Posted by MT on February 16, 2007, 6:17 pm
Hi folks:
I've got a Coleman Powermate 8000 generator with a Kohler engine. I'm
looking for a way to leave the generator in the detached garage when
running, so it's out of the rain/snow, yet get rid of the exhaust
fumes.
I suppose I could just leave the garage door open, but even though the
garage is a detached separate building, the roof of the garage is
connected to the main house roof forming a small covered walkway
(about 10 feet) between the detached garage and the house, which means
I'm still a bit concerned about leaving the generator running in that
garage, even with the door open, just in case the fumes could go up
into the garage attic and across the connected roof and into the house
during prolonged operation.
The Kohler engine muffler has a 1 1/4 inch diameter exit fitting that
looks like it's setup to accept some sort of connection. The
connection sticks out several inches from the muffler, and has both a
metal hose clamp and thin ring of increased diameter (to say 1 5/8
inches) which looks like its meant to have a hose connect to it and
then the hose clamp would be tightened down to hold it in place.
However, I can't seem to find any kind of hose or fitting that would
fit this connection. I emailed Coleman to ask about any accessory
they might offer to do this, but they replied that they didn't have
anything like that.
What I would like is an adapter that would fit this connection and
then on the other end fit a standard 3 or 4 inch auto exhaust hose,
which I could vent outside around the corner from the garage door.
I'm thinking that if I expand the diameter of the lengthy portion of
the hose, versus the diameter of the exit connection on the muffler, I
would lessen the chance of creating any kind of back pressure in the
exhaust system that might damage the engine. I would probably need 10
- 15 total feet of hose in order to get the fumes well around the
corner away from the detached garage or the house.
Suggestions welcome.
mudtoe
Posted by COLIN LAMB on February 16, 2007, 7:40 pm
We have a couple of indoor backup generators. They exhaust through the roof
using a commercial exhaust system. You can go to electrical shops and
purchase all the parts to install. If you do that, you need to be concerned
about the heat generated at the exit point and may have some code issues. A
few electrical shops specialize in installations of backup generators and
you should be able to find requirements on the internet.
Posted by Thomas D. Horne, FF EMT on February 17, 2007, 12:11 am
MT wrote:
> Hi folks:
>
> I've got a Coleman Powermate 8000 generator with a Kohler engine. I'm
> looking for a way to leave the generator in the detached garage when
> running, so it's out of the rain/snow, yet get rid of the exhaust
> fumes.
>
> I suppose I could just leave the garage door open, but even though the
> garage is a detached separate building, the roof of the garage is
> connected to the main house roof forming a small covered walkway
> (about 10 feet) between the detached garage and the house, which means
> I'm still a bit concerned about leaving the generator running in that
> garage, even with the door open, just in case the fumes could go up
> into the garage attic and across the connected roof and into the house
> during prolonged operation.
>
> The Kohler engine muffler has a 1 1/4 inch diameter exit fitting that
> looks like it's setup to accept some sort of connection. The
> connection sticks out several inches from the muffler, and has both a
> metal hose clamp and thin ring of increased diameter (to say 1 5/8
> inches) which looks like its meant to have a hose connect to it and
> then the hose clamp would be tightened down to hold it in place.
> However, I can't seem to find any kind of hose or fitting that would
> fit this connection. I emailed Coleman to ask about any accessory
> they might offer to do this, but they replied that they didn't have
> anything like that.
>
> What I would like is an adapter that would fit this connection and
> then on the other end fit a standard 3 or 4 inch auto exhaust hose,
> which I could vent outside around the corner from the garage door.
> I'm thinking that if I expand the diameter of the lengthy portion of
> the hose, versus the diameter of the exit connection on the muffler, I
> would lessen the chance of creating any kind of back pressure in the
> exhaust system that might damage the engine. I would probably need 10
> - 15 total feet of hose in order to get the fumes well around the
> corner away from the detached garage or the house.
>
> Suggestions welcome.
>
>
>
> mudtoe
Take it to any goof muffler shop and get a flexible metallic muffler
tube to extend the exhaust. The muffler runs quite hot and will ignite
the regular exhaust tubing if it is attached close enough to be heated.
Please don't ask how I found that out.
--
Tom Horne
Well we aren't no thin blue heroes and yet we aren't no blackguards to.
We're just working men and woman most remarkable like you.
Posted by Neon John on February 17, 2007, 11:16 am
My dad and one of his friends tried that on the same model generator.
It didn't work very well. His friend welded a length of tubing to the
muffler exit, then had a muffler shop make a slip fitting to slide
over the stub. They went up a couple of tube sizes and ran the
exhaust about 10 ft to the outdoors.
I didn't take a lot of time to analyze why it didn't work but I did
notice heavy resonance on a sub-harmonic of the operating frequency. I
also noticed hot and cooler areas of the pipe (indicating standing
waves) and significant soot coming from between the slip joint,
(indicating high pressure there). The engine was unstable and had
little power.
I made up a longer cord, welded on two more wheels so he could roll it
outside and insisted that he not try to run the thing in the basement.
If I were going to try this I'd copy what commercial repair shops do.
They generally have an overhead header with drop hoses to the stalls
with ends that couple loosely to the vehicle's exhaust pipe. At the
end of the header is a squirrel cage fan that provides suction to the
header and blows everything outside. There is inflow at the
intersection of the vehicle's exhaust pipe which both prevents exhaust
escape and pulls in cool air to cool the exhaust.
