Simplex Load Bank Test
Вставка
- Опубліковано 1 гру 2024
- A subscriber found a good deal on a used Simplex SWIFT-E FT 10KW resistive load bank listed on Facebook Marketplace. Thankfully he brought it my attention (thanks Mark!). Load banks are usually very overpriced and I could never justify spending the money on a high priced resistive load when space heaters do the same thing at a fraction of the price. That said, this one was the perfect size at 10KW and the price the lowest I have seen. The condition of the load bank is unknown by the seller. Hopefully it works because I bought it. Lets check it out and put it to work.
I use Harbor Freight Super Heavy Duty Degreaser in my ultrasonic cleaner www.harborfrei...
Visit My Amazon Store:
www.amazon.com...
14-50 Plug: amzn.to/45LUjM1
Amprobe ACDV52-NAV: amzn.to/44upLg5
Cable Lug Crimper: amzn.to/3P0a3DD
External Fuel Tank: amzn.to/3R3gzwb
L14-30 to 15-50 Adapter: amzn.to/3QZXfzS
Lug Terminals: amzn.to/45NFvMj amzn.to/3KZvjYX amzn.to/3YWpelQ
Work Bench: amzn.to/3YWXKg0
That the sign of a true perfectionist when they clean and polish their test equipment. Superb channel, keep doing what you do please.
I am very excited for you about this unit! My job involves large stationary generators with permanently-installed load banks (up to 1MW) for both the generator and UPS at the facility. You're really going to love this thing - I would suggest installing it on a garden cart or tool cart (possibly equipped with the gasoline IV drip setup also), with an optional sheet-metal cover to protect it from rain. Then you can wheel it outside easily when you want to test a generator. If you use a tool cart with one or two drawers on it, then you can also have screwdrivers, your meters, and other tools to adjust speed and governor on board. So roll one cart out to the driveway and you have everything on it that you need to run and load-test a generator. For the amount of times that you do this, I would say it's definitely worth the effort. Thanks for your video!
I got a nice cart for it. Need to add a drawer.
Great idea
That black box is a contactor. Basically a high current relay. Nice unit! You can replace the mechanical gauges with digital, but using inexpensive multimeters at the taps would work just as well.
But I like those analogue needles moving: very visual for these videos.
I was just about to comment on that, then I saw you had already mentioned it. It is indeed an contactor. It can break very big loads where an relay would simply weld itself shut after one attempt.
@@pederb82agree relay's and contactors do the same thing but handle loads differently
probably connected through the overtemp cutout as a safety cirrcuit
@@pederb82 Using a smaller current to control a larger current.
Major score on that load bank!
I just found your channel about a week ago, and I have to say, I am LOVING your videos sir! You clearly put a lot of time, effort and care into everything you do. Both in your repair work, and in the videos you produce. I've worked on small engines for a lot of years, but my experience with generators is very limited. I am learning a lot from your videos, and I really appreciate the time you take to produce and share your work with all of us. Thank you
James would have been a great neighbor to be had when I rewired my 74 Bronco. He's clearly been around electrical equipment in his trade. I enjoy how layed back he is. And the Simplex is an early Christmas present for sure. I often thought he should be using something more compact than multiple space heaters. Thanks James.
The adjustment for those meters is the little hole on the black portion of the meter. Use a small common jeweler's screwdriver and twist CW/CCW to change value. Best bet is to do it under load so you know what the meter should read and can tune the meter to reflect actual value.
The analogue meters are very useful to show fluctuations in readings. Digital instruments may give very detailed readings but that does not mean they are more accurate.
The load bank found a home where it will be loved and taken care of!!
I found this earlier video on your load bank. It reminded me of a starter generator test stand that I had in my helicopter overhaul facility. It was a beast and it weighed around 3000 pounds. I would overhaul starters, generators and alternators for aircraft. They had to be certified to operate within FAA regulations. I bought the test stand from a military auction for about $1000. It was 3 phase and could test up to 2000 amps at 24 volts. As I said it was a beast. I would test starters for some very large engines such as the Pratt & Whitney R 4360 four row radial Wasp Major engine at 4300 horsepower.
When I moved my overhaul facility from California to Baja California Mexico I gave it to a friend in the aviation business. I would have loved to give it to you because you would have had a fine time exploring the systems within. It had a 40 horsepower Vari-drive infinite speed controller that was quite amazing. I found out by talking to old purchasing agents for the military that the testers cost the government ab $30,000 each in the 1950’s. Anyway it is long gone and I don’t do those things anymore. I do love the logical methods that you use to diagnose the machines that you repair.
