1. Frequency of sorts

[Randy Gross]

I had the opportunity to re-hab an old natural gas compressor that had
shaken itself apart. I noticed that it used a magnetic pickup on the
flywheel to control the engine/flywheel speed. Tiny magnets were mounted in
the flywheel with a coil fixed to the compressor base. The machine was
monstrous with a Cat engine that had 16 cylinders.

My questions are these:

How are the pulses used to control speed? Can someone point me to a circuit,
similar circuit or article explaining this process.

aaa

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

I had the opportunity to re-hab an old natural gas compressor that had
shaken itself apart. I noticed that it used a magnetic pickup on the
flywheel to control the engine/flywheel speed. Tiny magnets were mounted in
the flywheel with a coil fixed to the compressor base. The machine was
monstrous with a Cat engine that had 16 cylinders.

My questions are these:

How are the pulses used to control speed? Can someone point me to a circuit,
similar circuit or article explaining this process.

aaa

That sounds like a magneto ignition system.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Randy Gross]

That sounds like a magneto ignition system.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

More than likely, that may be the case. I was thinking of a switch
controlled by timed dc pulses, say 15 pulses from the magnetic pickup every
10 seconds to maintain a constant 900rpm. The circuit would have to time the
pulses accurately and when the pulses drop below 15, turn on a power
transistor, control circuitry, etc., to increase speed to 15 pulses per 10
seconds then turn off. Does this circuit sound familiar? Do you know where I
can find it or a facimile?

 

[jasen]

I had the opportunity to re-hab an old natural gas compressor that had
shaken itself apart. I noticed that it used a magnetic pickup on the
flywheel to control the engine/flywheel speed. Tiny magnets were mounted in
the flywheel with a coil fixed to the compressor base. The machine was
monstrous with a Cat engine that had 16 cylinders.

Diesel engine?

How are the pulses used to control speed? Can someone point me to a circuit,
similar circuit or article explaining this process.

I expect it'd be pretty-much the same as a cruise-control system.

Bye.
Jasen

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

More than likely, that may be the case. I was thinking of a switch
controlled by timed dc pulses, say 15 pulses from the magnetic pickup every
10 seconds to maintain a constant 900rpm. The circuit would have to time the
pulses accurately and when the pulses drop below 15, turn on a power
transistor, control circuitry, etc., to increase speed to 15 pulses per 10
seconds then turn off. Does this circuit sound familiar? Do you know where I
can find it or a facimile?

Who built it? You may luck out and find a manual online.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Rich Grise]

I had the opportunity to re-hab an old natural gas compressor that had
shaken itself apart. I noticed that it used a magnetic pickup on the
flywheel to control the engine/flywheel speed. Tiny magnets were mounted in
the flywheel with a coil fixed to the compressor base. The machine was
monstrous with a Cat engine that had 16 cylinders.

My questions are these:

How are the pulses used to control speed? Can someone point me to a circuit,
similar circuit or article explaining this process.

From your description, it sounds like it's got some kind of signal
conditioner that cleans up the signal from the coil, then either it counts
the interval between pulses, which will directly give you (1/speed), or
sends it to a Frequency to Voltage convertor, and the control is analog -
in either case, it's fed back to the throttle (or possibly ignition timing
circuit, or both, or some other method) to control the speed.

Hope This Helps!
Rich