to us. Jim Juczak from Woodhenge and I will be traveling to Belleghuan to pick it up in a couple of weeks. We will be building a 3kw Axial Flux permanent magnet alternator for the engine, which will charge our battery bank. This engine will also heat our hot domestic water. Fuel usage will be approximately 1/4 gallon per hour of used fryer oil.

The Green Steam Engine

A friend of ours turned us on to a simple and easy to build steam engine. Called the Green Steam Engine, it's simple and novel design appealed to our DIY approach. We can burn veggie oil in a turk burner to produce the steam, or even boil water on a wood stove. The engine can then turn one of our axial flux permanent magnet alternators to charge our battery bank. Clean, quiet, and sustainable.

Retiring the VeggieGen, Version 1

Today we took steps towards the retirement of our Detroit Diesel VeggieGen. While looking for it's replacement, a Lister 6/1 (VeggieGen Version 2), we heard that our friends at the St. Lawrence Power & Equipment Museum were having the ribbon cutting ceremony at their new, and first, permanent home in Madrid, NY. The museum has ambitious plans for working farm villages spanning the 200 years of the north country. We have donated the Detroit to the museum as a working display piece, and the power source for their community.

Additional note:

Saturday, September 2, 2006 - Saturday and Sunday. 16th Annual Old Fashioned Harvest Days, by the St. Lawrence Power & Equipment Museum. At the Hutchinson Farm, Route 15 between Heuvelton and Rensselaer Falls, NY. Field harvesting demonstrations; antique gas and steam engines, tractors, trucks, and cars; sawmilling; flea market; Bluegrass music; super food. Saturday antique tractor games. Sunday tractor pull. Exhibitors welcome. Contact Roger Austin, 315-344-7470, email rsaustin123@earthlink.net or visit www.slpowermuseum.com.

Utterpower CD - Listeroid Engine Prep

We received the CD from George at Utterpower.com. This is an excellent reference for those who are looking to build a cogen (Heat & Electric) power source for the off-grid home. The lister type engines are designed for continuous duty for many years, and use a lot less fuel (used fryer oil, diesel, kerosene, used motor oil, etc.) than our Detroit.

Green-Trust and Lister CSOG JoinForces

The Lister CS Owners Group and the Green-Trust Lister group have joined forces. The combined group can be found at Lister_CSOG at Yahoo groups. We discuss Lister powered generators, cogen (CHP) applications, general engine maintenance issues, as well as biodiesel and used fryer oil fuel. The group description is as follows:

An Owners Group for Lister CS slow speed diesel engines, Startomatic generator sets and Indian built Listeroid engines.

This group is for all Lister CS and Listeroid enthusiasts in the UK and elsewhere.

It is aimed squarely at the enthusiast who wants to put these engines to work making power and useful heat.

Topics for Discussion.

• Obtaining new and second hand engines
• Restoring original engines to working condition
• Using a Lister CS in a home heat and power system
• Lister Startomatic generator sets
• Running a Lister engine on vegetable oil and other fuels
• Obtaining spare parts, alternators and accessories
• Imported engines
• Instruction manuals
• Useful contacts in UK and elsewhere
• Transporting Lister CS engines safely

The Lister CS Story

Today I received the Book "The Lister CS Story", by David Eddington. An excellent history of the Lister company, and the Lister CS engine specifically. If you are interested in building a Lister Diesel cogen set, this is a very good reference.