Best Regards Al Hartley
Those meters are D'arsonval movements. The small screw in the center bottom of the gauge is the adjustment. It places or removes tension on the meter spring.
Awesome. I've been wondering for a while when you would graduate from space heaters to a load bank. We had a large load bank catch fire on the pier in San Diego when we were testing one of our 4 1MW generators after an engine replacement when I was in the Navy. Love your videos. Keep them coming!!
Beats dragging out all those space heaters by a long shot. Nice find by your subscriber.👍🏼
That's a really good buy there, James. Interesting piece of kit. Very simple, but very useful for testing generators. If I had been testing it out at 10kW, I could not help but put my hand over the vent to see how much heat it generated. Guess I'm a bit weird. Love your videos, especially the attention to detail that sets you apart from other UA-camrs with similar content. Look forward to the next one, where maybe you use the new acquisition in the testing phase of the fix.
Looks like a good engineering design and very clean manufacturing inside. I recall those "heating elements" from engineering lab but the ones we played with were big round precision ceramic load resistors and we had a lot of fun with them. Good score James!
And nice find by the subscriber!
Congrats on the new find!
Looking forward to seeing it put to work.
Loved this video! In the early 90s I was in the Air Force and I worked on generators.... our test/load bank was basically the size of a small car (and could be towed around like a trailer). Aircraft power is at 400 Hz, and most of the generators were 3 phase (208 volts). So this is a nice add for your shop and fun to see a test bank in use. Thank you!
The device after the breaker looks like a contactor like they use an air conditioning to turn the compressor on and off
And the item at 6:01 is just a high wattage wirewound resistor on a ceramic tube former.
Both statements are true. It's a contractor....used because the switches cannot handle those amounts of amperage.
Yeah I think the difference is that contactors have a mechanical toggle action that increases the speed of opening and closing to reduce arcing with high current loads, which this obviously has.
That what it is. 50 to 100 Amp Solenoid main to run everything.
That contactor is what the master switch controls.
Nice acquisition. It definitely would not take too much to convert it to a digital display. You could even leave the original analog gauges in place.
was just coming here to say this, as long as they are not hard wired and just have posts on the back, should be simple enough.
Ya - having both would be good. Things ALWAYS fail given enough time, temperature and vibration.
@@uploadJ D'arsonval movement (twiddly needle) meters can also be easier to make sense of for certain transient or cyclically varying loads.
It even looked like the front panel had a round cutout covered up for an additional meter.
@@randacnam7321 45 yrs in the field now, I started with analog meters ... if one really wants to see trends that way, put your storage/digital scope on 1 sec per div and see it all!
You have moved up you are in the Small Engine Mechanic territory . Nice acquisition for your tool box .
Amazing tool to acquire James! Quite a bit more expensive than the one that I built but that one is far nicer! Looking forward to seeing it in future videos!
Oh my god, you found the great machine to testing the generators without any space heaters. Great video and gain my knowledge.
Nice work Jim, I like something other then a gen set once and awhile, it's a good format. Load banks are no joke and can be extremely dangerous if not correctly set up, but you did it right. I've used heat shrink tubing in those plug housings to add another layer of protection. It really gets tight, but if done correctly, it works. Good find and good video!
Dangerous? Um, ok.
I always loving seeing the new toys you add to your collection!
If there has been anything you’ve needed since i started watching your channel it was a load bank. Congrats!!
A very nice piece of kit. I wonder if the boat cleats were added by a previous owner. Easier to lift from the top than the sides. Glad the unit worked without issue.
The boat cleats are OEM.
@@ron827How else are you going to tie it up to the dock?
Nice, Jim. Convenient and compact. The ones I researched were much larger and somewhere in the 10K range new. You made a nice score on this acquisition. Now a custom cart with casters and a handle and you’ll have the perfect test station.
What an awesome score for what you do Jim.
I used to use one similar to this only much bigger, was on it’s own cart, think it would do up to 300KW.
Also open air rating on that cable/chord is much higher than standard house wire or conduit, romex, etc.
Existing wire was silver tined, rated like welding cable, higher rating still.
That’ll also make a nice 10KW shop heater in a pinch.😊
SmallEngineMechanic has a nice milsurp load bank he picked up. Bit of a beast. It does at least 30KW, might be the same as you had.
What a great addition to your shop. This will make testing generators much easier! Congratulations…
Hi, James. I will remember how you used to hook up several heaters to test a repaired generator. Interesting enough. I won't miss them when you use the new load bank tester. Congratulations on being more professional in your future presentations. Thanks for sharing!
What a great find! No more hauling space heaters into the yard!
