... I have a few of these engines and made open frame generators using the northern gen 4500 it bolts direct onto side of engine ....
So for confirmation, the genhead with the J609B is the direct bolt up for the MEP831?
... all you do is then loosen then old plastic star nut on governor assembly push it down then adjust the 10mm head bolt tighten or loosening the spring screw to 3600 rpm or 60 hz at generator and it will hold it for you, when your ready to stop the motor you turn star nut CCW and motor will stop unless you want to go to eBay and get a injector pump with fuel shutoff soleniod then the mep controls can take over!
So I am following (by looking at a 831 right now) and the 10mm you are referring to is the one that is facing downward right?
For this to work I am assuming you remove the rod that goes to the electric actuator and the engine is pretty much self governing at that point? I tested this theory a bit and it seems to be accurate but wanted confirmation.
So theoretically we wouldnt need the generator controller at all unless we wanted some form of auto-shutdown feature like no fuel, low oil pressure, etc...
I am wondering the pros and cons to using the mechanical governor vs Kurt's controller with a custom firmware. Ideas? Im thinking maybe the electric actuator can be held in such a position where it doesnt interfere with the mechanical governor lever but when a fault happens it can shut the engine down. I would like to see this come to fruition.
Kurt, I know you have your hands full with the other project (Im in front of the gen this weekend so I should be re-packing when I get back into town) but I would be willing to provide you with a genhead to slap onto a 831 if you wanted to persue building this firmware and wanted a real life test instead of one with the inverter disconnected.
One thought. Need some form of power source for 24v and battery charging, that would be a con for the controller route that would have to be considered.