Diesel Generator for the end of the world

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
Yeah, solar with battery storage is really where it's at. You can always use a cheap box store genny to charge up your battery storage for those rare times the sunlight isn't adequate.
 

Rrusse11

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Location
PA Deutsch Country
TDI
2002 Golf, 5spd; 05 Jeep CRD
"The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind"
Great little film on Netflix about generating electricity. True story they claim, and it does show how with minimal
resources one can come up with some level of power generation.
Well worth watching if you're "prepping".
 

GlowBugTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Location
Cambridge, MN
TDI
2001 Beetle GLS TDI (BIODSL). 01 original Glow Bug TDI (sold)
I agree Andy, building one from a dyno would be expensive! If i had one Id rather just use it for its intended purpose.
 

GlowBugTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Location
Cambridge, MN
TDI
2001 Beetle GLS TDI (BIODSL). 01 original Glow Bug TDI (sold)
Ya know, theoretically if it was to be end of the world times. Id probably just grab my brother and run down to the nearest military base and pic ourselves out a nice truck and generator then head on back. One of us would also pickout a tanker for us to fill. Y'all could "doomsday" it with class, aye?
 

Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
I have done a little research on backup power if needed. Solar feeding batteries is always a good idea, convert all you can to 12 volts to stay efficient. Electric forklifts have huge batteries that are sometimes sold when they are past their peak yet still functional.
Where we live the power doesn't go out often, but I have a 3500 watt Coleman I am updating to NG for when it does. No amount of gas cans will last forever, and when the grid is down there will be no gasoline available anyway. If in the middle of winter, running the furnace just often enough to make sure no pipes freeze, just might do the trick.
 

jmodge

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Location
Greenville, MI
TDI
2001 alh Jetta, RC2 w/.205's 5speed daily summer commuter and 2000 alh Jetta 5spd swap, 2" lift, hitch, stage 3 TDtuning w/.216's winter cruiser, 1996 Tacoma ALh
Solar chargers, forklift batteries, and led lighting is what we use on the hunting property
 

tdihopeful

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Location
California
TDI
03 2dr 5sp Golf
I've been considering this as well. Not for the end of the world but as a sort of platform to test engine mods specifically a fuel system that I'd like to try. It would be great to be able to access an engine in open air on a test stand/generator for such purpose.
 

Rrusse11

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Location
PA Deutsch Country
TDI
2002 Golf, 5spd; 05 Jeep CRD
"Watched this film tonight....Really makes you realize how much we "Won the Lotto" by being born in the U.S.A. " U4ick

As Oilhammer has pointed out, food and water are the essentials. The movie is a window into how many people
in this world struggle to simply survive on a day by day basis. Written, acted, and produced by the participants.
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
I worked in India for a while and saw this kind of thing first hand, when traveling there in the country areas. I have also seen the movie.
 

noob_tl

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2012
Location
Central Indiana
TDI
2003 NB
I'd be careful with small generators, cheap ones use modified sine wave which can reek havoc on sensitive electrics. Use pure sine wave, more expensive but worth it.
Inverters and converters, yes, but mechanical generators always produce a sine wave. To get anything else (even DC) requires more parts and design.

For the home DIYer ,I wouldnt recommend messing around with generators. running a fridge, go for it. Powering a house, get a professional install. Like Oilhammer said theres alot more to power generation than first glance, I have seen the the outcome of a generator that didnt sync correctly. $1.4 million dollar boat anchor.
Home generators should NEVER be connected to the power line. A transfer switch must be used so the load is completely disconnected from the utility line, and the generator must never send power down the utility line. It poses a very real danger to whomever might be working on those lines. With isolation, no need to sync. Wind and solar panels with net metering require synchronization since they're used in conjunction with utility power.
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
Syncing up to and back feeding to the grid wouldn't be much of a concern if there is no grid. I'd have to assume the grid would go down in this hypothetical apocalypse.
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline
Although the grid would be "down", I can still see the utility workers "working on it" since they (and other GOV staff) would probably still be on payroll and stuff..... that's typically how it seems to go when the rest of us minions have to take paycuts\reductions\whatever
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
I guess it depends on just how apocalyptic this apocalypse is going to be. Let's hope it's just a mild apocalypse. :D
 

benhart16

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2011
Location
Seattle, WA
TDI
2000 Jetta tdi
I'm going to reiterate what oilhammer and others have said: If you want a diesel generator, go buy a diesel generator unless you are dying to have a difficult and complicated project. Between the high cost of sourcing all the parts individually, figuring out the injection system so it runs at a constant speed under varying load (required to maintain 60hz), and the time and effort for all the fabrication, it won't be any cheaper than buying an existing unit. I paid $1000 for my 8kw Westerbeke with 3000hrs on it (still runs great). To be fair, in the Seattle area there's pretty much an endless stream of boat owners with far more money than time that replace their generators at the slightest hint of a problem, so these units pop up regularly on craigslist. Other places probably aren't quite as lucky, but eBay still has a decent assortment to choose from. And as much as I have respect for TDI's, they just don't compare to a true industrial duty diesel engine in ruggedness and durability (Yanmar, Kubota, Isuzu, Cummins, etc. . .) (the timing belt vs timing gears is one of many examples).