Yea for James happy for your challenge blessings to All
Just started watching the video. This has got to be the most useful piece of test equipment that you now have. Yay for you, good going!!!!
You can do minor 'calibration' on those panel meters - each one has a small adjustment screw in the face, that can swing the needle a little bit left or right. The voltmeter may not show '0' after doing this with no power applied to the unit.
NEVER used those to 'calibrate a meter LOL ... srlsy, used it to set zero though.
What a deal. Great score! I enjoy the vids.
Great find! Great video! You’re going to love this new tool. And so are we. Keep ‘‘em coming. Thank You!!
I've been at a couple of data centers during initial load testing where they bring multiple 100-200KW load testers into the DC rooms and place a full load on the electrical system. They usually know within a few minutes if there are any electrical issues to resolve but will continue running them until the cooling system for the room reaches a steady state so they can ensure the cooling system is sufficient and working properly. They usually also fail over to battery and generator during the testing to ensure that's all working too. The last facility I worked at was estimated to use 10MW of power at full tilt and had enough generators to produce 12MW. If you've never heard 12MW work of generators all turn on at the same time.... it's impressive.
That is an awesome find. You never fail to keep the videos interesting. Love it!
I haven’t finished watching but I’m so glad you finally picked one up.
Edit: I wanna say you have the coolest tools AND they always look brand new. 😊
What a huge win for you! That will serve you well for a long time into the future!
I was in a test lab for 40 years and may congratulate you for purchasing a good testing tool. It's nice to have all meters calibrated, but in your application it's not essential.
Garage sale at James' house this weekend! Housewares, furniture, children's clothes, and a WHOLE TRUCKLOAD of space heaters!
Great find Jim!!! This will make testing much easier and efficient. Thanks!
Thanks for the videos always learning something new
Nice find! Looking forward to seeing this in more videos. Looks like it might be a candidate for a simple digital display conversion.
What a winner! That should prove to be an asset to your tool arsenal.
Great find there, James! I've been looking for one myself. I have also toyed around with the idea of building one using a bunch of things like individually switched dryer heating elements, or something like that. I just haven't committed to going that route. Getting something more precision and designed for the task is still preferred.
Will be handy to use for sure! Those of us who have been around awhile may miss the heaters and kill-a-watt, but we'll surely appreciate the convenience and accuracy of using the new load bank. With 2 500 watt switches you should be able to use it on just about any genny you've worked on. Killer deal and thanks to the sub who notified you about it on eBay!
I will still use the space heaters and kill a watt for sure. I little easier logistically. But on a larger generators will definitely use this.
Yea and actually more accurate wattage using that load bank, you’d be surprised how many heaters are marked 1500 watts and never pull no where near that.
EXCELLENT! VERY nice addition to your repair arsenal and no more dragging out multiple portable heaters. Just as an FYI, I believe gauges are used in automotive type applications and meters in electrical applications. Don't expect laboratory accuracy from the analog meters plus you have what appears to be a good handheld digital meter. It may not be a good idea to slam heavy loads onto a consumer type generator.
You got a great little load bank - Simplex makes good stuff. I still do the multiple space heaters for testing at my house, lol. You have a great setup now!
A great addition to your toolset James, You have to be proud of the loyal following subscribers you have, When the professor is in the house we come running to listen and learn.Thanks, James
That is so cool. I'm so happy for you, what a great tool for you.
Congratulations on the acquisition of such a fine piece of equipment. Usually, a galvanometer has a small screw on the front cover center of the gauge. It may be black plastic and hard to see or it may be a cover for the real screw underneath.
Yes ... for setting the "zero" of the meter. Unless you don't mind an indication when no voltage is applied to the meter? Most of us prefer to see zero set to actually read "zero'"?
@@uploadJ I couldn't agree more. However, he stated he did not see any trim pots to adjust the meters to match a calibrated source (none of his meters are calibrated).
I would like to say your videos are very instructive and have help ed me start fixing my own generators. keep up the great videos. My husband beleives your channel is the best.
I have tried other people but they are not professional. thank you
The device you pointed out is a contactor, used for connecting loads.
James, I always enjoy your videos. Since the load tester uses analogue meters there is not a lot of true accuracy with those devices. You can adjust the meters on the face of the meter itself. I would connect the tester to the grid and place the system under a small load. The grid will always be very close to 60 HZ. Simply adjust the Amp Meter to 60 HZ and leave it at that. I would do the same for incoming voltage as well. Anything that requires improved accuracy you would simply revert back the DVM for more accurate testing.
Good to see that you finally found a load bank if you put a piece of rubber hose around those wires you can tighten them up also the little screws in the center of those guages down near the bottom should fine tune them. good luck
You can adjust the dials or gauges. There is a little round cover on the front black part of it. You can pull that off and there’s a little flathead adjuster in there.
