Runaway diesels,a cautionary tale..... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Carleton Hughes · #1 08-02-2005, 06:27 AM

Near 15 years ago I was called by a local historical society to give an estimate on restoring an early power plant on a Long Island estate.

This consisted of a 25hp Fairbanks Morse type Y heavy oil{diesel}engine with 5 foot flywheels connected to a Westinghouse squirrel cage alternator,really neat 1920's period power plant.

It hadn't been run in 30 years so I proceeded with the usual resto,techniques.

The only really time consuming part was properly setting up the starting engine,which drove an air compressor that filled a tank to 250PSI then automatically cut the spark when that pressure was achieved.

The model Y is a 2 stroke compression ignition motor,crankcase air charging and bottom cylinder uniflow scavenging,one starts it by placing a blowtorch on the "hot bulb"atop the cylinder,levering the flywheels so they indicate 20 degrees after TDC,flipping on the fuel line after manually pumping it to 30psi.

When all this has been done you pull the lever from the air tank and with a deafening whoosh the motor should start and run under it's own power,truly an impressive sight.

I should mention now that the crank and main bearing journals are drilled and lubed from an elevated sight feed oiler.

About 2 years after I restored the motor they ran it one weekend and it destroyed itself,it kept accelerating way past it's governed speed of 600rpm,it ran so fast witnesses told me the foundations shook.

Finally it reached such a speed that the flywheels disintegrated,pieces of which were thrown through the roof,one piece was discovered a half mile away.

Fortunately no one was injured.

Here is what happened.

Time constraints would not allow me to demonstrate the motor so some handyman was asked to do it,out of sheer ignorance he removed the crankcase cover,saw it was dry AND POURED 5 GALLONS OF OIL INSIDE!!!

The crank splashed the oil which was drawn into the cylinder as fast as it could with the results I described.

boneheaddoctor · #2 08-02-2005, 09:00 AM

damn.....that must have been spooky to those where were there...

I've seen a 10 ton motor/generator jump 12 inches in the air and self destruct spewing debriss out of both ends....thats the closest to experienceing an earthquake as I have come.

J. R. B. · #3 08-02-2005, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

damn.....that must have been spooky to those where were there...

I've seen a 10 ton motor/generator jump 12 inches in the air and self destruct spewing debriss out of both ends....thats the closest to experienceing an earthquake as I have come.

Bone--Where in the hell did that happen and what were the circumstances? I'm interested. Pertinent details please.

boneheaddoctor · #4 08-02-2005, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. R. B.

Bone--Where in the hell did that happen and what were the circumstances? I'm interested. Pertinent details please.

Army base in Itally during the Gulf war....750Kw rotory UPS system...they had five of these motor/generators with three online at any one time for load sharing that were converting 480V 50hz commercial power to 220 volt three phase 60hz....

Not sure what happened but it seemed to run away on power up unti it shredded itself....these things were about 4 feet in diameter and about 15 feet long...when it started to come apart due to speed it came unbalanced a litterally jumped in the air about 12 inches before smoke spark, fire and commutator and armature parts came out of the ends where the air vented...

that had a pretty thich steel case that contained most of it. Never got a post mortum on it as we sere still waiting for a replacement when I came back to the USA. THere was definately a failure becasue it should have shut itself down before it got to that point. These were DC motors, not induction motors...

I was a backup for the UPS guy and happened to be there to assist when this happened. I spent most of my time in the Crypto area but also took care of basicly everything they had in the way of the electronic equipment.

J. R. B. · #5 08-02-2005, 10:08 AM

Did you get to take pictures of the aftermath?

boneheaddoctor · #6 08-02-2005, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. R. B.

Did you get to take pictures of the aftermath?

wasn't allowed.........no cameras were allowed on site.

We had the last of that type that was still in use....its long since history now.

jcantor · #7 08-02-2005, 11:20 AM

Too bad such a beautiful piece of history had to be left in the hands of an idiot without proper training. I sure hope that handy-man was handed is tools and kicked off the property for good.

jlc

Carleton Hughes · #8 08-02-2005, 08:20 PM

They sh-t canned his a**.

The estate is still in private hands and I helped the owner track down a replacement motor and alternator from a mill in Ohio,everything is working again! When we run it the power generated is sold back to LIPA,the electric co,comes in handy in a hurricane when power lines are down!

The Vanderbilt museum in Centerport L.I. Eagles Nest,has a similar generating plant with 2 Fairbanks Morse Y heavy oil motors from 1928,these enormous beauties with 8 foot flywheels are intact but have suffered from sitting and lack of care,I have proposed restoring the engine house but that museum is simply interested in appearances only and has had management problems in the past.

If you are ever on Long Island you should add that to your list of must see things.

boneheaddoctor · #9 08-02-2005, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carleton Hughes

They sh-t canned his a**.

The estate is still in private hands and I helped the owner track down a replacement motor and alternator from a mill in Ohio,everything is working again! When we run it the power generated is sold back to LIPA,the electric co,comes in handy in a hurricane when power lines are down!

The Vanderbilt museum in Centerport L.I. Eagles Nest,has a similar generating plant with 2 Fairbanks Morse Y heavy oil motors from 1928,these enormous beauties with 8 foot flywheels are intact but have suffered from sitting and lack of care,I have proposed restoring the engine house but that museum is simply interested in appearances only and has had management problems in the past.

If you are ever on Long Island you should add that to your list of must see things.

good that clown should have had the common sense to step back adn say hey, I really don't know these....

Brian Carlton · #10 08-03-2005, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by narwhal

I think it was the venerable Larry Bible (I think) that told a sad tale of woe last year on the diesel board about a motor he had just finished rebuilding in a 300D that ran out of control on him the first time he cranked it and blew up. I can't imagine spending that kind of time on a project like that and having that happen.

.........good memory.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=58439&highlight=runaway

BamaMB · #11 08-03-2005, 06:33 PM

Years ago I worked at an Audi-Porsche dealer. Guy buys a new Audi 5000, stops at the gas station, checks under the hood and open one of the caps and see that there is no water in the radiator! So he fills it with water. Problem is, wrong cap!

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