If I were given the task of getting the exhaust outside a small
building, I'd build the piping out of perhaps 3" metal duct (gas water
heater ducting would work well) with all the joints taped with ANSI
quality metal tape. I'd put a blower at the building wall that
applies suction to the pipe. At the generator I'd make an increaser
to bring the diameter of the muffler outlet up to the 3" pipe. I'd
also arrange some baffled openings into the pipe to allow in cooling
air so that the entire pipe doesn't get hot enough to become a fire
hazard. If it is possible for anyone to occupy the building then I'd
also install a CO detector and a vane-type flow proving switch in the
duct that would shut down the generator if the exhaust flow failed for
any reason. A vain switch, also known as a "sail switch" is a common
HVAC item, available anywhere HVAC parts are sold.
John
>Hi folks:
>I've got a Coleman Powermate 8000 generator with a Kohler engine. I'm
>looking for a way to leave the generator in the detached garage when
>running, so it's out of the rain/snow, yet get rid of the exhaust
>fumes.
>I suppose I could just leave the garage door open, but even though the
>garage is a detached separate building, the roof of the garage is
>connected to the main house roof forming a small covered walkway
>(about 10 feet) between the detached garage and the house, which means
>I'm still a bit concerned about leaving the generator running in that
>garage, even with the door open, just in case the fumes could go up
>into the garage attic and across the connected roof and into the house
>during prolonged operation.
>The Kohler engine muffler has a 1 1/4 inch diameter exit fitting that
>looks like it's setup to accept some sort of connection. The
>connection sticks out several inches from the muffler, and has both a
>metal hose clamp and thin ring of increased diameter (to say 1 5/8
>inches) which looks like its meant to have a hose connect to it and
>then the hose clamp would be tightened down to hold it in place.
>However, I can't seem to find any kind of hose or fitting that would
>fit this connection. I emailed Coleman to ask about any accessory
>they might offer to do this, but they replied that they didn't have
>anything like that.
>What I would like is an adapter that would fit this connection and
>then on the other end fit a standard 3 or 4 inch auto exhaust hose,
>which I could vent outside around the corner from the garage door.
>I'm thinking that if I expand the diameter of the lengthy portion of
>the hose, versus the diameter of the exit connection on the muffler, I
>would lessen the chance of creating any kind of back pressure in the
>exhaust system that might damage the engine. I would probably need 10
>- 15 total feet of hose in order to get the fumes well around the
>corner away from the detached garage or the house.
>Suggestions welcome.
>mudtoe
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
Don't let your schooling interfere with your education-Mark Twain
Posted by beemerwacker on February 17, 2007, 12:49 pm
My 2.7 kw that I use at the cabin has a small auto style muffler with
a 1/2 inch exhaust. Since I have in a shed, I created the following
invitation to disaster that seems to work:
After installing the ground rod and placing the gennie where it was
going to be, at the recoil end (where the engine draws in the air to
blow across the generator head) I cut a 12x12 hole in the wall and
installed a 12v radiator fan that blows on the generator to supply
cooling (fresh) air. This runs off the 12v output from the gennie.
Where I intended the exhaust tubing to go through the wall, I cut a
6x6 hole and ran the tubing through the center of the hole (used
strapping to hold it firmly in the middle of the hole). The air moving
past the unit and out the building keeps it all nice and cool with no
hot spots.
Used gal. conduit for the exhaust the same size as the gennie exhaust
for the entire length (about 4 feet). Tried different combos on the
pipe size, etc. but running the same diameter pipe cuts the sound the
best. Adding a 90 degree bend (using a pipe bender) and running it
straight up works well too but needs a cap to prevent rain/moisture
entering the tubing.
As far as noise goes, I showed the setup to a neighbor who was
surprised that I had a running generator. He didn't hear it from his
place.
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>
> I've got a Coleman Powermate 8000 generator with a Kohler engine. I'm
> looking for a way to leave the generator in the detached garage when
> running, so it's out of the rain/snow, yet get rid of the exhaust
> fumes.
>
> I suppose I could just leave the garage door open, but even though the
> garage is a detached separate building, the roof of the garage is
> connected to the main house roof forming a small covered walkway
> (about 10 feet) between the detached garage and the house, which means
> I'm still a bit concerned about leaving the generator running in that
> garage, even with the door open, just in case the fumes could go up
> into the garage attic and across the connected roof and into the house
> during prolonged operation.
>
> The Kohler engine muffler has a 1 1/4 inch diameter exit fitting that
> looks like it's setup to accept some sort of connection. The
> connection sticks out several inches from the muffler, and has both a
> metal hose clamp and thin ring of increased diameter (to say 1 5/8
> inches) which looks like its meant to have a hose connect to it and
> then the hose clamp would be tightened down to hold it in place.
> However, I can't seem to find any kind of hose or fitting that would
> fit this connection. I emailed Coleman to ask about any accessory
> they might offer to do this, but they replied that they didn't have
> anything like that.
>
> What I would like is an adapter that would fit this connection and
> then on the other end fit a standard 3 or 4 inch auto exhaust hose,
> which I could vent outside around the corner from the garage door.
> I'm thinking that if I expand the diameter of the lengthy portion of
> the hose, versus the diameter of the exit connection on the muffler, I
> would lessen the chance of creating any kind of back pressure in the
> exhaust system that might damage the engine. I would probably need 10
> - 15 total feet of hose in order to get the fumes well around the
> corner away from the detached garage or the house.
>
> Suggestions welcome.
>
>
>
> mudtoe