Looks like a great purchase James........ It will compliment your other means of testing.
that is a nice addition to you tools!! the load bank will really make testing easier that carrying out all of the portable heaters!!
Excellent! A great addition to your toolset and a much better way to run load tests on your generators.
There is generally a small adjustment screw in the hole on the front of the gauge itself, usually just a flat head screw driver.
Very interesting! What a great find. I am sure that will help you out allot. You can always change the gauges to more accurate digital ones down the road if the inaccuracies bother you. Great video as always.
Congratulations. I hope it serves you well and without problems. It is indeed a unit that makes the work easier .
As for me only, I built a miniature version of it with a capacity of 3000 watts, with the possibility of connecting to the oscilloscope And the possibility of cooling it with water
Nice tool.
Keep posting as your info is very helpful to those of us that still do our own DYI.
Excellent acquisition, now if you could add a full suite of instrumentation where you could see the harmonic distortion, amp load, volts, watts, etc - you're setup would be complete. One console to rule them all!
The white neutral wire on the 120/240 volt cord can be the same size (or smaller) as the two black hot conductors. The two hots are 180° out of phase and tend to cancel each other.
Great find James, I can see that’s going to be a very useful tool for you!
I am not electric savvy my friend but looks like you found a very nice piece of equipment I’m looking forward to see you using it well done
Hello James great find and addition to your testing equipment. You went to extensive lengths to replace the lncoming lines to the load bank. I expect it had been permanently installed and the feecd lines were in conduit. I thought you would just buy some heater hose and run the lines through the hose. Good quality hose has braided material incorperated into the hose and would have ptrovided all the strain relief you would need. (You are careful with your equipment and that attitude will serve you well). A nice portable work table as well. Keep the videos coming.
Great test box and video. On my 50a plug I put a piece of heat shrink on the green wire around the black lug and added some also at wires so the strain relief bracket would hold everything for strain relief. Most of the strain is on the plug finger holder. I used ferrels on the lugs. Old school the set screws on the front of the meters allow small adjustment. The 50a breakers on the inside seem inconvenient if they trip
It was an odd spot for a breaker.
The breaker on the inside shouldn't trip unless something is very wrong internally, so you'd need to get inside either way. If you switch on all loads at elevated voltage for an extended period of time it would also trip but how likely is that?
Thanks for the post.
(I am envious) I just bought a second radiator-style electric heater for my 'load bank'
All 4 Al Gore's rhythm
The thing you point at at 6:01 is a thermal cutoff like what is in a dryer. It breaks the circuit if the temp goes too high. Right next to the heating elements in case the fan isn't on or the temp gets too high.
You should be able to adjust the meter sweeps from the front adjustment screw on the front of each meter.
I always enjoy weird and obscure stuff you do.
Nothing like a new tool to add to your arsenal and a good price to boot
D’Arsonval Movements usually have a screw in the front of the gauge. It will fine adjust the movements zero. Good score!
Nice change from your usual stuff James. I did get a chuckle out of how fast you pulled back from flipping that breaker!
I said ‘So far so good’ about 3 seconds before James did.
Lol!
6:02 _possibly another temperature sensor right here_
Wirewound ceramic power resistor. Ohm value is likely printed on it.
Congratulations on the great find.
Great video, that’s just what you need, with all the gensets you work on.
Sweet find! You definitely just upped your game.
Nice unit, and that's a good cause it's gonna get a work out, you really got a great deal on it
I am jealous. Since you changed the wiring. Making a note on the device about the 120V Maximum Wattage Allowed will help protect the next operator. That may be you.
Fantastic piece of equipment to have for generators. Great catch! Keep those Videos comin'😊
Nice find and a good addition to your tool kit.
Just a word to the wise: you never “ring” cut insulation on copper or aluminum wire (like a pipe cutter)… taper the cut, so as not to nick the wire (this becomes more important as load & voltage increase). Professional wire stripping tools angle the cut off from 90° for a reason!
Just food for thought, my friends!…
Signed, a long-time high-voltage tech & lineman!
Nice to see a new, (and different) project. Although I learn from the different problems you encounter! Thanks, Jim. At 5:45, that is probably a commutator or dual relay. Look up the Siemens part number for specs.
Jim, the device in the middle that was in question is a contactor. It's technically just an overgrown relay, and its purpose is to turn the current off or on as part of the testing, with a low current switch, as it operates like a starter solenoid.
This is a game changer as far as testing your generators however I still see value in the "bubble light test".