Unless you have a machine shop or some other large demand for electricity that would directly aid in your survival, or access to abundant crude oil or animal fat to use as fuel, a larger generator is a liability, not an asset. I'm still of the opinion the best option would be an air cooled single cylinder Yanmar driven generator. These engines are only a little more complex than a Briggs and Stratton, and you can buy Chinese clones for only a few hundred dollars (see Alibaba), so you could easily stock up on parts for cheap. Search for "MEP Yanmar" or "MEP generator" on eBay, and you should be able to easily snag what you need for $2000 or so (less if you are patient and willing to piece things together).

If you really want to see the thought experiment of "What would happen after the apocalypse", watch the second season of "The Colony". (The first season wasn't as good). At first, in order to get electricity for power tools, lights, and light welding, they hook an alternator to the pto of an old tractor. They rendered the fat from some pigs as fuel. Again, sourcing fuel was a major issue. (I would have drained the oil out of the abandoned cars, but that's neither here nor there). Eventually, they build a windmill using the front bearing hub off a car, some bicycle chain and sprockets, and an alternator. That worked very well for them.

I'm still of the opinion solar (or wind) is the way to go. You can buy panels for under $1/watt now, so 1kw is less than $1000. If you're handy with electrical circuits, you could probably feed the dc straight from the panels into the supply side of the charging circuit of a larger UPS (say 5kw), and that would act as your charge controller and inverter. That'd give you more than enough power to do some (intermittent) welding, power some lights, run a water pump (again, intermittently), and a refrigerator.
 

Dooby6

New member
Joined
Oct 16, 2021
Location
Ireland
TDI
Skoda octavia
All mechanical straight 6 diesel would be best bet for end of the world applications, bulletproof 😉
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Note: If you plan to convert a gasoline engine to Natural Gas or Propane, be warned that the Valves and Valve Guides will wear out fairly quick unless the Owners Manual says different! .. been there and done that!

To keep the "juice" off the main line is as simple as flipping your Main Breaker to Off ........... I have outlets outside to feed my Generator power into the house's electrical wiring. It goes to the house Electrical Panel via the AC Circuit with 10 gauge stranded wire. I flip Off any circuits that I don't need during the outage!
 

jmodge

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Location
Greenville, MI
TDI
2001 alh Jetta, RC2 w/.205's 5speed daily summer commuter and 2000 alh Jetta 5spd swap, 2" lift, hitch, stage 3 TDtuning w/.216's winter cruiser, 1996 Tacoma ALh
Same here, I back feed into my garage panel with #8 wire, plus generator is bonded to a ground rod
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
If you're not using a transfer switch that transfers both the hot and neutral wires, you should be using a floating neutral generator. In other words, the frame of the generator should be grounded, but the genny neutral shouldn't be bonded to ground at the frame. The neutral should only be bonded to ground at one location, and this is typically achieved in the service entrance panel. Having neutral bonded to ground in multiple locations can lead to some weird transient voltage behavior.
 

jmodge

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Location
Greenville, MI
TDI
2001 alh Jetta, RC2 w/.205's 5speed daily summer commuter and 2000 alh Jetta 5spd swap, 2" lift, hitch, stage 3 TDtuning w/.216's winter cruiser, 1996 Tacoma ALh
If you’re speaking to me, I never said I bonded the neutral to ground
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
That's just advice for anyone jerry rigging a generator hookup without the proper transfer switch connection. Ideally, it's worthwhile to shell out a few bucks for the transfer switch.

These units are about as simple to install as it gets:
 
Last edited:

benhart16

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2011
Location
Seattle, WA
TDI
2000 Jetta tdi
That's just advice for anyone jerry rigging a generator hookup without the proper transfer switch connection. Ideally, it's worthwhile to shell out a few bucks for the transfer switch.

These units are about as simple to install as it gets:
That's actually a pretty neat setup. As someone who has installed a few generator transfer switches, it can be a pain to reroute the service entrance out of the existing panel, and into the transfer switch. Then going from the transfer switch back into the panel can be a challenge to make it look right, especially if the transfer panel is on top of the drywall, and the panel is recessed. Routing a bundle of 2/0 cables through a couple of 90 turns back to back is a ball of fun. Lets just say installing the above device is a lot simpler.
 

03TDICommuter

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
Location
So. Cal
TDI
01' NB, 5spd
That's just advice for anyone jerry rigging a generator hookup without the proper transfer switch connection. Ideally, it's worthwhile to shell out a few bucks for the transfer switch.

