Hercules Generator 1967 U.S Army Genset

Hercules 1967 US ARmay Genset Generator Twin Cylinder Engine

1967 US Army Gen Set

When I saw this unit I just had to buy it. It is 38 years old yet has only run for 10 hours, old yet brand new.

This gen set is actually an APU used for standby supply on aircraft. The alternator provides 6.5 KVA at various voltages and phase configurations however they all run at 400 Hertz.

This makes the alternator all but useless for my needs in it's current state. I will be running this page as a project as I will attempt a conversion in order to run at 50 Hertz. The motor needs a service too just to make sure all is well.

Stay tuned on this one, I will be updating as I go.

What a sweet looking machine. That is the original paint job. The original fuel was still in the jerry can and had turned to lacquer. It stank really bad.

This is a peek under the hood. This Generator is powered by a Hercules Twin Cylinder Horizontally Opposed 42 cubic inch ( approx. 700 cc )aircraft engine. Super clean, it spent it's years well hidden away from the elements. The carby has been gunked up by the original fuel that turned to lacquer. It needs a strip and clean out.

This is the alternator end. The battery has been removed, it is a 24 volt system on this brute. The jerry can is to the right.

I spent some time with the junior mechanics today stripping the carby and giving it a good clean as it was quite gunked up from the original lacquerised fuel. I have added a small 3 meg video file of the test run. Right click the above picture and select save as to view the video on your PC. It is encoded with DIVX 5 in case you do not have the codec.