enginehistory.org

mreithaar · Joined: 08 Jan 2004 Posts: 2 Location: Langley, Washington

Hi All,
I am a new member, and like most, looking for a big engine to restore and run. A couple questions for those who do this, like Graham and The Wrenchmann:
Dou you guys use just a 24V battery for starting? Or also a ground power unit? (Should I have not sold that neat little Andover APU that I had?)
What if you need to do multiple starts in a 1 hour period? Does the battery handle that OK? (I assume you run generators with charging systems for your batteries)
I'd be interested to talk with you, rneal, about the Liberty, especially since you are in my area.
I have also recently been to Switzerland and England and saw a lot of neat engines in museums that I wish I could have taken home to share with this group!

Max

gwhite · Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 58

Max - excellent questions. Regarding the battery, all you need is two 12V automotive batteris hooked up in series. I think I paid about $40 each for mine, you could probably get them for a lot less. Power is power and the starter motor doesn't care if it gets its juice from $60 worth of car batteries or a $500 aircraft battery. There is ample power for multiple starts from this set-up. No need for any type of GPU, in fact I don't even charge my batteries between starts. However, when I go to an event I make sure the batteries are fully charged.
Best of luck on finding and restoring a big engine. Keep us posted on your progress.