For strain relief on that type of connector, i always get about a 6"-8" length of flexible plastic tubing (avail at Home Depot, clear or black) and run the indiv wires through it. The cable clamp inside the connector clamps onto the outside diameter of the short piece of tubing. No, it does not super protect against straight-out pull on the indiv wires, but it does a fine job of preventing the wires from levering out of the connector when they are bent to and fro in use. Certainly it will work better on jacketed cable going into a connector or an EMT box, but you get some amount of protection even if its not perfect. Plus, it's very cheap.
VERY NICE! I've considered making a poor-boy's load bank with water heater elements; simply fill the tank with water prior to testing.
I have seen that done.
Definitely a nice score even if the meters are out of calibration. A volt meter and amp meter will make it relatively easy to get it calibrated. You could easily convert to digital if desired
James, notice the little opening in the front of the meters. From when I was in electronics school, we had to adjust some of our meters to "PMEL" standards and used a small jewelers' brass screwdriver to make those adjustments.
Good for you James
Thanks Bruce
Nice score.
Dose this mean the space heaters are going the way of the dinosaurs lol. keep up the videos I enjoy evey one of them. They are a great source of information and content thats helped me greatly.
Yay! Finally. You were overdue.
Cool addition to the tool arsenal. Maybe if all test equipment mounted or in drawers to test.
For problematic Generators (shutting off during load test) it may be clever to have the Fan's (if equipped) powdered trough a separate external circuit.
I worked with GPU Loadbanks and these didn't like to be turned off hot at all!
Was thinking the same. Almost stalled a generator since with the load bank.
🧐 Interesting that they put a manual switch for the fans, and a overheat indicator lamp next to it, I was expecting that to be automatic = the fans turned on with a thermostat
@@samuelfellows6923 You can parallel them up and do both you know. So then you can just switch them at the start or not. The thermostat opening or closing can then switch the fans on or off or the switch in or out with or without the fans as well. I can think of lots of combinations. I would have to consider how I test my generators before deciding on what I would do.
An excellent find!
You could always install a THD meter on the front panel of the unit to the right of the frequency meter to have a more complete setup & to keep it looking good :)
Evidence tag....sounds like an auction from surplus police raids 😅 Awesome upgrade to your arsenal.
Getting pretty fancy, nice, James
I worked with a 20,000 W model some years back. It was about eight times that size and used coils. It's primary failure mode was hotspots in the coils.
It would warm up a high bay warehouse in 20 minutes. Looking forward to watching this teardown
For the large relay
The key word is contactor
They are very expensive on McMaster or Grainger... But that's just exact part number price gouging
They can be found pulldown by the bucket load. Since you're switching AC and not DC... They actually hold up quite well without being inert gas back filled
As for instrumentation
If you're into arduino's... There's a very low cost AC current pickup available. They come in 10 amps 15 amps 20 amps 50 amps 100 amps 200 amps scale
They convert the signal to 0 to 5 volts which is very easy to read with a microcontroller
For about $40 you can set up a data logger that can produce a nice graph of the test performed
...
The expensive units can be 100 to $200 and they offer the ability to clamp on to wires
The cheapy units
You have to string the wire through but they are only 15 to $20
...
A fun thing to make is a generator Dino. It performs a predetermined test and prints out a graph with a list of pass fails
As for the service voltage
At my location I see extreme variety. I can tell when the local pot grower turns on his 30,000 W lights
I can tell when the local grid tie houses catch full sunlight
I see anywhere from 210 volts to 250 volts regularly.
... For the purposes of testing
I have no problem punching 50 amps throughout 30 amp cable. Since the 30 amp cable is rated for continuous service if the breaker doesn't blow, I do 10 second high current tests
If you want to run quieter...
The fans on resistive loads are notoriously super loud. You can pick up one of those roll around air conditioners and pump ice cold air right into the unit.
You can position the heat exchanger on the other side of the room.
* You get last noise
Far more importantly... The 10,000 W heater will absolutely bank your garage if you have to do a burning test for 5 hours
Obviously you're doing that outside with the generator... But if it's raining... You can use an air conditioner in a window to run cool... Or you can replace the fans in the unit with a cold air intake
The roll around air conditioners go for about a hundred bucks used. They are cool because you can switch them between air conditioner and heater.... With the only trouble being the condensate
For spot testing current
I use a standard clamp meter. They are very fussy about calibration. If great care is taken when you zero them they can give you very accurate results
They have a bad tendency to drift within the time of a minute so they are only good for a quick spot measurement
They assume a steady load.... So if you actually have a pulse load or a duty cycle load they will lie to you to some degree depending on the frequency and duration