Looking for suggestions on what to do with this nifty little gas-turbine genset...

So since I sold the hemtt there's been a big hole in my garage (and heart) so I took a road trip down to my favorite surplus yard with Stuart (the HEMTT's new papa) and picked up a new little toy to play with....

It's a nice little MEP-362A GPU powered by a Tiernay TT10-1 gas turbine that produces about 130 horsepower and weights (the turbine engine) about 65 lbs. Only has 22 hrs on the clock.

It powers a generator that produces 10kw of useless 28vdc @ 400hz....

So my question to all the fine minds of Steel Soldiers, is what should I do with it? I can leave it be and crank it up once in a while, but that isn't much fun...

What would you all do with one of these? It is absolutely useless the way it sits...

here's a couple pics of another guy's project with the engine removed and ready to go into something neat....


It's pretty small outside of the cabinet.

build a turbine powered...
ultralight?
golfcart?
beer cooler?

I was thinking riding mower but now that Joel brought up the golf cart, I'm shopping for a small GPU. That would be a blast just watching the response on folks when you light that sucker up.

The gasoline powered gensets can be found pretty cheap. Take the generator out of one of them and hook it up to the turbine.

If you have kids, you could build them a kick a$$ go-kart!!

oh, 400hz DC???????? That was a typo right?

I've seen a guy who converted an outboard motor (see the picture) into a blender so I'm thinking turbine powered blender

Go cart for sure. I would not put it back together as a genset. I bet it would suck the fuel quickly.

Speddmon said:

If you have kids, you could build them a kick a$$ go-kart!!

oh, 400hz DC???????? That was a typo right?

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Ahhh! You caught me!!! I was typing without thinking...

28 volts DC is exactly what you need to power a telephone switchboard. It should also serve quite nicely to jump-start any vehicle with a 24 volt system. I have no idea where the "400 hz" figure came from unless the laws of physics have been amended since I studied it in high school.

Go kart, for sure. That would be one quick kart though.

RC helicopter/plane?

Large scale railroad engine?

that would make for a wild golf cart or electric car mabe..............why do you show us this stuff.......it is bound to make us crazy........lets see.......hmmmm....... I could make a............

The largest popcorn maker ever....a jet powered neighbor annoyer,, wind sock tester. The options are endless. Depending on the thrust it produces, how about making a airboat.

Why don't you swap out the generator head for an AC 60Hz. You can go bigger than 10KW with that much HP. My 45HP White Diesel is now hooked up to a 42KW CIVI generator head. (it was the smallest head that would fit the flywheel and bell housing)

I know Generac had a gas driven 15kw portable generator. They may have bigger ones that would hook up to the motor. I wonder how much fuel this motor consumes?

I have sold many 28V gensets to construction companies and heavy equipment dealers who use them to jumpstart heavy equipment.

This one already being on a nice small sized trailer it is perfect for that use.

goldneagle, I don't know for sure, but I think the gen head swap would be impractical because of the speed at which the turbine would be turning. I think they turn pretty darn fast, and you would actually need to slow it way down to get to the 1800 or 3600 RPM range needed for a/c generation. Whereas DC doesn't matter about the speed.

Speddmon said:

goldneagle, I don't know for sure, but I think the gen head swap would be impractical because of the speed at which the turbine would be turning. I think they turn pretty darn fast, and you would actually need to slow it way down to get to the 1800 or 3600 RPM range needed for a/c generation. Whereas DC doesn't matter about the speed.

Click to expand...

This is true - the output shaft turns at 12,000 rpm.

How about fab'in up a 1/4 scale M1A1 tank! LOL

What does it have for tourque ?? sleed........ Tim

MWMULES said:

How about fab'in up a 1/4 scale M1A1 tank! LOL

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Oh HELL YES!

I've been wanting to make a small squad of 1/12 scale M1A1 Abrams MBTs because at that scale a 10 mm handgun could easily stand in for the 120 mm cannon. Get some military school cadets and head out to the coal flats and have ourselves a mini-tank battle. Of course, mine would just be powered by a pair of stepper motors and a butt-load of batteries in the belly.

And, of course, there would be technologic means to prevent a tank from firing on organic targets.

Now, the big question, how to get your hands on a M230 chain gun... Anyone have an Apache DMA can strip in the middle of the night?