These units are about as simple to install as it gets:
My sister used that for her home. Thanks to 'preventative safety power shutoffs' in her area, she was losing power frequently for days and needed to get a generator. Her mistake was buying a loud, non-inverter generator. Prior to that, she was borrowing my paralleled 2KW inverter gens. Much quieter and less fuel consumption
 

jettawreck

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Location
Northern Minnesota-55744
TDI
2001 Jetta and 2003 Jetta
The GenerLink system is a neat easy way to get the interlock/transfer installed but they are spendy. The uncle and cousin live in a very rural area and the local electric co-op installed theirs for less than I could buy just the bare unit for.
Just finished my exterior plug in port and service panel interlock system. It was pretty easy and a fraction of the cost of the GenerLink.
 

[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
Our TDIs' engines have this ability in the ECU, of course, and the VAG gensets' ECUs do that as well. But the only way to do this with a car ECU (if a tuner couldn't do it) would be to use the cruise control, which would involve the rest of the car.
actually you can rearrange one single map (the driver's wish map that converts TPS to IQ) and then you got a fixed speed governor
could even set it up so 0-10% is idle, 10-60 is 1800 and 60-100 is 3000 for something like my miller welder/generator where when you've got it set to 'weld' it goes 3k instead of the 1800 it does to make the 60hz
 

tikal

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2001
Location
Southeast Texas
TDI
2004 Passat Wagon (chainless + 5 MT + GDE tune)
I vote for solar and a power wall. if this is truly an "end of the world" generator I would think hard about the noise it would make. when people start running out of basic comforts they will start looking elsewhere for them. the generator will attract unwanted attention.

if you are just trying to keep a fridge or freezer going during short power outages then a power wall should do. and if you have a hybrid solar inverter then the panels should be able to provide you with the minimal power needed to keep your vitals running if sized right. this would be most appropriate for bugging in as there is not much you can do with it once you leave
I am going in that direction but without a Powerwall battery. Instead I am working with my solar panel builder to allow in the future to hook up not a generator/stand alone battery but rather an EV supporting bi-directional charging (V2H), most likely a Nissan Leaf with 30 to 40 kWh battery. It will allow micro-grid management, aka "island grid management". Safety feature will disconnect the house from the grid in case of a power outage.

This would be for emergency cases (few days) not for long term (weeks or months).
 

2004LB7

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Location
California
TDI
2006 Jetta
I am going in that direction but without a Powerwall battery. Instead I am working with my solar panel builder to allow in the future to hook up not a generator/stand alone battery but rather an EV supporting bi-directional charging (V2H), most likely a Nissan Leaf with 30 to 40 kWh battery. It will allow micro-grid management, aka "island grid management". Safety feature will disconnect the house from the grid in case of a power outage.

This would be for emergency cases (few days) not for long term (weeks or months).
For some, this is actually a very good option. especially if you already have a compatible electric vehicle.

just be aware, since the OP mentioned "end of the world" type generator that if you use your vehicle to power your house and it runs down because of extended outages. then you run into the issue of no power at your house and your EV is dead. having a backup power source or second vehicle is a good idea for this setup

will your setup charge your EV just from solar? how long to recharge it from solar alone if capable?
 

tikal

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2001
Location
Southeast Texas
TDI
2004 Passat Wagon (chainless + 5 MT + GDE tune)
For some, this is actually a very good option. especially if you already have a compatible electric vehicle.

just be aware, since the OP mentioned "end of the world" type generator that if you use your vehicle to power your house and it runs down because of extended outages. then you run into the issue of no power at your house and your EV is dead. having a backup power source or second vehicle is a good idea for this setup

will your setup charge your EV just from solar? how long to recharge it from solar alone if capable?
Yes, I agree this set up would not be for an "end of the world" scenario but for much shorter periods of time :) Ideally when the power goes out the solar panels will be there to charge the EV and we would go into contingency mode and be as thrifty as possible electricity wise until the power comes back. The PV system is going to be 5.6 kW providing around 8 kWh of AC per year. Our annual average electricity use is around 7 kWh so with the EV add another 15% or so. We probably will be doing some attic improvements to increase our cooling efficiency further (SEER of 17.5).

I also plan on continuing having a TDI for road trips and evacuation purposes if needed (hurricanes for us).
 

2004LB7

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Location
California
TDI
2006 Jetta
The PV system is going to be 5.6 kW providing around 8 kWh of AC per year. AC as in air-conditioning or AC as in alternating current?
not sure I understand that math. how does a 5.6kw system provide 8kwh of AC per year?

A TDI is probably a good option for a backup vehicle. I'd probably do a pickup truck as it can haul more cargo and go over rough terrane better then a car. plus you can throw your end of the world generator in the back 😁
 
Top